cpotato1010 Reviews

My Three Sons: A Ring for Barbara (1969) Season 10, Episode 4

Memories

[9/10 · 4 April 2024]

Our family watched this show regularly when it was first run, but I don't think I have seen this episode since that original broadcast. It does bring back pleasant memories.

I am about the same age as Barry Livingston, and if he had not been working, but was a student in LAUSD, he would have started high school back in February 1969.

I am not quite sure what prompted the writers or producers to make the change in season 10 of introducing Beverly Garland as Barbara, the romantic interest/wife for Steve Fred MacMurray. Perhaps the popularity of the Tina/Robbie arc, as well as the hole resulting when they moved out gave them the idea of finally give Steve a genuine love interest.

This was my first introduction to Beverly Garland, and it was not until I was an adult that I got to see some of her earlier roles. What a difference,

I also liked that line they gave guest star Stafford Repp, about the infraction he invented to threaten Steve with. Odd that, even though we also watched the first run of Batman (1966), at the time I did not make the connection it was the same actor.

Followed today on MeTV by an episode of Toon in with Me (2021) featuring cartoons from 1964.

77 Sunset Strip: Bullets for Santa (1961) Season 4, Episode 14

The perils of Pauline

[8/10 · 18 December 2023]

Another one where the boys, at least some of them, get to play bodyguard. In this case to a older actress, Pauline Grant ( Marilyn Maxwell ), attempting a comeback. It seems there was a shooting of the newer "Santa" during the Hollywood Christmas Parade, while the actress was also in the same car. At first, this was written off as an attempt on Santa, for some unknown reason. When there is another attempted shot at the car holding the actress during the Tournament of Roses Parade, Spencer and crew are called in. Jeff asks Kookie to help with the guard duty, and he finds the actress's young daughter, Kristan Royal ( Yvonne Craig ) something of a distraction from his duties.

There is another attempted shot at Pauline, in the studio during filming, with everyone present, including Lt. Gilmore. Even though he takes quick action, no gun or shooter is found.

Jeff finds something interesting in the remains of the vase that was hit in this third attempt, and comes to a conclusion about the second and third shootings. It seems they were faked attempts, to draw publicity. They were set up by the actress's manager.

But as Jeff is doing his Sherlock Holmes impression regarding the faked attempts, another shot happens during the filming of a stunt scene, and the stunt actress is killed, this time for real.

Jeff has a thought about this last shooting, and verifies some information. But the killer catches him, and they both leave together. As they are about to drive away, Kookie and Pauline come along. The killer is surprised, as he thought she was dead. As he tries to make that a reality, he is shot by one of Lt. Gilmore's men.

So in the end, the killer gets his, and Kookie gets an extended kissing scene in his office with Kristan, ending with the rest of the office watching.

A minor note - the movie being filmed was directed by Victor Buono (Charlie Case), played in the most restrained fashion I can recall ever seeing him do. He was a few months short of 24, and he died too soon, just short of 44.

As for the legs sneaking out of the apartment, I am pretty sure they really were those of Yvonne Craig. Aside from her earlier dance training, if you saw her dance in Whom Gods Destroy (1969), you would agree.

Btw, the Storyline is wrong, the second Santa was not killed, only shot in the shoulder. His shooter did end up dead though, but of old age in the nursing home he was staying in.

77 Sunset Strip: Reunion at Balboa (1963) Season 5, Episode 27

Screen test for a future role?

[8/10 · 22 August 2023]

Listening to Anthony D. Call (Toby) in his last argument with John Dehner (Robert McGill) before they choose to go out for dinner, you can hear the same intensity in his voice as later during his "End of watch" outburst in the Star Trek episode The Corbomite Maneuver (1966).

I wonder if, when casting the role of "Lt. Dave Bailey" someone remembered Anthony D. Call in this show.

The speech by Arthur Franz (Lt. Rudy) when he was arresting Hampton Fancher (Leonard North) is another high point. As is much of his role, playing a "Joe Friday" type police officer, but not quite as brusque, and with more humor. Of course, I had seen Arthur Franz previously in many different roles, so this is no surprise. Glad to add this outing to the list.

What was a bit of a surprise is the performance by John Dehner. I have seen him in many other roles as well, so I know he could do better. It may be that he was not well-directed, he seemed very uncomfortable in the role of "Robert McGill".

In a bit of a contrast, the smaller part of Rachel Ames (Agnes Hoyt) was very well done. I don't have time to do the research, but she had many TV guest roles before General Hospital (1963), and I wonder if any of them paired her with John Dehner.

77 Sunset Strip: The Navy Caper (1961) Season 4, Episode 13

There is an espionage tale in here somewhere

[8/10 · 6 June 2023]

Jeff is asked by the Navy to test the security around a new "miniaturized" computer, the Mark 26. I guess the previous 25 prototypes must have had issues.

Anyway, Jeff is allowed near carte blanche, anything short of murder, in his test. So he invites Kookie, Suzanne, and Roscoe to assist.

Kookie gets to play a regular sailor, and his job is to cozy up to the admiral's driver. This is the admiral in charge of the entire Mark 26 project.

Suzanne is a photographer for a French magazine, doing some story on the naval base where the Mark 26 is located.

Roscoe is just the general lookout, also doing his usual inquiries.

The team is to get close to various people on the base, in an effort to learn where the new computer is located. If Jeff is successful, he will be able to steal the computer and show the flaws in base security.

Unknown to the team, there is also a team of spies/thieves - it is not clear which - who know that Jeff and Suzanne are there for the computer, and decide to use them for their own nefarious purposes.

In a nod to something that will be used by many shows like Mission Impossible later, the bad team fixes Jeff's phone so it can be redirected to one of their own. This way they are able to send in one of their own as an alternate Navy officer.

Much of the show is about Jeff's team performing what is now called "social engineering", get various pieces of info. Among these efforts is Jeff's talking up the admiral's daughter, played by a (relatively) young Ellen Burstyn - she had just turned 29 eight days before the show aired.

Jeff finally gets to go for the computer, and with Kookie's effort, is successful. Of course, the Navy officer who set up Jeff's test is now aware there may be interlopers, so he is racing to the scene.

Meanwhile, the bad guys take the computer from Jeff, but Kookie, Roscoe and a base MP stop most of them. Jeff has a chase and shootout with the remaining bad guy, and recovers the computer.

It was a decent show, and one where we get to see Ellen Burstyn in one of her TV outings, before she became more well-known in movies. Thanks, MeTV+.

NCIS: Los Angeles: New Beginnings, Part 2 (2023) Season 14, Episode 21

NCIS: Morocco, anyone?

[7/10 · 23 May 2023]

Or, to crib from previous CBS Criminal Minds and FBI shows, NCIS: Beyond Borders, or NCIS: International. Definitely, if it would include the "Nellverine" Renée Felice Smith.

OK, going out with a little more than a whimper, but certainly less than a bang.

Unfortunately, more in keeping with the rest of season 14. Nowhere near the level of action as previous season.

One plus, a final reteaming of Sam and G, which had been missing for much of the season.

Left off this episode was any kind of wrap-up with Sam's father, or Kilbride's son. Not that they were greatly missed, but why bring up these side-plots if they simply trail off to nothing?

Hawaiian Eye: The Manchu Formula (1961) Season 2, Episode 34

George Takei gets the girl, oh my!

[6/10 · 29 April 2023]

Unfortunately, this is not one of the better episodes. First, the Ed Haskell John Hubbard publicist character is one of the more annoying characters ever written. I know this is intentional, but it is not endearing.

Then the storyline is rather boring. It is about a supposed anti-aging formula that is to brought to market. George Takei (Larry Chang) plays the assistant to the head of the company wanting to buy the anti-aging formula.

Lisa Lu (Madame Tsu-Yin) plays a Chinese woman who, via using the formula, is a said to be 60-years old, yet looks 25-years old. She has arrived in Hawaii with her grandmother Beulah Quo.

Added to the mix is another genuinely old Chinese man who wants the formula for his family's honor. He hires two goons to steal a jewelry box that contains the formula.

Hawaiian Eye, specifically Anthony Eisley (Tracy Steele) is hired to provide security for the anti-aging formula.

The goons steal the jewelry box holding the formula, and later kidnap Madame Tsu-Yin. It turns out they are working for the old Chinese man. He is about to kill Madame Tsu-Yin when her grandmother explains who she really is, not a 60-year old woman, but her daughter, actually 25 years old. Tracy Steele rescues the jewelry box and then kills one of the goons.

At dinner later, Larry Chang and the former Madame Tsu-Yin go off together.

Not a great story, but saved by the acting of Lisa Lu, Beulah Quo, and George Takei.

Of interest, after this Ed Haskell and Tracy Steele are talking, and Ed mentions people visiting the Moon. While this is not a new idea, this episode was first aired May 3, 1961, and President John Kennedy would not present his speech, Address at Rice University on the Nation's Space Effort, otherwise known as "We choose to go to the Moon". The speech was made September 12, 1962.

East New York: The Harder They Fall (2023) Season 1, Episode 19

Successor to TV series Major Crimes?

[9/10 · 24 April 2023]

This episode, while taking place in New York, could easily have been an episode of the Los Angeles based series Major Crimes (2012).

Listening to Amanda Warren (Deputy Inspector Regina Haywood) tell the private detective she would get a search warrant to search every inch of his properties, and afterwards he might need a new career, I could hear Mary McDonnell (Sharon Raydor) saying the same words. The delivery was that similar. To make it clear, I think this is a good thing. Major Crimes (2012) ran for six years, here is hoping East New York (2022) can do the same, or longer.

Side note - Amanda Warren had a guest role in two episodes of season 7 of the predecessor series to Major Crimes (2012), The Closer (2005) as DDA Claire Baldwin, so it is possible she may have met Mary McDonnell at that time.

There was one minor downside, where the lead detectives end up questioning a possible suspect at a public event, and then the deputy mayor has to question their actions to Deputy Inspector Regina Haywood and Assistant Chief John Suarez. This seems to be boiler-plate writing, and was not needed.

They did make up for this with an abrupt, unexpected ending. You will not see this coming.

Mannix: The World Between (1970) Season 4, Episode 8

A star vehicle for Gail Fisher

[8/10 · 11 April 2023]

This was a different episode for Gail Fisher (Peggy Fair). Here she is not using her secretarial or investigative skills, but simply as a woman, quickly attracted to the quietly charismatic Hari Rhodes (Minji Obuko). Sadly, just like all of the times Joe did not get the woman at the end of the show, Peggy did not get the man.

Of note, this is one of the few times they showed a bullet wound and blood. Usually the gunshot victim just clutches a body part after being shot. Also it was her right shoulder, not her left.

Once again, Joe injects himself into the action, taking part in the blood-bank sting, and then interrogating the suspect as the police just stand there. I wonder how that would work out in court, in real life.

This is the first of three Mannix roles for Maidie Norman. She was a prolific character actor, with 115 roles to her credit, mostly TV shows. With the vagaries of MeTV, she was also in the episode of Cannon Triangle of Terror (1974) that followed this episode of Mannix, with a bit larger role there.

Mannix: Murder Revisited (1970) Season 3, Episode 23

Sex, lies, and videotape

[8/10 · 28 March 2023]

The highlight of this episode is Arlene Martel (Muriel Price / Valerie Price), a true chameleon as an actress. Even though she plays twins in this story, little is made of it, no trickery beyond the camera work. Still, it is a joy to watch her.

Another stand-out acting bit is from Reva Rose (Woman in Apartment), hiding Joe from the thugs chasing him.

There is also Stanja Lowe (Miss Landon), who Don DeFore (Ted Hackett) is grilling at the beginning of the show. She looks a good deal like Hillary Clinton, circa her Secretary of State days. Plus the topic is a perennial, echoing in today's (2023) politics.

This is another Mannix episode where they started to play with the technology, slowing down a video-tape playback to count rotary-dial "clicks" to reveal the true phone number dialed. Thus revealing the killer, with further video to capture the confession. As for the killer pulling a gun after his confession, arrogant/narcissistic types don't always think straight when cornered.

77 Sunset Strip: The Fanatics (1960) Season 3, Episode 2

Second role ever for Marlo (Margaret) Thomas

[5/10 · 28 March 2023]

Marlo Thomas, like another young actress, Mary Tyler Moore, made the rounds of a number of TV shows early in her career. The picture used for this episode features her, with shorter hair than we normally associate with her. Her part, while important to the episode, does not give her much to work with.

I do agree with the others, this is not much of a story, and the use of backlot and other items, like the cars, shows a lack of imagination.

One part of the story, tricking one of the antagonists by pushing the clock ahead, has been done many times since. I wonder where the writers got this idea from. It would be surprising if they invented the idea for this episode.

NCIS: Los Angeles: A Farewell to Arms (2023) Season 14, Episode 13

Time to retire the show?

[7/10 · 27 February 2023]

CBS and/or the producers seem to think so. Episodes like this are a good indication the time has come.

The whole beginning and end of this show contributed nothing to the case. It is way too late to bring in another ex-wife character.

What made this one even more annoying is that it was a good case, with a good but unexpected ending. Even the technology behind this week's McGuffin was reasonable, as if someone had studied how the parts work.

They had all seven members of the team present, but it seemed all of their parts were shortened, possibly due to the time spent on non-case dialog.

It has been a mostly good 14 years. Hopefully in the next few months they can come up with an ending worthy of the time we have spent with the show.

Hawaii Five-0: A'ole e 'olelo mai ana ke ahi ua ana ia (2017) Season 8, Episode 1

The good - Meaghan Rath, the bad - the writing

[18 February 2023]

OK, I think everyone else has pointed out how bad the cabin stunt was, let me add my vote against as well.

What I did find good was the entrance of Meaghan Rath, in particular after saving Aaron Wright from a deserved fate. Her interactions with the rest of the Five-O team were great.

On the other hand, in addition to the truly unbelievable cabin stunt, the on-going CBS series magical hacker abilities were almost as bad. Aaron can hack a prison computer system, which should have been air-gapped and inaccessible from outside the prison.

Aslo, the meme of stopping a car and opening the drivers door? Most cars since at least 1999 have auto-locking door locks that lock when either the car is started, or when it first starts moving. The idea that you can just walk up to a car that was being driven and open the car door is a ludacris as the rest of their writing.

Also let me add my vote that letting Grace Park and Daniel Dae Kim go was a bad idea. Just as stupid as CBS execs messing with the cast of Criminal Minds (2005).

No rating stars, it was a toss-up. 9 stars for adding Meaghan Rath, 1 star or less for the writing and losing Grace Park and Daniel Dae Kim.

Hawaii Five-O: The Burning Ice (1971) Season 4, Episode 9

Too clever by a half

[7/10 · 9 February 2023]

OK, interesting problem - find the weapon used to kill the doctor's wife.

The supposed killer claims to have thrown the gun into a canal from a bridge. The canal is a rather limited area to search. When the results are negative, McGarrett has to find another place the gun might be. Somehow he comes up with the correct answer, and the case is largely solved.

A couple of issues - if the doctor is smart enough to re-bore the gun to disguise the ballistics, why keep the metal shavings? If he had disposed of the shavings - a magnet and vacuum cleaner would likely have done the job to get all pieces - then there would be nothing to show he re-bored the gun.

As for Mr. Harper, it would have been better to have claimed to have thrown the gun into the ocean, with a vague recollection of the exact place. A much larger area to search.

As for Jackie Cooper's acting, he probably was directed to act in the manner shown. Perhaps he could have been a bit more emotional,even if he claims he and his wife were distant. After all, at one time he must have loved her, he married her. But I suspect the writers were more interested in the murder case solution than the characters. The actress playing Mrs. Harper got to show most of the emotion, perhaps they though that was enough.

77 Sunset Strip: The Kookie Caper (1959) Season 2, Episode 2

A family affair

[10/10 · 4 February 2023]

There are times like this where nepotism is NOT a bad thing.

Director Montgomery Pittman, writer Maurita Pittman, and guest star Sherry Jackson are husband, wife, and daughter, respectively.

Together, they have produced an episode that is both a decent detective story, and one that is very funny.

Perhaps because of her previous child-star experience, Sherry is playing well beyond her real-life seventeen years of age here. This may have been helped by her parent's involvement.

Kookie is becoming as much a vital part of this show as the headline stars. There is a bit where he questions a boy on skates about the disappearance of Carrie. At the end of the bit, the boy pulls out his own comb. Can we say mini-me?

There is also a very funny bit by Louis Quinn (Pete Roscoe), doing switchboard duty in place of the vacationing Suzanne (Jacqueline Beer).

Sherry Jackson and Edd Byrnes will pair again in the season 2 episode The Texas Doll (1959), and Sherry guest starred in three additional episodes, two of which were written and/or directed by her stepfather.

In addition to having a cameo by Sugarfoot (1957) star Will Hutchins, director Montgomery Pittman and writer Maurita Pittman also had the same function a year previous in the Sugarfoot (1957) episode Hideout (1958).

Aside from her work on Make Room for Daddy (1953) as Terry Williams, Sherry Jackson may be best known as an adult for her role in Star Trek (1966) episode What Are Little Girls Made Of? (1966). So it was a little prophetic that when Kookie asks Carrie what type of TV show she would like to star in, at first he says "an oater", slang for the many TV western shows. Then he switches to an "outer space" show. This is seven years before that iconic role as the skimpily-clad android Andrea.

Another "outer space" connection, Sherry Jackson also co-starred in the Make Room for Daddy (1953) with Angela Cartwright (Linda Williams), who started with the show in season 5. Not only that, but Sherry would have a guest-star role on Lost in Space (1965) episode The Space Croppers (1966) as Effra, although she did not have any scenes in common with Angela.

This is one of those episodes that makes me wish this show was available on DVD or Blu-Ray.

Hawaii Five-0: Ma lalo o ka 'ili (2014) Season 4, Episode 17

Frenetic camera work distracts from the execution of the story

[6/10 · 15 January 2023]

The constant movement of the camera during most of the in-car and chase scenes was very distracting. It is usually an indication that the real action is not good enough.

Also, the execution of the story is weak. There is no real interaction between the boyfriend and girlfriend that would leave you to believe he would kill her father for her.

It is also a little unbelievable that the boyfriend would rush the police holding a gun, although not pointing it at them.

The best part of this underwhelming story is the end, where the daughter finds out all her deception was for nothing.

Btw, the goof about the stolen car door being closed is not really a goof. When the boyfriend is leaning into the car, and is pulled out by the car's owner, the girlfriend is by the front fender of the car. She then comes forward, closing the car door, to help her boyfriend. The poor camera work obscurs this motion.

A more important goof - as the boyfriend is driving, with McGarrett chasing them, he further opens the cowling around the steering wheel and cuts some wires. This is intended to disable the car's brake lights. But the brake light wires have no reason to be running along the steering wheel.

Hawaii Five-0: Ho'i Hou (2014) Season 4, Episode 18

Missing cast credti item

[7/10 · 15 January 2023]

The actress portraying the murder victim, Laura Richmond, is not listed in the cast credits. I suspect she is a stuntwoman, but that is no reason to not give her cast credit.

It was about this episode that I began to tire of the CIA links. While I would liked to have seen more of Christine Lahti, these side-trips are more of a distraction than useful.

To the main story, while the basic theme has been done before, they did manage to make this version interesting. Starting with the victim-of-the-week's death, it was rather unique. Perhaps because of the fan suggestions?

The hunt for the killer does take a few interesting twists and turns, before becoming more rote.

I did have a minor quibble - Jerry and Chin went to the same highschool at the same time? Yet this is the first we hear it mentioned?

Mannix: Deadfall: Part 1 (1968) Season 1, Episode 17

Memories...

[8/10 · 10 January 2023]

It is interesting to watch some of the older shows on MeTV and other "oldies" networks. I remember Beverly Garland (Edna Reston) most as "Barbara Harper/Barbara Harper Douglas" in My Three Sons (1960), since that is what our family watched consistently when I was going up. But she had a widely varied career, both before and after that show. In particular I have been seeing her in older "western" shows, where she played a very different character type than "Barbara".

The same for Dana Elcar (Fred Reston), who I knew best from MacGyver (1985) as "Pete Thornton", and to a lesser extent, Antoinette Bower (Gail Mason) as "Sylvia" from Catspaw (1967). Both had big careers before and after those roles, which I can now see on the older shows.

I do think I saw both this episode and the one that follwed in their original broadcast. For all of season one of Mannix (1967), I was fascinated by Intertect and their computers.

It is funny that in a previous epuisode that Joseph Campanella (Lew Wickersham) was ridiculed for his boxing skills, but here he certainly managed his end of the fight. Perhaps he learned rapidly, or it was the medicine.

This was the second fight, the first that Mannix had with the men from the boat was also one of the more brutal of the show. Which is something, given the number of fights Mannix was involved in.

This episode, and at least one other season one episode, where Mannix talks about having an agency of his own, seem to hint at the future of the show where he actually does start his own private detective agency. It does make me wonder when the producers decided to make the change.

Btw, it is appreciated the amount of additional information some reviewers add. It enhances the viewing experience, even after watching some of these shows many times in re-runs.

CSI: Vegas: In the White Room (2022) Season 2, Episode 9

Another computer-illiterate crime show.

[7/10 · 16 December 2022]

Since when do you take a suspect's laptop and just start it up, and let it log into your network if you are a police detective?

Such lazy writing, and lack of research on how to do forensics on a suspect's computer.

Proper forensics is to take the storage, either hard-drive or SSD drive and put it in a dock attached to whatever computer you use to examine the drive. The suspect's drive never boots, never runs any programs, certainly not any viruses or RAT's. The biggest challenge you may have is that nowadays whole-disk encryption is easily available, so no files to read.

Even if for some reason you were forced to use the suspect's laptop, the first thing you do before you turn it on is to cover the camera with something opaque.

A pity, since the rest of the story was interesting, trying to sort out the who-dunit, and why. And, of course, to be continued...

77 Sunset Strip: Paper Chase (1963) Season 6, Episode 14

Good writing for the female characters, especially given the times

[9/10 · 9 December 2022]

The writing by Roland Wolpert and Robert Leslie Bellem for the women in this episode was outstanding.

In particular, for Elena Verdugo (Karen Keddy). For those of us who remember her best as Consuelo Lopez from Marcus Welby, M.D. (1969) it is fun to see her in some of her earlier roles. Thanks, MeTV.

Honorable mention to her long-suffering husband Laurence Keddy, Harlan Warde.

Second is Nina Shipman (Maggie Dolan). Closer to what we would now call an executive assistant than a secretary. One minor complaint, who decided she needed fake glasses?

Third would be cab driver Kitty Corcoran, Virginia Vincent. She would have made a good "gal Friday" in a different variation of this show.

Then there is Barbara Hines (Gloria Peyton), the bartender's wife. Honrable mention as well to her long-suffering husband, John Kellogg.

Barbara Stuart (Marla Reilly) and Jean Willes (Francie Vollmer) both get good lines

And of course, Joan Staley (Hannah).

Mannix: A Ransom for Yesterday (1975) Season 8, Episode 17

Excellent story and cast.

[10/10 · 7 December 2022]

I agree, Diana Hyland is part of what makes this episode special. There is also Dabney Coleman, without his signature mustache. Howard Hesseman, looking much like he did a few years later in WKRP in Cincinnati (1978).

The story was interesting, with very little boilerplate. Losing the primary suspect partway though was unusual.

The part where Mannix figures out that the primary suspect was jailed for a gas station robbery was not a wild guess, it came from the tape he listened to speculating on who the original kidnapper was.

Very little fisticuffs in this episode, Mannix takes out one of the bad guys with a gut punch and judo throw.

Mannix's line at the end of the scene with the bad guys was one of the funniest ever in the series. The cherry on top as it were.

Footnote - Diana Hyland was in the episode of Cannon The Melted Man (1975) following this episode on MeTV. She once again rode into a scene on a horse.

NCIS: Higher Education (2022) Season 20, Episode 9

More crypto computer nonsense

[7/10 · 6 December 2022]

Once again, they hold up the holy grail of a computer cypher that can unlock anything. Not even science fiction, more science fantasy.

Any computer system with top secret info is going to be air-gapped. And without clearance, you are not touching those computers. Literally. Even if you are from the vendor who supplied the computers, you cannot touch the keyboard if you are onsite, helping out those who ARE cleared. And definitely no USB devices allowed.

On the other hand , once you get past that, it becomes the usual search for the McGuffin, who has the cypher, and who committed the murder.

They do uncover a spy and its handler, but it does not appear they were able to do much, the spy not having (real) clearance to access the computer systems described.

I do wish they would make up their minds about Delilah Fielding. Is she loving wife or jealous B? It seems to be such a waste of.Margo Harshman's talents.

Hawaii Five-O: King Kamehameha Blues (1969) Season 2, Episode 8

So preachy so early in the series

[5/10 · 2 December 2022]

I agree with the one reviewer about the "kids". They were tolerable during the planning and execution of the caper, but the entire story devolves into "kids" vs "The Man", especially in the form of Steve McGarrett, or is it Jack Lord.

Perhaps you could excuse it as being part of the times, but even then the story was artificial and forced.

Since the last act was so vapid, I am not even sure what point the writers were trying to make. There were so many more positive things they could have done to end this story, such as requesting a ransom from the government, and then using the money to help someone/some group.

Instead we get a rich kid's pity party.

A few stars for the audacity of the caper, but that is the only good part of this story.

Law & Order: Vicious Cycle (2022) Season 22, Episode 6

Not the usual case

[8/10 · 4 November 2022]

When even "liberal" Law & Order writers point out how corrosive the "no prosecution" for petty theft has become, you get an episode like this.

First off, I should explain I am not a Republican, but rather an Independent voter. This is not a MAGA rant.

I do live in Los Angeles County, and we have seen a similar attitude on the West Coast, as well. It has gotten bad enough that there have been several recall attempts against the Los Angeles County DA. In San Francisco County the recall succeeded.

This appears to have made an impression on this show's writers. While they do go into the issue of prosecutors being overloaded, they also seem to be agreeing with the assessment that this looking the other way for theft has gone to far.

For the actors, there are good performances from both the regular and guest actors. I would say this is closer to the older Law & Order that gave us 20 seasons.

Mannix: A Night Full of Darkness (1974) Season 7, Episode 17

Three missing character credits

[9/10 · 3 November 2022]

There are three women who had speaking parts that are not listed in the credits.

1) Ann/Anne - tall brunette with short hair, red top - at the wedding reception, she offers Joe and Art some cake. Later, as Art and Norma are leaving she has some additional lines.

2) "Nurse" Kate Carson - who gives Art the drugs after Joe leaves.

3) The woman from the hypnosis demonstration who does the teapot imitation.

This is the second episode to deal with hypnosis. The first was a few seasons ago, where it is Peggy who was drugged/hypnotized into giving up the office safe combination. She ended up tracking down the man who hypnotized her.

As for Art being hypnotized to kill, that is not necessarily true. He did not have to be the one who pulled the trigger, just hypnotized into registering at the hotel under the fake name, and buying the gun. The ultimate perpetrator had the skills to use the rifle, Art did not even have to be present for the kill.

The ending location was unique, I don't think they had used it before. Much better than the old warehouse location used so many times in previous seasons.

Good episode, it keeps you guessing until the end.

NCIS: Los Angeles: The Body Stitchers (2022) Season 14, Episode 3

Grrrr...

[6/10 · 24 October 2022]

Are we going to have to wait another five years for the next part of this story? I would have accepted this as a two-parter, if the following episode brought the remaining bad guys to justice.

Too much filler, not enough main story. I have known of Richard Gant (Raymond Hanna, Sam's father) for many years, and I don't think of him as a comedic actor, so the attempts at wacky family hijinks falls flat.

Nice way of cutting out Vyto Ruginis who played Arkady. Mention his name, but don't have him in the episode.

Speaking of missing actors, once again. Chris O'Donnell is a no-show, and it is noticeable. What's up with that?

Aside from these distractions, the over-all main story was good. It does keep your attention, and the darkened vacant theater location is nightmare to track down a bunch of scurrying, likely dangerous, criminals attempting escape.

Slightly puzzled by the ending reveal - why would Collins need to open the door for the other guy? This is a movie theater, and all exits have the press bar to open the door from the inside.

Six stars - it would have been higher if not for the distracting side-story, and making us have to wait for the conclusion of this story arc.