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Mike_Tee_Vee
Reviews
The Jeffersons (1975)
Seventies rewind: The Jeffersons!
The Jeffersons (1975) was a spin-off of the madly successful "All In the
Family". The Jeffersons were the neighbors of the Bunkers. After their
characters proved to be unexpected draws, the producers decided to give
them their own series. The pilot was an "All In the Family" episode. We
saw the Jeffersons moving into a high rise. They finally made the big
leagues.
The first four seasons of this show were highly entertaining. But this
didn't last long. The show dragged on for seven more seasons before the
network decided to pull the plug. The series even had two spin-off shows
of their own but they didn't last more than a month or so. Sherman
Hemsley and Isabel Sanford become one of the biggest and most well
known t.v. couples. George and Louise along with Florence (Marla Gibbs)
and company. George's mother was around for a few seasons until she
passed away.
A fun show that was one of my favorites when I was younger. But like
most shows it just went on too long. By the time it was the 80's, the
writers were just recycling older plots are making one too many "special"
episodes. Even through all that and two actors playing one character
(George and "Wheezy's" son). The show became a t.v. classic and a big
part of American pop culture.
Factoid: The character of Mother Jefferson seems to be based upon the mother in
law in "Til Death Do Us Part", a B.B.C. program that was the basis for
"All in the Family".
Woops! (1992)
forgotten Fox Network television.
Woops! (1992) was a show that I kept on hearing about being in
development for a few years. The concept was interesting and I waited.... and waited for it to finally come on television. After waiting for the
Network to finally air the first episode I just completely forgot about it. But when it did air I wasn't impressed. It was very lame and juvenile. I could
have come up with better ideas whilst sitting on the toilet. Too bad
because I really liked the premise. Sadly, like all shows if this genre the
producers fail to deliver a good product. What's even stranger is the fact
that this show was neither a comedy or a fantasy. It's neither fish or fowl. Just another bad show that didn't make it a full season. Not to be confused
with Whoops! or Whoops Apocalypse!
I'm Mike Tee Vee. See ya next time!
The New Adventures of Beans Baxter (1987)
Forgotten Fox Network Television.
The New Adventures of Beans Baxter (1987-1988) was a fun show. I was
really into it but after a season of promise it just disappeared. The creator of the show ("Savage" Steve Holland) made a couple of great films and I
was stoked when I heard that he was making a television show. Just when
I was getting ready for the next season, it was canceled. Such a shame
because it could have really taken off. They should have produced a
made-for-t.v. wrap up show. Now that would have been a blast!
So long Agent Baxter. I hope you find your father and keep your brother
in check!
I'm Mike Tee Vee, see ya!!
Women in Prison (1987)
Forgotten Fox Network television.
Women in Prison (1987-1988) was a series created by the producers of
Married with Children. The show started off great but sadly like all
sitcoms they ran out of ideas. Despite a fast start the show simply ran out
of gas before it even completed a lap. The cast was excellent but the
situations and the dialog was real mundane and mediocre. A funny premise
that didn't know what to do next after it's initial run of episodes. Too bad it was canceled before it could really find it's groove.
I'm Mike Tee Vee, see you next time!
The Addams Family (1964)
Classic Television Series: The Addams Family.
Addams Family (1964-1966) was a classic television show that lasted two
years. Gomez Addams was hilarious whilst Morticia was a hot number.
Pugslie and Wednesday were their creepy son and daughter. Uncle Fester, Granmama, Lurch and "thing" rounded out the principal cast of characters. Gomez was a rich businessman who married into a family of ghouls and
freaks. Every since he was a young lad he was an outcast because he loved
oddities and weird people.
The show competed with a rival station's version called The Munsters.
Today the clear winner then and now is still the Addams Family. The
show's writing was excellent and Gomez and Morticia played off of each
other greatly. Instead of being monsters and characters of fantasy like the
Munsters, these kind of people could actually exist. The show stretched
the boundaries of decency, standards and practices. If you can tell I love
this show.
Overall, the Addams Family is pure classic television. John Astin and
company were great. I have to recommend this show for all lovers of
American pop culture and television!
I'm Mike Tee Vee, same channel same station!!!
Footnote: Stay away from the Hollywood remakes of this show. It'll taint your
memory of the original Addams Family!
The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis (1959)
Dobie Gillis Show!
Many Loves of Dobie Gillis (1959-1963) was another one of the many
sit-coms that came out during the late fifties through the early sixties. I
never really enjoyed this show. I don't understand how people like this
show. The only thing that was amusing about it was Bob Denver. He
co-starred as one of Dobie's friends. I believed he was supposed to be a
beatnik. I didn't care about Dobie's love life or his many girlfriends either. The series didn't last more than four years. Years later a made for
television update was made. I never saw the movie because I never dug this
show. Who knows maybe if I see it again I'll like it. Until then I have to
give this "classic" show a pass.
I'm Mike Tee Vee. Same channel, same station!
Bachelor Father (1957)
Classic Television: Bachelor Father
Bachelor Father (1957-1962) was a rare show that was produced during the late fifties. John Forsythe starred as "The Bachelor Father". An unwed father who lived in a house with his young niece and Chinese manservant. An interesting show when I was a young lad and it was one of my favorites because the manservant served as a comic foil and he would make me laugh. I saw quite a few of these episodes because they would air late at night on a local independent television station. the intro of the show would show the mack daddy John Forsythe, his niece and the manservant tooling around in the family automoblie. Not a great show but a different look at life in the mid to late fifties. A break from the staples like Leave it to Beaver. I'm Mike Tee Vee, keep it on this station!
The Honeymooners (1955)
Classic Television: The Honeymooners.
The Honeymooners (1955-1956) was a short television series that aired for
two seasons during the mid-fifties (but the show cranked out a lot of
episodes). Jackie Gleason shot this episodes on the fly with very little or
no rehearsal time for the actors involved. Jackie Gleason was the star. He
played a big blowhard bus driver named Ralph Cramden. Audrey
Meadows co-starred as his wife. She was a head strong housewife and
could easily see through Ralph's "tough guy" act and ignored his verbal
threats and brutish mannerisms. They made the perfect married couple.
Art Carney also starred as Norton, a lanky goof who usual irk Ralph
causing him to usually blow his top. Joyce Randolph played Norton's
better half.
The show was very innovative. Many sit-coms that debuted after this
show used a lot of techniques that Jackie Gleason used when he made this
show. Basically it was a cookie cutter show. Gleason made it whilst many
other television producers used it to crank out different variations of the
Honeymooners. The Flintstones was loosely adapted from this show. Years later Gleason revived the Honeymooners but it was never the same. Gleason could never recapture the magic he once had when he first launched
The Honeymooners!
I'm Mike Tee Vee, talk to you next time!
Leave It to Beaver (1957)
Classic Television: Leave it to beaver.
Leave it to Beaver (1957-1963) was one of the proto-typical television
sitcoms of it's era. Pure American pop culture. The tales of Theodore
Cleaver, his adolescent brother Wally and the rest of the Cleavers are
documented over a six year period. Everyone out there in T.V. land
watched the brothers grow up. Never really a big ratings grabber, the series ended when the "Beaver" got too old for people to really care about.
Now after years in syndication, the Leave it to Beaver cult has grown and
found an even larger audience thirty years later when Hollywood produced
a feature length film based upon this sitcom (the new June Cleaver was too
hot for the movie). But I digress. Twenty years after the last episode, a
new series featuring the principal cast members was made revolving around
them and their children.
Pure white-bred middle class family that many people today wished this
country would return to. If you ever wanted to see what life was
presumably like back in the latter half of the "nifty fifties", then this series will satisfy your curiosity.
I'm Mike Tee Vee. Talk to you next time!
Qian zuo guai (1980)
From Riches to Rags
John Woo's comedy/action film is a star vehicle for Ricky Hui. He plays an every man that dreams of marrying a Golden Harvest star and becoming rich. Ricky's friend Fatso convinces him to play Mark Six. Using the numbers of his dream girl's birthdate and her measurements. To Ricky's surprise, he wins the lottery. But he finds out that being rich is not all that in enjoyable and runs a foul of a trio of hitmen who try to kill him( he hires someone to kill him when his doctor mistakenly diagnosis him with terminal cancer). What happens next is unbelivable.
As usual John Woo reuses the set pieces from his earlier films and recycles them in his later movies i.e. Bullet In The Head, Just heroes and the Killer. I highly recommend this film. Try and find the mandarin print. It contains more footage than the cantonese version. Be on the look out for a young Lam Ching-ying. Check out the Deer Hunter parody near the end of the movie. By the way this film was made in 1980.