Amph What was the last tv episode you watched?

Knight Rider S4, Ep.12 "The Scent of Roses" (1986) - Plot; After a brush with death, Michael decides to retire and eventually reunites with a lost love.

When I say "Emotionally compelling television", a few things probably come to mind for you, but one of those isn't likely to be Knight Rider unless your last name happens to be Hasselhoff. But ask any fan of the series and they'll tell you that this episode from the series' fourth and final season ranks among its best, and is easily its most powerful dramatically. Before I begin I must say that the latter has to be put into the context of the fact that the show is about a guy in a Member's Only jacket who fights crime with his sentient, talking 1982 Pontiac Trans-AM.

I grew up with Knight Rider, but by S4--with its Super Pursuit Mode and requisite "The show's ratings are falling, let's add an annoying kid" teenage sidekick--I was long gone. But having recently made my way through a selection of S1, I do remember the character of Stephanie "Stevie" Mason from an episode entitled "White Bird", where we learn that she's the love of Michael's life before he became the Knight Rider. All of that helped to add a little weight here as things turn tragic for the star-crossed couple. This is by no means high drama, but by the standards of the show it's a relatively serious and thoughtful story with a focus on our hero and not stunts and pyrotechnics.

Actor David Hasselhoff reportedly pleaded with producers to make this the final episode of the series, and it would've made for a bittersweet yet appropriate capper. They disagreed, and the series went on for another half season, ending instead with an episode about robbers under the influence of a voo doo princess. Gonna have to agree with The 'Hoff on this one, guys. - 7/10

- Catherine Hickland, the actress who plays Michael's love Stevie, was married to David Hasselhoff at the time. She would later remarry, to a man named--and I'm not joking--Michael Knight. Today she's married to Todd Fisher, brother of the late Carrie Fisher.

 

Yes, the supporting/recurring characters are right up there with the best things about the X-Files. Oh, one thing I might mention in regards to guest stars, start keeping your eyes open for actors returning in different roles. The first five years, I think, shot in Vancouver (and the typically rainy gloom of the location adds a lot to the show) and the pool of actors was probably smaller than in somewhere like LA or New York. I'm not sure about the Pilot, but there are definitely actors in Deep Throat that pop up again as different characters later on. I just watched a really great third season episode the other night and I'd forgotten that a particular actor was in; this guy's been in at least two other episodes. Makes the series feel a bit like old Hollywood where you'd see the same character actors again and again in the movies from a particular studio.

Also, I haven't seen the original Star Trek, though I've thought about picking up the Blu-Rays before. I think it's an inspired idea to have the option to select old or new special effects; I might watch the new effects at some point, but I'd definitely select the old ones on the first viewing for sure. On the other hand, I watched the entirety of MASH without the laugh track. I suppose it's not as simple as "this is how they originally aired" or "this is the artistic intent" but there's definitely just a way that feels right and a way that feels wrong.

 

"Sheriff Barney" from the Andy Griffith Show

 

I do like that cloudy/overcast gloom look of the series, and I think it's a character in its own right. If I remember correctly, one of the stars pressured the producers to move the production to LA to be closer to home and I can only imagine that changes the vibe.

Watching some older shows--even well into the 80s--it's remarkable how often I'll check the cast of a particular episode and find that an actor appeared in several episodes as different characters.

It seems like whenever ST:TOS is in syndication they play the episodes w/the "enhanced" F/X. I've seen them, and to be honest they look like sub-par late 90s syndicated sci-fi series F/X and clash dramatically w/the look of the rest of the series.

As odd as a laugh track seems on a series shot more like a drama, I can only imagine that removing it ex post facto does change the dynamic. Heck, it was probably written, edited and acted to accommodate those "laugh", and removing it sorta throws off its rhythm a bit.

 

The X-Files S1, Ep.3 "Squeeze" (1993) - Plot; A rash of serial murders point to a suspect who has been following a particular pattern for the better part of a century.

When one hears "The X-Files" it likely evokes images of flashlights in the dark and little green men (or, as Mulder informs us in this episode, little grey men), but in truth it covers the entire paranormal spectrum, and in this episode we get a break from UFOs and government conspiracies as it injects an element of horror. And make no mistake, this is a scary episode.

Featuring an unsettling atmosphere and a genuinely creepy performance by guest star Doug Hutchison, this is by far my favorite episode yet. I had a few quibbles about plot points left unexplained, like why the killer only acts every 30 years (I know they theorize that he hibernates, but why?), why he chooses to remove the victim's livers and what his genesis was, but the execution is otherwise so strong that in the end I really didn't care.

I get that the series is going to be building on its larger mythology, but I hope that it continues to make room for these kinds of standalone stories. - 8/10

- As Rogue1-and-a-half mentioned, be on the lookout for familiar faces as the series goes along. Here we get a very young Donal Logue as a career-driven agent who doesn't appreciate Mulder's particular "gifts".

- Also featured is Doug Hutchison, perhaps best known as the guy who married then underage teenager Courtney Stodden and became a reality TV "star". Given how skeezy that is, it's no surprise that he's so effectively creepy here.

 

Actually, it wasn't. It was conceived as a series without a laugh track and then the network was afraid of doing something that bold, so they added the laugh track in. Or so the story goes. I think that's why the track is actually fairly light.

Yeah, this episode is quite a shock to the system after the first two episodes which are both suspenseful at times, but never genuinely scary or creepy in my opinion. I remember a guy somewhere on the net talking about how he screened the first two episodes and thought the show would actually be cool for his pre-teen daughter. And so they decided to watch episode three together. And . . . yeah.

This is already an important episode for Scully, I think. She isn't exactly on Mulder's side in this episode, but she's already starting to take umbrage at how other agents mock him and denigrate him. Her relationship with the Donal Logue character is important and I've always kind of wished the show had found a way to bring him back somewhere down the line. Spoiler: he doesn't come back? Is that a spoiler? I like the way the show resolves his character in a really low-key way. On a lot o shows, the episode would have ended with him being humiliated in some super-satisfying way. Or on a schlockier version of The X-Files, he would have been murdered by Tooms himself. But this show just lets him drift out of the episode; he's still on his way up and he'll doubtless end up very successful. And Mulder & Scully are still in the shadows, doing the real work. That's a refreshingly cynical take.

But, yeah, this is Doug Hutchinson's show and, um, yeah, he's unsettlingly good. The show over the years would have a lot of brilliant guest stars, as I already said, but Hutchinson is almost too effective as Tooms. And, like you said, there does seem to be something genuinely creepy about the actor himself. But whatever it is, boy, he comes across. I've always found the moment after he's been handcuffed in Scully's apartment to be particularly effective. He does the whole snarling, lunging thing, but the moment that really chills me is when he just settles back and stops struggling. I think he looks as much like an animal there as he does anywhere else in the episode. Just a vicious, vicious dog just waiting for you to step into the circle where his chain will reach. Just waiting and watching.

Another favorite moment: when the agents discover the lair in the apartment at 66 Exeter St. (another great X-Files tradition: awesome addresses; I'm not even kidding - wait until you see what they find at 1616 Pandora St ) and the show just doesn't even acknowledge the gender roles. "What's down there?" Mulder asks and the duo just look at each other. Then Scully just tucks her gun in her pants, says, "Let's find out" and leads the way without either of them even discussing who should. A small moment but an important one for Scully as a character and for the show as well as it demonstrates that the show isn't going to tie itself to stereotypical gender roles.

 

Knowledge is power . I can see how that would've made networks nervous at the time. Today single camera comedies w/o a studio audience/laugh track are fairly common, but for my generation a comedy w/o a laugh track would've felt odd. We were just so conditioned to it.

Yeah, this isn't exactly a family night episode.

I really liked Scully here. In a standard episode she's the counterpoint to Mulder, but here because you had Logue and his team essentially filling that role we got to see her coming to his defense. It shows she has a genuine respect for Mulder and his talents, if not exactly his proclivities. I also loved that Mulder could give exactly two squirts what anyone thinks of him.

I was fully expecting for Logue to be the final victim, having been conditioned to expect that by lesser shows, but not going that route impressed me.

Agreed. He does the whole monster thing very well, but his creepiest moment is during his lie detector test. He's so emotionally detached from things. There's no fear, no anger. No... anything.

Yeah, I took note of that as well. Likely a conscious effort on Carter and Co.'s part. From what I read going in (and I only just skimmed articles talking about the conception of the series to avoid spoilers), Chris Carter made Mulder the true believer and Scully the skeptic to avoid those same kinds of gender stereotypes.

 

G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero S2, Ep.51 "Cold Slither" (1986) - Plot; When a raid by the Joes leaves Cobra on the brink of bankruptcy, Cobra Commander hatches a scheme to create a rock band whose music is infused with subliminal messages.

On its face, this plot is completely ridiculous, but it's all in the execution. Seeing Zartan and the Dreadnoks rocking out in pure 80s fashion is a hoot, and the focus of the episode is more on the comedy than the action. The song "Cold Slither" sings is a real earworm. The version of the great G.I. Joe theme the Joes retaliate with... not so much. - 7/10

 

"The Project Strigas Affair", a great, somewhat atypical early episode of "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." Best known now for featuring Shatner and Nimoy as guest stars, a couple of years before they enlisted in Start Fleet. Also features Werner Klemperer before his transfer to Stalag 13.

 

The Real Ghostbusters S1, Ep.6 "The Boogieman Cometh" (1986) - Plot; Two kids show up wanting to hire the Ghostbusters to stop the Boogieman from haunting them. While the guys play along, Egon seems especially eager to help them.

Mixing in clever laughs and genuine scares in equal measure, "The Boogieman Cometh" is a prime example of why The Real Ghostbusters is not only one of the best cartoons from the 80s, but one of the best cartoons period. - 8/10

- I know the character's cartoon counterparts look different largely due to issues of money (as in not wanting to have to pay the actors for the use of their likenesses), but I've never understood why they made Egon look like the bassist for a New Wave band.

- I've read that the voice actors always recorded together, and it shows in the final product. It really does feel as if they're bouncing off of one another.

 

I watched an episode of "CHiPs."

 

Rick and Morty S3, Ep. 1 "The Rickshank Redemption" (2017) - I can honestly say that one of the last things I thought I would be doing tonight would be watching the season 3 premiere. The episode was good.

Spoiler

I liked that we got to see what happened to the "Rick Potion #9" timeline, and the prison escape sequence was pretty good.

McDonald's needs to bring back the Szechuan Mcnugget Dipping Sauce.

 

G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero S2, Ep. 30 "Into Your Tent I silently Creep" (1986) - Plot; Several Joes discover that some of their personal items are missing. After initially blaming his teammates for his missing cassette player, Cross Country learns that the items were stolen by small Cobra robots originally sent to steal Joe secrets.

This was the final new episode of Sunbow's G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero to air (not counting G.I. Joe: The Movie). A third season was halted during the pre-production stage when Sunbow lost the rights to fellow animation company Dic, whose own take on the property went to air two years later. As such, this isn't a capper, but a typical standalone episode, and what a stinker for Sunbow to go out on.

The premise is silly and the execution is worse. Even the lesser ARAH episodes have their moments for me, but this was a 22 minute full body cringe, capped by good 'ol boy vehicle driver Cross Country besting elite Cobra ninja Stormshadow by throwing Lady Jaye's purse at him. Yo, J--ahh, never mind. - 5/10

 

G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero S2, Ep.51 "Last Hour to Doomsday" (1986) - Plot; Cobra invents a thing and threatens people.

In a typical G.I. Joe episode, Cobra invents or attempts to posses some sort of über mega-weapon to hold the world to ransom. Ya know, those über mega-weapons can't be cheap to produce, and if Cobra would just invest that money instead, maybe they wouldn't have to keep trying to purloin our loot.

In this episode Cobra invents something called the Vortex Cone. I'm no Don Draper, but Cobra might want to go back to the ad boys for a better name on that one. Anyway, what follows is about 20 minutes of underwater battles against androids, a struggle with a giant octopus and a last second escape from an exploding Cobra base. In other words, just average day for these anything but average Joes. - 6/10

 

i binged season 2 of "love" on netflix. liked it a lot, it's a sweet show that hits a lot of notes just right. gillian jacobs is wonderful and they wrote the gus character a lot more likable this season.

 

How many inexplicable near-threesomes are there?

 

haha none, but there's still some pretty far-fetched stuff.

 

I need to watch that. Aside from Jacobs, who every right thinking person loves, there's also Paul Rust and Claudia O'Doherty, both of whom I love. Claudia O'Doherty is a real "podcast crush" of mine. If that's a thing. Yeah, it's a thing.

 

Juke Skywalker Have you ever seen an episode of The Littles called "A Little Drunk"? It hits some real '80s notes and is as bizarrely entertaining as some of the old GI Joe episodes seem now. You might like it.

The last old thing I watched was the pilot of The Facts of Life. I didn't know that a. the show started in the '70s, b. it was a spinoff of Diff'rent Strokes, and c. Molly Ringwald was part of the original cast. I kinda forgot I watched this but I was on a plane yesterday with a woman who was a dead ringer for Blair and it jogged my memory.

 

slidewhistle I'd actually never even heard of The Littles, which shocks me, as I fancy myself a bit of an 80s 'toon aficionado and raconteur; Certainly for former. I see that it's up on YouTube, so I'm gonna make a note to check it out.

 

G.I. Joe: A Real American S2, Ep.10 "Once Upon a Joe" (1986) - Plot; When an orphanage becomes collateral damage during a fight with Cobra, G.I. Joe set out to rebuild it.

Whenever 80s 'toon fans see "Written by Buzz Dixon" attached to an episode of their favorite series, they know they're in for a treat. That's certainly the case here, where a standard G.I. Joe episode (e.g. Cobra is trying to steal a doohickey; here the cleverly named nebulous McGuffin Device) is interwoven with an amusing fairy tale being told by Shipwreck, the Joes Jack Nicholsonesque sailor, in an attempt to entertain the kids. As is so often the case with a Dixon penned episode, we get a fresh take on the standard formula and a good dash of wit and humor to boot. - 8/10

 

The Venture Bros. S5, Ep.2 "Venture Libre" (2013) - Plot; When one of his creations, an undead soldier called Venturestein, goes AWOL, the Army sends Dr. Venture to Central America to track it down and fix or destroy it.

I used to be a Venture Bros. fanatic, but the three year long gaps in between seasons proved to be too much, and I reluctantly left the Venture compound after S4's glorious send-off "Operation P.R.O.M.", a tour de force hour of genius that was, for me, the series' high point. Now, nearly seven years later (seven years?!?!), I'm rejoining the first family of fail, and it's good to be home.

"Venture Libre" isn't a top-tier episode, but after so many years away, the bar was lowered a bit and it just felt good to be back together with Dr. Venture and company again. - 7/10

 

The Avengers season 2 "Mission to Montreal"

The pre-Emma Peel Avengers episodes are getting a rare airing in the UK at the moment. This episode introduces Dr Martin King as Steed's helper, but you learn very little about him; in fact the script was written for Ian Hendry's Dr Keel character, and simply repurposed for actor Jon Rollason. It's a bit slow, favouring melodrama over action, and the system of shooting "live" onto videotape was very unforgiving - if an actor fluffed a line, too bad! Anyway, I found it interesting.