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Reviews
Benson: What a Revoltin' Development (1982)
Outdated Episode
One can't help but wonder-in light of the Grenada operation a year after this episode aired-why Uncle Sam didn't simply send in the Marines to rescue Benson and Pete.
Robert Mazzella.
Dillinger and Capone (1995)
Historical Fiction
This movie, while mildly entertaining, is definitely historical fiction--in 1934, when the FBI shot and killed John Dillinger in Chicago, Al Capone was in a distant prison.
The Two Popes (2019)
Wrong ABBA Song Used
This movie uses the ABBA song "Dancing Queen" to make a point about the future Pope Francis--however, I can't help but think that he'd prefer a song like "Fernando".
Robert Mazzella.
Prime Cut (1972)
No One to Root for
The characters played by both Lee Marvin and Gene Hackman in this movie were both hoods--nothing redeeming about either one--and, quite frankly, there's no one to root for here.
A Family for Joe (1990)
High Adventure
I remember only one line from this show: A divorced woman complaining about her ex-husband--a dentist whose "idea of high adventure was using unwaxed dental floss".
The Twilight Zone: A Penny for Your Thoughts (1961)
Pop Culture History Moment
This episode presents us with an interesting moment in TV history, when a character played by Hayden Rorke comes up to Dick York's Poole in the bank to ask for a loan--"Darrin Stephens Meets Doctor Bellows".
227: Country Cousins (1988)
Unlikely Kin
In this episode, Lester discovers that he has white cousins, on account of an Irishman named Jenkins marrying a black woman in 1882 in Arkansas-never mind that an interracial marriage at that time and place would've been illegal.
Mr. Belvedere: The Letter (1985)
No Need to Explain Thanksgiving to an Englishman
In this episode, George explains Thanksgiving to Mr. Belvedere--which doesn't make sense, as the holiday can be traced back to English colonists--and the latter, being from England, would've learned about it in school there.
Robert Mazzella.
The Dick Van Dyke Show: There's No Sale Like Wholesale (1965)
An Italian-American Furrier?
I saw this episode some time ago, and was perplexed to see an Italian-American furrier--I've always thought that most people in this line of work were Jewish.
Robert Mazzella.
Casablanca (1942)
Rick's Surprising Fantasy Line
"There are parts of New York that I'd advise you not to try and invade"--this Rick Blaine line sounds like a fantasy, surprising from a man otherwise hardened to reality. I find it incredible that Hitler's army--men expert in brutally efficient warfare--could've been put to flight by a few street gangs.
Robert Mazzella.
The Enforcer (1976)
Stupid Mayor and Aide
In the scene where the mayor and his aide are in the limousine, after leaving the baseball game, they're wondering how it's going-it didn't seem to occur to either one of them to have the chauffeur turn on the radio to find out!
Robert Mazzella.
M*A*S*H: Give 'Em Hell, Hawkeye (1981)
Colonel Forgets Army's Purpose
In this episode, one Colonel Ditka complains about the "combative" attitude taken by the M*A*S*H staff when he tells them they should beautify the camp in exchange for a water heater--he seemed to forget that being "combative" is an army's purpose.
Robert Mazzella.
Barney Miller: Examination Day (1982)
Carmen Miranda Warning
I think that this show's supposedly expert comedy writers missed their chance at a joke with Inspector Luger--what they should've done here, instead, was have him say something to the suspect like, "Oh, a Miranda warning--you have the right to wear fruit in your hat".
Robert Mazzella.
The Flying Nun: Wailing in a Winter Wonderland (1967)
Aren't The Norwegians Lutheran?
The plot for this episode revolves around an elderly Norwegian nun who yearns for Christmas snow like in her native country-the flaw here is that Norway is a Lutheran country, and thus unlikely to produce many nuns.
Robert Mazzella.
It's a Big Country: An American Anthology (1951)
Hungarians Hate Greeks? I Don't Think So!
I saw this movie once years ago, and I distinctly remember when the Hungarian-American girl told her Greek-American lover that Hungarians hate Greeks, it struck a nerve--my late mother was of Hungarian stock, and I never once heard her--or any of my maternal relatives--speak an ill word of Greeks.
Robert Mazzella.
Murder, She Wrote: Murder, Plain and Simple (1991)
An Amish Tartuffe
I can't help but wonder no one's having noted that the murder victim. Jacob Beiler (Michael Sarrazin) turns out in the end to have been an Amish Tartuffe--that is to say, someone who seemed to be the most pious man in the group, but was actually concealing a slew of character flaws.
Robert Mazzella.