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spodso
Reviews
Cold Case: Family (2005)
How times have changed
I'm old enough to remember Dragnet ending the program with to paraphrase a quote something like the names have changed but the program was real and accurate and factual.
Fast forward to the last 20-30 years on TV. Something like this has now connection with anything that happened anywhere in the world! This program was obviously a University of Delaware case where the "parents" didn't have sense enough or couldn't afford for a Doctor to "legally kill" the unborn child.
I watch a lot of TV bit I don't remember seeing any TV programs "recreating" the murder of Anne Marie Fahey by Tom Capon; another Delaware murder.
Leave It to Beaver: Wally's Haircomb (1959)
Boys will be Boys
I just watched this episode again today for the upteenth time and haven't changed my opinion at all; June Cleaver is a helicopter parenting control freak; in agreement with several other reviewers. There were a lot of other episodes in support of this view and I plan on going back and posting reviews of those.
I made a similar review on Wally's Suit so I will repeat some of that. I grew up in a small town in flyover country in the 50's and 60's. I remember the hairdos in high school. My hair was too curly for a ducktail or a jelly roll, but I did let my hair grow enough to achieve a Caesar look.
A classmate had the perfect hair for a ducktail so as an amateur hairdresser I combed it and styled it. And I didn't, but several of my classmates did have motorcycles.
As an aside, I'll just say/write, "boys will be boys, except for Wally".
Leave It to Beaver: Wally's New Suit (1958)
Different Times and Different Tastes
I grew up in a small town in flyover country many years ago, before the extensive school consolidation. My school building was Kindergarten through 12th grade with most classes having between 20 and 30 students. I remember Leave it to Beaver at the time I went to school there. "Beaver" was actually born in Sioux City, not that far from my home town.
Beaver and Wally always had suits; plural, more than one. I didn't have a suit until the 8th grade in 1955 and it was for 8th grade graduation, and actually it might have been just a sports coat. I can't remember the color or style particularly of my own; suit or sports coat; but a close friend of mine had a lime green sports coat at the graduation and it was really "cool". I'm trying to imagine what Ward would have thought about that. Is anybody else old enough to remember pink and black cars and clothes back then?
I think this is one of the few that I question Ward as a Parent and Father. There are many more that I question June as a Parent and Mother.
Cagney & Lacey: Shadow of a Doubt (1988)
Shades of Lucy!
I'm old now and don't care anymore but I continue to watch "not-current" television, including Cagney & Lacey and Cold Case and The Closer and Major Crimes. One reason is that for the most part the schedule is Sunday through Saturday; no week-end variance. All of the START TV programs have Female Leads. In this episode Cagney and Lacey were undercover on an assembly line and they were pathetic. I continued to think of Lucy and Ethel on the Chocolate assembly line, which was a much better TV show. Cagney and Lacey were one of the "break throughs" on TV as "Police Women". The first, and possibly the best was "Amy Prentiss" with Jessica Walter; a spinoff from Ironside; but it didn't last. I guess the problem was that the audience wasn't "woke" enough at the time. The Cagney and Lacey TV Show was totally unrealistic. I will say that Lacey; Tyne Daly; was very good in one of the Dirty Harry movies. Off topic, but Kyra Sedgwick, had the worst "Southern" accent ever in The Closer. How that series lasted I will never know. Sometimes I actually watched it muted and read the closed caption. From that series my advice in legal matters is to never believe what the police say.
Star Trek: Arena (1967)
Original Story better
I read this story as a teenager well after the story was first published. The original story, I believe, was based on the intelligence and logic of the human and the alien. The Star Trek story was more about the knowledge of Captain Kirk. Captain "remembered" how to make gunpowder, but what they showed in the program made no sense at all. I may have not remembered correctly but in the original short story there was abarrier between the two "beings" and the Earth human through logic and deduction was able to figure out how to overcome the barrier and dispatch the alien. I plan to look at all of my old science fiction anthologies and read it again. I think The Twilight Zone might have done a better job. In fact there were a lot of "old" Science Fiction stories I read in the past that I would have liked to be made into TV episodes, but what I would really like to see is a movie made The Stars My Destination.
Matlock: The Target (1995)
Saving Money
I wasn't a regular Matlock back in the day when it started and was original but I've started watching it on METV at 10:00 AM eastern time. It was definitely suffering from late season, and in this case last season, syndrome. About half of the episode was repeats from earlier episodes; saves a lot of money that way. As I'm watching this episode right now I think maybe repeats were more than half, and if I keep watching it may be way more than half. I don't like to watch any anniversary film clips of any series but at least that celebrates the series. This episode is TERRIBLE! I stopped watching it but I'm recording it and i may go back and time the "repeats" against the total time.
Gunsmoke: Sky (1959)
Another episode of two-faced Matt Dillon
Matt is NEVER evenhanded. When the falsely accused killer knew he was innocent why would he stay and face "justice" in 19th century Kansas. Not sure what episode, but Matt took an innocent man to hang and he knew it! Matt gave him chances to escape but the "criminal" was too honest to try. Matt should have arrested him in the first place.
In another a convicted murderer escaped and Matt was sure he was innocent. Another prisoner killed the guard but he was charged with murdering the guard. He had a wife and newborn baby but Matt and Chester still go after him. Even when they find out that it wasn't this man that killed the guard they didn't give up. He left with his wife and baby and Chester was the one who found them and Chester was the one that had a heart. When Matt showed up he did end up agreeing with Chester as the couple rode away, but it just seems to me that Matt is VERY inconsistent. He always talks about "the Law", but he never thinks about justice.
Leave It to Beaver: Beaver Won't Eat (1960)
This is one of many episodes where I was glad June Cleaver wasn't my Mother
I watched this again this morning on METV and concluded that June Cleaver should have never had sons; I'm not even really sure whether she should have had daughters. In this episode in particular what she does makes no sense. Everybody has different tastes in food, and some are very significant differences. When I was a kid, and that was in the 40's and 50's I was never "forced" to eat anything. I was encouraged to try but never told to eat anything. I remember that we had potatoes and gravy a lot but I didn't like it at the time. I ate bread and gravy. I definitely never liked beef liver and was never scolded for not eating it. Probably not unusual but interesting to me is that I ended up really liking potatoes and gravy as an adult; in fact I liked anything with gravy. And there was a cafeteria in South Texas where I worked as an adult that had beef liver on the menu which I liked also. June Cleaver just didn't understand and didn't consider the feelings and attitudes of young boys or teenage boys. In a word she seemed to be a dictator. The title of this series could have been Father Knows Best and Mother doesn't. I almost hoped that Beaver would throw up or start choking when he "gulped" the brussel sprout down his throat.
The Andy Griffith Show: Andy on Trial (1962)
small town Southern sheriff?
I checked the spoiler box just in case. Andy travels to somewhere in suit and tie to give a summons to somebody for a speeding ticket. Instead of telling him he could plead not guilty and come to Mayberry for a trial or he could pay $15 for his speeding ticket violation he doesn't tell the whole truth. The man comes to Mayberry and then Andy fesses up about the situation. The man gets very upset that Andy made him come to Mayberry to pay a $15 fine and I really don't blame him. The man then goes overboard by hiring a young woman to dig up dirt on Andy and she did mainly with the help of Barney. I still can't figure out why Andy wasn't open and honest in the man's office. That's the reason for the title of this summary.
Gunsmoke: Dutch George (1956)
The two sides of Matt Dillon
I love watching and re-watching these old 30 minute black and white Gunsmoke episodes. But this episode, in my opinion, shows the occasional "two faced" two sides of Matt Dillon. In some episodes he lets some known criminals loose or escape; justifiably in my opinion. At other times he has the same justification but he insists he "has a job to do". In at least a couple of episodes it results in innocent men being hanged. In this episode he has a known horse thief in tow and he lets him go. He has known him for years and is well aware of his reputation as a horse thief. In the meantime the young man man tries to get back his stolen horse, stolen by the same man that Matt knows as a horse thief. He gets his horse back and there are certainly complications, but at the end of the episode I thought Matt was going to put him in jail. He didn't but I'm sure he wanted to. I'm not sure whether this is technically a spoiler but I checked the box regardless.
Amy Prentiss (1974)
Short But Really Good Series; Call it a Mini-Series
Cagney and Lacy?! Jessica Walter easily acts better than those two. This series wasn't given a chance. Apparently in 1974 TV wasn't ready for a Female Chief of Detectives in a major city. This is one of many series that I thought was great but didn't last, and this one hardly lasted at all. He and She! East Side, West Side! They stuck with Seinfeld and look what happened. I'll fill this out so it has enough lines to be posted. I'll fill up the rest of the review to reach ten (10) lines. This is a test to see if IMDb actually looks or reviews any of their reviews. I think this is the tenth (10th) line so I'll see if it works. I goofed. This is the tenth (10th) line so maybe this will be posted. Why do you need 10 lines here but not in the other comment section?
Gunsmoke: In Performance of Duty (1974)
Gran Torino Deja Vu
I watched this today on TVLand. The Judge did absolutely nothing out of line. He quoted the Kansas law which said that horse stealing can be punished by hanging! It's interesting how this was similar to what I remember as an Alfred Hitchcock episode when a young policeman was killed and his policeman Father set himself up to be killed so his Son's killer(s) could be brought to justice, except in the Hitchcock episode the Father did not have a terminal illness. And Clint Eastwood did the same thing in Gran Torino. What the judge did in this episode is nothing compared to what Judges and the various Governments do. This Judge had the actual law in support of his actions. Today the law is essentially meaningless. If an illegal alien commits a crime, rap him on the knuckles and let him/her go. It does help a lot if you commit a crime in a Sanctuary City, of which there are many.
Law & Order: House Calls (2003)
Sometimes even Lawyers are Doctors
This is one of my favorites for a couple of reasons. It's one of many where L&O gets things wrong for most of the episode. But my favorite scene, and one of the best ever, was when the Doctor was on the stand talking about how and why the victim died and the defendant's lawyer said something about the medical prognosis and the witness asked something like "and what medical school did you graduate from" and the defendant's lawyer responded with "Harvard, and I'm asking the questions here". Absolutely one of the best scenes ever! And after the sister's testimony I'm surprised it even went to the jury. Too many times Jack and company go for the jugular for wrong reasons. And personally I miss Jamie Ross.
Law & Order: Progeny (1995)
Judge's comment on bail
I'm watching this episode this morning on TNT for the (I don't know how many)time(s). When the defendant was in court regarding a plea and bail as usual the ADA called remand and the defense lawyer said he should be free on his own recognizance. I'm not sure exactly what the judge said because I wasn't recording it but what I heard was that on behalf of all the unborn future doctors and lawyers she agreed to remand. I'm not sure how this makes sense to her; the Judge. I'm somewhat ambivalent on the abortion political issue but it seems to me that the doctor was "killing" possible future doctors and lawyers. One of my sons can probably get it on Netflix or somewhere for me to see/hear again.
Sexting in Suburbia (2012)
1) Don't take selfies and 2) If you do, don't post on the internet
I watched the beginning of this movie this morning on LMN and read where it was about bullying. Then I saw the girl take a selfie of herself to send to her boyfriend. Not sure but why do I think that any girl who does this deserves whatever happens. I am so glad and grateful that cell phones weren't around when my two children were in high school, but I'm also convinced that neither of my children would send incriminating selfies over the internet. I like "instant" digital cameras. I remember the Samsung I bought several years ago that I bought to take pictures during my annual fishing trip to the Adirondacks. I remember reading a review that said you could take pictures of yourself and the reviewer said that might be useful at times. I thought why in the world would that be useful. I guess he was more aware than me of how the current youth in the U.S. are totally spoiled and into themselves.
Jesse Stone: Sea Change (2007)
Out of Order!
I have liked every Jesse Stone "movie" I have seen! Today Hallmark is re-broadcasting all six, including the most recent, which I have not seen. Unfortunately they are are in the order of the time/year they were broadcast instead of the chronological order of the books/events. Very confusing! And I wonder how much of the "movies" are being cut. The first episode; Sea Change; at noon EST not only had commercials, they essentially had infomercials. Unfortunately infomercials are everywhere disguised as regular commercials. Some 30 minute shows go 36 minutes occasionally and I hope that's so they can include more commercials in order to see the "real" full length episode, but on some blogs I've read where it's not even the case when they are given extra time. I watch Encore West for Gunsmoke and their episodes are commercial free for 25 minutes followed by 5 minutes of commercials for Encore West. I'm still not sure whether these episodes are not edited.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: Wrath (2001)
"Detective" Benson?
I stopped watching Criminal Intent but I watch some SVU reruns and I watch a lot of the original Law and Orders, but now so often that I have to find something else. I've seen this SVU before but I watched it again this morning on ION. I'm not a big fan of Mariska, but this program at the end was eye-opening. She had her gun drawn on the "perp" who had a gun to the head of a woman. Mariska's gun was shaking unbelievably meaning her hand was shaking. After years on the force her hand is shaking while holding her gun? I'm not sure I would have wanted her for a partner and I'm surprised Christopher Meloni put up with her for that many years. I'm sure it wasn't my TV shaking.
The Waltons: The Calf (1972)
Wrong Message
This episode bothered me. A "pet" calf? It's like the Walton family doesn't know where beef comes from? To keep a calf/cow as a pet during the depression was absolutely stupid! Sorry, but that's just what I believe. I was born in 1941 so I missed the worst, but this story made no sense for the time. How do I get to ten lines when I really don't need to get to ten lines? It reminds me of a Leave it to Beaver episode when he tries to add a bunch of words that are meaningless. This is why I seldom comment on IMDb because it doesn't take ten lines to express my opinion. I think I have to make one more line to get to the ten lines required.