Greetings,
Okay, I think I have to do some explaining before I begin today. If you do a web search for an episode guide of The Commish, you will see that they refer to the three television movies I will be reviewing as Season 5. Also, on the complete series DVD collection, which I own, of course, it referred to them as such there as well. Basically, what they are trying to tell us is that an entire season of a show can legitimately consist of what is ultimately, and sans commercials, three 90-minute TV movies. That is just ridiculous. (Insert Sherlock joke here)
In all seriousness, when I first saw these, they aired in November through January, following the ending of The Commish Season Four. And, unless my memory is playing tricks on me, they were each billed as being a "Television Movie Event". So, you understand why I never labeled them as normal episodes in a normal season. I've always considered them TV movies that wrapped up what needed to be wrapped up for the series. Therefore, I will be reviewing them as said TV movies. Now let's get to the first one, In the Shadow of the Gallows.
I love the way that this thing begins. What we see is a lovely juxtaposition of scenes. On one hand, we are watching, though not too graphically, a man being executed. On the other hand, we see Tony and Rachel in the audience of an opera, wherein a death scene is taking place, and the music of which serves as a soundtrack for both scenes. It was shot very well, and it also reminded us what a cultured man Tony Scali is. He did love his classical music and whatnot.
Next, we see Tony at the precinct where the conflict of the story really begins. The man who was executed was named Webster MacKenzie, and Tony played a major role in his arrest and ultimate conviction. Unfortunately, another already jailed man, Robert Allardyce played by the legendary Dean Stockwell, decides to confess to the murders for which Mackenzie was executed ... the day after he was executed. Um...timing? This all seems a bit suspicious to me, as it does for Tony and Paulie, so they begin to investigate, to prove that justice was, indeed, served, and it was not an innocent man who was executed. Because they stand for truth and justice. Also, Tony is named in a $10,000,000 lawsuit that the family filed against the city. And he gets served on about the same day that this other confession is revealed. Wow! Look, I can appreciate that the family is upset, but...WOW! That was awfully fast. I'm sure it's not about the money, though. I'm sure of it.
So Tony goes upstate to visit Allardyce and figure out what the heck. The guy holds tight to this confession of his, but Tony just is not buying it. At all. Now Allardyce doesn't straight up say, at this point, that he lied, but he hints at it when he says that he will recant if Tony can prove that he didn't commit the murder he was in jail for in the first place. Well, that is...elaborate. Also, kind of clever, since Tony is very upset about the whole situation. Not about being sued, especially since he's covered by the city, but because this system of law to which he has dedicated his life and career may have failed him, with overwhelming consequences. And here he sits with another man who may be innocent and it prompts him to so what he can.
Tony and Paulie then travel off to figure out what is going on, and it leads them to some corrupt cops and Native Americans. What! Okay, corrupt cops are something that have been done and done again, sometimes well, sometimes not so well. It's fine here, but the Native American part? I should be personally offended by this for a couple of reasons, because I, in fact, have a bit of Native American blood in me. Not a ton, but it still counts. First of all, the Native Americans were referred to as 'Indians' quite a few times. I guess it couldn't be helped in some cases, since they were dealing with the BIA, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, an organization that has been around since 1824! So, yeah, Indians. Guess we'll just have to deal with it when it comes to this. Not that it's the only longtime organization wherein the title contains an inappropriate name for the people its representing. Anywho, the other thing that should offend me is just the fact that some of the bad guys are Native Americans. Not cool. How dare you come into our casinos and besmirch our legacy! Seriously, though, after I thought about it, I saw the method to the madness here. See, there's a character in this named Clyde Smoke. I know, right? It's like best name ever. Now if you know anything about Native American surnames, you know that there are some seriously cool ones out there, mostly nature-related. Or something like 'smoke'. If a guy of any other race had this name, you'd probably automatically tag him as the villain. But this is an expected name of a Native American, so it would go unnoticed. You see, it was a red herring. Or was it? Genius! Of course, it wasn't so shady with the corrupt cops. You could spot them right off the bat. And speaking of ethnic insensitivity, the police chief they encounter, when Tony and Paulie asked if there might be mob ties with the casinos, took it upon himself to make a "Why are you asking me about the mob? You're Italian. Why don't you just ask yourself and/or your immediate and/or extended family?" comment. First of all, if that gut thought he was being original with that, then he deserves to be in jail. Second, you assume someone is in the mob, and you think it's a good idea to say ... THAT!? Whatever! Moving on.
So Tony and Paulie head off and have to meet with the head of the BIA, and it is none other than Maria Bello. Because who better to run the Bureau of Indian Affairs than a white, blonde woman. Oh, there I go again. Actually, I think this was the first time I ever saw Maria Bello, and a stint on The Commish should be a great way to start, in my opinion. Or so I thought. More on that in a moment. Anyway, she plays Betsy Nolan, and she tries to help out with their investigation. So, the thee of them go off and gumshoe, and there is actually quite a bit of action in this. We see Tony horseback riding, badly, which is great. But there is truly nothing better than that scene wherein he and Paulie have to jump from the roof of one building to another. And they totally pull it off!! I'm not kidding about this at all! Things begin to awry, though. Paulie gets beaten up by thugs, and Betsy takes him back to her place to "nurse him back to health". We all know what that means, don't we? Yeah, at this point, my crush on Paulie was still there, so I wasn't much of a fan of Ms. Bello for awhile. Because I hold grudges against actors for the actions of their characters, a lot. She should be pleased to know that I have since forgiven her for this faux pas. Now whether or not I forgive her for being in Grown Ups is a complete other issue.
Now, as it turns out, it was some FBI guys chasing Tony on the horse. Sorry, I must stop and chuckle as I remember that scene. Okay, they have also been investigating the cops and the casinos, but because of stealing money crimes and whatnot. Still, they all manage to work together to catch the bad guys. When I say bad 'guys' though, I say it loosely, because, as it happens, Betsy was more involved with the shadiness than she was letting on. A lot more. Because she didn't let on at all. No, seriously, I give her credit for being able to pull the wool over the eyes of two seasoned cops, and for quite a while. But you can only fool The Commish and his minions for so long before you are discovered. And she is discovered, though I kind of despise her motivation behind what she did. It's bit... YA, if you will. After that, all the guilty people are in jail, and all the innocents are let out. Hooray!
Okay, though I do call this a movie, I do have to admit that they did something which they often did on normal episodes, which is have some B and C plots. One of those dealt with Tony's son, David, who was about fifteen at the time, dating a slightly older girl. Actually, she was eighteen. Dating a fifteen year old. And Rachel, David's mother, who did not approve in the first place, catches them as they nearly seal the deal. If you know what I mean. And this raises a question - Why isn't this person in jail? I'm not kidding. She is technically an adult trying to get it on with a minor. Wrong, and also stupid, because the minor happens to be the son of the police commissioner. Whatever! But it does show, yet again, that no matter what insanity is going on in one's work life, family life still goes on at home, and it must be dealt with. Another subplot, one a bit less disturbing, is that the precinct is being observed by a psychiatrist or psychologist, I don't know, who is evaluating the officers. Both I and Commissioner Scali appreciate the fact that this must be done to keep everyone safe and sane, but, holy crap, this chick was awful. Look, lady, when you distract a cop from doing his job, you are not helping anyone. But she gets some amusing comeuppance in the end, so good times.
So that was In the Shadow of the Gallows, the first of The Commish movies. I really liked it. Sure, it felt a bit episode-y, but what do you expect from a TV movie spawned from a TV show? It was still good and did what The Commish did best, mixing the action and drama with some funny, and showing off some great storytelling and acting performances. It's all I ever ask for, and as usual with this series, it was delivered.
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Top Ten Episodes of The Commish
Greetings,
And welcome back. Today, I will be discussing my Top Ten favorite episodes of The Commish. If you've been reading what I've put up with this week already, there really is no need for too much introduction. Still, I will say it again - MAJOR SPOILERS! Also, get ready for me to make mention of some more of those sweet guest stars. Now let's get to the list.
#10. "Dying Affection"(Season 3) - So, imagine this scenario. You're dating Kevin Sorbo, you break up with him, you think he's stalking you. Well, that is exactly what happened to Cyd in this episode. Now you may be thinking, 'Why would anyone break up with Kevin Sorbo? He's awesome'. Unfortunately, he is very different in this universe, what with the short hair, suits and glasses. Yeah, that's right! Glasses! In short, not Hercules! Seriously, though, he was kind of whiny and obnoxious here. So THAT is why she broke up with him. Aside from all that, this episode had some good and unexpected twists in it. Also, I do, in fact, commend Kevin Sorbo for his performance here. I've always really liked him, and he made me kind of want to smack him. So good acting, Sir.
#9. "Head Case"(Season 4) - Say, do you remember Dan Lauria who played the dad on The Wonder Years? He's great, isn't he? And what about Barbara Mandrell? What a lovely, sweet woman she has always been. Yeah. Well, FORGET THAT! Because NOW they're trying to KILL you! Okay, maybe they didn't try to kill anyone, at first. It might have just been an 'Oopsy-Daisy, we killed someone' situation. Too bad for them, though, that Tony found out. So, did they try to explain that it might just have been an accident? Nope, they kidnap him and lock him away in their nuthouse. Okay, I'm not usually a person who calls a facility in which those with mental problems are cared for a 'nuthouse', but here, I call it that due to the people running it. I'm not wrong on this one.
#8. "Working Girls" (Season 4) - This is a good episode. Acting's good, writing's good, and the title is quite accurate to what is being dealt with in it. But, seriously, let's get to the reason why I really love this episode. Besides the main plot of this episode, we are also seeing that Tony is trying to decide on a new detective to hire, and he is having no luck whatsoever. Then, right at the end, he is reading a resume that is just right. But, wait! There's no name on it. Who could it be? Well, according to Officer Ronnie, it is someone who The Commish knows. What? It's also someone that he fired? Gasp! Is it...is it who I think it is? Could it be? Cut to a shot of the empty door to Tony's office and in ... walks ... Paulie! Now, I have made it abundantly clear that I am not a squealer. I may have squealed a little bit when this happened. What! He had been gone for two years (more on that later) and after what I had been going through in the previous several episodes (again, more on that later), I deserved to be 'School Girl' excited about this. Sue me.
#7. "Out of Business" (Season 2) - Telly Savalas plays a gangster. More? Fine, if you think you need it. So, this is actually the third and last episode wherein Telly Savalas, being his fantastic self, appeared as this character, Tommy Collette. It was a small arc, but a great one, nonetheless. I enjoyed Telly Savalas a lot, and, since this is one of the last things he did before he passed away, I think this episode is pretty special.
#6. "Officer April" (Season 1) - I know most shows tend to have an A plot and a B plot for their episodes. The Commish was no different. However, sometimes, for reasons I cannot understand, they would name the episode after the lesser plot line. Such is the case here. Anyway, the main story is about Officer Stan having shot a woman who pulled a gun on her husband, and the husband wanting revenge on Stan for what he did. It's actually a pretty heavy story, and I always liked it when Stan got to be the main focus, being that he was one of my favorites. However, whilst that was going on, a woman (played by Kim Alexis, by the way) visits the precinct in order to find police officers for her - and I'm not kidding about this - "Hot Cops Calendar". Alrighty, then. And guess, just GUESS who she thinks would make a great "Officer April"? Yes, it's exactly who you think it is, and it's where we got this title. Still, love this one. Oh, and did I mention that this also has an amusing C plot concerning Rachel's brother, Arnie, played by the amazing David Paymer. He's off doing some word traveling with unfortunate, but still funny results. And that ends up tying into the opening scene wherein Tony arrested a diplomat, saying that the guy had no immunity since he wasn't in America but Tonyland. Yep. Holy crap, does that mean we also have a D plot! Good grief.
#5. "Video Vigilante" (Season 1) - So, that thing I mentioned about A and B plots? Well, this one has that and also another C plot, too. But I think no D plot, so, progress. And, again, our title comes from the B plot, though, it does end up tying in to the A plot. Anyway, the main story has to do with a college girl getting beaten and left for dead in her dorm room, which leads to some professors and students being investigated. And while that's going on, The Commish is having to deal with some guy running around after criminals, punishing them and videotaping what he does. A tough job, considering that this was in the early nineties, when cameras were ever so slightly bigger than they are now. And while THAT was going on, Stan and Carmela were undercover as pawn shop owners, trying to catch people with stolen goods. All that. ALL THAT in one episode, and, miraculously, they managed to do it in such a way wherein it didn't feel like too much. That made it very enjoyable. Oh, and "Hi,young Donal Logue". Yes, before he made everyone's list of most underrated actors, he did this. Good way to start, if you ask me.
#4. "The Iceman Cometh" (Season 3) - Okay, so in the episodes leading up to this one, we follow Stan on his journey to become a sergeant. To do so, he investigates this shady guy. Shady Guy has a wife, as they do, and she is played by Leah Remini, fresh off her stint on Saved By the Bell. Moving up, are we? The wife and Stan actually become kind of close. Of course, Shady Guy doesn't like this, so he puts out a hit on Stan and succeeds. Yes, Stan is dead. Blown up in his car, and I, the big fan of Stan that I was, totally let the idea that maybe he survived enter my head. He did not. Anyway, this episode is the aftermath wherein Tony has to deal with two things. First of all, Shady Guy also put out a hit on Tony and his family. Because, ya know, why the heck not? Second, he feels a lot of guilt over Stan's death because he was the one who assigned him the case. Look, I don't care if you're a fan of Michael Chiklis or not, but watch the scene where he reads a letter that Stan sent to his father, in which Stan says some truly touching things about his boss, Tony, and I dare you not to cry, at least, a little. Go ahead, I really dare you. This is why, of all the words used to describe Mr. Chiklis' acting abilities, "meh" will never, EVER be one of them.
#3. "Adventures in the Skin Trade" (Season 2) - So, in my #8 episode here, I mentioned that it marked the return of Paulie after having been fired by Tony and absent for two years. Here's where it happened. In the season 2 opener, a two-parter, mind you, Tony and Paulie have to delve into the seedy world of porn films. Oh, goodie. Yeah, I know that technically porn films aren't illegal, but in this case, there are some underage girls involved. Now this would obviously upset anyone, even cops who have seen it all multiple times over, but Paulie is extremely affected by having to deal with this, saying that kids still have goodness in them, and he hates to see it stolen away. All of this gets to him so much that he starts easily losing his cool with a lot of people, and the episode ends with him, let's say, overreacting a bit. It is this incident which causes Tony to have to fire him. He fired his best friend. Again, what the heck? Oh, well. At least, we got a good episode, and Paulie got to go out with a bang. And if you've seen this episode, you'll know that wasn't a metaphor.
#2. "Brooklyn" (Season 4) - I like a good flashback episode, and I do not mean a clip show. No, here we get something of an origin story for Tony and Paulie, at least, as cops, as we head back to Brooklyn with them. They're going there to re-investigate the murder of their closest friend, Vinnie, which happened twelve years earlier. The plot is that a witness, who is now clean and sober after years of drug abuse, was going to come forward to exonerate the man who was in jail for the murder. But things go awry. Very awry. They run into this guy named Reggie, who they grew up with, but who put himself on a different path than that of our cop friends. He was also a suspect in Vinnie's murder back in the day, which, of course, makes suspicions against him be raised again. And they also meet up with Vinnie's widow, Gina, played by the perpetually adorable Nancy Allen. I could sit here and tell the whole plot, but let's just say that a lot of secrets are revealed. And, let me also say that, whilst I thought John Cygan's acting was fantastic in the "Skin Trade" episode, he really nailed it something fierce in this one. I could easily say that, from the perspective of pure quality at his craft, this was his best performance for his time on the series.
#1. "Skeletons" (Season 1) - Hey, you wanna talk about Paulie some more? Great, this is his first episode. In season one, after having lost another detective, Tony's best friend, Paulie shows up. He's just there for a visit, but Tony ropes him into helping with an investigation. This eventually leads to him just saying, "Hey, why don't you just come work with me?" Why not? There's a lot that makes this episode great. First, we get appearances from some great character actors like Dion Anderson and Micole Mercurio, and Ann Dusenberry, who you may remember as Tina in Jaws 2, the greatest sequel of all time. And, in a hilarious side plot, David Paymer returns as Arnie, still world traveling, still getting into trouble that makes us laugh. Actually, he didn't return as traveling Arnie, since this one came first, but you get it. I can't even get into what happens, because it's so good, but it does go well with the other hilarious side plot concerning Stan looking for a missing child. Okay, I know that doesn't sound funny, but when you see the picture of the kid, it will be. So factor all of that in and you get my all-time favorite episode.
And there you have it. This was tough to do. I admit it. But reminiscing through all these fantastic stories just makes me even more curious as to how this show didn't last longer. I guess we just have to appreciate what we were given when it comes to this fine series. But I'm not done yet. Come back over the next few days for my analysis of the three Commish television movies.
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
And welcome back. Today, I will be discussing my Top Ten favorite episodes of The Commish. If you've been reading what I've put up with this week already, there really is no need for too much introduction. Still, I will say it again - MAJOR SPOILERS! Also, get ready for me to make mention of some more of those sweet guest stars. Now let's get to the list.
#10. "Dying Affection"(Season 3) - So, imagine this scenario. You're dating Kevin Sorbo, you break up with him, you think he's stalking you. Well, that is exactly what happened to Cyd in this episode. Now you may be thinking, 'Why would anyone break up with Kevin Sorbo? He's awesome'. Unfortunately, he is very different in this universe, what with the short hair, suits and glasses. Yeah, that's right! Glasses! In short, not Hercules! Seriously, though, he was kind of whiny and obnoxious here. So THAT is why she broke up with him. Aside from all that, this episode had some good and unexpected twists in it. Also, I do, in fact, commend Kevin Sorbo for his performance here. I've always really liked him, and he made me kind of want to smack him. So good acting, Sir.
#9. "Head Case"(Season 4) - Say, do you remember Dan Lauria who played the dad on The Wonder Years? He's great, isn't he? And what about Barbara Mandrell? What a lovely, sweet woman she has always been. Yeah. Well, FORGET THAT! Because NOW they're trying to KILL you! Okay, maybe they didn't try to kill anyone, at first. It might have just been an 'Oopsy-Daisy, we killed someone' situation. Too bad for them, though, that Tony found out. So, did they try to explain that it might just have been an accident? Nope, they kidnap him and lock him away in their nuthouse. Okay, I'm not usually a person who calls a facility in which those with mental problems are cared for a 'nuthouse', but here, I call it that due to the people running it. I'm not wrong on this one.
#8. "Working Girls" (Season 4) - This is a good episode. Acting's good, writing's good, and the title is quite accurate to what is being dealt with in it. But, seriously, let's get to the reason why I really love this episode. Besides the main plot of this episode, we are also seeing that Tony is trying to decide on a new detective to hire, and he is having no luck whatsoever. Then, right at the end, he is reading a resume that is just right. But, wait! There's no name on it. Who could it be? Well, according to Officer Ronnie, it is someone who The Commish knows. What? It's also someone that he fired? Gasp! Is it...is it who I think it is? Could it be? Cut to a shot of the empty door to Tony's office and in ... walks ... Paulie! Now, I have made it abundantly clear that I am not a squealer. I may have squealed a little bit when this happened. What! He had been gone for two years (more on that later) and after what I had been going through in the previous several episodes (again, more on that later), I deserved to be 'School Girl' excited about this. Sue me.
#7. "Out of Business" (Season 2) - Telly Savalas plays a gangster. More? Fine, if you think you need it. So, this is actually the third and last episode wherein Telly Savalas, being his fantastic self, appeared as this character, Tommy Collette. It was a small arc, but a great one, nonetheless. I enjoyed Telly Savalas a lot, and, since this is one of the last things he did before he passed away, I think this episode is pretty special.
#6. "Officer April" (Season 1) - I know most shows tend to have an A plot and a B plot for their episodes. The Commish was no different. However, sometimes, for reasons I cannot understand, they would name the episode after the lesser plot line. Such is the case here. Anyway, the main story is about Officer Stan having shot a woman who pulled a gun on her husband, and the husband wanting revenge on Stan for what he did. It's actually a pretty heavy story, and I always liked it when Stan got to be the main focus, being that he was one of my favorites. However, whilst that was going on, a woman (played by Kim Alexis, by the way) visits the precinct in order to find police officers for her - and I'm not kidding about this - "Hot Cops Calendar". Alrighty, then. And guess, just GUESS who she thinks would make a great "Officer April"? Yes, it's exactly who you think it is, and it's where we got this title. Still, love this one. Oh, and did I mention that this also has an amusing C plot concerning Rachel's brother, Arnie, played by the amazing David Paymer. He's off doing some word traveling with unfortunate, but still funny results. And that ends up tying into the opening scene wherein Tony arrested a diplomat, saying that the guy had no immunity since he wasn't in America but Tonyland. Yep. Holy crap, does that mean we also have a D plot! Good grief.
#5. "Video Vigilante" (Season 1) - So, that thing I mentioned about A and B plots? Well, this one has that and also another C plot, too. But I think no D plot, so, progress. And, again, our title comes from the B plot, though, it does end up tying in to the A plot. Anyway, the main story has to do with a college girl getting beaten and left for dead in her dorm room, which leads to some professors and students being investigated. And while that's going on, The Commish is having to deal with some guy running around after criminals, punishing them and videotaping what he does. A tough job, considering that this was in the early nineties, when cameras were ever so slightly bigger than they are now. And while THAT was going on, Stan and Carmela were undercover as pawn shop owners, trying to catch people with stolen goods. All that. ALL THAT in one episode, and, miraculously, they managed to do it in such a way wherein it didn't feel like too much. That made it very enjoyable. Oh, and "Hi,young Donal Logue". Yes, before he made everyone's list of most underrated actors, he did this. Good way to start, if you ask me.
#4. "The Iceman Cometh" (Season 3) - Okay, so in the episodes leading up to this one, we follow Stan on his journey to become a sergeant. To do so, he investigates this shady guy. Shady Guy has a wife, as they do, and she is played by Leah Remini, fresh off her stint on Saved By the Bell. Moving up, are we? The wife and Stan actually become kind of close. Of course, Shady Guy doesn't like this, so he puts out a hit on Stan and succeeds. Yes, Stan is dead. Blown up in his car, and I, the big fan of Stan that I was, totally let the idea that maybe he survived enter my head. He did not. Anyway, this episode is the aftermath wherein Tony has to deal with two things. First of all, Shady Guy also put out a hit on Tony and his family. Because, ya know, why the heck not? Second, he feels a lot of guilt over Stan's death because he was the one who assigned him the case. Look, I don't care if you're a fan of Michael Chiklis or not, but watch the scene where he reads a letter that Stan sent to his father, in which Stan says some truly touching things about his boss, Tony, and I dare you not to cry, at least, a little. Go ahead, I really dare you. This is why, of all the words used to describe Mr. Chiklis' acting abilities, "meh" will never, EVER be one of them.
#3. "Adventures in the Skin Trade" (Season 2) - So, in my #8 episode here, I mentioned that it marked the return of Paulie after having been fired by Tony and absent for two years. Here's where it happened. In the season 2 opener, a two-parter, mind you, Tony and Paulie have to delve into the seedy world of porn films. Oh, goodie. Yeah, I know that technically porn films aren't illegal, but in this case, there are some underage girls involved. Now this would obviously upset anyone, even cops who have seen it all multiple times over, but Paulie is extremely affected by having to deal with this, saying that kids still have goodness in them, and he hates to see it stolen away. All of this gets to him so much that he starts easily losing his cool with a lot of people, and the episode ends with him, let's say, overreacting a bit. It is this incident which causes Tony to have to fire him. He fired his best friend. Again, what the heck? Oh, well. At least, we got a good episode, and Paulie got to go out with a bang. And if you've seen this episode, you'll know that wasn't a metaphor.
#2. "Brooklyn" (Season 4) - I like a good flashback episode, and I do not mean a clip show. No, here we get something of an origin story for Tony and Paulie, at least, as cops, as we head back to Brooklyn with them. They're going there to re-investigate the murder of their closest friend, Vinnie, which happened twelve years earlier. The plot is that a witness, who is now clean and sober after years of drug abuse, was going to come forward to exonerate the man who was in jail for the murder. But things go awry. Very awry. They run into this guy named Reggie, who they grew up with, but who put himself on a different path than that of our cop friends. He was also a suspect in Vinnie's murder back in the day, which, of course, makes suspicions against him be raised again. And they also meet up with Vinnie's widow, Gina, played by the perpetually adorable Nancy Allen. I could sit here and tell the whole plot, but let's just say that a lot of secrets are revealed. And, let me also say that, whilst I thought John Cygan's acting was fantastic in the "Skin Trade" episode, he really nailed it something fierce in this one. I could easily say that, from the perspective of pure quality at his craft, this was his best performance for his time on the series.
#1. "Skeletons" (Season 1) - Hey, you wanna talk about Paulie some more? Great, this is his first episode. In season one, after having lost another detective, Tony's best friend, Paulie shows up. He's just there for a visit, but Tony ropes him into helping with an investigation. This eventually leads to him just saying, "Hey, why don't you just come work with me?" Why not? There's a lot that makes this episode great. First, we get appearances from some great character actors like Dion Anderson and Micole Mercurio, and Ann Dusenberry, who you may remember as Tina in Jaws 2, the greatest sequel of all time. And, in a hilarious side plot, David Paymer returns as Arnie, still world traveling, still getting into trouble that makes us laugh. Actually, he didn't return as traveling Arnie, since this one came first, but you get it. I can't even get into what happens, because it's so good, but it does go well with the other hilarious side plot concerning Stan looking for a missing child. Okay, I know that doesn't sound funny, but when you see the picture of the kid, it will be. So factor all of that in and you get my all-time favorite episode.
And there you have it. This was tough to do. I admit it. But reminiscing through all these fantastic stories just makes me even more curious as to how this show didn't last longer. I guess we just have to appreciate what we were given when it comes to this fine series. But I'm not done yet. Come back over the next few days for my analysis of the three Commish television movies.
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
Monday, January 27, 2014
On a Commish-ion
Greetings,
So, how do you like the wordplay in that post title? In all seriousness, though, I am on a mission, to tell those in the world, who don't already know, how amazing The Commish was, and still is. Today, I'm going to give a nice, detailed explanation of all the things that made this show one of my favorites. If you're a fan, you may enjoy this as a way of reminiscing on the wonder that was The Commish. If the most you know about the show is that it exists, read on. I won't be giving a boat load of spoilers (those will come later), so you can see what all of us love about this series, maybe get intrigued and be able to check it out for yourself. So let's get started.
The Commish was a cop drama that aired in the early to mid nineties and centered around Commissioner Anthony J. Scali of Eastbridge, New York, his precinct and his family. Right from the start, you could see that this was not a typical, cold, procedural cop show. No, this delved into personal things quite a bit, and how the job of law enforcement could have an affect on someone. Of course, we could follow along with how things work when it comes to investigating and solving crimes, but it always equally juxtaposed with the home life of our lead character. I think that was the appeal of the show. It wasn't just a cop show; it was a show about a cop, and cops often have families and lives outside of work that can be impacted by what they do. In short, it had a lot of heart to it. And I love shows that go beyond what you expect and give you a lot more. Now, like most successful shows, this relied on a few things to make it as such. The stories, the writing and of course, the actors. Let's get to them first.
In case you didn't already know, our titular character, Tony Scali, was portrayed by the incomparable Michael Chiklis. This is probably where everyone got a first glance at him, but not a last one, obviously. Now, you may be thinking something, like "Oh, he played a cop here. Kind of like he did on The Shield". To that, I say, "NO! NO! NOTHING LIKE THE SHIELD!" Okay, admittedly, I didn't watch The Shield, outside of the first few episodes. I mean, I know it was an extremely, well-made series, but I just couldn't handle the change, something I've written about on this blog before. From what I gather, Vic Mackey was a little, let's say, mean. Not my beloved Tony Scali, not my cute, cuddly Commish. Now don't get me wrong. If someone needed to be yelled at, he certainly did it. I mean, he was in charge, and he was a cop who came from the mean streets of Brooklyn. Pre-Hipster Brooklyn, mind you. He was tough when he needed to be, as well he should have been. But Tony also was a kind, loving man, who cared deeply about a lot of people and wasn't afraid to show that. Also, he was hilarious. That was the thing about The Commish and the writing of it. It did do its duty as a straight up cop drama, but it knew how to inject the funny in there, as well. And a lot of that came from the star himself. To be frank, Michael Chiklis played this role perfectly. He made Tony Scali a real person, not a joke and not a stereo-typical, hard-edged guy. A real, balanced man. Brilliant. Still, as good of a star as he was, he needed some backup. Get it. Cops, backup. I am a comedy genius. Yeah. So let's get to that supporting cast, shall we?
I will begin with the people closest to Tony Scali, his lovely family. First is his wonderful, loyal wife Rachel, played by Theresa Saldana, one of my personal heroes in life. Seriously, look into her story. She is a true survivor and will, no doubt, inspire you. Anyway, Tony and Rachel have known each other, basically, forever, and that led to them falling in love, getting married, and building a beautiful life together. All that, despite the obstacles they faced. Well, possible obstacles, like his being Catholic and her being Jewish. I only bring this up because the show did. Not constantly, but naturally. It was a part of their lives, and thus, it came up on occasion, but not to a point where it became too much. Now Tony and Rachel were not alone. They had two children. David, played by Kaj-Erik Eriksen, was their son, who ultimately grew up during the course of the show, going from child to teenager and into his young adulthood. And they didn't leave David out when it came to dealing with those effects that the cop job had on the family. There were a few episodes wherein this was the focus. Of course. Also, they had daughter named Sarah. She was born in the second season and by the fourth season ... she looked like a two-year-old. Wait, what? They didn't age her ten years between seasons to get some cheap 'cute kid lines' out of her? Wow, this show really did want to be original. And that is the immediate family. Now let's go to work.
Due to the success of Law and Order and its offspring, I think we've been trained to see TV crime investigations in a certain way. That being, two detectives, who are partners, go off to work a case together. You know, your Briscoe and Green, your Benson and Stabler, your Goren and Eames. You get the picture. Things were a little different with The Commish. It tended to be a group effort, with Scali at the helm. Even though I am about %100 sure that the job of commissioner is a desk job. But who cares? He went out there and got his hands dirty like everyone else. And he had some good help with that. For example, he had some #1 detectives at his side. First up was Irv Wallerstein played by Alex Bruhanski. He was a long-time friend of Tony's, but wasn't on the show for an extended period of time. He was pretty good for what he contributed, though. After that, there was my personal favorite, Paulie Pentangeli, played by John Cygan. And when I say favorite, I mean, yes, I had kind of a crush on this guy. Blame me not. He was awesome. Now he came on in season one, visiting as Tony's best friend from childhood who was also a cop. By the end of that episode, he agreed to come and work for him, leading to about a two year stint, though not consecutively. But, my word, we had some good times with him. During the years when Paulie wasn't there, we had Cyd Madison played by Melinda McGraw. Cyd, by the way, was short for Cydavia, something that is brought up only once,I think, mostly due to her threats of gunfire should anyone ever call her that. I did really like her, though, and I have no idea why she isn't held up as one of the iconic, strong, female characters in television. Because people suck, that's why. Moving on.
Besides the head honcho detectives, we also had a bunch of cool, blue-shirted cops. Why blue shirts? Because red shirts only lead to trouble. Am I right, Star Trek fans? Seriously, though, there were a lot of great cop characters, and I do mean 'characters'. They did a fine job of giving all the guys different personalities that we could all remember. We had Hartley (Peter Outerbridge), the quirky one, Caruso (Nicholas Lea), the hot and hot-headed one, Rose (Pat Bermel), the one who sometimes was a quasi-bad cop, and Papadakis (Evan Tylor), the one whose name we liked to hear over and over again. In addition to them, we had Hibbs(Ian Tracey), McGinley(William McManus) and Ronnie Lopez(Jason Schombing), who was a bit in the background for the first couple of years, but really started to shine in the last season. And lest we forget our ONE female cop on the show, Carmela, played by Gina Belafonte. Okay, technically, she wasn't the only one. We did have Cyd, and you could occasionally see other female cops in the background. She was just the only one they let talk. I'm not kidding. Also, they kind of made her...I don't want to say unfeminine, but they sure did 'tomboy' her up quite a bit. For real, I do not doubt that she could have beat the crap out of every guy she worked with. Some of them twice, probably. Still, she was extremely likable. Of course, when it came to the blue shirts, one stood head and shoulders above the rest. That was Stan Kelly played by Geoffrey Nauffts. Stan was another one of my favorites, and I think a lot of other people felt that way. He was a really good cop, a bit young, but he did well at his job. The thing is, he could be a bit of, for lack of a better word, a 'woobie'. Like, you really felt the need to take care of him and look out for him, even at his most competent. Perhaps, this is why The Commish took him under his wing the way he did, treating him as a little brother or even a son. Still, Stan was the one we saw the most for a while, and he was well-loved by a lot of the fans. I know. I'm one of them.
Okay, I know I've talked about a lot of characters already, but whilst we are still discussing Tony Scali's work life, I must bring up a few more. For example, we have Lucille (Kimberly Scott), who served as secretary to The Commish. She...was...fun! A lot. And she never took crap from anyone. Good times. Then, there was Freddie (Dave 'Squatch' Ward), the maintenance man, in theory. Yeah, he pretty much sucked at his job, but they never fired him, because, I don't know, comic relief? And also we had D.A. Alex Beebee played by the fantastic Richard Kind, who some of you might remember from Spin City, Curb Your Enthusiasm and tons of voice over work. In fact, he and the aforementioned, John Cygan, were both in Toy Story 3. What a twist! Anyway, he was a character we took seriously, for the most part, but there was a bit of a 'bumbling' aspect to him, if you know what I mean. Still, enjoyable as all heck.
All of those characters were the ones who we saw on a regular to semi-regular basis, but I have to make a point of mentioning how many amazing guest actors showed up in this series. Some you know by name; some you recognize because they are well-known as character actors; some are downright legends. I'll be mentioning several later this week, but, just to name a few now, we had Wendie Malick, Ray Walston, Giovanni Ribisi, Bruce McGill, Gerald McRaney, Danielle Harris, and late, great Academy Award winners, Dr. Haing S. Ngor and Ernest Borgnine. Uh...YEAH, this show was MAGIC!
I understand that a lot of factors went into making this show what it was, but none of it would have been possible without the two men who created it - Stephen Kronish and Stephen J. Cannell. A dream team, if ever there was one. Besides his work on The Commish, Stephen Kronish has been a producer on some other well-known shows, like Wiseguy, Profiler and 24, as well as the quite good miniseries, The Kennedys. He was also a writer on a lot of shows, too. And Stephen J. Cannell has one of the longest resumes I have ever seen in my life. I kid you not. He is responsible for some of the most well-known crime shows of all time, at the very least, being somewhat involved to, at most, being the creator. We can thank him for such gems as The Rockford Files, Hunter, Baretta, The A-Team, The Greatest American Hero. Okay, that last one wasn't exactly a crime show, but whatever. Oh, and do we have any Johnny Depp fans in the house? Well, Mr. Cannell also was a creator of 21 Jump Street. Look, you wanna give Wes Craven credit for introducing Johnny Depp to the world, fine, but I say he honed his craft on this series. In addition to that, Stephen J. Cannell was also a novelist and an occasional actor. In fact, some of you may recognize him as part of the author's poker game on Castle in season one. Sadly, he passed away in 2010, but they kept an empty chair at that poker table for quite awhile in his honor. That was nice. He was great man.
So, this post has gotten quite long. I better wrap things up. Anyway, that is The Commish, and I love it. Yes, love, in the present tense. And every fan of this show knows what I'm talking about. I hope they enjoyed reminiscing with me. And for those of you not so much into The Commish, or those who may never have seen it, I hope this encouraged you to do some DVD renting or even buying. It's all worth it. Plus, if you don't know what went down on the show, my next several posts will probably not be for you. But for the rest of the ... Commish-ionaries (Yeah, I went there!) join me tomorrow, as I reveal my favorite episodes. Spoilers galore!.
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
So, how do you like the wordplay in that post title? In all seriousness, though, I am on a mission, to tell those in the world, who don't already know, how amazing The Commish was, and still is. Today, I'm going to give a nice, detailed explanation of all the things that made this show one of my favorites. If you're a fan, you may enjoy this as a way of reminiscing on the wonder that was The Commish. If the most you know about the show is that it exists, read on. I won't be giving a boat load of spoilers (those will come later), so you can see what all of us love about this series, maybe get intrigued and be able to check it out for yourself. So let's get started.
The Commish was a cop drama that aired in the early to mid nineties and centered around Commissioner Anthony J. Scali of Eastbridge, New York, his precinct and his family. Right from the start, you could see that this was not a typical, cold, procedural cop show. No, this delved into personal things quite a bit, and how the job of law enforcement could have an affect on someone. Of course, we could follow along with how things work when it comes to investigating and solving crimes, but it always equally juxtaposed with the home life of our lead character. I think that was the appeal of the show. It wasn't just a cop show; it was a show about a cop, and cops often have families and lives outside of work that can be impacted by what they do. In short, it had a lot of heart to it. And I love shows that go beyond what you expect and give you a lot more. Now, like most successful shows, this relied on a few things to make it as such. The stories, the writing and of course, the actors. Let's get to them first.
In case you didn't already know, our titular character, Tony Scali, was portrayed by the incomparable Michael Chiklis. This is probably where everyone got a first glance at him, but not a last one, obviously. Now, you may be thinking something, like "Oh, he played a cop here. Kind of like he did on The Shield". To that, I say, "NO! NO! NOTHING LIKE THE SHIELD!" Okay, admittedly, I didn't watch The Shield, outside of the first few episodes. I mean, I know it was an extremely, well-made series, but I just couldn't handle the change, something I've written about on this blog before. From what I gather, Vic Mackey was a little, let's say, mean. Not my beloved Tony Scali, not my cute, cuddly Commish. Now don't get me wrong. If someone needed to be yelled at, he certainly did it. I mean, he was in charge, and he was a cop who came from the mean streets of Brooklyn. Pre-Hipster Brooklyn, mind you. He was tough when he needed to be, as well he should have been. But Tony also was a kind, loving man, who cared deeply about a lot of people and wasn't afraid to show that. Also, he was hilarious. That was the thing about The Commish and the writing of it. It did do its duty as a straight up cop drama, but it knew how to inject the funny in there, as well. And a lot of that came from the star himself. To be frank, Michael Chiklis played this role perfectly. He made Tony Scali a real person, not a joke and not a stereo-typical, hard-edged guy. A real, balanced man. Brilliant. Still, as good of a star as he was, he needed some backup. Get it. Cops, backup. I am a comedy genius. Yeah. So let's get to that supporting cast, shall we?
I will begin with the people closest to Tony Scali, his lovely family. First is his wonderful, loyal wife Rachel, played by Theresa Saldana, one of my personal heroes in life. Seriously, look into her story. She is a true survivor and will, no doubt, inspire you. Anyway, Tony and Rachel have known each other, basically, forever, and that led to them falling in love, getting married, and building a beautiful life together. All that, despite the obstacles they faced. Well, possible obstacles, like his being Catholic and her being Jewish. I only bring this up because the show did. Not constantly, but naturally. It was a part of their lives, and thus, it came up on occasion, but not to a point where it became too much. Now Tony and Rachel were not alone. They had two children. David, played by Kaj-Erik Eriksen, was their son, who ultimately grew up during the course of the show, going from child to teenager and into his young adulthood. And they didn't leave David out when it came to dealing with those effects that the cop job had on the family. There were a few episodes wherein this was the focus. Of course. Also, they had daughter named Sarah. She was born in the second season and by the fourth season ... she looked like a two-year-old. Wait, what? They didn't age her ten years between seasons to get some cheap 'cute kid lines' out of her? Wow, this show really did want to be original. And that is the immediate family. Now let's go to work.
Due to the success of Law and Order and its offspring, I think we've been trained to see TV crime investigations in a certain way. That being, two detectives, who are partners, go off to work a case together. You know, your Briscoe and Green, your Benson and Stabler, your Goren and Eames. You get the picture. Things were a little different with The Commish. It tended to be a group effort, with Scali at the helm. Even though I am about %100 sure that the job of commissioner is a desk job. But who cares? He went out there and got his hands dirty like everyone else. And he had some good help with that. For example, he had some #1 detectives at his side. First up was Irv Wallerstein played by Alex Bruhanski. He was a long-time friend of Tony's, but wasn't on the show for an extended period of time. He was pretty good for what he contributed, though. After that, there was my personal favorite, Paulie Pentangeli, played by John Cygan. And when I say favorite, I mean, yes, I had kind of a crush on this guy. Blame me not. He was awesome. Now he came on in season one, visiting as Tony's best friend from childhood who was also a cop. By the end of that episode, he agreed to come and work for him, leading to about a two year stint, though not consecutively. But, my word, we had some good times with him. During the years when Paulie wasn't there, we had Cyd Madison played by Melinda McGraw. Cyd, by the way, was short for Cydavia, something that is brought up only once,I think, mostly due to her threats of gunfire should anyone ever call her that. I did really like her, though, and I have no idea why she isn't held up as one of the iconic, strong, female characters in television. Because people suck, that's why. Moving on.
Besides the head honcho detectives, we also had a bunch of cool, blue-shirted cops. Why blue shirts? Because red shirts only lead to trouble. Am I right, Star Trek fans? Seriously, though, there were a lot of great cop characters, and I do mean 'characters'. They did a fine job of giving all the guys different personalities that we could all remember. We had Hartley (Peter Outerbridge), the quirky one, Caruso (Nicholas Lea), the hot and hot-headed one, Rose (Pat Bermel), the one who sometimes was a quasi-bad cop, and Papadakis (Evan Tylor), the one whose name we liked to hear over and over again. In addition to them, we had Hibbs(Ian Tracey), McGinley(William McManus) and Ronnie Lopez(Jason Schombing), who was a bit in the background for the first couple of years, but really started to shine in the last season. And lest we forget our ONE female cop on the show, Carmela, played by Gina Belafonte. Okay, technically, she wasn't the only one. We did have Cyd, and you could occasionally see other female cops in the background. She was just the only one they let talk. I'm not kidding. Also, they kind of made her...I don't want to say unfeminine, but they sure did 'tomboy' her up quite a bit. For real, I do not doubt that she could have beat the crap out of every guy she worked with. Some of them twice, probably. Still, she was extremely likable. Of course, when it came to the blue shirts, one stood head and shoulders above the rest. That was Stan Kelly played by Geoffrey Nauffts. Stan was another one of my favorites, and I think a lot of other people felt that way. He was a really good cop, a bit young, but he did well at his job. The thing is, he could be a bit of, for lack of a better word, a 'woobie'. Like, you really felt the need to take care of him and look out for him, even at his most competent. Perhaps, this is why The Commish took him under his wing the way he did, treating him as a little brother or even a son. Still, Stan was the one we saw the most for a while, and he was well-loved by a lot of the fans. I know. I'm one of them.
Okay, I know I've talked about a lot of characters already, but whilst we are still discussing Tony Scali's work life, I must bring up a few more. For example, we have Lucille (Kimberly Scott), who served as secretary to The Commish. She...was...fun! A lot. And she never took crap from anyone. Good times. Then, there was Freddie (Dave 'Squatch' Ward), the maintenance man, in theory. Yeah, he pretty much sucked at his job, but they never fired him, because, I don't know, comic relief? And also we had D.A. Alex Beebee played by the fantastic Richard Kind, who some of you might remember from Spin City, Curb Your Enthusiasm and tons of voice over work. In fact, he and the aforementioned, John Cygan, were both in Toy Story 3. What a twist! Anyway, he was a character we took seriously, for the most part, but there was a bit of a 'bumbling' aspect to him, if you know what I mean. Still, enjoyable as all heck.
All of those characters were the ones who we saw on a regular to semi-regular basis, but I have to make a point of mentioning how many amazing guest actors showed up in this series. Some you know by name; some you recognize because they are well-known as character actors; some are downright legends. I'll be mentioning several later this week, but, just to name a few now, we had Wendie Malick, Ray Walston, Giovanni Ribisi, Bruce McGill, Gerald McRaney, Danielle Harris, and late, great Academy Award winners, Dr. Haing S. Ngor and Ernest Borgnine. Uh...YEAH, this show was MAGIC!
I understand that a lot of factors went into making this show what it was, but none of it would have been possible without the two men who created it - Stephen Kronish and Stephen J. Cannell. A dream team, if ever there was one. Besides his work on The Commish, Stephen Kronish has been a producer on some other well-known shows, like Wiseguy, Profiler and 24, as well as the quite good miniseries, The Kennedys. He was also a writer on a lot of shows, too. And Stephen J. Cannell has one of the longest resumes I have ever seen in my life. I kid you not. He is responsible for some of the most well-known crime shows of all time, at the very least, being somewhat involved to, at most, being the creator. We can thank him for such gems as The Rockford Files, Hunter, Baretta, The A-Team, The Greatest American Hero. Okay, that last one wasn't exactly a crime show, but whatever. Oh, and do we have any Johnny Depp fans in the house? Well, Mr. Cannell also was a creator of 21 Jump Street. Look, you wanna give Wes Craven credit for introducing Johnny Depp to the world, fine, but I say he honed his craft on this series. In addition to that, Stephen J. Cannell was also a novelist and an occasional actor. In fact, some of you may recognize him as part of the author's poker game on Castle in season one. Sadly, he passed away in 2010, but they kept an empty chair at that poker table for quite awhile in his honor. That was nice. He was great man.
So, this post has gotten quite long. I better wrap things up. Anyway, that is The Commish, and I love it. Yes, love, in the present tense. And every fan of this show knows what I'm talking about. I hope they enjoyed reminiscing with me. And for those of you not so much into The Commish, or those who may never have seen it, I hope this encouraged you to do some DVD renting or even buying. It's all worth it. Plus, if you don't know what went down on the show, my next several posts will probably not be for you. But for the rest of the ... Commish-ionaries (Yeah, I went there!) join me tomorrow, as I reveal my favorite episodes. Spoilers galore!.
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
Sunday, January 26, 2014
The Commish , My Week Long Tribute
Greetings,
Time for my first theme week of 2014. Not the last, though. Trust me. And so I have decided to dedicate this week to one of my favorite shows of all time, The Commish. If you have never heard of this fine show, first of all, shame, and second of all, prepare yourself, because you are going to find out. If you have heard of this show and you love it as much as I do, this week truly is for you.
Now I am kind enough to always warn people if I am going to give spoilers about anything, especially things I want them to check out for themselves. So here's the warning - MAJOR SPOILERS! Tomorrow, I will be starting with a lovely little essay of sorts, detailing why I love this show so much. I will discuss the setup of the series, the characters, the actors and all the rest, all spoiler-free, mind you. This way the non-watchers will see why I'm doing this and hopefully, be encouraged to check out the episodes via rental or otherwise. After that, it will be a different story. I'll be giving my Top Ten episodes, followed by reviews of the three television movies that closed out the series. So, yes, most of this week is for the hardcore fans who already know what happens, but whom I will, again hopefully, entertain with my analysis.
Honestly, I just want to use this tiny platform of mine to give credit to a series and a lot of people who I think have never gotten enough. So, if you're not a fan of The Commish, read tomorrow and see if you want to become one. And if you already are, come and celebrate with me all week long.
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
Time for my first theme week of 2014. Not the last, though. Trust me. And so I have decided to dedicate this week to one of my favorite shows of all time, The Commish. If you have never heard of this fine show, first of all, shame, and second of all, prepare yourself, because you are going to find out. If you have heard of this show and you love it as much as I do, this week truly is for you.
Now I am kind enough to always warn people if I am going to give spoilers about anything, especially things I want them to check out for themselves. So here's the warning - MAJOR SPOILERS! Tomorrow, I will be starting with a lovely little essay of sorts, detailing why I love this show so much. I will discuss the setup of the series, the characters, the actors and all the rest, all spoiler-free, mind you. This way the non-watchers will see why I'm doing this and hopefully, be encouraged to check out the episodes via rental or otherwise. After that, it will be a different story. I'll be giving my Top Ten episodes, followed by reviews of the three television movies that closed out the series. So, yes, most of this week is for the hardcore fans who already know what happens, but whom I will, again hopefully, entertain with my analysis.
Honestly, I just want to use this tiny platform of mine to give credit to a series and a lot of people who I think have never gotten enough. So, if you're not a fan of The Commish, read tomorrow and see if you want to become one. And if you already are, come and celebrate with me all week long.
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
The One Seasoner's Club - Three Rivers
Greetings,
When I did a One Seasoner's post about My So-Called Life, I pointed out how a lot of people where I lived liked the show, because it took place in our general area. That being the Pittsburgh area. And that's as good as it gets for those of us on the outskirts of the big city. Still, I think most people get a kick out of shows or movies that are set and, at least somewhat, shot close to where they live. My So-Called Life was one of those for me and my "neighbors", and so was the show Three Rivers.
Three Rivers was a medical drama that centered around doctors who did transplants, and every episode was about some crisis involving said transplants or the recipients or the donors and what all the people go through. And that's about it. Nothing wrong with that, on the surface. In fact, they managed to tell a few compelling stories about how this whole process can affect people. That was probably the strongest aspect of the show. However, it seems like there are only so many stories you can tell and things might get overly repetitive. It got to the point where every episode was extremely similar, just with different guest characters. And a show can't last long on that. Not that it didn't have its good parts, like the cast.
The cast of Three Rivers was pretty great. Easily, the biggest name on the show was Alfre Woodard, who I love, of course. Who doesn't? She played Dr. Sophia Jordan, head of surgery, however, she wasn't the star of the show. That honor went to Alex O'Loughlin as Dr. Andy Yablonski. Now he came with something of a built-in fan base from his days as vampire Mick St. John on Moonlight, another One Seasoner that I will cover someday. And a lot of people hoped he would become the breakout star of this show, as well, that could propel it to success. Other familiar faces were Katherine Moennig as Dr. Miranda Fostor and Justina Machado as Pam Acosta. The rest of the cast was filled with relative unknowns, like Daniel Henney and Christopher Hanke, actors who did a good job here, but who I just had never seen before. And that may have been another problem. While everyone in the cast was exceptional at the roles they played, I'm not sure if there were enough big names to attract a large audience. Oh, and about those roles that they played.
Yeah, I had a bit of an issue with the characters here. I wouldn't go so far as to call them unlikable, unless they were supposed to be, but I wouldn't call any of them particularly likable either. By that I mean I couldn't relate to any of them. With me, in order to get attached to a show, I have to get attached to at least one character, usually more, but that just did not happen here. I never honed in on anyone and thought, "Hey, I like that person, and I want to spend time with them every week". That can be a big problem.
Also, though I could get drawn into an episode as I watched, the show, as a whole, could be a little slow. When it got cancelled, that was the issue I heard people mention more than anything. I can see where they were coming from, and what with that and all the competition, it's not so surprising that it only got one season.
So, let's get to the question. Did Three Rivers deserve a second season? Maybe. I watched the show, and I would not flat out say that it was bad, like I have for others. It wasn't bad. It was fairly well-made, and it was certainly well-acted, but sometimes that is not enough. All the issues that made people not watch and caused ultimate cancellation, I understand them. But I think that this was one of those shows that just needed time. Not every show is like Lost, where the pilot is so overwhelmingly exciting and unique that it hooks in a huge audience and is an immediate hit. Some shows need time to find an audience and hit their stride, something that can often happen in a second season. These days, though, no one has the time to give to a show like this, especially when CBS had some shows starting that season that did become hits. So, I say it had potential to become great, but we'll never know.
Like I said, I watched Three Rivers, mostly because of its location and the fact that I was a fan of Alex O'Loughlin. And I enjoyed it a bit. I don't regret having seen the episodes that I did, because it wasn't that bad. And, as of right now, it is on Netflix, so if it sounds interesting or like something you want to check out, it is available. You probably won't watch it more than once, but it is worth at least one go round.
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
When I did a One Seasoner's post about My So-Called Life, I pointed out how a lot of people where I lived liked the show, because it took place in our general area. That being the Pittsburgh area. And that's as good as it gets for those of us on the outskirts of the big city. Still, I think most people get a kick out of shows or movies that are set and, at least somewhat, shot close to where they live. My So-Called Life was one of those for me and my "neighbors", and so was the show Three Rivers.
Three Rivers was a medical drama that centered around doctors who did transplants, and every episode was about some crisis involving said transplants or the recipients or the donors and what all the people go through. And that's about it. Nothing wrong with that, on the surface. In fact, they managed to tell a few compelling stories about how this whole process can affect people. That was probably the strongest aspect of the show. However, it seems like there are only so many stories you can tell and things might get overly repetitive. It got to the point where every episode was extremely similar, just with different guest characters. And a show can't last long on that. Not that it didn't have its good parts, like the cast.
The cast of Three Rivers was pretty great. Easily, the biggest name on the show was Alfre Woodard, who I love, of course. Who doesn't? She played Dr. Sophia Jordan, head of surgery, however, she wasn't the star of the show. That honor went to Alex O'Loughlin as Dr. Andy Yablonski. Now he came with something of a built-in fan base from his days as vampire Mick St. John on Moonlight, another One Seasoner that I will cover someday. And a lot of people hoped he would become the breakout star of this show, as well, that could propel it to success. Other familiar faces were Katherine Moennig as Dr. Miranda Fostor and Justina Machado as Pam Acosta. The rest of the cast was filled with relative unknowns, like Daniel Henney and Christopher Hanke, actors who did a good job here, but who I just had never seen before. And that may have been another problem. While everyone in the cast was exceptional at the roles they played, I'm not sure if there were enough big names to attract a large audience. Oh, and about those roles that they played.
Yeah, I had a bit of an issue with the characters here. I wouldn't go so far as to call them unlikable, unless they were supposed to be, but I wouldn't call any of them particularly likable either. By that I mean I couldn't relate to any of them. With me, in order to get attached to a show, I have to get attached to at least one character, usually more, but that just did not happen here. I never honed in on anyone and thought, "Hey, I like that person, and I want to spend time with them every week". That can be a big problem.
Also, though I could get drawn into an episode as I watched, the show, as a whole, could be a little slow. When it got cancelled, that was the issue I heard people mention more than anything. I can see where they were coming from, and what with that and all the competition, it's not so surprising that it only got one season.
So, let's get to the question. Did Three Rivers deserve a second season? Maybe. I watched the show, and I would not flat out say that it was bad, like I have for others. It wasn't bad. It was fairly well-made, and it was certainly well-acted, but sometimes that is not enough. All the issues that made people not watch and caused ultimate cancellation, I understand them. But I think that this was one of those shows that just needed time. Not every show is like Lost, where the pilot is so overwhelmingly exciting and unique that it hooks in a huge audience and is an immediate hit. Some shows need time to find an audience and hit their stride, something that can often happen in a second season. These days, though, no one has the time to give to a show like this, especially when CBS had some shows starting that season that did become hits. So, I say it had potential to become great, but we'll never know.
Like I said, I watched Three Rivers, mostly because of its location and the fact that I was a fan of Alex O'Loughlin. And I enjoyed it a bit. I don't regret having seen the episodes that I did, because it wasn't that bad. And, as of right now, it is on Netflix, so if it sounds interesting or like something you want to check out, it is available. You probably won't watch it more than once, but it is worth at least one go round.
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
Sunday, January 19, 2014
Two Of Us - TV Movie Review
Greetings,
Hey, did you ever wonder what went on in an infamous meeting between John Lennon and Paul McCartney in 1976? Well, wonder no longer, because VH1 already told us with their television movie Two of Us.
Back around 2000, VH1 started delving into the world of television movies with a fair amount of success. One of these films was about a meeting that took place in New York between Lennon and McCartney on April 24th, 1976. Now if you are a Pop Culture Fact Geek, like myself, you'll know that as the same day that Lorne Michaels made the infamous and amusingly low offer of $3000 for the Beatles to reunite. This, of course, was on the heels of them being offered hundreds of millions of dollars to do so. That's why it's funny. Oh, wait, this was also back when SNL was just funny without anyone having to tell us why. Moving on. Anyway, as far as plot goes, that is basically it. Paul shows up at John's apartment, and they spend the day together. Doesn't seem like much, right? Well, sometimes less is more, as we all know, and in this case, it was much more.
Two Of Us stars Jared Harris and Aidan Quinn as John and Paul, respectively, and they are pretty much the only people in this thing. No lie, we are with just these two guys for a good 95% of the movie, whether it be in the apartment, in Central Park, in a cafe, we are with John and Paul for the whole day. Because of this, it does almost feel like a stage play at times, particularly the scenes at the Dakota. And it works well, because Jared and Aidan work so well together. I guess I should talk about their performances now.
When I first heard about this movie, I was a bit concerned, like any Beatles fan might be. As much as I love Jared and Aidan, anytime an actor has to play a real person, there is the danger of the performance becoming an impersonation. In my opinion, that did not happen here. These two actors truly embraced the essence of John and Paul, as best as I've ever seen anyone do it. I know there haven't been a ton of people to portray Lennon and McCartney, but these are easily the best. Both actors shine in their own way. Like I would say that Jared was better at capturing John's physical mannerisms, the way he moved and walked and even stood, whilst Aidan pretty much nailed Paul's voice. And they managed to portray how John and Paul were perceived on a personality level, though, a ton of that credit should go to the writer, Mark Stanfield. Still, we see John being his snarky self and Paul rolling his eyes at the behavior, but always with a smile on his face. We get to see two friends, who have been through the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, spending the day together, no more, no less, really. So, put this all together, and you get something really fantastic. Oh, and speaking of "highs", yes, they smoke pot together in this thing. Shock.
Now, as you may have guessed, there is a lot of talking in this movie, and you may be wondering of what it consists. Well, frankly, the script is full of what every fan would assume a discussion between Lennon and McCartney in 1976 would have. Talk about the group, their breakup, their families, arguments, inside jokes, and even a little singing. I'm not going to presume that what is said in this film is exactly what was said between these two guys in reality, and neither did VH1, but I can't help but think that some of this stuff was discussed at some point or another. Regardless, it was all done very respectfully, just to make the fans watch and wonder what might have been.
And that about sums it up. Yeah, there isn't much to say about this TV movie, other than what I already did, like the fact that it's really good. I must say, it's amazing how accurate this story felt despite no one knowing what that particular conversation would have been like. And VH1 did not get any info from anyone who would know, not Paul and certainly not John. Still, they must have done something right, since, according to Aidan Quinn, Paul McCartney liked it a lot. Now that's a thumbs up you'd want. Actually, the only true tie to any of The Beatles was the director, Michael Lindsay-Hogg, who also directed many of their promotional music video and the documentary Let It Be. I think his being there gave it some real legitimacy and history where Beatles things are concerned.
This is just a very well-made, well-written, well-acted, simple, but effective movie. Sometimes that's all you need. Besides love, of course. Now I haven't seen it on TV in years, but you can rent the DVD. If you are a fan of The Beatles, or even just John or Paul, I say give it a watch. It might make you see things differently, but better.
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
Hey, did you ever wonder what went on in an infamous meeting between John Lennon and Paul McCartney in 1976? Well, wonder no longer, because VH1 already told us with their television movie Two of Us.
Back around 2000, VH1 started delving into the world of television movies with a fair amount of success. One of these films was about a meeting that took place in New York between Lennon and McCartney on April 24th, 1976. Now if you are a Pop Culture Fact Geek, like myself, you'll know that as the same day that Lorne Michaels made the infamous and amusingly low offer of $3000 for the Beatles to reunite. This, of course, was on the heels of them being offered hundreds of millions of dollars to do so. That's why it's funny. Oh, wait, this was also back when SNL was just funny without anyone having to tell us why. Moving on. Anyway, as far as plot goes, that is basically it. Paul shows up at John's apartment, and they spend the day together. Doesn't seem like much, right? Well, sometimes less is more, as we all know, and in this case, it was much more.
Two Of Us stars Jared Harris and Aidan Quinn as John and Paul, respectively, and they are pretty much the only people in this thing. No lie, we are with just these two guys for a good 95% of the movie, whether it be in the apartment, in Central Park, in a cafe, we are with John and Paul for the whole day. Because of this, it does almost feel like a stage play at times, particularly the scenes at the Dakota. And it works well, because Jared and Aidan work so well together. I guess I should talk about their performances now.
When I first heard about this movie, I was a bit concerned, like any Beatles fan might be. As much as I love Jared and Aidan, anytime an actor has to play a real person, there is the danger of the performance becoming an impersonation. In my opinion, that did not happen here. These two actors truly embraced the essence of John and Paul, as best as I've ever seen anyone do it. I know there haven't been a ton of people to portray Lennon and McCartney, but these are easily the best. Both actors shine in their own way. Like I would say that Jared was better at capturing John's physical mannerisms, the way he moved and walked and even stood, whilst Aidan pretty much nailed Paul's voice. And they managed to portray how John and Paul were perceived on a personality level, though, a ton of that credit should go to the writer, Mark Stanfield. Still, we see John being his snarky self and Paul rolling his eyes at the behavior, but always with a smile on his face. We get to see two friends, who have been through the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, spending the day together, no more, no less, really. So, put this all together, and you get something really fantastic. Oh, and speaking of "highs", yes, they smoke pot together in this thing. Shock.
Now, as you may have guessed, there is a lot of talking in this movie, and you may be wondering of what it consists. Well, frankly, the script is full of what every fan would assume a discussion between Lennon and McCartney in 1976 would have. Talk about the group, their breakup, their families, arguments, inside jokes, and even a little singing. I'm not going to presume that what is said in this film is exactly what was said between these two guys in reality, and neither did VH1, but I can't help but think that some of this stuff was discussed at some point or another. Regardless, it was all done very respectfully, just to make the fans watch and wonder what might have been.
And that about sums it up. Yeah, there isn't much to say about this TV movie, other than what I already did, like the fact that it's really good. I must say, it's amazing how accurate this story felt despite no one knowing what that particular conversation would have been like. And VH1 did not get any info from anyone who would know, not Paul and certainly not John. Still, they must have done something right, since, according to Aidan Quinn, Paul McCartney liked it a lot. Now that's a thumbs up you'd want. Actually, the only true tie to any of The Beatles was the director, Michael Lindsay-Hogg, who also directed many of their promotional music video and the documentary Let It Be. I think his being there gave it some real legitimacy and history where Beatles things are concerned.
This is just a very well-made, well-written, well-acted, simple, but effective movie. Sometimes that's all you need. Besides love, of course. Now I haven't seen it on TV in years, but you can rent the DVD. If you are a fan of The Beatles, or even just John or Paul, I say give it a watch. It might make you see things differently, but better.
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
Monday, January 13, 2014
Top Ten Beverly Hills, 90210 Episodes, The Brenda Years
Greetings,
I've made mention of the fact that there are a few shows that can be divided within themselves. Whether it's because of cast changes, venue changes, whatever, some programs have a distinct Part One and Part Two, at least. I've even covered a couple of them here, with Mama's Family and CSI. And now, today, I will discuss another show wherein there is a distinct difference between one set of episodes and those that follow. That show would be Beverly Hills, 90210, the original.
I don't want to put aside all of the great people who were on this show during its decade long run, because there were a lot of talented actors and actresses in the mix. Still, I think we can all agree that, as soon as Brenda left, the show became very different. Not better or worse, just different, and a lot of the fans considered that something of a line drawn in the sand between early 90210 and later 90210.
For those of you who don't know, after the fourth season, Shannen Doherty left the show and her character, Brenda Walsh, was written off. Now, I could get into all the hoopla of what did or did not go on behind the scenes, and why she was no longer on the show, but who cares? Bottom line, I always thought Shannen Doherty was a very good actress, certainly one of the best here. That never changed during her stint. Her character, on the other hand, did have some changes. Long story short, people really started to dislike Brenda Walsh. And with good reason, since whoever was writing this character, started to make her unlikable. Let me stress the fact that I certainly do not blame Shannen for this. Whatever Brenda was doing or saying, Shannen was still acting it out very well. Again, I don't know what she may or may not have been doing in real life at this time, but, remember, she was in her early twenties. If she made some questionable decisions, who cares? We all make mistakes. I really like Shannen Doherty, and she was and still is a fine actress. Moving on.
Whatever your feelings about that whole situation are, we divide up Beverly Hills, 90210 between Brenda's Here seasons and Brenda's Not Here seasons. Today, I'm going to talk about my favorite episodes during the Brenda years. And like with my CSI, the Grissom Years post, not all of these episodes center around Brenda, but she is there, so it counts. Oh, and this is one of those lists that is mostly for the fans, because, spoilers, I guess. Anyway, let's begin.
#10. "A Presumption of Innocence" (Season 3) - Beverly Hills, 90210 was never a show that shied away from tackling touchy topics. In this episode, it deals with a teacher maybe getting too close with a student. I like this one because it's practically a mystery, wherein you truly do not know who to trust. The two characters involved were both new to the show, so we didn't now who to side with. Our regulars weren't helping either, since they were all on opposite sides. Still, it's a pretty gripping episode that, in the end, when secrets are revealed, ends up being heartbreaking.
#9. "Slumber Party" (Season 1) - Ah, yes, the proverbial slumber party episode that every show with teenagers (well, "teenagers") needs to have. Here, our regular cast girls get together to have some fun, but it's ruined by this other friend that Kelly brought. She is super mean and makes them play a game called "Skeletons in the Closet" or something. It's like Truth or Dare without the Dare part. Needless to say, secrets start pouring out and fights are had. Will the girls relationships recover by the end of the episode? Really? You're really asking that? Still a great episode and a good way for us to get to know the characters even better.
#8. "The Next Fifty Years" (Season 2) - This episode was very hyped up because they told us that one of the main cast was going to die. And as soon as I saw the picture in the TV Guide, I knew who it was going to be - Scott Scanlon. Don't remember him? I'm not surprised. Okay, this character was never a main main character, not like your Brandon or Brenda or Dylan. In the first season, he was there as David's best friend, and in the second season, he was there, but barely. It was their way of offing a cast member, but not one that was too popular. However, I commend them for this one. It was extremely emotional, well-acted and beautifully written. They really did capture how it is for young people to go through things like death, something they don't expect to have to deal with until they're older. They're upset, angry and confused about everything. What started off as something that might have been a ratings gimmick ended up being one of their best.
#7. "The Child is Father to the Man" (Season 3) - Okay, so after months on end of us dealing with the whole Brenda/Dylan/Kelly fiasco, I welcomed this emotional mallet to my very existence. This one takes place immediately after the episode which ended with Dylan witnessing his father (played by the wonderful Josh Taylor, by the way) die in a car explosion. And may I say that Luke Perry's acting in those final moments was kind of brilliant. So much so, that it carried over into this episode, just more in depth. This makes the list solely based on Luke's performance. I know some people like to dismiss the quality of a show like Beverly Hills, 90210, but it is moments like these that could prove the critics wrong.
#6. "April is the Cruelest Month" (Season 1) - So, I think I mentioned before that, despite his stardom arising through comedic means, Mathew Perry is actually a fine dramatic actor. And here is where that all began. That's right. We get baby Chandler Bing playing a very rich, but very messed up kid who has, let's say, issues with his father. We find this out, because Brandon is nosy. Hey, he works for the school paper which is THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN THE WORLD!! To the kids who work on this particular school paper anyway. Whatever. Matthew Perry was fantastic, and I hope all casting directors will watch this episode and give him a nice part in solid production. Just do it, already.
#5. "Things To Do on a Rainy Day" (Season 2) - In this episode, Donna finds out that her mother is having an affair. How devastating. But who cares?! This is the Color Me Badd episode! That's right, kids. Somewhere between the tail end of the New Kids on the Block and way before the Backstreet Boys and 'NSync, we had...this! Another boy band that had "Fifteen Minutes" written all over them. Now I was never a fan of this particular "musical" act, and I'm not lying about that. I just never saw the appeal. Can't say that about the overwhelming amounts of girls and others screaming for them outside the Bel Age Hotel. Yeah, a lot of crap went down at the Bel Age on this show, just for the record. I'm not trying to undermine the serious subject that they were, otherwise, trying to deal with, but when you put one of the cheesiest groups of the nineties on your show, you earned this one. But it is that cheesetastic-ness that makes this episode one of my favorites.
#4. "Truth and Consequences" (Season 4) - During the later years of Beverly Hills, 90210, they turned into a straight-up soap opera and said 'so long' to being episodic. But even in these earlier shows, we got a few sequences of episodes that could have been classified as two or three parters. In this case, it would be considered the last entry in a three episode arc. So, back story. Brenda wants to be an actress, and she really wants to star in the production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. But so does this other girl, Laura, played amazingly by Tracey Middendorf. They audition for the director who is played by some guy who should portray British Dracula, if that is ever needed. I'm not kidding. He was good, but just seemed both charming and menacing all at once. Anyway, there is a little bit of competition between the two girls, and it...escalates. Yeah, that's a way too tame word to use. Anyway, the whole story culminates in this final episode, and it is seriously tense. A few of our regulars are closely involved, like Shannen as Brenda, obviously, but also Ian Ziering as Steve. The two of them and Tracy, as well, do an excellent job.
#3. "Perfect Mom" (Season 1) - When Beverly Hills, 90210 began, I think a lot of people may have thought that it was going to be some generic high school show, filled with all the cliche characters you could ask for. I'd say this is one of the first episodes that showed everyone how they were not going in that direction. From the beginning, we saw Kelly Taylor as this pretty, blonde, vapid, spoiled, bimbo-ish popular Beverly Hills girl. What? She kind of was. And Brenda from Minnesota wanted to be just like her, of course. Turns out, though, that Kelly's perfect life is not so perfect, because of her mom's secret substance abuse problems. Kelly always hid it away, but one night, everyone finds out, and she's crushed. Now, the same way they could have made her character cliche, they also could have done it with this episode's story. But it was actually really well done. Clearly, this is where we knew that, at some point, the people running this show decided that they were not going to have a cast full of stereotypical, one-dimensional characters. Their characters were going to have some depth, and they proved it here. Also, major props to Jennie Garth for a spectacular acting performance.
#2. "My Desperate Valentine" (Season 2) - Here is another end point for an ongoing story line. At the start of season 2, we got a new girl at West Beverly High, Emily Valentine. I think that to the audience, this character was, at best, polarizing, at worst, hated. When she first got there, she pretty much dated her way through our regular cast of guys, within the first episode, mind you. But she settled on Brandon. They dated for a while, they broke up, she went crazy. For real. All the good stalker stuff? Oh, yeah, she did it. Well, all the stuff you could do in the nineties, before even folks in Beverly Hills had caller ID. Apparently. Look, this is episode is pure, over the top entertainment, and I LOVE IT!
#1. "The Time Has Come Today" (Season 4) - So, I was really into the sixties ... in the nineties. We all were. So what would be better than an episode of one of my favorite nineties shows taking place in the sixties? Nothing, that's what! Let me explain. Brenda, home alone and feeling alienated from her friends, discovers an old diary in the window seat written by a teenage girl in the late sixties. She should count her blessings that that's all she found. Remember what happened to poor Cary Grant in Arsenic and Old Lace? Anyway, she starts to read it, as you do, and begins putting herself and her friends in the places of the people in the diary. And we get to witness it all. That's right. Everyone is a hippie, and it might be the best hour of television I've ever witnessed. Actually, I love this episode a lot because I've always had the desire to find someone else's diary or letters or something and read them. Because being able to legally invade a stranger's privacy is the best gift that can be bestowed upon a person. I'm not kidding. Thank you, 90210 and Brenda Walsh, for letting me live vicariously through you.
And there you have it. Look, say what you will about Beverly Hills, 90210, but I think it was a great show. And it certainly deserves more acclaim than it got. Were some years better than others? Sure, but for the most part, it had good acting and writing and stories. What more do you want from a show?
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
I've made mention of the fact that there are a few shows that can be divided within themselves. Whether it's because of cast changes, venue changes, whatever, some programs have a distinct Part One and Part Two, at least. I've even covered a couple of them here, with Mama's Family and CSI. And now, today, I will discuss another show wherein there is a distinct difference between one set of episodes and those that follow. That show would be Beverly Hills, 90210, the original.
I don't want to put aside all of the great people who were on this show during its decade long run, because there were a lot of talented actors and actresses in the mix. Still, I think we can all agree that, as soon as Brenda left, the show became very different. Not better or worse, just different, and a lot of the fans considered that something of a line drawn in the sand between early 90210 and later 90210.
For those of you who don't know, after the fourth season, Shannen Doherty left the show and her character, Brenda Walsh, was written off. Now, I could get into all the hoopla of what did or did not go on behind the scenes, and why she was no longer on the show, but who cares? Bottom line, I always thought Shannen Doherty was a very good actress, certainly one of the best here. That never changed during her stint. Her character, on the other hand, did have some changes. Long story short, people really started to dislike Brenda Walsh. And with good reason, since whoever was writing this character, started to make her unlikable. Let me stress the fact that I certainly do not blame Shannen for this. Whatever Brenda was doing or saying, Shannen was still acting it out very well. Again, I don't know what she may or may not have been doing in real life at this time, but, remember, she was in her early twenties. If she made some questionable decisions, who cares? We all make mistakes. I really like Shannen Doherty, and she was and still is a fine actress. Moving on.
Whatever your feelings about that whole situation are, we divide up Beverly Hills, 90210 between Brenda's Here seasons and Brenda's Not Here seasons. Today, I'm going to talk about my favorite episodes during the Brenda years. And like with my CSI, the Grissom Years post, not all of these episodes center around Brenda, but she is there, so it counts. Oh, and this is one of those lists that is mostly for the fans, because, spoilers, I guess. Anyway, let's begin.
#10. "A Presumption of Innocence" (Season 3) - Beverly Hills, 90210 was never a show that shied away from tackling touchy topics. In this episode, it deals with a teacher maybe getting too close with a student. I like this one because it's practically a mystery, wherein you truly do not know who to trust. The two characters involved were both new to the show, so we didn't now who to side with. Our regulars weren't helping either, since they were all on opposite sides. Still, it's a pretty gripping episode that, in the end, when secrets are revealed, ends up being heartbreaking.
#9. "Slumber Party" (Season 1) - Ah, yes, the proverbial slumber party episode that every show with teenagers (well, "teenagers") needs to have. Here, our regular cast girls get together to have some fun, but it's ruined by this other friend that Kelly brought. She is super mean and makes them play a game called "Skeletons in the Closet" or something. It's like Truth or Dare without the Dare part. Needless to say, secrets start pouring out and fights are had. Will the girls relationships recover by the end of the episode? Really? You're really asking that? Still a great episode and a good way for us to get to know the characters even better.
#8. "The Next Fifty Years" (Season 2) - This episode was very hyped up because they told us that one of the main cast was going to die. And as soon as I saw the picture in the TV Guide, I knew who it was going to be - Scott Scanlon. Don't remember him? I'm not surprised. Okay, this character was never a main main character, not like your Brandon or Brenda or Dylan. In the first season, he was there as David's best friend, and in the second season, he was there, but barely. It was their way of offing a cast member, but not one that was too popular. However, I commend them for this one. It was extremely emotional, well-acted and beautifully written. They really did capture how it is for young people to go through things like death, something they don't expect to have to deal with until they're older. They're upset, angry and confused about everything. What started off as something that might have been a ratings gimmick ended up being one of their best.
#7. "The Child is Father to the Man" (Season 3) - Okay, so after months on end of us dealing with the whole Brenda/Dylan/Kelly fiasco, I welcomed this emotional mallet to my very existence. This one takes place immediately after the episode which ended with Dylan witnessing his father (played by the wonderful Josh Taylor, by the way) die in a car explosion. And may I say that Luke Perry's acting in those final moments was kind of brilliant. So much so, that it carried over into this episode, just more in depth. This makes the list solely based on Luke's performance. I know some people like to dismiss the quality of a show like Beverly Hills, 90210, but it is moments like these that could prove the critics wrong.
#6. "April is the Cruelest Month" (Season 1) - So, I think I mentioned before that, despite his stardom arising through comedic means, Mathew Perry is actually a fine dramatic actor. And here is where that all began. That's right. We get baby Chandler Bing playing a very rich, but very messed up kid who has, let's say, issues with his father. We find this out, because Brandon is nosy. Hey, he works for the school paper which is THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN THE WORLD!! To the kids who work on this particular school paper anyway. Whatever. Matthew Perry was fantastic, and I hope all casting directors will watch this episode and give him a nice part in solid production. Just do it, already.
#5. "Things To Do on a Rainy Day" (Season 2) - In this episode, Donna finds out that her mother is having an affair. How devastating. But who cares?! This is the Color Me Badd episode! That's right, kids. Somewhere between the tail end of the New Kids on the Block and way before the Backstreet Boys and 'NSync, we had...this! Another boy band that had "Fifteen Minutes" written all over them. Now I was never a fan of this particular "musical" act, and I'm not lying about that. I just never saw the appeal. Can't say that about the overwhelming amounts of girls and others screaming for them outside the Bel Age Hotel. Yeah, a lot of crap went down at the Bel Age on this show, just for the record. I'm not trying to undermine the serious subject that they were, otherwise, trying to deal with, but when you put one of the cheesiest groups of the nineties on your show, you earned this one. But it is that cheesetastic-ness that makes this episode one of my favorites.
#4. "Truth and Consequences" (Season 4) - During the later years of Beverly Hills, 90210, they turned into a straight-up soap opera and said 'so long' to being episodic. But even in these earlier shows, we got a few sequences of episodes that could have been classified as two or three parters. In this case, it would be considered the last entry in a three episode arc. So, back story. Brenda wants to be an actress, and she really wants to star in the production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. But so does this other girl, Laura, played amazingly by Tracey Middendorf. They audition for the director who is played by some guy who should portray British Dracula, if that is ever needed. I'm not kidding. He was good, but just seemed both charming and menacing all at once. Anyway, there is a little bit of competition between the two girls, and it...escalates. Yeah, that's a way too tame word to use. Anyway, the whole story culminates in this final episode, and it is seriously tense. A few of our regulars are closely involved, like Shannen as Brenda, obviously, but also Ian Ziering as Steve. The two of them and Tracy, as well, do an excellent job.
#3. "Perfect Mom" (Season 1) - When Beverly Hills, 90210 began, I think a lot of people may have thought that it was going to be some generic high school show, filled with all the cliche characters you could ask for. I'd say this is one of the first episodes that showed everyone how they were not going in that direction. From the beginning, we saw Kelly Taylor as this pretty, blonde, vapid, spoiled, bimbo-ish popular Beverly Hills girl. What? She kind of was. And Brenda from Minnesota wanted to be just like her, of course. Turns out, though, that Kelly's perfect life is not so perfect, because of her mom's secret substance abuse problems. Kelly always hid it away, but one night, everyone finds out, and she's crushed. Now, the same way they could have made her character cliche, they also could have done it with this episode's story. But it was actually really well done. Clearly, this is where we knew that, at some point, the people running this show decided that they were not going to have a cast full of stereotypical, one-dimensional characters. Their characters were going to have some depth, and they proved it here. Also, major props to Jennie Garth for a spectacular acting performance.
#2. "My Desperate Valentine" (Season 2) - Here is another end point for an ongoing story line. At the start of season 2, we got a new girl at West Beverly High, Emily Valentine. I think that to the audience, this character was, at best, polarizing, at worst, hated. When she first got there, she pretty much dated her way through our regular cast of guys, within the first episode, mind you. But she settled on Brandon. They dated for a while, they broke up, she went crazy. For real. All the good stalker stuff? Oh, yeah, she did it. Well, all the stuff you could do in the nineties, before even folks in Beverly Hills had caller ID. Apparently. Look, this is episode is pure, over the top entertainment, and I LOVE IT!
#1. "The Time Has Come Today" (Season 4) - So, I was really into the sixties ... in the nineties. We all were. So what would be better than an episode of one of my favorite nineties shows taking place in the sixties? Nothing, that's what! Let me explain. Brenda, home alone and feeling alienated from her friends, discovers an old diary in the window seat written by a teenage girl in the late sixties. She should count her blessings that that's all she found. Remember what happened to poor Cary Grant in Arsenic and Old Lace? Anyway, she starts to read it, as you do, and begins putting herself and her friends in the places of the people in the diary. And we get to witness it all. That's right. Everyone is a hippie, and it might be the best hour of television I've ever witnessed. Actually, I love this episode a lot because I've always had the desire to find someone else's diary or letters or something and read them. Because being able to legally invade a stranger's privacy is the best gift that can be bestowed upon a person. I'm not kidding. Thank you, 90210 and Brenda Walsh, for letting me live vicariously through you.
And there you have it. Look, say what you will about Beverly Hills, 90210, but I think it was a great show. And it certainly deserves more acclaim than it got. Were some years better than others? Sure, but for the most part, it had good acting and writing and stories. What more do you want from a show?
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
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