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Reviews
Star Trek: Wolf in the Fold (1967)
Lame diversion for a good show
Corny simple take on TV conceptual themes, i.e. Mystery/detective shows. I guess it could have been worse, they could have had an episode of animal molesting computer programmers or maybe some kind of down-home George Takei coming out celebration on the planet Backside. The Jack the Ripper angle should have been a red flag to maybe look into other scripts that would have been available. Star Trek had the effect at times as being its own worst enemy, as there were some really good shows that were nearly epic, and the duds like this stuck out like the proverbial sore thumb. I guess I just expected better.
Pink Floyd: The Wall (1982)
Pink one hit wonder
This certainly isn't my idea of intelligent cinema-cum-rock opera, more like a Daffy Duck 'Dark Side of the Moon'. Without that Alan Parsons produced masterpiece, all you'd have of Roger Waters or David Gilmour today would be about the same level of fame as the Village People. Social conscience productions with famous celebrities to bring in the big bucks, that alone should be warning enough. I wonder how this film would have been rated if it had been made by relative unknowns.
Probably wouldn't even have been produced, let alone made it to the screen. But I guess you may as well cash in whilst you still can.
Idiocracy (2006)
Potential in the waste bin
The concept of smartness is substituted in this production with a hammer between-the-eyes juvenile smugness. The narration put the film on the level of a $.50 cent documentary or a reverse mortgage 2AM TV sub-commercial. The premise of the story certainly had potential, but the writing/execution was bland and overwrought simultaneously. Not to mention the shoestring budget. This is the movie you check out from the library for free and be thankful afterwards that you got what you paid for, which was nothing. Also, it contained obvious stereotypes that a junior high schooler might find amusing but came off as embarrassingly indulgent. ("Teeth like baseballs, eyes like jellied fire"- HST). The best thing about this movie is that you can avoid it. I highly recommend you do just that.
Bones (2005)
Almost out of the park but for..
This show has everything, lights, camera action, but the limit of technology today makes the most critical facet of this show wanting. I mean there's no Smellovision yet. The aroma of rotting decomposing flesh wafting out of the boob tube flat screen smart TV would really tie a knot in it for me. And in the future when the entertainment center will be capable of wafting out realistic show odors, they will have to find some way to hunker down and dub in the foulness on these reruns. As for now, the shows will just have to stink as best they can on their own. That's why this show gets such a high rating from me, it neatly predicts the future, much the same way as a smell challenged Nostradamus.
SCTV Network 90 (1981)
Consistently outstanding
I remember back in the seventies when SCTV first aired. There was nothing like it then, and it hasn't been equaled since. SNL was good but much more erratic. I especially remember the spoof of Fantasy Island, and How the Middle East Was Won. It was hilarious from start to finish. The original cast was truly special, with Harold Ramis soon stepping back to direct from behind the scenes. I was thinking the other day that John Candy never had an over-the-top movie, they didn't seem capable of casting him where he could have really plied his talents. I would like to have seen him do a no holds barred film starring as Louisiana governor Huey Long. He would have been a natural.
Star Trek: Arena (1967)
Not exactly a Broadway budget
Gene Roddenberry had some really excellent memorable shows, but there were some lemons as well. This episode looks like it took the production costs from the cast's lunch money. Not often do you see Paper Mache aliens. This one could have been taken from Lost in Space.
The Flying Nun (1967)
Fantastically awful
Probably the brainchild of whoever dreamed up the Don Knotts masterpiece "The Incredible Mr Limpet". I hoped they would have had the series finale where she got sucked into the engine of a DC-9 on approach, and they buried her minced remains in a Juan Valdez coffee can.
Little Big Man (1970)
Be entertained, certainly not informed
This movie is good in the same way the Royal Guardsmen's song about the Red Baron was good. Infotainment minus the info, a novelty of infinitesimal historical slapstick. Only a child or a fool would take it seriously.
Judge Judy (1996)
Lower rating because it has to be compared to it's original iteration
What passes for Judge Judy today is a repetitive unintelligent abuse of authority. There's about two minutes of actual hearing, then the scenes and dialogue just repeat like a broken record. But I would like to see an animated version with Judith Scheindlin as a cartoon shrew. To put it in perspective, you know.
Star Trek: Day of the Dove (1968)
Strange way to remember an episode
When I was younger, I has unpleasant migraine 'sick' headaches, and watching this show, I saw that the sparkling lights of the entity were like the hallucinogenic lights I would experience as a symptom. To this day, I wonder if the director this episode might have based it on something like that.
Duel (1971)
Huh?
A tale told by an idiot, but not full of sound or fury. Definitely signifying nothing. If there's ever an Evangelical Church for Wimp Poultry, this movie will be running 24/7 on the alter.
WKRP in Cincinnati (1978)
Unique, outstanding show
"Do I hear dogs barking on that thing? ... I Dooooooo" Nothing even comes close to this show, before or since.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999)
Sanctimonious sack of gruel
Dick Wolf expounds his liberal cross eyed superiority with this on sided "law" show, has no more to do with the police or courts than a Daffy Duck cartoon. My disabled sister watches this inane propaganda on the 24 hour back to back rerun TV, where the merely stupid and gatling gun dialogue becomes unendingly excruciating. I never thought a show could get so repulsive that I would look forward to the commercials.