Thursday, August 14th, 2009
10.00 Night Court
01.00 Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman
01.30 Catweazle
Night Court. Season 2, Episode 2. "Daddy For The Defence"
Hilarious. Possibly the strongest episode I've seen so far. Markie Post makes a great first impression and her chemistry with Harry Anderson is amazing. Plus it's always good to see Eugene Roche.
John Larroquette gets all the big laughs, but it's a strong episode for the whole cast. Selma's romance is still ongoing and her storyline in this episode is very funny. This is the funniest that she has been on the show, and Selma Diamond shows off her skills for comic timing.
But this is Christine's episode. In fact, this is like a pilot for a Night Court show where Christine is the star and this is her first day on the job. She's the normal one, and the rest of them are nuts. And funny, too.
Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. Episode 2. Mary collects her grandfather from the police station.
Not quite as dynamic as the opener, but still a damn fine episode. The family copes with the news that Grandpa is a flasher. That stuff is funny. The stuff about the singer (Loretta) drags a bit, and things come to a high point for the final scene. Once again we see Mary and her husband in the bedroom. It's a rethread of the scene from Episode One, so it doesn't pack quite the same punch, but it's still a strong and effecting scene. Very human. Very sad.
Catweazle. Episode 3. "The Curse of Rapkyn" Carrot deduces that there's a curse on his father's farm and enlists Catweazle to help fight it.
Hilarious. The best episode so far. There is a distinct plot and a lot of good comedy and slapstick as the story gets told. Catweazle and Carrot have developed a wonderful friendship at this stage. They are contankerous and affectionate in equal measure. Carrot inadvertantly causes poor Catweazle to have a lot of mishaps in this one, and it's laugh-out-loud funny when the poor wizard retorts by calling him names in disgust. Best bit: Carrot sends Catweazle tumbling down into a well. We hear a splash, grunts of pain and the single word 'maggot!' spat up at the boy.
Sam is also proving to be a great source for comedy, always arriving in when Carrot is doing something secretive and being highly puzzled as the young lad tries to explain away his odd actions.
Slapstick, insults, and misunderstandings. The backbone of good comedy when they are handled correctly. And the handling here is perfect.
Highlight? Night Court (Markie Post)
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Night Court, Mary Hartman Mary Hartman, Catweazle
Mary Hartman Mary Hartman, Night Court, Barney Miller, Mary Tyler Moore
Thursday, Jul 2nd, 2009
09.00 Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman
09.30 Night Court
11.00 Barney Miller
11.30 The Mary Tyler Moore Show
Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. Episode 1. The first of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman's 325 episodes is divided up into five long scenes that do a great job of telling us who the characters are, and what storylines will be in play in this quirky soap opera parody.
We open in the Hartman kitchen with Mary and her sister, Cathy, discussing the waxy yellow build-up on Mary's kitchen floors. We can see right away that Mary puts a lot of stock in what she sees on TV, both in daytime soaps and in commercials. The girls are talking when their friend Lorette joins them. And tells them that there has been a mass murder close-by. As the girls discuss the mass murder, and squabble over the correct name of the street that the murders took place on the show's quirky sense of humour starts to emerge.
The second scene switches the focus to Mary's husband, Tom, at his workplace. As well as discussing the news of the murder of family in town (as well as the killing of their goats and chickens!) the conversation is aimed at more sexual matters, hinting that all is no well in the Hartman bedroom.
The third scene is the episode's best. This scene isn't funny. Instead it's heartbreaking. Louise Lasser and Greg Mullavy are superb in a scene dealing with the lack of sex in the Hartman marriage. The scene starts off being playful and sweet, and the considerable chemistry of the two starts conveys the love between the two people on screen. But, as the Mary begins to ask why Tom won't have sex with her any more things take a grim, and genuinely sad, turn. Lasser, who is superb in every scene, is simply awe-inspiring here. I barely know the character and I almost cried my eyes out for her.
The fourth scene takes us to the bedroom of Mary's friend Loretta and we get an insight into her May-December marriage, a much happier marriage.
The fifth, and final, scene bring some simmering subplots to sudden prominence as Mary gets a phone call from the police and the episode comes to a thundering cliff-hanger.
Night Court. Episode 12. "Bull's Baby" Bull minds a baby, and the gang call round to his apartment.
So-so episode. The idea of huge gentle-giant Bull minding a baby is mildly amusing, I suppose. Most of the physical comedy with the baby (changing the nappy, for instance) actually falls to Harry because, let's face it, he's the actual star of the show.
Bull's apartment is funny: he's modified it in interesting ways to suit his large stature. That amused me more than anything to do with the baby.
Barney Miller. Episode 7. David Wayne guests as a drunken "Bureaucrat" who tries to bully his way out of an arrest, while Wojo causes the closing of a delicatessen for minor health-code infractions.
Back to the precinct, and back on form. Wayne is a great guest star. As a drunk he's funny, as a bully he's spiteful and self-important, and as a fallen man, he's sympathetic and likable. All in the space of 25 minutes. It's almost believable that Barney would let the charges slide. Almost.
The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Episode 20. "Hi!" Mary spends a few days in hospital and has a few conversations with a grumpy lady, who is sharing a room with her.
Given that the strength of The Mary Tyler Moore Show is the large regular cast, it's interesting that they spend so many episodes leaving them out. In this episode, the regulars barely appear (thought Ted Knight gets the episode's biggest laugh when he overhears the grumpy lady talking about him) and the entire episode is devoted Mary and the other woman.
Pat Carroll is very good as a guest star, and she raises a few chuckles, but the episode lacks a story and mostly fails to hold the interest.
Highlight? Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (heartbreaking)
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