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Topic:
100 Greatest TV Episodes Of All Time: 1. "Chuckles Bites the Dust," ("The Mary Tyler Moore Show")
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harpuah
Registered:
Mar '05
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Date Posted:
12/20/07 6:41pm
Subject:
RE: 100 Greatest TV Episodes Of All Time: 88. "Richie Fights Back" (Happy Days)
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87
CHINA BEACH
Tet 68
January 25, 1989
A series set in Vietnam could hardly ignore the Tet Offensive, the turning point of the war. "Tet '68" opens with Wayloo (Megan Gallagher), the ambitious TV personality, cheerily describing the upcoming holiday as "the Vietnamese Fourth of July, Christmas, and New Year's Eve, all rolled into one. We can sense the magic of the new year." Then the shooting starts. Beckett (Michael Boatman) is held hostage by his lady friend's VC brother; McMurphy is stuck at headquarters with the strung-out K.C. (Marg Helgenberger); Dr. Dick (Robert Picardo) and Dodger (Jeff Kober) are at an Evac Hospital; and Red Cross worker Cherry (Nan Woods) is caught in a bunker. Morning finally breaks, and all have survived. But then Cherry, stepping outside the bunker, is killed by a bomb. It's an unflinching look at the indiscriminate ruthlessness of war, one that viewers would not soon forget.
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darthdrago
Registered:
Dec '03
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Date Posted:
12/20/07 8:43pm
Subject:
RE: 100 Greatest TV Episodes Of All Time: 87. "Tet 68" "China Beach"
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I'm guessing I'll be the only person to comment on this one, but oh well...
China Beach was an awesome show. I was in high school when it originally aired and not interested in what I thought was a "women's soap opera in Vietnam". I caught the reruns in 2000 and 2001, this episode included. The writing & performances on this show were top-notch. I happily ate my words.
Because it took place in a fairly chronological sequence, China Beach had built up all the characters mentioned over the season & a half leading to this episode. So when the Tet offensive finally begins, most of the characters are grouped in awkward pairs or offbeat situations--each case a metaphor for the US military being caught off-guard by the overall offensive. None of them are in positions where they're able to fight back, so they have to bide their time and get to know each other better. The best pairing is McMurphy (Dana Delaney) and KC (Marg Helgenberger in a kick-ass role before CSI). They were friends on the surface, but deep down they were moral & ideological opposites. Both characters knew this fact but wouldn't admit it.
So when they're trapped together when Tet starts, they're guests at a fancy dinner of Army brass, and end up locked into a French villa for their own safety. KC starts undergoing heroin withdrawal, and freaks out and begins to lash out at McMurphy (who didn't know KC was hooked on smack). McMurphy can't do anything to help her, but just stand by her as she rides out the detox. They pass the time trading childhood stories and lessons learned, and end up bonding over shared cheerleader experiences, even acting out their old pep rally routines. They laugh at how ridiculous the situation is: there's a major battle going on outside, and yet they're cheerleading in a fancy dining room. They manage to become better friends despite their obvious differences. Both performances were great.
The death of Cherry was the very last shot of the episode. Her role was that of a naive Red Cross volunteer. She eventually matures while she's there, and through this episode she's mentoring some new girls who are scared to death, only to be killed herself by an artillery shell. I didn't like the character and considered her kind of useless, but I did think her death was a ruthless, shocking way to die. This show had some great writing that was years ahead of its time. Come on, put it on DVD already!!!! 
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solojones
Registered:
Sep '00
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Date Posted:
12/22/07 12:22pm
Subject:
RE: 100 Greatest TV Episodes Of All Time: 87. "Tet 68" "China Beach"
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So I still haven't seen any of the episodes brought up yet...
-sj loves kevin spacey
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6 x 9 = 42 Proud member of the Colbert Nation  Obi-Wan Kenobi and Obi-Wan Kenobi in Ghost Ship Executor All Hail Cliegg's Blue Leg!
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Zaz
Title: Manager:
The Amphitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
2/3 10:46pm
Subject:
RE: 100 Greatest TV Episodes Of All Time: 87. "Tet 68" "China Beach"
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A confession: never seen this show.
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harpuah
Registered:
Mar '05
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Date Posted:
2/3 10:55pm
Subject:
RE: 100 Greatest TV Episodes Of All Time: 87. "Tet 68" "China Beach"
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How so very subtle of you, Zaz... 
86
BATMAN
March 16 & 17, 1966
"The Purr-Fect Crime"
&
"Better Luck Next Time"
In his first two months in prime time, the Caped Crusader battled the Joker, the Riddler, and the Penguin -- and became a national obsession. But when Catwoman steals his heart (not to mention two priceless gold cat statues) in "The Purr-Fect Crime" and "Better Luck Next Time," Batman (Adam West) meets his match. Pursuing the lost treasure of pirate Captain Manx, Catwoman lures Batman and Robin (Burt Ward) to her hideout. She nearly does them in, but they break free and track her down. In the chase, she falls off a rocky ledge into a bottomless pit. But Catwoman had nine lives and appeared in eight more episodes. Although Newmar turned over her cat ears to Eartha Kitt, the first Catwoman remains the best. Meow and forever.
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Zaz
Title: Manager:
The Amphitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
2/4 9:30am
Subject:
RE: 100 Greatest TV Episodes Of All Time: 86. "Batman" The Catwoman Episodes
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The campiness of this show is best in extremely small doses. Don't remember these episodes, have to say.
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Vortigern99
Title: Manager Emeritus
Registered:
Nov '00
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Date Posted:
2/4 9:43am
Subject:
RE: 100 Greatest TV Episodes Of All Time: 86. "Batman" The Catwoman Episodes
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I grew up watching the Dozier 'Batman' show and it will always have a place in my heart. For a small child in the 70s who didn't know any better, the show was the coolest thing ever invented, and took itself absolutely seriously! So I can suspend my disbelief a little bit and get into it from a child's POV. Also, just visually it's amazing to watch; the design elements of the series were crafted to catch the viewer's eye and hold it. It's really not as lame as you might think from seeing just an episode or two....
I have to agree that the Newmar Catwoman episodes were the best episodes overall; her performance and appearance far outstripped any other actress' interpretation of the role (until perhaps Michelle Pfeiffer in BR).
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"I knew from the beginning I was not doing science fiction.
I was doing a space opera, a fantasy film, a mythological piece,
a fairy tale."--George Lucas
My "Vader's Origins" thread:
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Zaz
Title: Manager:
The Amphitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
2/14 9:36pm
Subject:
RE: 100 Greatest TV Episodes Of All Time: 86. "Batman" The Catwoman Episodes
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Unfortunately, Adam West's voice annoys me.
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yankee8255
Registered:
May '05
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Date Posted:
2/14 11:40pm
Subject:
RE: 100 Greatest TV Episodes Of All Time: 86. "Batman" The Catwoman Episodes
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Vortigern99 posted:
I grew up watching the Dozier 'Batman' show and it will always have a place in my heart. For a small child in the 70s who didn't know any better, the show was the coolest thing ever invented, and took itself absolutely seriously! So I can suspend my disbelief a little bit and get into it from a child's POV. Also, just visually it's amazing to watch; the design elements of the series were crafted to catch the viewer's eye and hold it. It's really not as lame as you might think from seeing just an episode or two....
I have to agree that the Newmar Catwoman episodes were the best episodes overall; her performance and appearance far outstripped any other actress' interpretation of the role (until perhaps Michelle Pfeiffer in BR).
I'm highlighting the "perhaps" for emphasis. Julie Newmar in shiny black spandex rules. I remember those two episodes decently well, really the conclusion where she falls into the water. They were really great, and the tension between Batman and Catwoman was really well done, especially by the usual campy standards of that show. I remember coming home to watch Superman (the Reeve version) followed by Batman after school every day -- it was awesome.
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A perfect world: a house in the Hamptons with two solaria and a horse named Prickely Pete,
Dr. van Nostrand as my primary care physician,
the O-OT legally available on DVD in a quality worthy of its greatness
and Luke the undisputed hero of Star Wars
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harpuah
Registered:
Mar '05
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Date Posted:
2/16 7:26pm
Subject:
RE: 100 Greatest TV Episodes Of All Time: 86. "Batman" The Catwoman Episodes
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#85
DRAGNET
January 12, 1967
"The LSD Story"
When Dragnet returned to prime time after an eight-year absence, Jack Webb's hard-boiled cop show had clearly left the '50s behind. The story we were about to see was not only true, it was ripped from the headlines: Sergeant Friday and his new sidekick, Officer Bill Gannon (Harry Morgan), must investigate the spread of a new hallucinogenic drug among L.A. teens. The episode plays like a more subdued version of "Reefer Madness," highlighted by director Webb's version of a "psychedelic" party and Friday's hip lingo. "You're pretty high and far out. What kind of kick are you on, son?" he grills his prisoner, Benjie "Blue Boy" Carver (Michael Burns), an 18-year-old who paints half his face blue and the other half yellow. Do we have to tell you how "The LSD Story" ends up when the final dum-de-dum-dum is heard?
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Zaz
Title: Manager:
The Amphitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
2/17 9:20am
Subject:
RE: 100 Greatest TV Episodes Of All Time: 85) Dragnet "The LSD Story"
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Boy, *that's* an old show. I bet the only acquaintance most of the people here have with it is Dan Ackroyd's movie parody.
Anyway, not seen that one. 
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darthdrago
Registered:
Dec '03
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Date Posted:
2/17 1:33pm
Subject:
RE: 100 Greatest TV Episodes Of All Time: 85) Dragnet "The LSD Story"
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Anytime I see/hear people gripe & moan about how the PT was "wooden", I shake my head. Jack Webb raised wooden acting to a level of success that we'll never see again. He's like the bizarro Brando/Nicholson/Olivier. How this guy managed to successfully create not just one but several TV series that had wooden performances at its core... all I can say that Webb's shows should be mandatory viewing for anybody who bitches about Lucas's so-called damage to the Star Wars brand.
But as for this episode, I think anti-drug propaganda must have been the reason why Webb fired up Dragnet again in the late `60s. I've never seen this episode all the way through, but I've seen clips. I think the climax is that Dragnet finds a young married couple who drop tabs, then forget about their infant in the bathtub, who then drowns. There was apparently a separate episode where Webb/Dragnet goes off on some guy about the evils of drugs: "The Big Prophet" with the Webb PSA speech against pot/smack/acid here. Hilarious. 
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Zaz
Title: Manager:
The Amphitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
2/17 1:40pm
Subject:
RE: 100 Greatest TV Episodes Of All Time: 85) Dragnet "The LSD Story"
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I've seen Webb in movies, in which 'low-key' is a fairly adequate description.
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harpuah
Registered:
Mar '05
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Date Posted:
3/15 8:56pm
Subject:
RE: 100 Greatest TV Episodes Of All Time: 85) Dragnet "The LSD Story"
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84)
MAD ABOUT YOU
February 16, 1995
"The Alan Brady Show"
"The Alan Brady Show" turns reality inside out and brings to life the fictional Alan Brady (Carl Reiner), who once terrorized the characters of The Dick Van Dyke Show. But when Brady threatens to bail out as the narrator of Paul's documentary on the history of -- what else? -- TV, Mad really goes mad: Jamie gets so upset she bursts into tears the way Laura Petrie used to, sobbing, "Oh, Paul." Where is Mel Cooley when you need him?
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There is more stupidity than hydrogen in the universe, and it has a longer shelf life.
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Zaz
Title: Manager:
The Amphitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
3/16 8:39am
Subject:
RE: 100 Greatest TV Episodes Of All Time: 84) Mad About You "The Alan Brady Show"
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I have to say that I haven't seen this episode, but it sounds interesting.
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