Reviews

Hey, it's time for another episode of "The Cosby Show". Thursday nights sure were fun. So what was on tap for this episode? Oh boy! We get a bunch of men reciting Shakespeare monologues. That's a knee-slapper. Imagine getting a chance to have been in the studio audience and THIS was the episode you see. No Rudy antics, no Vanessa being disobedient, no Denise and her adventures. No, we get Shakespeare monologues!

I was an English major. I love Shakespeare. I read him on my own but it doesn't make for great viewing of a good sitcom. However, Christopher Plummer is a guest star and he looks great.

I was right there when it all started -or at least in my family living room on September 14, 1985. It was quite a night. The Chief had died on "Gimme a Break", Edna's Edibles burned down on "The Facts of Life" and now this new show.

While this is not one of my favorite episodes - it's the pilot, so things are still being worked out- it has a lot to recommend it. Beatrice Arthur is still very much in "Maude" mode here but looks refreshed and has some good zingers already.

What is interesting about the pilot is how much of it rests on the shoulders of Arthur and Betty White. Sure, the episode deals with Blanche's impending marriage but take note of how often Blanche is actually out of the room, leaving a lot of the dialogue to be between Dorothy and Rose. Rue McClanahan's Blanche is not the character she becomes and the writers of this episode don't give her a chance to shine.

Good beginning to a good first season. Develops more into the show we love with subsequent episodes.

The above quote from Suzanne Vega is how I felt about the film. When I heard that the Coen Brothers did a movie focusing on the 60s Greenwich Village folk scene, I was excited. I love that era, have all the Rhino "Troubadours of the Folk Era" CDs plus the "Washington Square Memories" boxed set. I was ready. But this movie wasn't really what I expected. Kind of a monochrome and joyless look at the scene. It sounds like it was a lot more vibrant than the film depicts it.

Not that Oscar Isaac is bad; he's quite good in his role. I am not as crazy about Carey Mulligan's character who is just too bitter and angry the entire time due to an unexpected pregnancy which she seems to take no accountability for.

People have forgotten the era it seems so I am thrilled whenever we can catch a glimpse of it. Looking forward to another try someday.

Yes she was! The "she" here is Jo Polniaczek. Coming off a mild, inoffensive Season One, we are now faced with a smaller cast, zippier dialogue and new situations. Gone are half the girls from before, now only to be seen here and there. Even Mrs. Garrett is half the person she used to be.

Not that there isn't still some clunky dialogue. When Jo asks Mrs. Garrett how she knew Jo was the new student, Mrs. Garrett responds, "Easy. I've never seen a motorcycle parked in my flower-bed before." Doesn't make a lot of sense. But we still love her. (And doesn't Mrs. G know a lot more about Jo than a school dietician should?)

And for the remaining cast - the best were kept on. It's a good reboot for the series and the more issues-oriented stories of the next few seasons.

Archie let Mike and Gloria live in his house rent free for years. And on the eve of them departing to California, they want to skip a farewell dinner Edith has been preparing to have dinner with Mike's future boss at the Plaza. They couldn't even spend one last night with Archie and Edith? It was pretty selfish of them and kind of lets the two of them go off on a sour note. It's too bad. I'd have thought Mike and Gloria had more sense. Granted, it's just the way the episode is written but I wish there had been a different conflict set up here.

It's hard enough watching half the original cast leave but having them leaving the way they almost did... well, at least there is one more episode of the season left to try and get out of this mess.

...and the beginning of a silly one. After Mrs. Garrett leaves, Nancy McKeon seems totally checked out. Thankfully Mindy Cohn is as funny as ever as Natalie and saves a lot of the next two seasons.

It's really hard to say goodbye to Charlotte Rae and I never liked how they did it here. Despite it being an hour long episode, it felt rushed. And going to the Peace Corps at age 60? She was leaving the show. They could have just had her retire to another state. And she just gets married, throws blueberries at the girls and runs off. Goodbye.

I love Cloris Leachman as a rule but never cared for her here. I felt the girls didn't really need her as they were so much older now. It was a shame but is all in the past. The show was never the same without Rae.

One thing I noticed about this episode is that while Gloria and Beverly are all buddy-buddy, Gloria actually did not ever have scenes with Beverly before. In fact, I don't think Sally Struthers was in either of the earlier episodes that feature Beverly. But man, does Struthers seem to be having the time of her life here.

What a sad episode though. I mean, really sad. The Bunkers Christmas episodes were never exactly light and cheery (Archie's bonus, a lump in Edith's breast, dinner with the draft dodger) but this one, the final holiday episode with the full cast is a real downer. And to think that the second part aired Christmas Day in 1977. Ah well. Goodbye, Beverly. You were a good character.

It is said that this was the episode that set up " A Different World" but good lord, thank goodness "World" took its own tack and didn't follow this boring, boring episode. I remember when originally watching it, my mother said, "Colleges don't go all out on this just for a new president." Maybe not, but supposedly this president was in the position for 53 years. Give me a break. How is that even possible? I just don't like this episode. It's overdone. It's boring. The incoming president makes a silly speech with weird vocal inflections. Cliff meets a former professor who looks a good decade younger than he.

And are watching a graduation or not? The whole episode is just dull. A misfire.

Mainly acting as a wedge between Diane and Sam after their acrimonious breakup at the end of season 3, I didn't think Frasier Crane would amount to much. But then this episode came along. It's as though the producers saw the spark of something more so they actually gave Frasier something to do besides keep the main couple apart. And it worked. Having Frasier go on the hunt and be left alone as the men abandoned him and then come back to turn the tables was a good choice for the character. Suddenly Frasier was kind of funny and mischievous and not a one-note psychiatrist. And it worked very well.

This episode is a good turning point for the character of Frasier. And considering his legacy, it's a valuable episode as well.

Caught this on the night it debuted. A few hours earlier, they played the original. I was at home with my mother and was not going to go out shopping the weekend after Thanksgiving. The original was inoffensive if not great. But this one. Let's just say that I am an atheist and I was longing for some spirituality or mentions of the real meaning of the holidays.

Instead, this is a very shallow look at a bunch of shallow people in a Homeowner's Association (HOA) who really don't think of much but decorations and cookie contests. Despite such a great cast like stalwart Lacey Chabert, Melissa Peterman, Ellen Travolta and Stephen Tobolowsky ( all returning from the original movie), there isn't much here to recommend it. Too bad. Not hoping for a third.

Whoa! Slow down there, Ray. I really dislike this episode for the way Ray actually blames HIS OWN WIFE for what happened. I know the entire series is about him being a mama's boy to Marie and him being the favorite. But man, this was really harsh. In reality, I could see his behavior here in blaming Debra leading to a divorce. He threw her under the bus. It's not even funny. Marie was wrong to barge into the house when Debra clearly was not in the mood. And then to stay when she refused to read the room. It's all a sad situation. I'm surprised Marie and Debra ever reconciled after this.

Kind of a low point for me due to Ray being a bit if a jerk.

Don't like this episode. Joyce was totally in the wrong and everybody kowtows to her. She was unreasonable, rude and unlikeable in this episode. Mike was doing his job and doing it well and Joyce thinks she can slide on through because they are in-laws. Fat chance, Joyce.

Even worse is when Joyce gets home and starts blaming everybody for their habits. That's nice, Joyce but nobody else in that episode was being pulled over at a checkpoint. If they had, then they deserved the consequences. Sadly, this episode spoiled Joyce for me hereon out. Bad writing. Bad characterization. I never really cared for her character again.