I originally chose “Death By Lightning, the mini series from Netflix, as the next show for the Sunday Morning Sidewalk because it had four episodes and I was not yet ready to commit to one of the longer shows on my list. After watching the first episode of the series, I made an excellent choice.
I was thoroughly compelled by the show. I knew little of James Garfield, outside that he was President of the United States. The way this show set up the amazing, true story was simply brilliant.
In sense, setting Garfield and his would be assassin Charles Guiteau in the same world was a remarkable feat of storytelling, which immediately reminded me of Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr from Hamilton.
There was something so hopeful about the way Garfield received the nomination from the Republican Party in 1880. In a world of political discourse that we exist in today, I can not ever see such a thing happen and, the fact that it had happened, was stunning.
The political in-fighting inside the convention was fascinating. Garfield, who did not look for the nomination, received the ground swell among the delegates. Watching it build through the convention brought me a level of aspiration for the process.
Meanwhile, Charles Guiteau was being introduced to us as a manipulator and, perhaps, a mentally ill individual. What his plans are moving forward after robbing his loving sister once again, is compelling.
Great acting in the show so far as Michael Shannon and Matthew Macfadyen lead this talented ensemble. There was also several other amazing actors in the cast including Nic Offerman, Bradley Whitford, Betty Gilpin, Shea Whigham, Alistair Petrie, Laura Marcus, and Paula Malcomson.
I am hooked after this first episode and I am excited to see the remaining three episodes of this mini series from Netflix.
I wondered what differences there might be to the show now that we have reached season two. There are a couple small things, but most of the show was fairly consistent with season one.
The changes included after the opening number on the stage, a member of Sha Na Na would come up to the microphone and do three or four jokes. These three episodes saw Jocko, Bowser and Chico take the mike. Most of the jokes turned out to be self-derogatory and not that funny.
The other thing I noticed was the show started putting the name of certain members on the screen with a jokey comment beneath their name such as “Jocko: Has a season ticket to the Ballet.” These were cute and could pop up at any time.
Otherwise, they had the same structure. It felt like Avery Schreiber was gone as the cabbie since they did not have him bringing the guest stars in like last season. Interestingly enough, two of the three episodes had Johnny pretend to do an imitation of the celebs, The Shirells and Little Anthony.
Episode two had Screamin’ Scott singing When the Saints Go Marching In during the comedy routine song. They actually had him sing the entire song before they paused for the joke. There were some other “heaven/angel” songs to go with the Saints one.
Episode three had Soupy Sales show up as a cop and a stage director. He was the “director” of the stage show, which was the comedy bit in episode three where Sha Na Na all dressed up as women to sing “I Enjoy Being a Girl.” It was slightly disturbing.
They had some of my favorite songs from Sha Na Na on these three episodes including “Baby, That is Rock ‘N Roll,” “Pretty Little Angel Eyes,” and “Teenager in Love.” In that last one, one of my favorite parts of that song is when Chico almost cracks himself up when he says “ax” instead of “ask” during the song. You can hear him giggle slightly.
They continue to get the musical acts, which really helps the show. These musical acts are acts from the 50/60s era that were probably happy to get a call to be on Sha Na Na. Bobby Rydell couldn’t have been too busy in the late 70s/early 80s.
I finished up Sha Na Na’s first season on YouTube this morning with three pretty good episodes. I do believe that some of the errors that the show did in the first half of their first season were addressed midway through and it did seem better.
Episode 22 kicked off with Blue Moon, which was strange because I am almost certain that that song has already been done on the show. I don’t think that it was just the pilot episode either. I didn’t go back through my reviews to see, but it felt very familiar. The last song of the season was sung by Dirty Dan, and it was Dream Lover, which, again, I thought I had already heard this season. I’m not sure it was a good sign if they were repeating songs just during their first season.
They continued with the musical acts as guest stars instead of comedians or actors. Dion, Marth Reeves and the Vandellas and Bobby Vee all were able to perform and added so much to each episode. The poor comedy was kept to a minimum and the show became more of a musical variety show.
Martha Reeves stuck around after her song and did some jokes with Bowzer and Lennie, both of which were funny. You can do that if it is written well.
Sha Na Na does a fantastic job of finding the right voices to blend together. They had the song Charlie Brown sung by Screamin’ Scott and Jocko, and they sounded great together. Then, they had their best singers< Johnny, Bowzer, Donny, Santini and Denny doing Remember Then, which is sensational.
In episode 23, they did one of the comedy bits where they all dress up and they called it Swine Lake. At first, I thought to myself, “What am I watching?” but as it went on, I started picturing it as an act on the Muppet Show. Had this been the pigs from the Muppets doing this “ballet” I wouldn’t have blinked at it. So, by making Sha Na Na human Muppets, I found much more enjoyment in the skit than I would have before.
Avery Schreiber, who has been a cabbie all season long, came into the diner and did a skit/song where he danced like a robot. It was a bizarre moment. It was another that kind of grew on me and I liked the effort of him doing something different than just drive his cab onto the set and bring the guest star. Apparently, the song was called Mechanical Man and it was a song Avery Schreiber wrote the song as a way to express his unhappiness over how he was being seen as an actor.
Dirty Dan had several songs in this block of three including Dream Lover, Da Do Run Run, and part of the Mexican skit in episode 22.
The comedy bit song in the 24th episode was Ahab the Arab, which was a song b Ray Stevens. I was surprised, since I thought this was too recent for Sha Na Na to do it. However, I did a quick Google search and it said that the song was released in 1962, meaning it fell right into Sha Na Na’s wheelhouse.
This brings to a close season one of the variety show. I am curious to see if there are any changes from season one to two or if the changes they made in the middle of season one will just continue.
Dr. Robby kept saying in episode 11 that there was only two hours left in the shift, but I knew there were still multiple hours of episodes remaining. I did not know what was going to happen.
And then all hell broke loose.
Some of the most unbelievably intense, stressful stretches of television that I have ever seen. The whole active shooter storyline came back around and slammed everyone at the ER in one massive blast.
I get the feeling that David, the boy who had the hit list back at the beginning of the day was not the culprit of this shooting. It may seem a bit contrived, but I believe it is all coincidence. When David strolled back to the hospital to pick up his mom, he did not seem like someone who just shot dozens of people.
Either way, this series of episodes was amazing, in the most difficult and painstakingly horrendous ways possible.
Who would have thought that the high pressure baby delivery in episode 11, with Dr. Collins working it after suffering her own miscarriage, would be the low stress scene of these three episodes. That whole baby thing was just anxiety-filled and I was begging the screen to save the baby.
Then, it went crazy.
Watching the hospital prepare for the mass shooting before the victims arrived was fascinating. I wonder if that is the way most/all hospitals respond to an emergency like that? They knew what had to happen and they turned their ER into a MASH unit. I have never quite seen anything like it.
Then, Robby cracking at the end of episode 13 brought one more scene for Noah Wylie’s Emmy roll, with all the weight of the deaths of the day, compounded by this horrible triage situation, and trying to explain to his step-son (of sorts) how he could not save the girlfriend.
I can’t imagine what would be going through the minds of those doctors and interns who were having their first day on the job before everything went to crap. They all were having their moments during the chaos.
The first season is down to just two episodes remaining, which does not seem to be enough to manage everything that the show has set up. This makes me feel that there will be plenty of things dangling at the end of the season, when this day finally comes to a close.
There were so many great TV shows on streaming and TV. We split them into four categories: Drama, Comedy, Genre and Animated.
Starting with Animation:
#5. Eyes of Wakanda(Disney +). Good show with four episodes dropped all on one day. Second half of those episodes were considerably better.
#4. Win or Lose(Disney +). Pixar show on Disney + that I watched during the Sunday Morning Sidewalk. Highly entertaining and well written.
#3. Marvel Zombies(Disney +). This one turned out way better than I ever thought it would. Another one day drop by Marvel on Disney +.
#2. Hazbin Hotel (Amazon Prime). Second season of the Hell musical was awesome. Wonderful music and amazing voice acting.
#1. Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man (Disney +). One of the best animated Spider-Man series in quite a long time. Great characterization, not only for Peter, but also for Lonnie (Tombstone). I loved the adjusted origin and the tie ins to the MCU was clever.
Comedy
#4. Poker Face (Peacock). Always entertaining. Natasha Lyonne is great as Charlie. Every time is seemed like the show made an adjustment. And that was the truth.
#3. Stick (Apple TV +). Owen Wilson starred as a former golf pro who finds a skilled kid who he wanted to help become a pro. Funny and clever.
#2. The Studio (Apple TV +). Insider story starring Seth Rogan as a movie studio exec and his struggles to get his films out. Hilarious writing and a ton of brilliant cameos.
#1. Only Murders in the Building (Hulu). The fifth season of this venerable series was remarkably entertaining and funny. There has been some great seasons of this show, and the fifth one worked so well.
Drama
#10. The White Lotus (HBO Max). This was my least favorite of the three seasons of White Lotus. I was only really interested in one of the stories, and I was unhappy with the resolution.
#9. Squid Game Season 3 (Netflix). Squid Game was really great, but was tainted by the finale, which left way too much undone and unsolved. The end hurt this badly.
#8. The Bear (Hulu). A much better season than the previous one. The Bear felt like it got back to the success from the early seasons. This is in a drama because it is NOT a comedy.
#7. Duster (HBO Max). This was a fun series with Josh Holloway and a duster car. This sadly did not get a second season, but it was much better than it got credit for.
#6. The Pitt (HBO Max). This one might be higher if I had watched the entire series. I am currently at episode 7. Great medical show with Noah Wylie.
#5. Pluribus (Apple TV +). Another one that might be higher on this list if it is finished. There is only one more episode left, but it is really great.
#4. Yellowjackets (Paramount +). The third season continues to show the weirdness of the forest. The story of the mysterious events are still exceptional.
#3. Adolescence (Netflix). Four episode mini series from Netflix with a teenage boy who is charged with murder. Brilliant performances from Stephen Graham and Owen Cooper.
#2. Dexter: Resurrection(Showtime). After the up and down nature of Dexter: Original Sin, I did not expect much out of Resurrection. However, this was a sensational series with Dexter taking up residence in New York. This was so fabulous.
#1. Paradise (Hulu). One of the best new series of the year. The mystery behind the death of the President and what was going on with the story. Paradise was so wonderful. I did not expect it to be this good.
Genre
#15. Alien: Earth (FX). This started great, but it fell off quick. I actually never finished this series.
#14. Fallout (Amazon Prime). I have only seen one episode of season two so far, which is why this is as low as it is. It might be on the 2026 list too.
#13. Silo (Apple TV +). The ending part of the season came into 2025 and it was a very strong season.
#12. Perry Jackson and the Olympians (Disney +). Another show that would be higher on the list had there been more episodes released by now. I do like the mythologically based show.
#11. The Last of Us (HBO Max). The second season of The Last of Us was a step down from the first season.. mainly because of the results of Joel’s fate. It was brutal and damaged the show.
#10. Wednesday(Netflix). The second season of this show was good, but maybe not as great as season one. Still solid and it had some great new characters.
#9. Doctor Who (Disney +). I am sad that Ncuti Gatwa was gone from the role by the end of the season. I loved him as The Doctor. This was a great season with some excellent episodes.
#8. Ironheart (Disney +). Ironheart was better than I expected and… MEPHISTO CONFIRMED!!!
#7. Gen V (Amazon Prime). Gen V does a great job setting up for the end of the Boys in 2026. The characters are excellent and the story was awesome. Brutal as always.
#6. Murderbot (Apple TV +). Surprise series with a robot that becomes sentient. A fun sci-fi series with a wonderful group of characters that are easy to root for.
#5. Strangers Things 5 (Netflix). The first part of the final season of Stranger Things was so great, especially the ending of episode 4 with Will.
#4. Andor (Disney +). The second and final season of Andor is amazing. You knew what the fate of these characters would be, yet the drama of this series was never lacking.
#3. Peacemaker (HBO Max). John Cena’s second season dealt with the multiverse and Peacemaker has to confront so many of his personal demons. A great season for this show… and another brilliant opening credits.
#2. Daredevil: Born Again (Disney +). Daredevil returned and brought Kingpin with him. Shocking death in the first ten minutes set the tone for the season. I wish they had done more with Muse, but it had a great episode in a bank.
#1. It: Welcome to Derry (HBO Max). The prequel to the movie series was so great. The first episode introduced us to a group of kids, made us love them, and then killed them off. Then, we meet another group of kids who had to struggle against Pennywise. Bill Skarsgård was amazing as Pennywise, scary and sinister. A satisfying conclusion with one of the best finale of the year.
Okay, there were a couple of moments during these two episodes that we rough on me. There was a heart attack scene that was just about more than I could handle.
I do like how the show has been, for the most part, more about the characters than with the illnesses. Whether it be the staff of the ER or the patients, the characters are the driving force behind story.
The abortion arc is really good. There is a father abuse storyline that did not work for me. One comment was made that the doctors and nurses were mandatory reporters but couldn’t report without evidence. As a mandatory reporter, that is patently incorrect. That pulled me out of the scene.
Then, it took a dramatic twist with Trinity Santos, who was a character that I have not been a fan of so far in the series, and a vicious confrontation with the child abuser in question. It was fairly unrealistic, but very kick ass. It helped that storyline.
The end of episode seven was horrific, as Dr. Collins went into the restroom, with tears, seeing blood in her underwear. There had been subtle hints through the last couple of episodes that Collins, who was pregnant, was going to have something terrible happen to the baby. While it is unconfirmed as of yet, this ending scene did not make things look good.
This pair of episodes started to show Doctor Robby was acting unlike he normally would do. I had a bit of a problem with that too because up until here, he seemed like he was great. I had no idea that he was acting differently than normal. The show had told us about his struggles on the anniversary of his mentor’s death, but I still thought he was doing a great job. When Collins called him out on his behavior, I was surprised. Some of these scenes with Robby felt out of place from the rest of the season. Of course, we did not know Robby before this series, and all of the episodes have been the same day, so it is hard to see the changes.
The show brought up the kid with the “hit list” again, but it is a story arc that feels like it will come back hard later in the season.
I was so happy that Whittaker made it through episode 7 without having to change his scrubs!
So this was a series that I have wanted to watch for awhile now. The time was just never right, but with Christmas break upon me, plus the second season debuting in January on HBO Max, I thought I would give The Pitt a try.
See, I am a hypochondriac… well, sort of. Medical shows have bothered me in the past. I am bothered by things that can go wrong in the human body. While it does not make me feel as if I am having the same symptoms, it does bother me. That being said, the idea of each episode being an hour at a time in an emergency room made me think of 24 and I was intrigued.
I almost stopped at the first episode. A couple of scenes in that first show nearly finished me off. I was in on some of the storylines though so I decided to stick with it. After four episodes, I am fully in and will hopefully not have any further issues.
The storylines were coming hard and fast in the first four episodes. I was working on the EYG Comic Cavalcade as I was watching so the number of episodes just kept rolling as I worked. Perhaps I shouldn’t work as I watched, because I was being distracted by the show.
Noah Wylie led this cast of actors that I mostly did not recognize. Yet, they all did a great job with their roles. The short term stories with the patients were all very engaging and ranged from deadly serious to a good laugh.
One that especially caught my attention was a mother who faked an illness to get some help with her son. She found a list of girls to eliminate in his room, causing some serious tension of the story. That one is still percolating away. There was one that seemed to fly by faster with a brother and sister who desperately tried to keep their father alive, despite his wishes not to be on life-saving equipment. That story felt like it played out over a longer time than what it actually did, since the four episodes were designed to be only four hours total.
There were also a bunch of deaths in that four hour period. It truly showed the anguish the doctors and nurses have to deal with in their daily job.
The characters are introduced really well as there is not a ton of time to spend with them. Their minutes on screen are maximized extremely effectively.
I was not sure I was going to continue to watch this during episode one because of my own issues, but I am glad I pushed on. This is a strong series so far and my goal is to finish season one before the arrival of season two in January.
Based on the 1970 movie of the same name, M*A*S*H was a comedy/drama series (perhaps one of the earliest examples of a dramedy) based in the Korean War. It ran for 11 seasons on CBS. Pretty impressive for a war that only ran for just over three years. Truthfully, much of the show was based on the Vietnam War, which was still going on when the show started.
M*A*S*H was set at the 4077th M*A*S*H, which stood for Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, and showed the humor, spirit and dedication of a group of doctors, nurses, coremen who faced death daily and battled while standing in blood. There were moments of complete jocularity, and then deathly serious moments as well. Some times in a matter of minutes.
Led by Hawkeye Pierce (Alan Alda), the cast of M*A*S*H was amazing. It included Mike Farrell, Wayne Rogers, Larry Linville, Harry Morgan, McClean Stevenson, Loretta Switt, Jamie Farr, Gary Burghoff, William Christopher, and David Ogden Stiers.
Teh first three seasons of M*A*S*H are my least favorite. Don’t get me wrong, these episodes are still very good, but my favorite time of the show was when BJ Hunnicut came to replace Trapper John and Col. Potter replaced Henry Blake. This time frame, while still with Frank Burns, is some of my favorite television ever.
These characters developed and changed over the run of the show. Margaret Houlihan changed the most, going from a one-note antagonist for Hawkeye and Trapper John, to a deep, three-dimensional character that was more than just what she started as.
The series finale was the highest rated shows ever on televison for years. It was entitled “Goodbye, Farewell and Amen.” It showed the final days of the Korean War and the departure for each of the main characters from the 4077th M*A*S*H.
M*A*S*H was one of the most original and brillaint shows on TV. I can sit down today and watch M*A*S*H, enjoying each episode.
I noticed some differences in these two episodes than I did int he previous ones. First, it seemed as if they got control of the laugh track. It was still there, but it was much more in control. It was not as loud as it was in the previous 16 episodes and I actually did not notice it for awhile. That was a HUGE item for the show.
Then, the comedy, which was always real bad in most of the first 16 episodes, wasn’t that bad here. It was still not the greatest comedy I ever heard, but it was considerably better. I did not cringe as much as I did in the first part of the season.
They had a new set, a diner where they could go for some of the backstage bits. It was much improved. We had way few of the ridiculous bits by some of the other members of the cast. I wonder if they let some of the others go.
These two episodes had the benefit of having guests that could sing. The first one was Johnny Ray, who I am not sure I knew, but who I was incredibly impressed with. He sang a song on the street set that was great. He was also singing it live. I was fascinated with the way he moved his mouth as he sang. No one would move their mouth like that if they were lip synching.
The second episode of the night had Chubby Checker, who sang Let’s Twist Again (Like We Did Last Summer). He was also clearly singing the song. Truthfully, there were some times he was screaming it. It brought a lot of energy to the show. There is no doubt that when the show has singers as guests, things just seem stronger.
They had a couple of comedy songs- first Rip Van Winkel and then My Baby Loves A Western Movie, and I have to say, I thought both were decent and had some funny moments. I really prefer the group on the stage or in the street set, but these comedy bits were fun too.
These episodes had some solid songs including All Shook Up, Poetry in Motion, Yakety Yak, and Earth Angel.
Things are looking up. Some of my biggest complaints from the first part of this season seems to have been addressed, and just turning that damn laugh track down is a major step in the right direction. Next episode looks to have Chuck Berry as a guest star so that means more music from the guest. That is the way to go.
Who thought that a TV Show based on a low budget, poorly reviewed film could spiral into seven seasons of television on the WB/CW?
The TV show took the idea from the movie and expanded upon it with Sarah Michelle Geller assuming the role of Buffy Summers. Buffy moved to a town named Sunnydale, which was located on a Hellmouth. This explained the variety of vampires, demons and monsters that would populate the town.
Buffy met and bonded with Willow and Zander, who became her backup and support. As the one slayer, Buffy had to deal with the responsibilities of protecting the world from the dangers of an apocalypse while trying to pass high school.
Buffy and Angel, a long lived vampire who had gotten his soul back, became the IT couple of the show, though fate was very much against them. Angel, played by David Boreanaz, wound up being spun off into his own show.
Rupert Giles was the stuffy librarian at the high school who was, in reality, Buffy’s Watcher. A Watcher would train and provide guidance to the current slayer. Giles quickly became connected with Buffy and the other “Scooby Gang” members, and he was more of a father figure than a trainer. Giles was portrayed by Anthony Stewart Head.
Spike was another vampire that Buffy had a relationship with. Spike was introduced to the series as an antagonist, but his popularity saw him return multiple times and eventually fall in love with the Slayer. It led to Spike regaining his own soul. Spike was just so cool.
There were amazing episodes with a ton of creativity over the seven seasons including one where everyone lost the ability to talk (“Hush”) and another one where Buffy finds the dead body of her mother Joyce (“Body”). Perhaps the greatest musical episode of all time was Buffy’s “Once More with Feeling” which saw a demon summoned to Sunnydale causing song and dance to break out across the city.
There have been talks about bringing the Buffy franchise back to TV with a new version that would include Sarah Michelle Geller in some form.
Kiefer Sutherland was Jack Bauer, an agent with the Counter Terrorist Unit Los Angeles Division (CTU). Jack had to deal with terrorists and dangerous situations to help his country. And every minute counted.
24 had a special gimmick. Every season, there were 24 episodes and each episode was told in real time. So the story unfolded over a 24 hour period and we saw how Jack Bauer and the other agents of CTU responded to these terrorist events.
The gimmick was really cool, but would never have lasted for the length of time that it did without that first season of 24. In the final scene of the first season, Jack discovered that his wife, Teri Bauer, who had been a major role in the season, had been killed by a mole inside CTU. The season ended with Jack cradling the dead body of his wife.
You do not end a season of TV in that manner. The hero does not face this level of anguish in the final scene. It proved to the viewers that absolutely anything was possible during these 24-hour days and that you could not afford to miss anything on the show.
Admittedly, as the show grew older, the show became more played out, and the show did seem to focus too much on Middle Eastern terrorists (accusations of Islamophobia were leveled at the show), but Jack would do absolutely ANYTHING in order to accomplish his goal. There were times when what Jack did was as shocking as anything the terrorist would do.A TV show protagonist just would not do what Jack Bauer did.
24 ran for eight seasons on FOX, which included a TV movie between season six and seven. There was also a new series called Live Another Day, which cut the season in half from 24 hours to 12 (episodes).
This is the show that many people made an account to Apple TV + for. Ted Lasso had three seasons on the streamer and was some of the best TV you were going to find.
Ted Lasso was a American football coach who was hired to move to England and coach football (aka soccer to us Americans), despite the fact that he had never coached the sport before.
There has never been a character like Ted Lasso on TV before. I binged the first couple of seasons because I was catching up with all the hype, and I can remember multiple times thinking to myself, “I wish I was more like Ted Lasso.” The constant positives and the humor that he faced every situation was inspiring.
Ted Lasso was played by Jason Sudeikis with such a perfect balance of zeal and down-home-charm. The rest of the cast around Ted was great as well. This included Hannah Waddingham, as team owner Rebecca Welton. Her story arc as the evil owner felt right out of “Major League,” except it took an entirely different path, completely unexpectedly. Bret Goldstein was Roy Kent, aging superstar player who had to come to terms with his skills slipping way. The relationship with Roy and Keeley Jones, played by Juno Temple, was one of the best storylines on the show.
Others on the show included Phil Dunster, Nick Mohammad, Brendan Hunt, Jeremy Swift, James Lance, Andrea Anders, Sam Richardson, Anthony Head, Cristo Fernandez, Annette Badland, Billy Harris, and Keeley Hazell.
Much like the Tick, Ted Lasso became known for his quotes, dubbed Ted Lasso-isms. Here are some of my personal favorites:
“Taking on a challenge is a lot like riding a horse, isn’t it? If you’re comfortable while you’re doing it, you’re probably doing it wrong.”
“If that’s a joke, I love it. If not, can’t wait to unpack that with you later.”
“I always thought tea was going to taste like hot brown water. And do you know what? I was right.”
“You know what the happiest animal on earth is? It’s a goldfish. You know why? It’s got a 10-second memory.”
“This woman is strong, confident, and powerful. Boss, I tell you, I’d hate to see you and Michelle Obama arm wrestle, but I wouldn’t be able take my eyes off of it either.”
“Sam was more open than the jar of peanut butter on my counter.”
“You beating yourself up is like Woody Allen playing the clarinet. I don’t want to hear it.”
“It’s just a group of people who care, Roy. Not unlike folks at a hip-hop concert whose hands are not in the air.”
“Your body is like day-old rice. If it ain’t warmed up properly, something real bad could happen.”
“I promise you there is something worse out there than being sad, and that’s being alone and being sad.”
“There’s two buttons I never like to hit: that’s panic and snooze.”
“I shouldn’t bring an umbrella to a brainstorm.”
“Don’t fight back. Fight Forward”
“He thinks he’s mad now, wait till we win him over. He’ll be furious.”
“I’m like an incomplete list of Madeline Kahn’s best films. I ain’t got no clue.”
“Well, fellas, if you’re looking for a pep talk from me, you’re in trouble. ‘Cause I’m like Michael Flatley at 11:59 p.m. on St. Patrick’s Day, I’m tapped out.”
“I’ve had more psychotic episodes than Twin Peaks.”
“I do love a locker room. It smells like potential.”
“I’ve never been embarrassed about having streaks in my drawers. You know, it’s all part of growing up.”
“If the internet has taught us anything, it’s that sometimes it’s easier to speak our minds anonymously.”
“You two knuckleheads have split our locker room in half. And when it comes to locker rooms, I like ’em just like my mother’s bathing suits. I only wanna see ’em in one piece, you hear?”
“Here’s an idea that’s gonna help a little or hurt a whole lot. Who needs a drink?”
“Well, as my doctor told me when I got addicted to fettuccine Alfredo, that’s a little rich for my blood.”
“Guys have underestimated me my entire life. And for years, I never understood why. It used to really bother me. But then one day, I was driving my little boy to school, and I saw this quote by Walt Whitman, and it was painted on the wall there. It said, ‘Be curious, not judgmental.’ I like that.”
Had a run of four episodes of Sha Na Na tonight and I have the same complaints that I always have. The laugh track/applause track is just terrible. Honestly, the first 10-15 seconds of every song is impossible to hear because of the fake clapping. Second, the humor is terrible. This show is so much better when they have a musical guest so they can sing with Sha Na Na instead of doing this cringe-level comedy bits.
These four episodes only had one guest star that sang. It was Della Reese and that episode was the best of the four. It did have a pretty racist comedy bit called House of Kyoto, but other than that, this was the one.
I read a tweet awhile ago from Jon Bausman who spoke about the early season comedy being less than they had wanted. He said he thought it got better in later seasons. I sure hope so.
Fact is, when Sha Na Na is singing, this show is sensational. These four episodes had some bangers in them, including Mr. Bass Man, All I Have to Do is Dream, and Why Do Fools Fall in Love, which I believe are done multiple times over the years on the show.
The strangest song of the four featured Pamela Myers singing with Frank Gorshin, who was doing impersonations of celebrities like Jack Nicholson, Dustin Hoffman etc. Gorshin seemed really weird during this segment, but it was interesting to hear Pamela Myers sing the song. It was in the old parked car bit that they usually run.
Other celebrities on these four episodes included Adrianne Barbeau, Dr. Joyce Brothers, Kristy McNichols, Rosey Greer and Milton Berle. I think they had taped more bits with Milton Berle when he was on the show earlier in the year and they just inserted them into this episode because at the end of the show, Bowzer did not thank Milton Berle for being on the show. He only thanked Rosey Greer. Why was Rosey Greer booked for the show?
Looking ahead, Chubby Checker and Chuck Berry are coming up soon. Those are the type of guests I want to see on Sha Na Na. More music, less of all the other background jokes.
Harry Anderson was one of my favorite parts of Cheers in its early seasons so I loved following him to his new show. While this was not a direct spin off from Cheers, the Harry Anderson character Harry Stone, shared a lot of the same traits with Harry the Hat from Cheers.
I am sure it all came from Harry Anderson’s own act as a magician/comedian and his skills were highlighted on Cheers. Night Court then followed.
Night Court became a wonderful ensemble show. It took awhile to find the proper cast, specifically the defense attorney. The public defender started with Paula Kelly in season one, then went to Ellen Foley in season two before Markie Post finally solidified the position and went the remaining time for the show.
Dan Fielding, the DA, was never a trouble as John Larroquette ran the entire series. Dan was a slimy guy with a heart of gold and the contrast between Dan and Harry was always a great bit for the show. Richard Moll was another full time supporting actor as bailiff Bull Shannon. He was teamed up with the wonderful Selma Diamond for the first two seasons. Diamond played bailiff Selma Hacker, until her death in 1985 from lung cancer. The show struggled with the loss, especially pairing someone with Moll. When they found Marsha Warfield to play Roz starting in season 4, the show hit gold.
We also got Charles Robinson as Mac, the court clerk, replacing Karen Austin, whose Lana Wagner had been a potential love interest for Harry. Mac was a much stronger character and provided some wonderfully dry-witted moments.
When this group finally came together, Night Court really took off. From season four through the end of season nine, this ensemble was one of the best on TV. Stories worked with this variety of complex characters and they were all really funny and had great chemistry with one another. This was what the show was searching for in its first three seasons.
You see the contrast between episodes here amazingly well.
Episode 11 featured the Lennon Sisters and episode 12 featured Zsa Zsa Gabor.
In episode 11, there was a limited amount of comedy bits, with the main one being what seemed to be similar to the Muppet Show’s At the Dance skit where members of Sha Na Na danced with the Lennon Sisters and the camera followed them to each couple to tell a bad joke. That was a decent little use of the comedy (though that laugh track is still just obnoxious).
Also in episode 11, they did multiple songs including Rockin’ Robin, Runaround Sue, Tonight You Belong to Me (with the Lennon Sisters on the stage), The Great Pretender and a tribute to Elvis (interestingly, they never used the word Presley. I wonder if it was a rights thing.) in that tribute they did three songs, Heartbreak Hotel, Love Me Tender and Hound Dog.
Honestly, episode 11 may have been my favorite one so far.
Then, episode 12 was an over-reliance on the comedy bits. Way too many of them because none of them were funny. Plus, the songs were limited to Sha-Boom and 16 Candles. They did a comedy bit featuring The Lion Sleeps Tonight with Sha Na Na dressed up as cannibals.
Episode 12 may have been my least favorite so far.
When the show focused on the music, it was outstanding. When they pushed the comedy, especially without the guys in the band, it flopped. The comedy bit with The Lion Sleeps Tonight was just too long and, again, not funny.
They have so many great singers in Sha Na Na, I want them to play more music and I believe it worked much better when the special guest star(s) were musical too. I have nothing against Zsa Zsa, but her bits were just not as entertaining as the Lennon Sisters singing.
EYG- Embrace Your Geekness 