glitterrose Reviews

Barnaby Jones: To Denise, with Love and Murder (1973) Season 1, Episode 11

Bill Bixby playing the bad guy

[10/10 · 14 October 2023]

I think this is my first time watching "Barnaby Jones". It comes on Metv and the series comes on too late for me to watch it. I was only able to catch this episode because I had today off.

I'll start with Buddy Ebsen. I've been watching "The Beverly Hillbillies" lately and saw how hard of a time Max Baer Jr and Donna Douglas had with typecasting but it looks like Buddy landed on his feet and was able to get away from Jed Clampett.

Another point I want to link with what I mentioned above involves Bill Bixby. He worked for a lot of years and was able to move to different projects. But overall I think people think of nice guy characters he plays and might have a hard time even picturing him playing a bad guy. Bill's a great actor and I think he does a wonderful job here.

Also have to praise the writing. Bill's plays a golddigger in this episode and he's got a woman on the side. He gets angry with his side piece when she says she's called up his wife to invite her over. The side piece pretty much figures out on her own that any money belongs to his wife instead of to him. She rightfully calls him a gigolo and he ends up killing her after that's said.

There's also a storyline about the wife and how she's gone missing for a couple of weeks. Bill's character stalls people by saying she's not feeling well. I honestly thought he had killed the wife as well with the way he was acting but it turns out she's alive and Barnaby tracks her down and is able to nail Bill's character for the murder of his side piece.

Anyway, this episode was very enjoyable.

Beavis and Butt-Head (1993–2011)

Stands the test of time

[10/10 · 14 October 2022]

Words can't describe how much I enjoy "Beavis and Butthead". I started watching the show when I was a kid but my parents didn't think the series was appropriate for me but I still ended up sneak watching and flipping the tv to Nick at Nite if a parent came into the room. :D

Beavis and Butthead are both stupid but the writing for the series is intelligent enough that you don't get the feeling of being annoyed by watching them. At least I don't feel that way. I think of a series like "Boy Meets World" where they turn Eric into an idiot and it came off as being obnoxious more than anything. Beavis and Butthead aren't in that category. I think it just boils down to better writing for this series. These two get into so much stuff and it's hilarious. I think the episode I have the fondest memories of is "No Laughing". If you've watched even 10 minutes of Beavis and Butthead, you KNOW how much these two laugh. Doesn't matter if something inappropriate is being said or not, these two are all the time laughing. So just picture this episode where there's consequences on the line if they laugh while in school and of course Coach Buzzcut has decided the lesson plan for that week will be subjects (sex ed) that will have Beavis and Butthead laughing harder than ever. But they do manage to hold back the laughter til school ends and then they can let it out. The episode is much better than my description tbh.

I use a streaming service and have decided to watch the Beavis and Butthead episodes on there. I've long given up the hope of any channel picking the entire series up and playing them. I guess it's streaming, dvds or noting at all. Anyway, I'll be the first to admit that a lot of the stuff I liked as a kid hasn't aged well for me and I don't like it as much as an adult as I did when I was a child. Beavis and Butthead are thankfully an exception to that. I've gotten a kick out of watching these episodes and laughing as much as Beavis and Butthead do.

There's one thing I also want to point out. I don't think I liked the music video commentaries when I was a kid because it broke up the flow of the actual episode. I got older and the commentary is now something I enjoy.

Kiss Her Goodbye (1959)

Pretty good movie

[9/10 · 22 September 2022]

This was kind of a surprise finding this movie. I was skimming around my ONDemand Spectrum menu and saw Steven Hill listed. I thoroughly enjoy the two Alfred Hitchcock programs and know I liked him on both series so I decided to try a few minutes of it to see how I'd like it and see if I recognized any other people in this movie. There were a few other people from the Alfred programs I recognized. Won't have to list them because if you watch these shows like I do than you probably recognized them yourself.

Overall this was a pretty good movie. I think the one flaw I wanted to list was how quickly Ed and Marge fell in love. I could've done without that plotpoint.

Ed has basically uprooted his life for his sister. He's not bitter or angry about it. He's a very supportive and kind brother. Ed's honest about some parts of Emily's troubles...he says that she has the mind of a child. She does do some things without really thinking about them to start with. But some of this stuff is also on the men gawking at her. I'll use the two examples I have. At the beginning of the movie it shows Emily being interested in a hula hoop. She's over there hula hooping and the men are gawking at her like she's doing a strip tease. Another scene features Emily undressing in front of a window where the blinds are open and the men are again gawking at her like she's dancing around a pole.

I will feature a scene on the opposite site of the scale. Emily's playing on playground equipment and she's got a dress on. I'm sure you can predict how many times she's flashing her panties to the crowd and doesn't realize she's basically putting on a show for the crowd. Even a lady comes up and cautions her about what she's doing.

I still say Ed's a good brother but he's also only the one person. It seems like if he wasn't with Emily that he expected her to stay in her room. He's trying his best to shield his sister from bad things because Emily is capable of getting into plenty of trouble. And she has and she will get into serious trouble in this movie. Ed tries to cover for her but it just doesn't work. The evidence points clearly to Emily.

I'm trying to be careful with this review because I don't want to give too many details away because this movie is really worth a watch if you're able to catch it on. I'm not sure if this has been playing on Sundance (that was the menu I spotted it on when I was skimming) or if this movie is one that's rarely or never played but managed to show up on the ONDemand menu.

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Coming, Mama (1961) Season 6, Episode 26

Wanting more out of life

[10/10 · 13 September 2022]

This is another episode that fits into the category of having parental issues. Our characters for this episode are Lucy, her mother, and Arthur (Lucy's fiancée)

Lucy's supposedly 34 years old. A lot of people might choke back laughter at that while I look at it from a realistic point of view. Yes, the actress is older than 34 but I look at it from the point of view of Lucy's mother basically being an emotional vampire. She's drained the life force out of Lucy and it makes sense for Lucy to look older than her years.

Lucy's mother is an invalid and Lucy is her caregiver. Thing is that Lucy's not meant to have any kind of life on her own. You can clearly see the poor lady's frustrations play out as she rushes back from a date with Arthur because she's been led to believe that her mother's on death's door. Turns out mom's just fine and she's just faking. Even the doctor confirms there was nothing wrong with her. Mom's just upset that Lucy was attempting to do something for herself. Lucy even said that her mother had been difficult for the whole day because she knew that Lucy had a date with Arthur. Lucy's at her breaking point.

And let's look at Lucy's mom for a minute. The mother isn't a sympathetic character at all. She says very unkind things to Lucy's face about the way she looks, making it seem like Arthur's just with her for her money, etc. Lucy's getting more and more open about her unhappiness with each biting remark coming out of her mother's mouth. Lucy still states she wants Arthur. She's tired of being alone and that she needs somebody. Again, one can't blame Lucy for the way she feels. Although it's a puzzler how Lucy was even able to find the time to even get to know Arthur to begin with without mommie dearest messing it up for Lucy from the start.

Let's flip to Arthur for a minute. Poor Lucy is getting stuck with a lemon when it concerns her fiancée. He's had it up to here with Lucy letting her mother interfere with their lives. He lays it out on the table and makes it look like he's ready to move on if Lucy doesn't pick him over his mother. Yes, he gives her an ultimatum. Again, I feel for Lucy because she's honestly stuck in the middle between two VERY rotten people.

Lucy decides that her mother's death is the only way for her to get her freedom and to be able to supposedly have the life she's craving with Arthur.. Yes, it's that standard route again but I still find the episode entertaining because there's still enough twists through the episode that leave the viewer remaining interested instead of yawning and saying "They're doing another episode like this again? Geez." Anyway, the doctor has left Lucy with some medicine and given her the directions for the correct dosage to give her mother. Well, one kinda wants to chuckle as you see Lucy basically filling up a shot glass' amount of medicine instead of giving her mother the correct dosage. Lucy has it planned that she will make her mother's death look like a suicide. People buy it as a suicide. But Lucy's about to get a shock. Remember how Lucy's mom threw it in Lucy's face that Arthur's just with her for her money? Turns out Lucy isn't gonna get any money. Lucy's mom was living on an annuity and it ended at Lucy's mother's death.

It's decided that Lucy and Arthur will get married right away. Here comes shocker number two for Lucy and perhaps one of the lowest blows of all. They go back to Arthur's house and it turns out Arthur's mom has had an accident that's left her bedridden! And the mother makes such a big deal about the two of them giving up their honeymoon in order to take care of her. Looks like news to Lucy about losing her honeymoon. It's all so disappointing as you wonder if Arthur has any kind of feelings for Lucy outside of viewing her as a free nurse for his mother. But no worries, Lucy has it all straightened out in in her head for what she has to do. We'll have to get some more medicine from the doctor. And the end shot is absolutely iconic as Lucy walks towards the camera and the smiling look on her face makes her look like Joan Crawford. Part of me laughs with glee at the look on her face and the other part sympathizes because this is truly such a broken woman that she's gonna go to all this trouble over a man that's really not even worth it.

This episode is another one listed as my favorites and I'd highly recommend.

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: The Five-Forty-Eight (1960) Season 6, Episode 5

Another fantastic performance from Phyllis Thaxter

[10/10 · 31 August 2022]

Our characters in this story are Mr. Blake and Ms. Dent. Mr. Blake was Ms. Dent's boss. Keyword being 'was'.

Ms. Dent hasn't had it easy. She's been ill with mental health problems. She was absolutely thrilled that she landed a job she enjoyed. Let me interrupt for a second and praise the writing just as much as the performance from Phyllis Thaxter. There were a couple of quotes in this episode that had me nodding my head because I could relate to them.

Anyway, Ms. Dent has a job she enjoys but all that's about to change as it shows in our flashback segments. Ms. Dent invites Mr. Blake to her place and things get a little carried away. The two end up kissing, nothing more. But it was still enough for Ms. Dent to get the axe during the next work day.

Ms. Dent is a brave character because she tries her best to confront the cowardly Mr. Blake but he shuns her and refuses to see her. So all of this is leading to the main action of the story where the only way Ms. Dent can talk to Mr. Blake is by gunpoint while the two are riding on a train.

I want to go against the tide of the reviews feeling that this episode didn't have a true ending or the writer didn't know how to end it. I honestly think the episode ended fantastically. It's honestly a lesson I wish I could observe. You have this lady talking about her illness throughout parts of this episode and she could've easily shot Mr. Blake once she ordered him to put his face in the dirt. Or she could've let what this guy did to her get her insides all twisted. I'm going through something right now and I can't begin to explain the anger, bitterness and resentment I feel. Yes, I feel this twisting my insides and I know I'm basically poisoning myself at the end of the day. Ms. Dent's choosing not to be this way. Ms. Dent (correctly) tells Mr. Blake she's better than he is. She also rightfully points out he's basically not worth ruining/wasting her life. Again, it's a valuable lesson that's pointed out in the script and I hope to get to the day where I can walk away like Ms. Dent does. And Ms. Dent walks away while you see another shot of Mr. Blake still on the ground and his face covered in dirt.

Fantastic job all around in terms of writing and acting performances!

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: One Grave Too Many (1960) Season 5, Episode 32

The title makes sense to me

[10/10 · 24 August 2022]

I'm skimming reviews and see some criticism for the title. It honestly makes sense to me. You might not see graves in this episode but the deceased man will be going to his grave and Joe's actions in this episode makes me think of the quote about digging your own grave. Exactly what will happen to Joe after the events of this episode? More on this later.

Let's get to the guts of the story. Our story centers on two characters named Joe and Irene. They're really struggling financially. Irene doesn't work and Joe doesn't want to work. Irene's fed up and this is part of what I'm saying about what will happen to Joe after the events of this episode....will he even have a wife to go back to? A lot of modern minds will probably scoff at the idea of Irene not having a job if they're hurting for money that much. I point out the time frame and don't let that interrupt me from enjoying the episode. But at the end of the day, Joe's making his wife suffer because of his actions. The financial struggle is bad enough that certain things are being cut off. They lost their electricity due to not paying the bill. Joe scoffs at it while Irene's angry and she honestly can see why they got cut off because the bill hadn't been paid in 3 months.

I'm somebody that felt sympathy towards Irene when she's open enough with Joe to say that she's so ashamed. Money problems don't exactly make you feel proud so I do get it.

Irene floats the idea about asking for help from her brother and Joe shuts that down rather quickly. He tells Irene that he'll try and get a loan. Needless to say that didn't end well for Joe. It was his turn to be shut down for trying to get a loan for $100.00.

Joe considers it his lucky day when a man falls out and Joe ends up swiping the man's whole wallet. After all, the man looks dead and dead men don't need money. Joe goes back and tells Irene he didn't get the loan but he does have money. He waves it in her face and lies to her about how he got the money. The two are pleased about having some money so they can get stuff turned back on and be able to get their charge accounts back. It's decided the two will go out to eat in order to celebrate. Joe tells Irene to put on her blue dress and they'll go get a steak dinner.

Neither one makes it to that steak dinner. Joe finds a card that supposedly belongs to the dead man and it's a card warning he has a health condition. He might look dead but he isn't and to please call his doctor if you find his body. Joe freaks and leaves the apartment.

Joe goes to a pay phone and tries to get ahold of this guy's doctor. He reaches an answering service instead. Joe ends up trying to call the cops to tell them that this dead man that was taken away isn't really dead. Of course they don't take him seriously and think he's on a bender and making goof calls. Joe ends up going back to his apartment and Irene's madder than ever. This is truly somebody on the end up her rope when it concerns her marriage imo.

Joe's really about to out himself now. He goes down to the police department and of course it's easily memorable for somebody to be calling in talking about a dead person not really being dead. They recognize the story and of course Joe can't just reveal that tidbit and let it go. How do you know about this card? Joe has to reveal what his real intentions were. And then Joe's about to get a shocker. The wallet he swiped didn't even belong to the man that died. The dead man was committing his own crimes so Joe basically was jumping through all these hoops for nothing. Going back to the thoughts I was voicing earlier, exactly what kind of legal punishment will Joe get because of his actions? Joe dug his own grave. I get the title.

Anyway, this is another excellent episode I'd highly recommend.

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Across the Threshold (1960) Season 5, Episode 22

More mommy issues

[10/10 · 21 August 2022]

Our three main characters in this episode are Sofie, Hubert and Irma. Sofie and Hubert are mother and son. Irma is Hubert's girlfriend. I'll be the first to say this is another episode I thoroughly enjoy but I feel like a lot of people might be dismissive of it.

Hubert is the opposite of William Shatner's character where he also has mommy issues. That character enjoyed his life and enjoyed being eerily close to his mother. That character was also warned that the only way he'd get his freedom would be after the death of his mother. Again, that character enjoyed the way his life was turning out. Hubert isn't that way. Hubert seems irritated by all of it. Yes, he's irritated but not enough to lay down the law to mommy and say he's an adult and he'll be moving out and having a life of his own.

There's some murkiness on some of the details. Hubert sounded like he did have a job but it's unknown if he quit of his own free will, was fired or if mom made him give up the job. I say all this because Hubert doesn't have a checking account. Sofie doesn't want him having one. Sofie's the one handling the finances. Again, Hubert looks irritated more than anything.

Some talk rolls around to Hubert's deceased father. Sofie's a believer in being able to contact spirits and she's worried if her dead husband is okay or not. Hubert's rather dismissive but all this talk leads Hubert into getting an idea. Sofie had revealed she still has some of the medicine that Hubert's father was taking and it sounds like she's totally open to the idea of overdosing on the pills in order to reunite with her husband. Hubert takes all this and ropes his actress girlfriend (Irma) into "contacting" the spirit of Hubert's father so the "spirit" can reveal he's lonely, wants to be with Sofie again, etc. Irma plays along to begin with and puts on this charade. But later on she has a moment of clarity and tries to confront Hubert that what he's doing is wrong, you're talking about murder, etc. Hubert won't have any of it and basically tells Irma she's just as involved as he is.

Meanwhile, Sofie's ready to take her own life to reunite with her husband. But Sofie seems to be taking a long time and Hubert's very impatient. She's wanting to make sure all her affairs are in order. Hubert's ready for his freedom but he's not going to get it. Hubert proposes a toast dedicated to his father and he's assuming that Sofie would naturally drink her own poisoned drink to honor him. Instead she finds an excuse to not drink while she's looking rather curiously at Hubert. Hubert's starting to feel funny and that's when Sofie proudly boasts she's poisoned Hubert! Sofie absolutely wasn't going to let her son be in life alone without mommy and daddy! Hubert dies and Sofie hears police sirens that prevent her from drinking her own poisoned drink. Irma was trying to right the wrong she had done by alerting the cops to what Hubert had planned.

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Mother, May I Go Out to Swim? (1960) Season 5, Episode 26

What's wrong with Lottie?

[10/10 · 21 August 2022]

This is another enjoyable episode but veers into some bizarre directions at the same time. Our episode features on three characters: John, Claire, and Lottie. Claire is John's mother and they have an insanely close relationship that's more bizarre to me than anything. This episode is the right opposite of another episode that features Phyllis Thaxter's character dealing with issues concerning her mental health and she just feels more comfortable having her parents close to her. I can sympathize with that character while John and Claire just struck me as being on the odd side. I don't want to write it off as John's a momma's boy.

The episode has depth to it because it also shows the mother/son relationship in this episode isn't a healthy one in so many ways. Take notice of John limping when he's near his mother versus when he's not limping around Lottie. John was getting a taste of independence being away from his mother and being around Lottie.

I feel like I'm getting ahead of myself because I haven't talked about Lottie. Lottie is a lady John met and they're supposedly falling in love with each other. I don't really buy it tbh. Lottie's a very nice, smart and lovely looking lady. I don't see somebody that's the full package dealing with John for very long. Example: Lottie's spending time with John and he's constantly talking about Claire or being bothered that he's missed another phone call from Claire. I type all this and it makes me laugh thinking how this story would be in today's times with everybody having a cell phone. John would absolutely ignore Lottie completely in order to talk on his cell phone with his mom!

Claire's supposed to meet up with John after she's done visiting with her daughter, son in law and grandkids. I point out the scene where Claire's having her reunion with John and she looks bothered by wanting to know what John's been up to. Again, a lot of people will write this off as a mother NOT wanting to let her grown son grow up and live his own life. I feel like the mother was acting like a dumped girlfriend upset that her boyfriend has moved on and found another love. Claire even manages to track Lottie down at her place of employment and act very rude and dismissive to Lottie. At the time Lottie didn't even realize Claire is John's mom. Lottie's not too impressed when she finally meets Claire officially.

John and Lottie are talking about marriage. Lottie does at least know what's up during the episode. She talks about her feelings of John still living at home, the phone calls with Claire, etc. And this marriage? John can't even tell his mother he wants to marry Lottie! Lottie correctly tells John that he'll only get his freedom after Claire dies.

Earlier in the episode Lottie proudly shows off a waterfall she enjoys coming to. The three characters go to this waterfall at the end of the episode and John ends up pushing Lottie to her death. I really don't get a murderous vibe from Lottie. It might be a divided point between viewers but I don't think Lottie was planning on pushing Claire to her death or expecting John to do it either. The end of the episode features Lottie's death being ruled an accident. John looks to be limping worse than ever in this scene.

I appreciate the symbolism in this episode. Sometimes a parent can be quite toxic to a child, whether or not the child ever realizes it or not. John had it pointed out to him and he'll never act on it on his own in order to be anything other than Claire's adoring son.

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: A Night with the Boys (1959) Season 4, Episode 30

Excellent story with a touch of unintentional comedy thrown into the mix

[10/10 · 6 August 2022]

Our story centers on three characters: Irving, Frances and Smalley.

Irving's making a pretty big mistake early on. He's having a guys night out and has just gambled and lost his paycheck. Pretty serious worries when you've got a wife at home and she's expecting.

Irving does have some brains and realizes he KNOWS he can't just go back home and say he gambled his paycheck away. He's walking around and he meets up with this cop that basically asks him what he's doing in that neighborhood and the cops warns him it's a bad/violent neighborhood. Well, this gives Irving his idea. He dirties himself up, tears his suit and he's gonna go with 'I got mugged and the mugger stole my money' excuse Irving puts the cherry on the sundae by picking up a rock and cutting his own face. John Smith does an excellent job in this scene where Irving cuts his own face but unfortunately the makeup job is rather lacking so you honestly might find yourself laughing at this cut on Irving's face. It looks laughably bad.

Irving goes home and tells his pack of lies to his wife (Frances). Poor Irving had a massive brainfart because he didn't consider the idea of getting the cops involved. He genuinely thought he could shovel this garbage to his wife and it'd all be forgotten. Nope, Frances is buying the lie but wants to see the wrong doer punished. You can't exactly have somebody take 96 bucks from you and they get away with it.

Irving does have a lot of consideration going on in his heart and mind. He's very upset and feels guilty when the cops call him and say they caught the guy that mugged him. He even tries to safely voice his doubts to Frances without completely outting his misdeed. He brings up the worry that this supposed mugger might have his own money and it might be used towards rent. Frances shuts him down by telling him he's not making any sense.

Irving goes to the station and the guy being accused of being the mugger says he's never seen Irving before. Irving gets back $92 out of his $96 paycheck. Irving declines to press charges because he knows that guy's innocent and didn't do a thing to Irving.

The next morning rolls around and Irving stops off at Smalley's place. Smalley is his boss. Irving's there to pick up some vouchers. Imagine Irving's surprise and amusement when Smalley enters with his face busted up. He really got mugged last night. Smalley's description is of the guy that was supposed to have mugged Irving. Lot of people might snark at the coincidence of all of this but I genuinely don't care. I'll like the story.

But here's the end that honestly cracks me up as much as the lady in "Hooked" threatening to cut off her husband's allowance. I'd forgotten to mention that Smalley is very condescending about Irving's marriage and he's putting him down for being married/being a newlywed. Smalley says to Irving that he knew he took all of Irving's money in the game last night but wanted to hit him up for a bit of money to borrow. Irving pops out with an answer that's probably gonna fuel more jokes from his boss. I think Irving really thinks he's coming up with a smackdown response as he reminds Smalley that he can't give him the money because he's a married man. Way to make yourself sound whipped, Irving!

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: The Morning of the Bride (1959) Season 4, Episode 19

Another excellent episode!

[10/10 · 22 July 2022]

Our two main characters are Helen and Phillip...now let's get the elephant out of the way first. I think the storyline is supposed to paint Helen out as being much older than Phillip but imo they pretty much look the same age.

Anyway, Helen and Phillip are dating but the strange thing is that Phillip just doesn't want Helen to meet his mother. And I want to throw in another tidbit on this aspect once I finish the review. He keeps stringing Helen along but there's always something coming up for why he doesn't want the two of them to meet. I must admit when I first watched this episode my mind probably went into the usual dirtbag territory. "I don't want you meeting my mother because she's gonna ask "Why are you dating her when you're already married and have children?!" No, I think the secret Phillip's holding is far worse than being married with kids.

Poor Helen keeps on trying...she goes out to the house and she sees a lady fleeing from the house and the lady says that nobody's at home. Helen doesn't know what Phillip's mother looks like so she naturally thinks she's being rejected in such a cruel way. She even tells Phillip about how crushed she was to see his mother running from the house to get away from her. Ah, but Phillip's always got stories up his sleeve and he comes up with something to smooth Helen's crushed feelings down. He even presents her with a book that his mother sent to her because she felt sorry for Helen having to read "War and Peace".

But time's ticking and honestly Helen's probably given Phillip more time than a lot of women would give him. Especially since Helen knows she'd like to get married. Pat's friend even reminds her that she's not getting any younger and at least Pat can play the field. Helen's stuck with a man that's really not big on taking the next step.

Helen works up the nerve and decides to end things with Phillip. But Phillip realizes he's about to really lose Helen and doesn't want that. The two end up getting married. Helen's at Phillip's house and she's very nervous because today's the day she will finally meet Phillip's mother. One can sympathize for all the nerves she must be having. Helen's about to get quite a shock. No, she's not gonna go into Phillip's mother's room and see a corpse decked out like Norma Bates. But she goes into the room and she's very puzzled when she sees an obituary on the desk. It's an obituary for Phillip's mother. She clearly doesn't understand....she's been dead for 7 years. Phillip's real side is about to come out. He doesn't see Helen as being a wife or even a girlfriend. She's just a replacement mommy for him. I absolutely love Don Dubbins performance in the last scene. It's absolutely iconic imo.

Let me touch base on that side remark I made up top. It seems sad to me you really wouldn't be able to do an episode with a storyline like this in today's times. You can try it but it wouldn't be believable. Helen would be pulling out her phone and googling Phillip in a heartbeat and it wouldn't take long to probably come up with an obituary. I know I avoid social media like the plague but let's face it, my name is gonna pop up when it concerns obituary references if you google my name.

Anyway, this is another delightful episode. Again, somebody please put this wonderful series on better quality dvds. Both Alfred shows are so underappreciated and it's pretty sad since both are such high quality.

Mannix: Duet for Three (1970) Season 4, Episode 13

I guess I just wanted to write this to defend some stuff in the review that pops up on the main screen

[10/10 · 21 July 2022]

I did think this episode was interesting and I honestly didn't see the twist coming with the husband faking his own death. The actor does a great job playing a jerk.

I don't see anything wrong with the guest actress (Katherine Justice). Although I'm relieved she's playing a character with a brain this time around. Although I'll be quick to say that the story I'm referring to isn't her fault. She's the actress and isn't responsible for any crappy writing.

I don't see anything wrong with the way John Considine looks. I feel like his looks tie in with him playing a jerk. You know what I mean? Look at Dennis Patrick...I've seen him pop up on a few shows I watch and I don't think I've ever seen him play a nice guy. He's got a look to him that's perfect for being a mobster or sleezeball. He might;ve been the nicest guy in real life but he plays a perfect heavy.

As for Gail Fisher...A person can't help the cards they're dealt in life. I enjoy Mannix but I also can't help but see that it wasn't a case of Mike Connors career continued to climb while Gail Fisher's career declined. No, imo it looks like both of them declined. I'm not gonna pretend to know either one of these people. No doubt neither one of them was able to bring in the type of money celebrities make in today's times. I have no idea if somebody like Mike Connors was able to invest Mannix money so he could still life comfortably or if he was basically working from paycheck to paycheck as he bounced from guest appearance to guest appearance.

It does seem like Gail Fisher wanted more. I won't fault her for that and I also won't fault her for turning to drugs. You never know what a person's going through or how they feel about what they're doing. Maybe Gail didn't see a problem with using drugs but at the same time perhaps there's shame attached if anybody saw her out and about while under the influence? Makes me think of when Dana Plato robbed that video store and the person said she was just robbed by Kimberly from Diff'rent Strokes. No doubt that kinda judgement would be used against Gail. "Peggy's high as a kite over there! Hardy har har" Anyway, I'm not poking fun. I just hope the lady's at peace now. Yes, I know she's deceased. But the sentiment is still there.

Mannix: Deja Vu (1970) Season 4, Episode 12

Overall it's a solid episode

[9/10 · 21 July 2022]

This came on MeTV a couple of nights ago and I just got around to rewatching it again. Overall I think it's solid and well written. But there's one part that's absolutely cringeworthy and it honestly doesn't flow with what the storyline has laid out previously?

So you see Joe having an accident on a horse and he's pronounced dead. Turns out it's a vision that a young lady named Kathy is having. Guess this is gonna go either way. Some of the viewers will think Kathy's nuts for tracking this guy down that she doesn't know in order to warn him about some danger he's in. A lot of people will chalk it down to just being a good person. I'll go with calling Kathy a good person and leaving it at that.

Anyway, Kathy goes to Mannix and tells him about her vision. I don't think Mannix takes it seriously at first either. She tells about blood being on his hands and he shows his clean hands off to Kathy. Honey, she didn't say you had blood on your hands NOW.

I like how Kathy's acting in these parts. She seems bashful about her skill with her visions. And overall she seemed bashful practically the whole time. She's not nuts but she just gives off these vibes of "You'll probably think I'm out of my mind but I want to help you and I'm just passing along what I see." The one scene I was mentioning at the beginning of the review is where Kathy does a 180 and she looks like she's absolutely having a nervous breakdown in front of Joe. I honestly prefer mentally deleting that scene because it just doesn't gel with the idea of a sane, bashful girl just trying to help somebody out. Joe honestly looked like he wanted to try and edge out of the room when that was going down. But he's a gentleman and stayed.

Anyway, Kathy's vision are pretty close and Joe finally sees that Joe and Kathy are both together in Kathy's visions. And Joe also sees that Kathy's the true victim of these visions instead of Kathy thinking Joe's the victim.

The ending kinda doesn't come as a surprise. Turns out the man Kathy's mom is about to marry is the one doing all this stuff to try and cover his butt. I forgot to mention Kathy's rich and she's about to come into her inheritance. But there's no inheritance to speak up anymore because this guy flat out mismanaged it for her.

This episode is entertaining but I don't blame viewers if they fast forward or mute Kathy's breakdown in that one scene...And guys, I stick with what I've said on other reviews. It's not the actress. The actress did a great job for the rest of the episode but she's just following what the script said to do in that breakdown scene. I sincerely doubt anybody could've done that scene and it not be cringeworthy.

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Hooked (1960) Season 5, Episode 38

Another sugar momma!

[10/10 · 20 July 2022]

Like I was saying in a recent review, I'm not sure if this was done on purpose or if it was an accident for Robert Horton to play characters that had sugar mommas or not. Either way, it still leads up to a delightful episode. And this episode has one of my top favorite scenes from AHP. More on that later.

Our episode focuses mainly on three people. But I will mention a fourth character since he's important to the plot. Ray is married to Gladys. She's older than Ray. It's not a marriage based on love. It's purely based on money. Gladys has it and Ray wants it. Our other two characters are Nyla, who's playing the bait and her father, Mr. Foster.

Ray's getting into another one of his moods and he's attracted to Nyla. You can't say Gladys is in the dark about the basis of her marriage. She knows what Ray's there for. And obviously it's not the first time Ray has acted out. The favorite scene I was mentioning has Gladys threatening to cut Ray's allowance off. Again, there's no telling how many times in their marriage Ray's being punished like a child because his wife has the ability to not give him his allowance if he's acting up.

Anyway, Ray decides he's tired of being married to an old woman and decides the best route to take would be if Gladys is dead. Then he could be with Nyla. Nyla plays the bait very well. She pretends to be interested in Ray. Looking at the episode as a whole, I don't think Nyla cared for Ray at all. It's just part of the plan.

Gladys is into taking a boat out and fishing. That's two things Ray has been open about disliking. But hey, maybe it's time to show an interest in this if it can help get rid of Gladys? Ray decides the best route to take would be knocking Gladys into the water and her drowning since she can't swim.

But things blow up for Ray in an epic way. You don't see how it all plays out in screen but the ending has somebody coming back in the boat rental. Viewer watching for the first time will no doubt think Ray's coming back since this was his grand plan. But nope, GLADYS is the one coming back. Turns out she had a plan of her own. Ray's the one going into the water and Gladys has a perfect reason for not rescuing him. Everybody knows she can't swim.

Our ending focuses on our happy trio of characters left over. Turns out Gladys and Mr. Foster have the hots for each other. And what about Nyla? Nyla's not at all upset or concerned about Ray. She just wants to borrow Gladys' car!

This is a very enjoyable episode I'd highly recommend. Robert Horton plays his gigolo characters perfectly.

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Total Loss (1959) Season 4, Episode 17

Quite a dilemma

[10/10 · 20 July 2022]

Our episode focuses mainly on two characters. Jan runs a dress shop and she's really over her head. It used to be her husband's shop and Jan used her strengths to pitch in and help out. Unfortunately Jan's husband passed away and the strengths she had have completely evaporated. Her store is in serious trouble and it's because she's that over her head. One truly has to sympathize with Jan because she's trying her best to operate the dress shop successfully but unfortunately 'trying your best' doesn't add up to sales being rung up left and right.

Jan's not getting the help she needs but she does get help that only adds to her troubles.

Mel is a guy Jan knows and he knows Jan's over her head. But he has an idea. He knows some people that can cause an accident in the shop and Jan can collect the insurance money. Mel probably has enough sense to realize the ONLY way to get this little idea off the ground would be to get Jan drunk. Even then Jan can see that prison is worse than bankruptcy! But Jan still agreed with the plan and Mel tells Jan to make sure the financial books are out of the store when the accident occurs because she would need to prove her stock supply.

Jan's absolutely miserable when she goes back to the dress shop. Later on, Jan's at home in bed and she gets a call about the dress shop being on fire. And even worse, her friend has 3rd degree burns because she was trying to retrieve the financial books. Jan feels worse than ever and you can tell she feels so much guilt and pain about her friend being burned so badly.

The insurance inspector is combing through the burned rubble and let's just say Jan opens her mouth and gets herself implicated in the business burning down. This next tidbit is my opinion because I skimmed reviews and some people think the store burning down was a genuine accident. Perhaps those reviews are accurate but imo I think Mel's associates did gain access to the inside of the dress shop and used Jan's ridiculous invention against her.

I didn't mention the invention. Jan has got some contraption set up so that way she can have tea since eating lunch slips her mind. This contraption started going off at 1 AM and it doing that contributed to the fire along with the stuff nearby adding to the strength of the fire.

It just seemed like too much of a coincidence to set up an accident happening in your store but some innocent accident genuinely happened to wipe your store and stock out.

Anyway, this is another enjoyable episode and Ralph Meeker's performance is absolutely perfect. He plays a great slimeball.

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: The Last Dark Step (1959) Season 4, Episode 18

Brad's got a sugar momma!/Playing for keeps

[10/10 · 20 July 2022]

Again, I adore Robert Horton's appearances on Alfred. I'm not sure if it's on purpose or just strokes of luck that a couple of Robert's episodes have his character living off a woman. I sometimes watch Wagon Train...especially if the episodes center on Flint (Robert's character on the series) and it kinda confuses me when Robert Horton passed away a few years ago that you didn't have media publications like TV Guide at least writing something in their magazine about him. He was a good actor and deserved the appreciation/spotlight imo.

Anyway, our episode features on three characters. Brad and Leslie aren't the best people in the world and you can see that by the plans they have for each other. Our third character is Janice.

Brad has been in a relationship with Leslie and been living off her. Brad's ready to move on. He's found a new love in Janice. But Leslie's not happy about that at all. Leslie goes into attack mode when it concerns Janice and she also goes into attack mode when it concerns how Leslie's willing to live a smaller/less expensive lifestyle so Brad's the one getting the perks out of the relationship. Janice wouldn't do that for you.

But this doesn't stop Brad. He sees only one way to get rid of somebody like Leslie and it's of course what you'd expect on this series. He kills her. But Leslie has done something that Brad's gonna end up on the hook for. Leslie has killed Janice and she's done it with Brad's knife!

Brad's really into it now. Detectives are at his place and he's completely in the dark about Janice's death. He thinks they're talking about Leslie! They clear that up and reveal they're talking about Janice. Brad's in shock by all of this as the episode ends. The ending is pretty interesting as you see just how trapped Brad is. Brad's about to confess that he was on the beach and he cuts himself off as he realizes Leslie's corpse will be at that beach. So Brad's truly gonna go down, whether it's a set up murder or the murder he truly committed.

I'd highly recommend this one as well, terrific writing and acting!

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Cheap Is Cheap (1959) Season 4, Episode 26

Independence Day for Jennifer

[10/10 · 17 July 2022]

Our two main characters are Alexander and Jennifer. The two are husband and wife. They got along for the most part but that's about to change when Jennifer's cleaning and comes across bank books that show Alexander's been building up quite a saving's nest. Jennifer's in the dark about these savings accounts and angry doesn't begin to describe her mood on how they'd been living. I'll be fair and say I see things from both points of view. It's nice to have savings built up for a rainy day or for the future. But it's also nice to splurge every now and again. Don't go through all the money, just spend a little for a vacation, buy something special, etc.

So you have problems really popping up now. Jennifer's gonna start living. Alexander is freaked about the idea of spending money. EVERYTHING boils down to money for this man. He considers divorce but decides against that thinking of all Jennifer would come away with if they divorced. Alexander decides death would be cheaper than divorce. But Alexander isn't considering how expensive death can be either...

Alexander puts his plan into motion by going to talk to somebody in prison that can hook him up with a hitman. The prisoner reacts negatively but the message must've gotten passed down anyway. Alexander is horrified once he hears how much it'll cost to hire a hitman. Alexander crosses that off his list.

He stumbles across food poisoning. He takes some bauchalism (sp?) samples from the guy he was talking to about food poisoning with and he slathers it on the food Jennifer's gonna eat. Jennifer ends up getting sick. The doctor is called over the next day and the doctor criticizes Alexander for not getting Jennifer examined faster. Alexander tosses out a crap reason when you know it boiled down to money more than anything. The doctor gives a mixed bag explanation on if he thought Jennifer would recover. Later on that night, Alexander is horrified when Jennifer starts to snore. It sounds like a healthy snore of somebody that's gonna pull through. Alexander can't have that and decides to finish the job on his own. He smothers Jennifer to death.

Alexander was having a brainfsart because he certainly wasn't considering the money Jennifer would be blowing through after she passed away. Just think of the money that will come out for her casket and funeral service! Even the cheap stuff is going to be too much for Alexander to stomach. But Alexander comes out with a way of coming out ahead. He donates Jennifer's body and is even given a little bit of money for her body. Alexander's pleased as can be he did all this without spending a penny!

Very enjoyable episode. I realize AHP leaned towards being a serious show but it's still nice to see episodes like this one and Bull in a China Shop that had some comedic angles to them.

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: The Kind Waitress (1959) Season 4, Episode 25

Guess he took his picture and left anyway

[10/10 · 17 July 2022]

Our story centers on three people: Thelma, Arthur and Miss Mannerheim. Imo I think Thelma and Miss Mannerheim were two peas in a pod. At least Miss Mannerheim was up front about it. I don't think Thelma realized just how alone she was and one wonders if that thought came to her after lover boy left her high and dry?

Anyway, let's get to the episode. Thelma works as a waitress in a hotel diner. Not saying she was making great money but it seemed like she wasn't without and was also financially supporting her slimeball boyfriend. You might want more but at least you can take care of what's going on in your life in the present day.

Miss Mannerheim is rich and she's formed a bond with Thelma. She even gifts her a pin that Thelma admired. Later on Miss Mannerheim reveals that she left Thelma taken care of in her will. There's mistake 1. Although to be fair, I didn't get 'greed' vibes off of Thelma at that point in time.

Mistake 2 is mentioning this inheritance to her slimeball boyfriend. Well, he doesn't want to wait for this lady to die in her own. He wants to help things along. He's reading through a book and honestly getting everything wrong. The stuff he's reading about/what Thelma's 'poisoning' Miss Mannerheim with turns out to be something that HELPS her medical condition so instead of killing Miss Mannerheim, they were actually giving her medicine!

The plans goes into action but it doesn't take long for pressure to build up in all sides. Miss Mannerheim doesn't seem to be as nice anymore. She's honestly pretty cranky. Even Thelma's slimeball boyfriend notices Thelma doesn't talk as much about her the way she used to. Thelma's catching crap from her boyfriend when she starts showing reluctance on continuing this poisoning plan. I honestly laughed my butt off at this man threatening to take his framed picture of himself and leaving. No big loss imo. But I can flip the other side of the coin over. A lot of people need love from another person. A lot of people might decide to settle. You reach a certain age and this slimeball might be your last shot of any dreams you had about a spouse, kids, house with a white picket fence, etc.

Thelma's experience isn't getting any better. She had told Miss Mannerheim to stay in bed if she didn't feel like coming downstairs to eat. Miss Mannerheim follows those directions and is in bed when Thelma comes up and brings her food and beverage up to her. But there's a problem, Miss Mannerheim likes her tea a certain way. She won't drink it unless it's prepared the way she likes it. I can honestly see both women's point of view with this scene. I also know what I like and how I want it. So I get Miss Mannerheim's attitude of drinking something how she likes it. But I also see it from Thelma's point of view as well. Thelma tries pleading with her to drink it just this once because if she goes back downstairs, the tea will be cold by the time she gets back. I get it. Thelma's at work, she's not playing 'waitress game'. She's busy, she's stressed and Thelma's about to blow. So is Miss Mannerheim. The two women get into it. And here's where things are really about to go down. Miss Mannerheim threatens to cut Thelma out of inheriting anything. Thelma's really had enough at this point and she begins to strangle Miss Mannerheim to death!

The end takes place at the arraignment hearing. Loverboy's not in sight and Thelma's having to face the music alone. The hearing is where she heard that the 'poison' was the one thing keeping Miss Mannerheim alive.

Excellent episode. This is another episode that's wonderfully told and with amazing performances from all three main characters. I especially loved the tension in the scene leading up to the strangling when the two ladies were getting into it.

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Final Arrangements (1961) Season 6, Episode 36

Getting away from all of it

[10/10 · 17 July 2022]

This is another episode I enjoyed but I must give a bit of a caution when it concerns this episode. This episode ends with a suicide and imo the theme for this episode is 'Death is freedom' So you might want to skip this one if you're going through a rough time in your personal life.

Leonard and Elsie are the two main leads in this episode. Leonard's catching it. The poor man is really catching it. His wife is 'mean'. I'd say the b word but my review probably wouldn't post. Everyday is the same. She got hurt in an accident on their honeymoon and she's been a beast from that point on. She's been milking this accident. Rants and raves to Leonard about everything. Leonard's pretty much a trapped animal by this point in time. He has very little that brings him any joy or pleasure. Life's just gotten to be a chore by this point in time. But Leonard has a plan and it's quite different than a lot of other Hitchcock episodes that will feature the death of the awful spouse. But Leonard's got a lot of planning to do. And then he's really gonna get Elsie....

Leonard cashes out his life insurance policy, clears out his savings, quits his job and blows through that money he's just accumulated. He goes and picks out the most expensive casket and funeral service he can get. There's a bit of a mystery here if you're watching this episode for the first time because you just assume the body in that casket will be his wife's.

Leonard goes home and tell his wife about cashing in on his policy, spending all that and his savings, quitting his job. Leonard's really making sure that Elsie will pay after he's gone. I say all this because of things I've brought up in other reviews. I know I've watched AHP for probably the last decade but you really can't watch shows like this with a modern mind. You do have to consider the time frame. Leonard's basically blown up Elsie's world. No other family's mentioned and I sincerely doubt Elsie had any friends to lean on until she got on her feet. She will have to get a job to support herself. It'll have to be done ASAP. She's gonna be going through a lot of changes in her life because she finally pushed her husband over the edge. The modern mind can probably just write it off. So get a job, big deal. It is quite a big deal if you've never worked or had to support yourself before.

Back to the episode: There's a knock at the door and Leonard orders Elsie to answer it. It's the undertaker coming to retrieve the body. Leonard's drinking the drink he poisoned and he's already on his back by the time Elsie comes in with the undertaker. Leonard's dead and the look on his face is one of absolute peace. It's probably the first bit of piece he's had in his married life.

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: The Young One (1957) Season 3, Episode 9

Excellent episode but stand by what I said for 'Sylvia'

[10/10 · 17 July 2022]

This episode might be up your alley if you tried to watch "Sylvia" and couldn't make it past the father and daughter in that episode being the same age. This episode came first but the two storylines are similar but a few differences.

1. Janice is actually a teenage girl played by a teenage girl

2. Swap out protective father for a protective aunt

3. Bring in somebody you can try a pin a murder on.

So let's get down to it. Janice is our lead character and she's being taken care of by her Aunt Mae. Aunt Mae's not a bad woman. Sad thing is that she seemed rather easy going. She just wants Janice to be good. Trouble is Janice doesn't want to be good. She even mocks the concept by calling it corny.

Janice has her independence. She's got a boyfriend named Stan. It's obvious Aunt Mae doesn't mind her going for a soda or some other tame teenage activity. But Janice wants to be at a bar and order alcohol. Of course she's not served liquor since she's a teenager. Janice is desperate to be older. She scoffs at her boyfriend and seems to get pleasure by steamrolling over him.

Anyway, clearly this episode is good at painting Janice out to be a brat. And just like what I said about Sylvia's father, neither adult is a bad person. There's not one scene with Aunt Mae where I thought Janice is right and her aunt is truly a monster. I can see why Janice wants to get away from her.

Yep, that's also one of Janice's obsessions. She just wants to leave. She tries getting Stan to take her away. Janice moves onto her next idea. There's been this man named Tex hanging out while Janice is with Stan at this bar. Janice goes back alone and starts talking to Tex. Janice is then sent home by a cop at the bar but Tex comes along for the ride. Big mistake.

Janice and Tex are back at her Aunt's house and Janice is playing the waiting game. The cop that sent her home was gonna be checking up on her later. Janice warns Tex to keep quiet because she didn't want to disturb her Aunt. Tex quickly sees the mistake he made coming to this house. Janice tears at her clothes and starts screaming her head off when she hears the cop approaching. She says Tex was trying to attack her. But the biggest surprise of all involves Aunt Mae laying at the bottom of the stairs. Janice tries to pin this murder on Tex. Thankfully Stan comes into the house at that point. He had came by when Janice went out because he was going to take her away. Instead he saw Aunt Mae at the bottom of the stairs where Janice left her. His story is able to clear Tex completely.

Janice is Janice up to the very end. She didn't want to kill her but she just wouldn't leave her alone.

Very enjoyable episode with a delightful performance from Carol Lynley. Would highly recommend this episode as well.

Mannix: A Rage to Kill (1974) Season 7, Episode 20

Going against the tide

[10/10 · 17 July 2022]

I thought the writing and acting for this episode were well done and imo I thought the topics were handled well. I didn't come out with snarky remarks while watching. The issues were handled in a very sensitive manner imo.

So our episode centers on the supposed suicide of a psychiatrist. Well, you know what show you're watching. It's not a suicide, it's murder. This psychiatrist had written a book profiling three cases he had worked on. I must admit that detail is a bit murky because I was thinking of HIPPA or did they not have that in the 70s? It sounds like this psychiatrist was careful...he put his notes in code. But still, if you read this guy's book you might be able to pin point that he's talking about your case.

Anyway, the psychiatrist didn't use names in his book. He refers to them as being X, Y, Z. Could one of them be involved with the murder?

I want to sugar coat this so the review posts. X did very inappropriate things to children.

Y is a musician that you can see her many moods just from the main scene she has with Mannix. I really must give credit to the actress because she was able to slip into this role that requires her to change at a second's notice. She's coming onto Mannix to start with, flips to being defiant, flips to being scared because she's thinking of childhood trauma, and then she gets angry at Mannix for still being there. The performance was incredible and you really would have to see it to get the full picture instead of reading episode descriptions or reviews.

Z is somebody that makes a point of getting close to lonely women and killing them.

So clearly these cases involve people that could've killed the psychiatrist and would have the rage to do so. But they didn't. The killer is a little bit closer to home. The psychiatrist's step son killed him. This is also a man deeply troubled and he believes it isn't gonna take much longer for the psychiatrist to say that the man needs to be committed. No doubt there's been enough discussions going on already and this has turned the mom into a drinker. I won't fault her or judge her. It's nice picturing yourself doing and saying the right thing during everyday of your life but that isn't going to happen. Sometimes you might be in a dark situation where you're torn at what to do or you do know what to do but the thought of doing it is devastating. The mom tried her best. Remember patient X? Well, he ends up being killed by this step son and the death is made to look like he hung himself. The mom was trying to say she killed X. Mannix saw through it because patient X was a heavy man and there's no way she'd be able to lift this man. She tried her best to protect her son but it just didn't work.

I'm skimming reviews and I must say I didn't get the vibe of everybody looking depressed. I think the scenes that required facial acting fit. Remember Y? I'll use her for an example. I liked the expressions on Mike Connors face when he was in that scene. He had a pained expression on his face when it was required of him. Again, one has to see what I'm talking about because words aren't doing it justice.

The episode does involve dark subject matters but I'd still recommend the episode.

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: The Morning After (1959) Season 4, Episode 14

Absolutely wonderful performance from Jeanette Nolan

[10/10 · 16 July 2022]

We have four main characters in this story. We have Sharon, Ben, Ben's wife and Sharon's mother.

I admire what Sharon's mother was trying to do. I realize it might be a divided opinion. Lot of people might watch this episode and say Sharon's mother should've minded her own business. Just be there when your daughter's shattered once she sees Ben's NOT going to leave his wife. Sharon's mother wasn't being malicious or even trying to stir things up. I think she was a good mom trying to help her daughter from getting hurt.

Sharon's mother is the one I felt most sympathetic towards, even more so during one particular scene. More on that later.

Sharon's mother attempts to reason with Sharon one more time and Sharon's not having it. She loves Ben and Ben's also been spreading it on thick when it concerns the lies he's telling Sharon. He tells Sharon he put everything he has in his wife's name. Turns out his wife is the rich one.

Sharon's mother goes off to Ben's office to try and reason with him about Sharon. He's not listening either. He drama queens to Sharon about it not being an easy experience having to deal with Sharon's mother talking about this subject. Robert Alda plays a perfect slimeball.

Sharon's mother makes the trek to Ben's house. Perhaps she could reason with Ben's wife? Jeanette Nolan really does a terrific job in this scene. She's talking to Ben's wife about Ben and Sharon and she realizes Ben's wife was in the dark about Ben's cheating. The camera is centered on Ben's wife but you can hear Sharon's mother crying in the background. I appreciate little touches like that tbh.

We have a scene that focuses on Ben and his wife. Ben's wife is sitting in the dark and pretty much looks like her world has been crushed to oblivion. Ben's wife lays it on the line and delivers a perfect smackdown when it concerns freedom. He'll be free of HER money as well.

Meanwhile Sharon's mom has been walking around and goes to Sharon's apartment. Sharon's not in the room when the phone rings. Sharon's mom picks it up and it's Ben. Ben's a slime ball to the very end. He's murdered his wife and expects Sharon to be his alibi. He just doesn't know he's talking to Sharon's mother. Sharon's mother purposely twists what Ben wanted to say around so her daughter would be spared more pain and trouble. Ben wanted Sharon to tell the police he was in her apartment the whole time. Sharon's mother tells Sharon he said to tell the police he wasn't with Sharon.

This is an excellent episode that I'd highly recommend.

Bonanza: A Woman in the House (1967) Season 8, Episode 23

I don't think it comes back

[2/10 · 16 July 2022]

If I didn't know better I'd say the writer of this episode had an axe to grind against Ben Cartwright. Ben's not a know it all. He's a kind, compassionate, helpful man. This episode is another variation of a lady staying at the Cartwrights and falling for Ben. Can you blame Mary? Her husband's a drunk and he knocks her around. You compare that to a man like Ben Cartwright who wouldn't harm a hair on her head.

Ben shuts down the romance angle, makes reference to how he'd regard her as a daughter.

Thing I don't understand is Mary's taking control of her life. She wants to file for divorce from Russ. Again, I think when love's dead, it's not gonna come back. You get to that point where this is the straw that broke the camel's back and I just don't think you'll ever be able to look at that person from a loving point of view ever again. But Ben's acting so reluctant about Mary wanting a divorce, filing for divorce. Yeah, he knows Russ has been working and keeping it together for a period of time. But you flip that to what Mary said about this being a theme. So he dries out for a couple of days and it's back to usual with him. If this story was supposed to be a romance story, no, I don't see it.

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Party Line (1960) Season 5, Episode 33

I'm just looking for a well told story

[10/10 · 13 July 2022]

I'm skimming reviews and seeing the discussion about no twist ending being a disappointment. I didn't mind. I feel like this is a well told story and the actresses and actors did a great job with their performances.

Our episode centers on Helen. She's a nasty piece of work. And I like how all the things she said/did got reflected right back at her.

Helen doesn't have much going on in her life. She loves to eavesdrop on the party line, talk badly about others and she loves to play Bingo. She's constantly bragging about the two games she won in a row.

Heywood Miller shares the party line with Helen. Needless to say, I imagine that man doesn't get to talk much on his telephone. He complains about the ladies yammering on the telephone. He says he has to make an important call. The ladies hang up but Helen picks the phone back up and eavesdrops while listening to Heywood placing a bet. Helen doubles down on the nastiness and makes a snide remark to Heywood while they're at the butcher shop together.

Time for tripling the nasty behavior. Helen's back on the phone again when Heywood picks up the phone and says his wife needs a doctor, it's an emergency! Does Helen get off the phone? Nope. Heywood's wife ends up dying and this backstory ends as we pick up in Helen's present day life. She's still the same as ever but now she's got a dog!

The Sheriff comes to Helen's place and tells her that Heywood Miller escaped from prison. It turns out the death of Heywood's wife really set him off in a bad direction. He's been in prison but he's (rightfully) been nursing that grudge against Helen. He's out looking for blood.

Helen doesn't have anywhere to go.. she told the Sheriff that she doesn't get along with her sister so it's not like she could go there to wait for Heywood to be recaptured. So she stays at home with her dog Nemo. But Nemo's ran out and left Helen by herself. Helen's freaked and this all is when her rotten behavior is mirrored back at her. The new phone line ladies are trash talking Helen while Helen overhears. Helen hilariously tries calling them out about them being busy bodies, do they ever get any work done since they're always on the phone? One of the ladies slams that hilarious argument down since Helen's calling the kettle black.

Remember how Helen wouldn't get off the phone when Heywood's wife was having an emergency? It's payback time for Helen because now these ladies won't get off the phone for Helen's emergency! Heywood's now in the house and he's truly about to finish Helen off. Truly couldn't have happened to a nicer person.

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: The Baby-Blue Expression (1960) Season 6, Episode 12

Mrs. Barrett and Phillip are two peas in a pod

[10/10 · 13 July 2022]

Cause if Mrs. Barrett is written as being a ditz, Phillip's right behind her.

So we have three main characters for this episode. Mr. And Mrs. Barrett. Mrs. Barrett might be married but she has her attention on Phillip and the feelings are mutal from Phillip's point of view.

Phillip's got a plan to get Mr. Barrett out of the picture. I do think he's got more brains than Mrs. Barrett but he's truly not far behind her. He writes Mrs. Barrett a letter and definitely implicates himself in what will turn out to be Mr. Barrett's murder. He lists a couple of instructions for Mrs. Barrett to follow while all this is going on. He wants Mrs. B to write Mr. B a swarmy letter. This is all very hard on Mrs. B because she doesn't know what swarmy means. She also thought Canada was overseas at the beginning of the episode. The second thing Mrs. B is supposed to do is throw a little get together. Mrs. B finally gets her swarmy letter written and she folds all the pages together (including the letter Phillip sent her!!) and off she goes to the mail box with it.

She gets back and it doesn't take her long to notice she screwed up. Where's Phillip's letter? She realizes it must be in the letter she sent her husband. She has to get her letter back! Her maid's getting canopies made for Mrs. B's get together while Mrs. B makes a mad dash around trying to get her letter back.

She ends up at the post office and she's told that mail's already out. She goes back home and tries to call her husband. She has all the hope that Phillip's plan failed. Nope, her husband isn't there. Needless to say, Mrs. B's got too much on her mind to be into her get together. Is a ray of hope for Mrs. B about to arrive? A man that works at the hotel says Mrs. B's letter came back. Mrs. B didn't put enough postage on the envelope. Mrs. B's hopes are crushed as she's told that he put more postage on the envelope and sent it back off.

I just adore this episode. It's an interesting storyline but I really want to give bonus points to Sarah Marshall (Mrs. Barrett). I loved the airy, ditzy voice she used for the character.

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: The Contest for Aaron Gold (1960) Season 6, Episode 4

Barry Gordon's back

[10/10 · 13 July 2022]

If you enjoyed Barry in 'Day of the Bullet' you'll enjoy his performance in this episode as well.

So it's summer time and our story takes place at a summer camp. We have three main characters Aaron Gold (Barry Gordon), Bernie (Aaron's ceramics teacher) and pushy Mr. Stern wraps up the main cast.

Kids know their own mind. Aaron isn't into the sports activities at camp. He really thrives in his ceramics class. Meanwhile his peers in ceramics are more into the sports at camp. They don't care about the ceramics class. So many put low to no effort in the project they're doing in the course. You have one kid that made a ceramic pancake, one kid made a ceramic snake and several kids made ceramic ashtrays. Aaron's putting all his energy into his project. He takes considerable care in how he wants his project to come out. He's making a ceramic knight that has one arm. Aaron knows how he wants his project to look and I think Bernie was also fine with Aaron's one armed knight. The one not okay is Mr. Stern. He's very condescending towards Aaron to start with and the fact he's spending all summer on an "unfinished" project leads to more scorn from Mr. Stern. Yes, he does threaten Bernie's job if he doesn't slap a second arm and shield on that one armed knight so it'll be completed by parents night.

Bernie didn't have a choice. He needs the job/paycheck. Bernie puts the second arm and shield on Aaron's knight. Needless to say, Aaron freaks when he saw what happened to his project. Aaron runs out and Bernie confronts Mr. Stern and Bernie ends up pulling the second arm/shield off Aaron's project. It doesn't take long for a man with only one arm to come in and say he's looking for Aaron. This man is Aaron's father.