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Reviews
1st & Ten (1984)
Question about the show
I remember watching this show on HBO back in the '80's. I could have sworn there was a recurring gay character on it, named, if I recall correctly, "Ty Taylor". I think he was played by Rick Moser. Yet I don't see such a character mentioned in the cast. I also didn't see the show listed among Rick Moser's credits. Could I have possibly imagined it? Does anybody else remember seeing a character like that on the show? If so, I'd appreciate some confirmation that I'm not crazy. As for the show itself, I always found it pretty funny and outrageous. I preferred it when Delta Burke was on. Shannon Tweed is pretty, but she isn't really a comedienne. Update: Having recently purchased the DVD of the series, it turns out that Ty Taylor WAS indeed a character, and Rick Moser is listed in the credits, though his name appears nowhere in the IMDb entry for the show among the cast & crew. The character wasn't a major one, and seemed to have been "de-gayed" by the third or forth season. Also, the show had a succession of female team owners-Delta left at the beginning of season three.
Gloria (1982)
Fortunately, forgotten
Ill-conceived spin-off from "All In the Family" that should never have existed. Archie & Edith's "little girl" Gloria is now a struggling single mom, split from husband Mike. That the show wasn't particularly funny was bad enough; what I really object to is the way it ruined our memories of the Stivics. Mike and Gloria were so much in love, I don't believe for a minute they would split up. The spin-off left a bad taste in my mouth before it even aired. So did "Archie Bunker's Place", the mutation of "All In the Family" that had the widowed Archie running a tavern and raising his niece. It's a shame those two shows had to come from an all time favorite-the best way to enjoy those characters is in the original. Edith completes Archie, Mike completes Gloria. The proof? Nobody remembers this spin-off, and nobody wants to remember "Archie Bunker's Place".
Good Morning, Miami (2002)
Built-In Flaw
The two leads are appealing enough, but there's a built-in flaw to this show: Since the premise is Jake's unspoken crush on Dylan, the weekly plots won't waver too much from one contrived effort after another to keep them apart. This can only happen so many times before we get sick of it-especially when there are no other supporting characters to sustain our interest.(The "weather nun", in particular, is an embarrassment) Why does Dylan's boyfriend have to be such an insufferable jerk? Doesn't this devalue her? Beyond that, the show is trite and unfunny. I can't imagine why an old pro like Suzanne Pleshette would consent to do this series. She deserves better. So do we.
Baby Bob (2002)
Unpleasant
It's spun off from a bunch of commercials. It's a ripoff of the "Look Who's Talking" movies, which means they've revived an idea that's over a decade old. Then there's the rather disconcerting use of a female infant for the male baby. But the worst thing about this show is that the baby isn't cute or funny-it's just CREEPY! Joely Fisher and Adam Arkin are gifted actors, hopefully they'll get better roles once this show is mercifully canceled.
Isn't She Great (2000)
Does a disservice to everybody involved.
I actually had high hopes for this movie, when I learned the cast included Bette Midler, Nathan Lane, David Hyde Pierce, Stockard Channing and John Cleese. When I learned the screenplay was by Paul Rudnik. When I learned the director was Andrew Bergman. All funny, funny people. I was expecting a humorous bio of author Jaqueline Susann, a camp icon who was, unintentionally, a pretty funny woman. No such luck. The effort seems muted, with very little genuine wit. If they'd meant to take a serious look at the author, that might not matter so much, but her life isn't covered with much depth, and the more serious details-her battle with cancer, her son's mental handicap-are brought up but not really dealt with.(The movie clocks in at about 90 minutes-every plot point seems to have been rushed through.) If they weren't aiming for camp and weren't aiming for straight drama, what were they aiming for? Bette Midler is miscast-it probably seemed like a clever idea to cast one camp icon as another, but she neither looks nor sounds anything like Susann-actually, costar Stockard Channing seems a better fit. Clue to how bad this movie is: When I saw a clip of the 1967 film version of "Valley of the Dolls", I realized I'd rather be watching THAT.
Suddenly Susan (1996)
Suddenly Snoozin'
Hastily pasted together sitcom, and a rather dull one at that. Brooke Sheilds is a charming girl, but not really a comedienne. Kathy Griffin is funny, but the rest of the cast, including the late David Strickland, didn't get much to do. In fact, when Andrea Bendenwald joined the cast, I literally kept forgetting who she was each week. Not offensively bad, just bland. I stopped watching when Judd Nelson left-I just couldn't bear to see a comic giant like Eric Idle act down to the level of the writing. One bright spot: The Shawn Colvin song,"Nothin' On Me", heard to better advantage on her cd "A Few Small Repairs".