06:30 Perfect Strangers
07:00 My Boys
09:30 Good Morning Miami
10:00 The Avengers
11:30 The Sentinel
12:30 Acapulco HEAT
01:30 Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles
Perfect Strangers. Episode 3. "First Date" The joy of this show is in watching Balki, who is clueless about everyday life, learn about stuff from Larry, who is also clueless but hides it better. It's all rather sweet how they lean on one another for support and - somehow - manage to educate each other as they stumble along. The other joy, of course, is the flawless slapstick. While the concept for the series is strong, and guaranteed to provide opportunity for laughs no matter who was cast, the slapstick/chemistry is a different matter. Nobody but these two actors could have accomplished what Mark Linn-Baker and Bronson Pinchot. Their easy genius at their roles is a shart contrast to the rest of the season 1 cast: Lise Cutter and Ernie Sabella who are bland and forgettable. Basically it feels as if two characters from an inferior sit-com have wandered onto the Perfect Strangers set. And while the early episodes are still wonderful, the show won't truly be complete until Jennifer and Mary Anne arrive. No sign of them this week (but they are not far away) and romance is in the air, as Larry teaches Balki how to meet women. Classic.
My Boys. Season 2, Episode 3. "The Shirt Contest" The joy of this show is the friendships between the group. I honestly can't think of a sitcom that so perfectly captures the feeling of being in a group of friends. Aside from the chemistry of the cast, the show manages to tell interesting stories. This episode has PJ trying to write a book with a sports celebrity and not making much progress. While Brendan meets his ex in a very embarrasing (and relatable) situation. And while all this is going on, the gang banter as usual.
Good Morning Miami. Episode 2. "Power Failure" The pre-credits sequence of this episode is awful. It's not funny and the main character comes across as jerk. I wonder how many potential viewers were driven away by that opening? It's a pity, because once the credits have rolled, everything at follows is comedy gold. Particularly the staff meeting where all the regular characters are on-screen together. Penny and Frank get all the biggest laughs, but everyone is on top form.
It's a pity that they aired the hero-behaves-like-a-jerk-until-he-learns-his-lesson episode this early. When you think about it, the show has an unappealing concept and lead character. Yes, everything that happened in the pilot was wonderrful and romantic but - once he realised that the object of his affections was in a long-term relationship - the hero of the piece should have backed off. It's really the only heroic thing to do. Everything that he does in the series that follows could be seen as the actions of a jerk trying to break up a couple on his own whim. That's not very likable. What was needed here, I feel, was an opening/episode where Gavin regrets taking the job and decides to leave Dylan alone. The audience might like him more for doing that. Instead of behaving in such an arrogant manner. Gavin wasn't like that in the series that followed: it was circumstances that kept throwing him and Dylan together.
So, I feel, this episode - while funny - dropped the ball completely by not driving home the concept of the series at a time when it was imporant to do so.
The Avengers. Episode 143. "Noon Doomsday" For a show to have a cult following it must be rewatchable. The episodes must have a quality in them that allows fans to go back time and time again and always enjoy what they are seeing. If a show creates a strong sense of place, for instance, then fans will happily go back time and again to "visit" that place. This episode of The Avengers (like many/most episodes of the show) creates a wonderful sense of time and place and populates the location with fascinating characters. It's a truly pleasureable hour of TV.
Steed is in hospital. A hospital that looks like a country farmhouse. A well-guarded country farmhouse, that is. A heavily-armed agent prowls the perimeter and the whole place is surrounded by a minefield. The minefield is intened to keep enemies out. Unfortunately an enemy of Steed's is coming to get him and he's managed to get an inside man to kill the heavily-armed agent on duty and he's on his way by helicopter. So it is Steed, in fact, who is held back by the minefield. Plus, he's recovering from injuries. Luckily, all this happened on the same day that Tara popped by for a visit...
And there you have it. Lots of running and shouting and action, and all of it takes place inside, between and on top of the buildings of this 'quiet' settings. It's superb stuff. With a story modelled after High Noon, Tara finds that none of the other hospitalised agents are willing to help (an injured) Steed take on his foe.
This is a great Tara episode. She's constantly running around. One minute pleading with someone to help, the next minute she's in a life or death struggle with some bad guy or others. The fact that she's only a novice agent makes everything all the more exciting. Steed thinks she hasn't a hope, and he has every reason to think so. I don't think that it's a bad reflection on Steed that he has no faith in his 'partner'. Rather he is very much aware that she is no Emma Peel and could very well get herself killed.
It's also interesting that Tara has no knowledge of Steed's injuries or the mission he was on when he got them. It drives home the fact that they are not 'partners' at all and really do have more of a mentor/pupil relationship. Which is one of the things I love most about this era of the show's history.
I also love the Opening Title sequence (with Steed and Tara in a field of Knights). I read earlier this week that it was filmed on July 3rd, 1968. But I can't find the website now where I read that!!
The Sentinel. Season 3, Episode 8. "Storm Warning" As I've written before if a show creates a strong sense of place then fans will happily go back time and again to "visit" that place. This is true of The Sentinel as much as of any cult show. Most episode have that wonderful rainy city backdrop and other episodes take the characters to some unique place for an adventure. This episode, for example, takes Jim (the cop with super senses) and Blair (his observer/watcher) to a remote island which is being besieged by heavily-armed drug-runners during a storm.
The Sentinel is very much a hit-and-miss show. Some episodes hit their mark to perfection, and other episodes are so wide of the mark you have to wonder how it could even be the same series. This one, thankfully, falls into the former category. The episode does everything right. Every element, every guest actor/character, every glance between Jim and Blair, every action sequence, every twist in the story, etc. All are just right. It's great fun from start to finish.
Jim only uses his powers twice in the episode and neither of those times has any real impact on the story. That often happens on The Sentinel. His powers are often irrelevant to the story (unless they are the story). This week, it's just a standard cop thriller. And it's a very good one: it's got at least one example of a siege, a shoot-out, a chase and a double-cross. As well as all the action, you have likable main characters and a solid entertaining story. Exactly the elements I want from an episode of The Sentinel.
Acapulco HEAT. Episode 6. "Feminine Intuition" Although still beset by low production values and wooden acting (from the guest stars) this episode of AH is a step up in terms of story content and story intent. The story not only engages us by having Ashley go up against and old partner (who has now turned bad) it establishes that the team are a potent force for good in their part of the world.
Too many scenes just look like actors sitting around their hotel rooms (which is basically what it is, I suppose) and none of the guest cast can make their characters work. But, luckily, they don't get much screen time. The regular cast are great in this. The scenes devoted to the mission are solid, as are all the downtime scenes, showing the team members having fun and hanging out. The topic of female intuition is a recurring topic of conversation all through the episode and it works perfectly against the man story. Not only as a source of (genuine) amusement, but it also (cleverly) feeds into a super-cool bit at the end when Mike shoots a bad guy behind a closed door without knowing where he would be hiding.
Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles. Episode 1. "Freefall" Here you have an exceptionally cool show about war, which doesn't make war seem cool in the slightest. Instead the mood is depressing and oppressive. This first episode does a great job introducing the regular characters and establishing their personalities.
Highlight? The Sentinel
