Reviews

The Jeffersons (1975) was a spin-off of the madly successful "All In the

Family". The Jeffersons were the neighbors of the Bunkers. After their

characters proved to be unexpected draws, the producers decided to give

them their own series. The pilot was an "All In the Family" episode. We

saw the Jeffersons moving into a high rise. They finally made the big

leagues.

The first four seasons of this show were highly entertaining. But this

didn't last long. The show dragged on for seven more seasons before the

network decided to pull the plug. The series even had two spin-off shows

of their own but they didn't last more than a month or so. Sherman

Hemsley and Isabel Sanford become one of the biggest and most well

known t.v. couples. George and Louise along with Florence (Marla Gibbs)

and company. George's mother was around for a few seasons until she

passed away.

A fun show that was one of my favorites when I was younger. But like

most shows it just went on too long. By the time it was the 80's, the

writers were just recycling older plots are making one too many "special"

episodes. Even through all that and two actors playing one character

(George and "Wheezy's" son). The show became a t.v. classic and a big

part of American pop culture.

Factoid: The character of Mother Jefferson seems to be based upon the mother in

law in "Til Death Do Us Part", a B.B.C. program that was the basis for

"All in the Family".

Woops! (1992) was a show that I kept on hearing about being in

development for a few years. The concept was interesting and I waited.... and waited for it to finally come on television. After waiting for the

Network to finally air the first episode I just completely forgot about it. But when it did air I wasn't impressed. It was very lame and juvenile. I could

have come up with better ideas whilst sitting on the toilet. Too bad

because I really liked the premise. Sadly, like all shows if this genre the

producers fail to deliver a good product. What's even stranger is the fact

that this show was neither a comedy or a fantasy. It's neither fish or fowl. Just another bad show that didn't make it a full season. Not to be confused

with Whoops! or Whoops Apocalypse!

I'm Mike Tee Vee. See ya next time!

The New Adventures of Beans Baxter (1987-1988) was a fun show. I was

really into it but after a season of promise it just disappeared. The creator of the show ("Savage" Steve Holland) made a couple of great films and I

was stoked when I heard that he was making a television show. Just when

I was getting ready for the next season, it was canceled. Such a shame

because it could have really taken off. They should have produced a

made-for-t.v. wrap up show. Now that would have been a blast!

So long Agent Baxter. I hope you find your father and keep your brother

in check!

I'm Mike Tee Vee, see ya!!

Women in Prison (1987-1988) was a series created by the producers of

Married with Children. The show started off great but sadly like all

sitcoms they ran out of ideas. Despite a fast start the show simply ran out

of gas before it even completed a lap. The cast was excellent but the

situations and the dialog was real mundane and mediocre. A funny premise

that didn't know what to do next after it's initial run of episodes. Too bad it was canceled before it could really find it's groove.

I'm Mike Tee Vee, see you next time!

Addams Family (1964-1966) was a classic television show that lasted two

years. Gomez Addams was hilarious whilst Morticia was a hot number.

Pugslie and Wednesday were their creepy son and daughter. Uncle Fester, Granmama, Lurch and "thing" rounded out the principal cast of characters. Gomez was a rich businessman who married into a family of ghouls and

freaks. Every since he was a young lad he was an outcast because he loved

oddities and weird people.

The show competed with a rival station's version called The Munsters.

Today the clear winner then and now is still the Addams Family. The

show's writing was excellent and Gomez and Morticia played off of each

other greatly. Instead of being monsters and characters of fantasy like the

Munsters, these kind of people could actually exist. The show stretched

the boundaries of decency, standards and practices. If you can tell I love

this show.

Overall, the Addams Family is pure classic television. John Astin and

company were great. I have to recommend this show for all lovers of

American pop culture and television!

I'm Mike Tee Vee, same channel same station!!!

Footnote: Stay away from the Hollywood remakes of this show. It'll taint your

memory of the original Addams Family!

Many Loves of Dobie Gillis (1959-1963) was another one of the many

sit-coms that came out during the late fifties through the early sixties. I

never really enjoyed this show. I don't understand how people like this

show. The only thing that was amusing about it was Bob Denver. He

co-starred as one of Dobie's friends. I believed he was supposed to be a

beatnik. I didn't care about Dobie's love life or his many girlfriends either. The series didn't last more than four years. Years later a made for

television update was made. I never saw the movie because I never dug this

show. Who knows maybe if I see it again I'll like it. Until then I have to

give this "classic" show a pass.

I'm Mike Tee Vee. Same channel, same station!

Bachelor Father (1957-1962) was a rare show that was produced during the late fifties. John Forsythe starred as "The Bachelor Father". An unwed father who lived in a house with his young niece and Chinese manservant. An interesting show when I was a young lad and it was one of my favorites because the manservant served as a comic foil and he would make me laugh. I saw quite a few of these episodes because they would air late at night on a local independent television station. the intro of the show would show the mack daddy John Forsythe, his niece and the manservant tooling around in the family automoblie. Not a great show but a different look at life in the mid to late fifties. A break from the staples like Leave it to Beaver. I'm Mike Tee Vee, keep it on this station!

The Honeymooners (1955-1956) was a short television series that aired for

two seasons during the mid-fifties (but the show cranked out a lot of

episodes). Jackie Gleason shot this episodes on the fly with very little or

no rehearsal time for the actors involved. Jackie Gleason was the star. He

played a big blowhard bus driver named Ralph Cramden. Audrey

Meadows co-starred as his wife. She was a head strong housewife and

could easily see through Ralph's "tough guy" act and ignored his verbal

threats and brutish mannerisms. They made the perfect married couple.

Art Carney also starred as Norton, a lanky goof who usual irk Ralph

causing him to usually blow his top. Joyce Randolph played Norton's

better half.

The show was very innovative. Many sit-coms that debuted after this

show used a lot of techniques that Jackie Gleason used when he made this

show. Basically it was a cookie cutter show. Gleason made it whilst many

other television producers used it to crank out different variations of the

Honeymooners. The Flintstones was loosely adapted from this show. Years later Gleason revived the Honeymooners but it was never the same. Gleason could never recapture the magic he once had when he first launched

The Honeymooners!

I'm Mike Tee Vee, talk to you next time!

Leave it to Beaver (1957-1963) was one of the proto-typical television

sitcoms of it's era. Pure American pop culture. The tales of Theodore

Cleaver, his adolescent brother Wally and the rest of the Cleavers are

documented over a six year period. Everyone out there in T.V. land

watched the brothers grow up. Never really a big ratings grabber, the series ended when the "Beaver" got too old for people to really care about.

Now after years in syndication, the Leave it to Beaver cult has grown and

found an even larger audience thirty years later when Hollywood produced

a feature length film based upon this sitcom (the new June Cleaver was too

hot for the movie). But I digress. Twenty years after the last episode, a

new series featuring the principal cast members was made revolving around

them and their children.

Pure white-bred middle class family that many people today wished this

country would return to. If you ever wanted to see what life was

presumably like back in the latter half of the "nifty fifties", then this series will satisfy your curiosity.

I'm Mike Tee Vee. Talk to you next time!

John Woo's comedy/action film is a star vehicle for Ricky Hui. He plays an every man that dreams of marrying a Golden Harvest star and becoming rich. Ricky's friend Fatso convinces him to play Mark Six. Using the numbers of his dream girl's birthdate and her measurements. To Ricky's surprise, he wins the lottery. But he finds out that being rich is not all that in enjoyable and runs a foul of a trio of hitmen who try to kill him( he hires someone to kill him when his doctor mistakenly diagnosis him with terminal cancer). What happens next is unbelivable.

As usual John Woo reuses the set pieces from his earlier films and recycles them in his later movies i.e. Bullet In The Head, Just heroes and the Killer. I highly recommend this film. Try and find the mandarin print. It contains more footage than the cantonese version. Be on the look out for a young Lam Ching-ying. Check out the Deer Hunter parody near the end of the movie. By the way this film was made in 1980.