Micheaux Reviews

A Mac Davis Special: Christmas Odyssey - 2010 (1978 TV Special)

Oy.

[4/10 · 25 October 2012]

What "Green Christmas" by Stan Freberg says in roughly three minutes is spread to the length of this show. The children sing ditties like (to the tune of "Jingle Bells"),

"Every Commerce Day, We get lots and lots of stuff, No matter how much we get, It never is enough!"

Outside of Mac Davis singing a Christmas carol at the end, I recall (with resulting shivers and night sweats) Ted Knight, dressed as Santa, singing "Christmas isn't Christmas anymawwwww!

Between this and the "Star Wars Holiday Special" I am surprised I own a TV.

The Ted Knight Show: The Honeymoon Game (1978) Season 1, Episode 6

Could have had a longer run

[7/10 · 25 October 2012]

Yes, the shadow of "Ted Baxter" loomed over this show. Granted, had 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show" (which was a better show) not existed, no one would have given Ted Knight his own show, but let's take that show out of the equation. What you have left is a pretty funny show, albeit Roger Dennis is somewhat similar to Ted Baxter.

I saw at least two of the episodes, but the one I recall the most of was "The Honeymoon Game". This episode featured a parody of the "Newlywed Game". Roger Dennis agrees, after a woman named Helen threatens suicide, to pose as her husband on "The Honeymoon Game". After seeing through a lie that forced him to appear on the show, he tries to sabotage their chances and tells her so during a commercial break. So then we are left with two very hostile contestants. A question posed to them is, "What movie star do you think your wife most resembles?" She says, "He probably said, 'Godzilla'". You then see Roger hastily crossing out the answer on his card!

Another episode featured Dennis having to go to a masquerade party. He is dressed as a sheriff and one of the escorts ends up in a scrape of some sort. Dennis must save her from the "dir-ty" (her pronunciation) predicament. The other fellow that is in the scene sees Dennis in full sheriff garb and after Dennis threatens him, he asks whether Dennis' guns are loaded. Dennis replies, "I'm dressed as a sheriff in the middle of New York City, YOU BET THESE ARE LOADED!"

Probably because people could not forget his Emmy-winning turn as Ted Baxter, this show died after six episodes. A similar fate seemed to befall Ted Danson, "Ink" was canceled after a short run and while "Becker" ran for six seasons, it was not a critical favorite, even though the shows were actually quite funny and in some cases, touching. Perhaps people were not ready to see lovable skirt-chasing Sam Malone as a cranky chain-smoking doctor. Subsequent roles and a lot of talent have happily allowed his career to flourish.

Expect to Die (1997)

Even if your name is NOT Inigo Montoya...

[2/10 · 14 April 2012]

...expect to die!

When I was younger, if you made a movie and had a good distributor, or a least a decent v-6, your movie would go to theaters. Before my time, there were A-movies and B-movies. There were no movies for TV. A movie like "Time Walker", had it been made two years ago, as opposed to the 1980's, would have gone straight to DVD or up on Netflix.

Such, however, is the case "Expect to Die", a movie on DVD a friend of mine lent to me and, not too surprisingly, did not want back. I won't go into the poor quality of the movie, which has been discussed at length, but I would like to hold up to the light a few choice lines.

1. "Expect to Die". What an interesting title. Can you name a single person reading this that does not expect to die someday? "The Princess Bride"'s Inigo Montoya at least had the sense to say, "Prepare to die", which would imply a hurried deadline. "Expect to die" is much like saying, "You're gonna breath. Real soon."

2, As the bad guy Dr. Vincent MacIntyre absconds with Sharon Blake, she yells out from the back of the car she is thrown into, "I'm not going anywhere with you, Psycho!" I love this line. What is the point of telling this man that he's nuts? Will he stop the car look back with sad recognition and say, "your language is crude, but you are right! I'm going to stop everything. Thank you. Thank you for a cold splash in the face of reality!"

*SPOILER* 3. While in the virtual reality world of "Expect to Die" Sharon, who is inexplicably dressed as a belly dancer is trying to coach her husband Justin Blake, on how to defeat the game. For whatever reason, she is now calling him "Player". When they reach the mutual knowledge that they are both trapped, she says, "I'm trapped, too. And I don't...think..I like it!". Ladies and gentlemen, this woman is chained, after being kidnapped, in an unfamiliar environment with the threat of death looming over her and her husband. Where does "THINK" enter in to this equation!? Has being chained up and being threatened worked out happily for this woman? "I don't think I like it...not like the Cydonia Virtual Reality dungeon. Now THAT was a dungeon...good catering, custom-built chains and the maniac who ran it, WOW!"

Now, granted, this isn't Oscar-worthy territory, but the acting, which is not great gets even worse in the effects-laden bits, probably because it would have been more expensive to reshoot, so the line delivery more than likely suffered.

Do pass this movie up. If you want virtual reality, see "Tron: Legacy". If you want good martial arts fighting, watch, "Mad Monkey Kung Fu". If you have papers flying all over your house, buy this movie, don't unwrap it, and place it on top of the pile of papers.

Goodyear Theatre: Author at Work (1960) Season 3, Episode 15

A Rare Straight Role for a Comic Genius

[21 August 2011]

Ernie Kovacs is hailed as a comic genius and rightly so, but as many of the comedy greats have shown, they are equally at home in drama. Mary Tyler Moore in "Ordinary People", Dick Van Dyke in "The Runner Stumbles" are just two of the many examples of this.

In the special, "Ernie Kovacs: Television's Original Genius", there is the marvelous clip of Kovacs performing a monologue from Euripides' "The Trojan Women", which he performs marvelously. The ending is too good to tell, but the bit is introduced by the narrator who suggests that there may have been something inside Kovacs that wanted to be taken seriously as an actor.

This episode, which features Kovacs as a controversial author as well as Henry Jones, before his memorable turn in "Phyllis", is the clear evidence that Kovacs was an actor, who was very much at home with comedy, but could also handle drama quite well. This story is compelling, essentially a two-character study.

Sadly, this is not on DVD, which is a pity, because when it was shown on TVLand, the print seemed to be quite well-preserved. Well worth seeking out.

Sunday Dinner (1991)

Guilt-com?

[11 August 2011]

I'm sorry that Norman Lear divorced his wife of thirty years. I don't know Lear, nor do I know his wife or ex-wife. I am sorry, because Lear decided to take this situation and turn it into a show. This was a show about a man who has grown daughters and has remarried a younger woman. They all gather together for Sunday dinner, hence the title. The daughters are not happy about the new wife.

Robert Loggia played the Dad, Teri Hatcher was the new wife. The wife was a Christian who prayed and called God, "Chief".

As a Christian, Hurrah for the use of prayer, but, "Chief"!? Would you go up to your father and call him Jimbo or Skinny? Twee with a dusting of arrogance. Bleh.

I'm not against writers turning real situations into comedy or drama. Carl Reiner did this to good effect in the "Dick Van Dyke Show". "Never Name a Duck" was based on ducks that ended up at his house. "Seinfeld" had a character named Kramer, based on a real person. However, when one sees show after show with similar themes, it makes one cry out, "Can't you just tell your therapist or church leader about this, instead of subjecting the viewing public to it?" Imagine what we would have been spared. If the writing staffs of "The Boys Are Back" or "Happy Family" didn't have sons that moved out when they were grown, how much happier would we be? All of the above would have been forgiven (told you I was a Christian!) had not the writing been lackluster, the characters unlikable and the chemistry non-existent. All of this covered with the patina of the real-life parallel of a man marrying a younger woman and divorcing the older one makes this show one best left forgotten.

Pink Lady (1980)

Everybody gotta start someplace...

[20 July 2011]

I cannot add much more to what has been said, save a few things. An indication of the quality of this show could have been gleaned from a TV Guide promo. A photo showed two dialog balloons above the stars heads:

Jeff: You girls are the biggest thing in Japan. Mie or Kei: Oh no, Jeff! The biggest thing in Japan is Godzilla!

This show was pretty awful, but it may be slightly unfair to single it out, for it was merely part of a horrible trend of the time. Television did what it could in the early days to be what it was trying to supplant, news, movie AND substitute for live theater, hence, the variety show. There were some people that either surrounded themselves with talent (Ed Sullivan) or featured talented and versatile casts (Your Show of Shows/Caesar's Hour or The Carol Burnett Show). By the late seventies, if you had one or two top forty songs, you got a variety show! This would include this show AND the show that featured the Starland Vocal Band ("Afternoon Delight").

So, instead of jumping on the "how bad was this show!" bandwagon, let's look at what happened to some of the performers afterward.

Sid Caesar - A legend, to be sure, but reading his autobiography one finds that he did what he could to succeed. He played Mie and Kei's father, using his Japanese double-talk. In one sketch, with mime and double talk, he berated how they dressed and during rehearsal they looked down with shame, a genuine reaction. That takes some skills. The other interesting fact is that some time later, he mentions a show that he did not get a part in and he also felt that the character would be limiting. That show was "Cheers".

Jeff Altman - Like Roger Kabler (if you remember "Rhythm and Blues" I empathize), a good comic in a bad situation. Show biz in general suffers from the malaise of "if it worked once...". Altman was/is a solid stand-up comic, but not equipped to the variety show format, a style that didn't fit Bill Cosby, either.

Jim Varney - A sadly underrated actor. I was no fan of the onslaught of "Ernest" movies, but "Hey Vern, It's Ernest", his TV show featured a glimpse of his talent. He played a drill sergeant, a very frumpy matron and a scary villain-type, all quite convincingly.

So, yes the show was bad but most any endeavor has an upside. As a matter of fact, in the "Starland Vocal Band" one cast member sat on a throne giving out comedy pronouncements. He hated it down to his doublet, but he eventually went on to having his own show, which proved wildly successful, so hats off to David Letterman!

Superstunt (1977 TV Special)

A Rare (at the time) Tribute to Stunts!

[7/10 · 21 August 2010]

This special not only had interviews with stunt people, they used several stunt people, including a pioneer of stunt work, Yakima Canutt, who, at his advanced age, took a fall over a car hood. The stunts they shot were for a movie conceived for the TV special and they called it "P.D. Doyle". They showed all sorts of stunts and Lee Marvin himself got into the act. As "Doyle" he is standing on a street, a motorcycle with a sidecar comes up behind him and he falls into the sidecar. After showing how the stunts were done, the scenes were run in movie order.

It was the only TV show I had ever seen that was dedicated to stunts and I thought it was wonderful. I can even remember a bit of the theme song, "He's a stunt man/Knowing where he lands..."

I don't recall if the legendary performer Dar Robinson was in it, but I do remember that he was married for a time to a woman named Darlette!

I have not seen it, but apparently there was a sequel, "Superstunt 2"

Ivan the Terrible (1976)

"Life's getting better..."

[17 November 2009]

I can't vote on the quality of this show, save that I remember the opening lines of the theme song:

"Life's getting better/Spring's coming soon/Nine feet of snow/And it's only June".

I am glad others remember so many details about this show; I recall that they tried to make a catchphrase out of Ivan calling someone a "yutz" or a "yotz".

There were several shows that I watched as a child that I tried to make "my shows", which was to say, shows that I alone watched and found funny. "Big Eddie" was one I used to watch and this one. Apparently, my attempts at maturity outstripped my memory!

Feelin' Good (1974–1975)

Star-studded show! A Sesame Street of nutrition for adults

[7/10 · 17 August 2007]

This show has fallen from memory, but it was an attempt to address nutrition and consumer issues and it was produced by the Children's Television Workshop. Mac's Place was focal point of action for the show, but there were also musical interludes and sketches, in other words, the structure was similar to "Sesame Street". Two of the recurring characters were the cook who brown-bagged his lunch instead of eating at the diner and a perpetually sweaty middle-aged fellow who wore a warm-up suit in a vain attempt to get back into shape.

One customer came in to Mac's who did not care for his Mother-in-Law. After ordering a burger, he then went on to question the quality of the ingredients, all of which were sub par. He asked to make it "to go" and asked if he was going to eat it, he said no, he was going to give the burger to his Mother-In-Law.

One recurring segment had a person read out the actual ingredients on various malevolent foods, such as (I think) "Imitation Lemon Extract". He listed the ingredients, such as MSG, the various dyes, the sugar and the corn syrup and after reading it, he looked at the camera and said, "So, what did you expect? A lemon?" Joan Rivers was one of many cameos. She did a spot about buying used cars. She sang, "Roll out the mileage!" and honked the horn and then talked about signs of tampering, such as the tenth number on the odometer jiggling. This merited a rebuke from my older brother who said that odometers didn't have ten numbers (it is, of course, the number that increments by tenths of a mile). Another segment had a person tell what was wrong with EVERY part of a burger and fries and after lambasting it, he said, "So, what can you eat on this plate? The parsley!"

Also, they ran several faux ads for their stereotypical bad fast-food chain, "Bun and Run" ("You have won/At Bun and Run!")

Songs that I can recall were an ode to walking (as opposed to jogging), "Depreciation Blues", "Supermarket Rag"("It's a pain in the shopping bag!") and "Too Many People I Love"("'cause there's just too many people I love/Too many people that matter to me/Not to take care, not to be sure, not to dream of/'cause there's just too many people I love"). One of the composers listed on the show (and one of the major reasons I watched) was Stephen Schwartz ("Wicked", "Godspell") A great show, which went off far too early.

Muggsy (1976–1977)

Oh? I remember Muggsy, too!

[7/10 · 13 December 2006]

What I can remember of the lyrics of the theme, as sung by David Clayton-Thomas, formerly of Blood, Sweat and Tears:

"Keepin' it together, together! Runnin' from their old life, reflecting on the past. Mom and Dad are gone, Nick and Muggsy left alone, Tine for movin' on! Keepin' it together, together!"

The show was about the two orphans living in a van or mobile home. Clytemnestra was Muggsy's best friend.

Plots I can recall: Muggsy befriends a kid (perhaps a runaway) named "Jackie", who is being chased by a Latino. The Latino turns out to be his brother, who is scolding "Jackie" for trying to pass. Jackie's actual name is Joaquin. Eventually, Joaquin embraces his ethnicity.

Clytemnestra and Muggsy write an story about a young prodigious author and broadcast it on a radio station, but it turns out that they didn't research it thoroughly. A local reporter upbraids them by saying that "it's not good to report without checking your facts. In fact, it's kinda dumb". He eventually apologizes for the bluntness of his statement, but it turns out that the author did indeed plagiarize a part of a book and Clytemnestra retracts the story on-air.

There was a story about a Country and Western singing duo that fought a lot. One of their songs was "The State of Our Union".

For a twelve year-old that was looking for something "serious" to watch, I rather liked this show. No other show I know of was tackling issues such as assimilation and journalistic integrity.

The Wilton North Report (1987–1988)

Skewered for it's crassness...

[23 August 2005]

It was almost impossible to have seen this show in it's very short run. While featuring some names of note, (Paul Krassner had written for Crawdaddy magazine), the tone of the humor was rather cruel and condescending. It was as if the network had felt that accentuating the mean streak in David Letterman's humor, they could appeal to the same demographic. While there are the occasional replacement shows that go on to strike it big, such as "NewsRadio", this sank and sank fast.

This show was so disliked, Steve Allen commented at a celebrity party, "If a bomb hit this room, the folks at the "Wilton North Report" could all find work."

California Fever (1979)

I saw this show once. ONCE.

[21 April 2005]

Outside of featuring an actor from "Kids from C.A.P.E.R.", Cosie Costa, I don't know why I chose to watch this, but I was fifteen and not as hip as you, I guess.

The leads had a band in this episode. While riding in their car the quartet decides to call themselves "Four on the Floor". Their song had lyrics that seemed only to repeat the phrase, "Are you satisfied? Satisfied!"

In any case, there is a rival band called "Rest Room", an instrumental band who are not only awful, but with a name like that, we are obviously meant to dislike. Why else would a band call itself "Rest Room"? For that matter, the title of the series is rather vague, too. It seems that it was named only to make for snappy ad copy("Catch California Fever on CBS!"). Late but not lamented.

McNichol was better served in "Soap".

Heart Condition (1990)

Boop-Boop-Boo-Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep...

[9 April 2001]

An easy way to tick off Hoskins or Washington when you meet them may be your mentioning of this movie to them. I saw it at it's Los Angeles premiere and it contained ONE funny scene, which consisted of Hoskins trying to wrest a cheeseburger from spirit Washington. The movie was unfunny, racially offensive(I didn't appreciate the "endowment" comment that Washington made) and dramatically untrue in spots(if a mother just lost her son, would she be discussing her child's sexual habits with ANYONE, especially a stranger?).

It would have been a completely forgettable experience had it not been for Hoskins and Washington. They do not elevate this movie, for no one really could, but it sticks in the mind as a film that makes you wonder why these talented actors decided to do it in the first place.

People are comparing this to "Ghost" and that is indeed not without merit, however, for more enjoyable movies with ghosts, I would suggest "The Ghost Goes West" with Robert Donat and Eugene Pallette or for a more romantic turn, "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir.

What's It All About, World? (1969)

"A horror of Right-Wing imbecility" - Harlan Ellison

[3/10 · 2 March 2001]

There are certain things that you hear about and you say, "It can't be THAT bad, could it?" and many times, you are proved wrong.

Well, not this time. This show was made, seemingly as a reaction to the youth culture, the Democratic party (every show ends with a photo of President Lyndon Johnson holding a piece of paper and a voice-over impersonation saying, "Mah first unemployment check". Read that again; it's the only humorous thing about the show) and "Laugh-In", which, in my mind, doesn't age too well, either, but at least it had it's funny moments. The reactionary stuff wouldn't have been bothersome had the show been funny.

Well, not this time. To begin with, it seems to have been made on the cheap, for the opening titles on the early shows seemed to have been a theme song and a close up of a sign with hanging letters, not unlike the type one would see announcing hotel conventions ("Welcome Elks Local 582") and even the copyright notice at the end is wrong, announcing that the show was made in MCMLXVIX, or something like 1960-59, at which point George Orwell's Eloi from the "Time Machine" might be watching it in equal disbelief.

Dean Jones, the host, would then come out on stage and say something along the lines of, "Hi, folks! This is a show about what it's all about, what it was like and the way it ought to be!". Even though the show had some talent behind it; two of the performers, Dick Clair and Jenna McMahon both wrote for the classic "Carol Burnett Show", the show's humor was still turgid and out-of step.

Cases in point: During a tribute to radio (to be fair, radio shows were something that a thirty to forty year-old would have memories of in 1969), Scoey Mitchlll, an African-American and another fellow, perhaps Ron Prince, a Caucasian do a skit based on the "Jack Benny Show". To make it "funny" the roles are reversed racially, Mitchlll plays Benny and Prince plays Rochester (neither doing a great job on character voices):

Benny: What do you think about this television business? Rochester: Ah don't know, but there's gonna have to be some changes made!

Yuck. Yuck.

In a musical number, Jones comes out and says, "Nowadays, we are familiar with the sounds of folk-rock, with it's R&B and Gospel roots (Hmmm...), but we'd like to give you something different, a tribute to Noel Coward!" I am a fan of Coward's work, however, I doubt that any teens of the time would have put down their Byrds records (which would have been 3 or 4 years old by now) or their Bob Dylan albums and prayed for a really good version of "The Stately Homes of England". I also would doubt that the over-accented versions of what they did sing would have won them over. In a sad attempt at the "Aww..." factor, there was also a version of "Mad About the Boy" as sung by cast member "Happy Hollywood" (Bayn Johnson, who later sang with the "Electric Company"'s Short Circus) a cloying moppet in very bad Shirley Temple wig. Her voice is fine, but...but...EGAD!

Considering ABC's constant attempts to win over a younger audience, which it largely succeeded in after this, this misstep is so shockingly bad, it's perversely fascinating to watch. Currently, the Good Life TV network is showing it in half-hour form, which is long enough.

The variety show format, which was always a tough genre to be completely successful in (how can you ask anyone to mount a successful stage show in a week and then ask all involved to do it again and this time with a different script and cast additions?), could do much to expose it's weaknesses at it's nadir, but did have it's bright spots at the best times.

Well, not this time.

The Lonely Lady (1983)

When NOTHING goes right...

[19 November 1999]

Ghostbusters II is a bad movie. Heart Condition is a bad movie. "The Lonely Lady" (a book I recall a classmate reading. She said, "I don't like it, but I'm going to finish it") is wrongheaded in so many ways: muddled plot, bad acting, cheap sets, that Playboy magazine cried sabotage.

What should strike one as traumatic, comes across as laughable, in particular, her withdrawal scene features her screaming, with 12 smaller images of her screaming and circling the larger image to form what looks like an unholy Mickey Mouse watch.

It would be very easy to say that Zadora cannot act, but this is not so easily said. In "Butterfly", she gave a credible performance. In this movie, NO ONE can act and they are given very little to act from. Sasdy, the director, seems to have not so much directed, as pointed. During an Oscar speech, one of the presenters says, "Don't let the twentieth century fox you!".

I know. It's gets a laugh, too.

The sets are uniformly cheap; you should see what passes for the auditorium for the Oscars. No matter what is being done, Italy as beautiful a country as it is, cannot be made to look like California, for better or worse.

Such frugality apparently extended to the editing; here is a transcript of a complete scene. Jerilee Randall (Zadora) is at a friend's house after her withdrawal from drugs:

[friend enters from left] Friend: Jerilee, you look really good to-day. Jerillee: Do I? ...and we're off to the next scene. Get some of your loud friends, catch a special low rental day at your local video store and have a good laugh.

Shasta McNasty (1999–2000)

But...I've seen the Monkees already.

[6 October 1999]

This comedy, about a ne'er-do-well rap group living in Venice Beach may have looked good on paper, but it stank when it hit the air. With the advent of "South Park" and "Family Guy" pushing the boundaries for better or worse, the powers that be are running scared. We must be daring! Don't be afraid of crude humor! The trouble is that they have forgotten that, as an executive said about an unaired pilot starring Kelsey Grammer, "A comedy should be funny".

"Shasta McNasty" is not. It is not, with a vengeance. The first show "Pilot" has Verne Troyer (Mini-Me from "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me") in one of the first scenes walking around in a sombrero with chips on the brim and salsa on the crushed crown. In another scene, he is seen with the same hat, but now it has popcorn on the brim.

No, I didn't laugh, either, but believe me, this is as funny as the show got. The leads are sadly, listless, the writing goes out of it's way to be offensive (which "Seinfeld" did occasionally, but still managed to be funny, more times than no)and it's on UPN, which recently lost a couple of affiliates.

To quote Troyer in one scene, "Lame, lame, lame!"

Gymkata (1985)

How did Clouse do it?

[3/10 · 27 September 1999]

Robert Clouse, who made a pretty good movie in "The Big Brawl", hit the camp mother lode on this one. I just don't know how he could make both the English-speaking and English-as-a-second-language speaking actors ALL sound as if they were struggling with the language, but such was his genius.

The plot (a rather scary one; Thomas is an operative sent to a country, so they might place a piece of equipment there crucial to the "Star Wars" monitoring system. Yes, I know, it was never implemented!) is threadbare and the lines are equally flimsy or poorly delivered. My favorite is when Paley tells Jonathan that this piece of equipment will help stave off "nuclear tack". One has visions of an irradiated fastener launched by a huge slingshot ala Wile E. Coyote.

The fighting, while good in spots and certainly acrobatic is laughable. Not only does he do somersaults and flips to get to various objects that could be walked to, prompting exactly NONE of the villains to say, shoot him in midair, but various objects that just happen to look like things you would find in a gym show up at crucial times. My favorite was the rock that was shaped like a vault, complete with "handles".

Thomas was a gold medalist at the Olympics, so this as well as boyish good looks got him this movie deal, carrying on the great tradition of Bruce Jenner in "Can't Stop the Music". One can only imagine the movie this would have been had Mary Lou Retton (Hey, she was in "Scrooged"!) been in it. "Flipkata", anyone?

If you have raucous friends who like to talk back to the screen, Gymkata is the movie for you.

The in Crowd (1988)

Hairspray, but seriously.

[7/10 · 30 July 1999]

A previous commenter made mention of this film being akin to "Dirty Dancing". I think it is closer to "Hairspray", the plot lines are similar (getting on a dance show, how the crowd you are with can affect you) and the soundtracks to both are indeed quite wonderful. Apparently, Ricki Lake is in both pictures, to boot!

While "Hairspray" deserves praise for many things, including, as one critic put it, being so very much entwined in the 1962 Baltimore era it is almost like science fiction, I rather like to root for "In" Crowd, as it has quite a few nice small touches; Del's little brother runs up to him in the middle of the night for fear of monsters and Del lets him crawl into bed with him, Vicky's father's rather inappropriate affection gives us a sad, short insight into her bad home life, the montage of old music shows at the beginning of the film, the silent, paralyzing rage that Parker goes into when he sees Dick Clark (Clark left Philadelphia to go national and Parker never got his national break) to name a few.

It is certainly contrived in spots (some of the dance showcases are pleasant enough, but almost unnecessary), clichéd in some (Vicky's boyfriend is seen near the end of the film during a spooooooky thunderstorm), but it is well...earnest in its intent. The dialog is very good and the performances are at worst, very good, almost to a person. The ending is not a perfectly happy one, nor is it a dour one. It fits well with the movie. Rent it or see it. While not a classic, it is certainly better than it should be.

Wish You Were Here (1990– )

Suppose you had it all, left it behind and traveled the world?

[5 February 1999]

This was a mid-season replacement with a fascinating premise; a young executive quits his job, takes his savings and decides to see the world. To keep in touch with his family, he sends back videos of where he is. Each episode was based on Donny's latest video and his family reacting to it while watching.

Frank's Place (1987–1988)

A classic series set in New Orleans.

[5 February 1999]

This series was the story of Frank Parrish, a Boston-based professor, who, upon his father's death, inherits a restaurant in New Orleans, the Chez Louisianne (called "The Chez" (pronounced shez) by the employees and patrons). He relocates to Louisiana and learns the restaurant business through fits and starts.

Other characters were Hanna Griffin, the object of Parrish's affections and the assistant to Bertha Griffin-Lamour, her mother and the owner of a prominent funeral home; Reverend Deal, a part-time entrepeneur and part-time preacher; Tiger Shepin and Cool Charles, bartenders of the Chez; Big Arthur, the Cook (NOT the Chef, he insisted) and Shorty his assistant; Anna-May, who was the waitress and Miss Marie, the senior waitress who only waited on customers of the Chez that were customers for 20 years or more; Bubba was a lawyer who was a regular customer (Hugh Wilson said in an interview that this was the character that was a representation of him in the show, "the White guy").

There was much talent to be had in front of and behind the camera; playwright Samm-Art Williams wrote an episode, Hugh Wilson not only helped write the show, but even made a cameo; guest stars included Conchata Ferrell, the late Rosalind Cash and boxer Joe Frazier.

The show could have easily relied on humor, which it certainly had a handle on (one wonderfully absurd episode, "The Body" has the restaurant trying to deal with a pesky corpse, ala, "The Trouble With Harry"), however, it addressed many topics; relationships within the African-American community, it featured Dizzy Gillespie on one show and another one show had a strong Voodoo influence.

The most famous episode (shown on Nick at Nite's TV Land) and the most lauded was "The Bridge", which won Emmys for the writer, Hugh Wilson and guest star Beah Richards.

BET (Black Entertainment Television) re-ran the show, but has since stopped. TV Land, by all appearances has the rights to show it, but does not do so regularly.

This was a truly great show, culturally enlightening, funny, touching and always engaging. It can be said that there was not a single clunker in 17 episodes. The cast was predominately Black, however, it was a show that anyone could watch and enjoy. As Tom Shales said in a review, "This was not a "Black" show, this was a "People" show."