A Televisual Feast

I suppose this episode is an improvement over the last, but only marginally. Lots of time is wasted with Alex worrying she’s dying (cold chills) and that adventure just reminds how superior “Life on Mars” handled the same material. The episode starts–with good music–on a bad dream sequence and it doesn’t get much better. The […]

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Just as I was getting ready to say another “Rebus” series would be a bad idea, this one goes out on a high point. The mystery is good, if strung out, and the subplot in this episode is not another mystery, but Rebus in trouble. While the series still has hit a wall in terms […]

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The Jeffersons–with a twist–guest on the first season finale, which has a lot more potential than payoff. The problems have a lot to do with the developments to fill a full twenty-five minutes. When he finds out about the dinner, Archie calls to cancel–giving Edith a sprained ankle–so then Edith’s presence is diminished throughout the […]

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A solid episode, but a little too cute. It ties up loose ends and introduces big surprises in what appears to be an attempt to change the series ground situation. It’s pretty good–a couple decent surprises–but I’m not comfortable with “The Practice” pulling out big surprises, good or not.
A lot of the episode’s quality has […]

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Archie’s old Army buddies come to visit–one in particular–in a really downbeat episode. Not only is it downbeat, it’s not very funny (even when it’s trying to be funny, before it goes serious), it’s also very fast. The pacing is off. It’s hard to explain, but the episode is so subtle in its message–and it […]

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There’s something–new, which is both unfortunate and interesting–off with this episode. It’s a commentary on the period, a high-handed special episode about the mistreatment of gays in the 1980s. I’m almost surprised it doesn’t have a moment like a similar, very special episode of “Cheers” dealing with the same subject (with Alex in the sensitive […]

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In addition to giving Gloria an episode–finally–this episode illustrates the complexities of the show. Archie’s just his usual jerk in this one and it’s Mike who’s the outrageous one. Gloria is reading about women’s lib and, no surprise, Archie doesn’t like it. Big surprise comes when Mike doesn’t like it either. The argument continues and […]

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Eugene and Bobby defend a black guy who killed (manslaughter) a white security guard during a store riot. The guard’s death is a story development, changing their defense tactics–and pushing everything else in the episode aside. Not that there was much else going on in the episode, just some more of Bobby dating Helen and […]

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Archie worries about his job in another short present action episode–two hours or so. The episode really feels like a play here, which isn’t a bad thing and it’s an interesting format for a sitcom. Humor possibilities are limited–for instance, I was actually glad when annoying neighbor Clara shows up, just because the episode definitely […]

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Another problematic “Rebus.” Again Siobhan takes third wheel, but this time at least it’s because Rebus has a character arc. He has a somewhat unbelievable romance and has a contrived murder unfold around him. It’s a very slight episode and depressing.
Watching Rebus tell Siobhan to work hard (for her promotion) yet again raises all the […]

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