WYAdams Reviews

Monk (2002–2009)

Fun Show in spite of the Sloppy writing

[8/10 · 27 May 2024]

I really enjoyed Monk and wish I could give it a ten, but some of the writing is just atrocious. But, let's start with the things that make it a fun show.

Tony Shaloub does a great job portraying Monk. I can't imagine any other actor in the role. Monk is fun to watch with his neuroses and OCD behaviors. Even with all his problems he is able to solve the most convoluted crimes imaginable. He had a great working relationship with Captain Stottlemeyer who understood how he was traumatized, and looked out for and protected him. Among my favorites stories is when Monk had to go undercover to become a hired assassin. It was fascinating to see the transformation.

Both his assistants were interesting in their own way. There was the sexy buxom Sharona who didn't put up with his nonsense and pushed him to be better. I was sad to read that she was dropped due too a salary dispute. However, Natalie stepped in and filled her shoes quite well. Natalie was not a buxom blond, but a very cute, perky blond who could express emotions with just a facial expression. Another difference was the fact that Sharona was a nurse who helped bring him back from the edge of insanity and had a more intimate relationship as demonstrated by the fact that she called him Adrian. Natalie on the other hand was just a personal assistant and called him Mr. Monk.

I did not like the way they portrayed Randy. He was a detective with the rank of lieutenant, but as the series progressed they turned him into a bumbling fool of a clown who could hardly function. I also did not like the unending barrage of insults from Sharona, although that was resolved toward the end when they became lovers when Sharona visited Monk. They did have him take a job as police chief in a small town so his reputation was finally repaired.

I was sad when Stanley Kamel died and they had to replace Dr. Kroger, but they did a good job with Hector Elizondo as Dr. Bell.

Captain Stottlemeyer understood Monk the best of all. He knew what a great detective he had been before Trudy was killed and knew Monk's pain. They started out with the Captain resenting Monk being called in, but that was written out after a few episodes and their relationship became warm and fuzzy. The Captain even went so far as to accommodate Monk's quirks like the time they reearranged the squad room which upset Monk, so the Captain immediately had it put back the way it was.

Now for the sloppy writing which revolved around Trudy's murder. They just wrote whatever they felt suited the situation withot regard to continuity. Here are some examples. In one show, Stottlemeyer said Monk wzs a happy go lucky guy (inconsistent with most depictions) who was in the squad room telling a joke when the news of Trudy's death came in. He said Monk never laughed again. Another time Monk was supposedly in a store on a case when he heard the news. Then their is the contradiction of whether Monk was with her at the end. One time they said she died alone, another time Monk supposedly got to her just before she died. It's sloppy writing from mediocre writers who just make it up as they go with no regard for continuity or consistency.

My biggest complaint is the stupid reason Trudy was murdered. According to Monk when he attended his twenty-five (25) year college reunion, he met Trudy in the library on campus. That means he met her more than twenty-five years before the reunion. Since he met Trudy in college and she supposedly had this affair fifteen (15) years earlier she would have been in junior high school, not law school. The child was supposedly put up for adoption twenty-five (25) years ago which would be after she met Monk. Besides having the timeline all wrong, the reason for the murder is illogical and it seems the writers were looking for a way to resolve the murder before the show went off the air and came up with this cockamamie idea.

In spite of those few examples of sloppy writing (mailing it in) the show was very entertaining.

The Outer Limits: Demon with a Glass Hand (1964) Season 2, Episode 5

Poorly Written Story by a Great Science Fiction Writer.Who Mailed it in!

[2/10 · 22 May 2024]

There is a saying, "mailing it in" which means the person put little or no effort into the project. In this case Harlan Ellison, a great and respected science fiction writer, definitely mailed it in with this abysmal story. In addition to the poor story, the production was cheap, taking place in an old deserted building, with the cheapest most ridiculous costumes imaginable. The Kybans were dressed in white pants with white turtle neck tops, stockings pulled over their heads with the seams clearly visible, ridiculous little white caps or rubber shower caps on top of their heads, and black eye makeup surrounding their eyes making it look like they were sleep deprived.

There were plot holes big enough to drive trucks through. For example, the Kybans had the time portal mirror, but somehow Trent was transported to the past and wore the Kyban medallion which kept him in the past. There was no reason for the fingers of the hand to be removable, an obvious artificial construct to create a story that would fill an hour long program. The Kybans are an advanced race of aliens that conquered Earth in nineteen (19) days, yet they have only primitive revolvers as weapons.

Warning, there are spoilers below.

No reason was given for Trent being misled into thinking he was human, it was just stated. The whole idea was silly, since once he got all the fingers back the truth was revealed so why hide it in the first place. It was also obvious that he was not human the moment he was supposedly brought back to life so there was no surprise in the ending.

As I said, Harlan Ellison mailed this one in, and should ashamed as this ranks in the bottom ten percent of this series which says a lot considering the number of substandard episodes of this marginal "Twilight Zone" knockoff.

Metropolis (1927)

Another Overrated Film Heralded by Pseudo Intellectuals

[3/10 · 28 April 2024]

A corny disjointed movie displaying all the silly melodrama of the 1920s. It runs two and a half hours even with missing scenes, which is about two and a half hours too long.

The reason I say it is disjointed is because it jumps around randomly fom scene to scene like some kind of bad LSD trip, which I suspect the writer, producer, and director must have been on, and that is not the result of missing scenes, it is the way the movie was written. There are entire sequences that add nothing to the movie except to lengthen it to an interminable length.

It starts out as a treatise on the inhumanity of man to man. Then it throws in some Biblical mumbo jumbo. At some point it becomes a sappy love story. It devolves into a patently ridiculous science fiction movie in the mad professor's lab when he creates his lifelike android woman.

I watched it to the end like a train wreck that you can't look away from no matter how abhorrent it may be. I was overly generous giving it three out of ten stars.

The Naked City (1948)

Overrated Melodrama with Annoying Narrator

[6/10 · 7 April 2024]

This movie like the TV series of the same name is overrated as some kind of classic. The first twelve minutes drags on with nonsensical irrelevant filler. The characters are hollow stereotypes spewing dialogue that is some Hollywood writers idea of the corny way people talk and react.

The characters were hollow stereotypes of what the Hollywood writers thought people were like and how they should act in various situations.

The narrator is annoying and contributes nothing to the story except corny and stupid dialogue. His commentary is completely corny and the movie would have been much better without it.

The final chase dragged on much too long; a short quick capture would have been just as goid since the crime was solved at that point and there was no more mystery.

The only positive was the plot which was excellent. The complex twists and surprising interplay of the conspirators earned this movie five stars instead of one.

Food - Delicious Science (2017)

10 Minutes of Science 46 Minutes of Trivial Garbage.

[1/10 · 18 March 2024]

If you were looking for a program that explained, scientifically, the effect of food on our brain chemistry, this aint it. I am being generous by crediting the program with 10 minutes of science. Most of the program is filled with these two putzes traveling around the world acting like fools as they sample foods from various cultures. This is more like the program where the guy eats disgusting foods from other cultures than a science program. The difference is that most of the food is not disgusting.

We are even forced to watch one of the guys get drunk in some primitive backwater village in some third world country. Oh yeah, real science. All that I can say is that is fifty-six minutes of my life I will never get back again, and a rating of one-star is far too generous for this disaster!.

The Manhattan Project (1986)

So Bad it Deserves -10 Stars if that was Available

[1/10 · 17 November 2023]

I would put this movie in my list of the five worst movies I have ever seen, and it would be very close to the top of the list. The story line is implausible, inane, and childish, a perfect teen movie only surpassed by the teen slasher movies. I see a bunch of 8-star reviews, and it makes me wonder if these people saw the same movie I saw.

The plot is implausible, the action moves along slowly with inordinate amounts of time wasted on his design and building of the bomb. There are also many other painfully slow and unnecessary scenes designed to fill time without moving the story forward. Thank goodness for the fast forward button on my DVR.

First, we have the five-leaf clover incident. Ther are some major problems here. Mutations of that sort do not happen as quickly as they seem to have happened here. Second, a facility like this would radiation sensors all over the grounds as well as sensors strategically place for mile around to ensure there were no leaks, or in this case, material being carried out, either by contamination or theft. As a third problem, radiation high enough to cause mutations like this would require large enough leaks to kil everyone inside the building.

Now the next ridiculous item is the Doctor leaving his security passes in an envelope in an unlocked car relying only on the flimsy glove compartment lock for protection. No person with that many, and that level of security clearance would be stupid enough to jeopardize security by leaving passes around where they can be easily stolen as they were in this movie.

We get to a teenager thwarting a multimillion-dollar security system and walking away with bomb grade Plutonium in a childish and implausible scenario. He just happens to be able to turn off the security panel by tricking the lone guard into going outside leaving the front door unlocked and the panel vulnerable to hacking. Then he is able to aim the LASER perfectly using only line of sight and a couple of mirrors that are conveniently available.

Then there is the matter of handling unshielded Plutonium which would kill him in a matter of a few minutes to a few hours depending on it concentration, which we are led to believe is 99.9997% pure. As soon as he started handling it, he would get major burns on his skin, his internal organs would be baked, he would vomit, have severe and uncontrollable diarrhea, bleed from his orifices, go into convulsions and die a horrible agonizing death.

Once outside readiation detectors would go off alerting the authorities that there had been a radiation leak and they would have allowed the authorities to track the Plutoniums right to his work space.

We also have the dupes who help him. The first is the custodian who lets him work in the storage room unmolested without even asking what he is doing. In addition, no one sees him coming and going from the room. We have the teacher who lets him use the CAD to design his shell without asking what he needs the design for. The worst plot point, and most implausible is the Army guy who steals and sells him the C-4, which would be easily detected and result in the guy going to prison.

We are supposed to believe that a high school kid, no matter how brilliant, is able to go through old government record and come up with his own new and novel atomic bomb design, something which took hundreds of PhD level Physicists and engineers years to do.

He somehow manages to transport his bomb all over the state without setting off a single radiation detector. One again, be reminded that a nuclear facility like this would have radiation detectors set up for miles around, not only for safety, but by government regulation, so he would be discovered before he got a mile.

When he is walking in with the bomb in the animal box, the government men would jump him and take the bomb. There is no way he would have gotten as far as he did. On the other hand, they might just put a bullet through his brain and end the whole affair. Regardless of how they handled it, he would never have been allowed to wander around with the bomb, much less have time to run off, hide, and arm it.

The end is also nonsensical. Both he and Doctor Matheson (John Lithgow) would be sent to the deepest darkest prison cells where they would spend the rest of their lives never seeing another human being other than their guards. There is no way they would be allowed to walk free after violating so many federal laws.

To make matters worse, there is nothing endearing about any of the characters in the movie, even Lithgow's character, Dr. Matheson.

Now that I think about it, -10 stars is not a low enough rating for this disaster, and I think it belongs on the top of my five worst movies.

Police Woman: Warning: All Wives (1974) Season 1, Episode 3

Implausible Stor Line, Weak Predictable Plot and Ending

[3/10 · 25 September 2023]

The plot is predictable and weak. The implicate the wrong man so strongly that becomes obvious that he is not the rape/murder perpetrator. They aren't even subtle about the supposed clues that make him seem guilty. He, of course, is not the criminal. A ten year old could write a better plot.

Then there is the problem of the detectives knowing information about details of the crime which they could not possibly know. The rapist makes the women strip while dancing to music. There is music playing when the detectives get to the crime scene, but that could be for any number of reasons, possibly to cover-up any screams that might occur. The writers are so incompetent that they don't realize that they know this detail because they wrote it, and we know it because we saw it, but the detectives could not possibly know it.

The ending is predictable and hackneyed. In his three previous murders he immediately has the women strip while dancing then rapes and murders them, but in this predictable case he starts a long drawn out conversation with Pepper allowing her back-up team to somehow mirculously find the two of them in the basement parking garage. Just to add to the drama he drags Pepper to the roof then end only then does he threaten to cut her throat if the detectives approach. The writers needed to get them to the roof so the bad guy could plunge to his death over the edge of the roof, a much mre dramatic ending tha just having him fall to the floor in a basement garage.

I watched a few episodes of this pathetic show when it was first broadcast but lost interest quickly due to its weak plot as well as its bad cast. The only actor who portrayed a believable character was Earl Holliman. I cannot recommend anyone watch this show except hard-core Angie Dickinson fans and you will be disappointed how badly she is aging. Her lack of acting skills, on the other hand, are about what you would expect and are no surprise.

Law & Order: Free Speech (2022) Season 21, Episode 5

Typical Left Wing Elitist Stereotype of the Right by Hollywood Elitists

[1/10 · 21 October 2022]

Not only is this filled with left wing drivel but it contains outright left wing lies. They mentioned January sixth, and lied about it. The statement was, "it's like convicting Trump for the murders that took place on January sixth." The only person murdered was an unarmed protestor who was shot to death by an overzealous cop. It was a deliberate attempt to spread left wing lies.

The implication is that the defendent is some kind of extremist head case tied to QAnon.

"Do you think the biggest media (I can't use the actual word because the censoring program will reject the word) in the country is going to pass up the chance to wrap himself in the First Amendment." This is a horrific statement that should scare every American regardless of political party, but there it is. Availing yourself of your Constitutional right is somehow hiding behind something that is a right. On top of that, the episode ends with the open threat ,"...make people think twice before Tweeting venom!"

This episode could have been written by the Democrat Party, it is complete trash and a waste of time. It was written for no other reason than to scare people, so they tow the line and only speak and write opinions acceptable to the left. Rather than write stories about crme, the writers and producers veered off into virtue signaling by writing a political hit piece.

This episode deserves a rating of NEGATIVE TEN STARS.

Columbo: Identity Crisis (1975) Season 5, Episode 3

Implausible Plot wasted on great actor Patrick McGoohan as Columbo puts the cart before the horse

[4/10 · 19 October 2022]

Patrick McGoohan puts in a great performance as the suave debonair secret agent, reminiscent of his two early TV series. He kills another agent who he thought had been killed years earlier with whom he had been involved with in some fraudulent scheme. He sent him to a deserted section of beach under a pier for a supposed clandestine meeting with a representative of a man called Steinmetz in an area known for muggings.

Columbo's suspicions are aroused when he sees the man's coat had been removed and left on the sand next to the body. They go to a nearby bar and speak with the owner who just happenss to remember the man and a guy who left right after him. In true Hollywood TV style he is able to positvely ID both men. It is ridiculous how people just happen to notice and remember insignificant details needed to solve cases.

With a little detective work from his sergeant, and a cab driver with an implausibly good memory they discover his hotel. Then thanks to a a hotel clerk with another implausibly good memory they find his name and room. Then a clerk just happens to remember that he asked about the amusement park.

At this point the plot is already completely inane and unrealistic. The way witnesses just happen to remember insignificant and mundane events and details needed to move the investigation forward is contrived.

He discovers that the man is not who he claimed to be. Now he goes to the amusement park where, wait for it, he just happens to find a photo of a woman with the victim and another man together in the background.of what is supposedly a negative but is actually a print ( oops, a goof). From that photo of a man wearing sunglasses he immediatly tracks down the real man, Brenner (Patrick McGoohan), in a city of millions. Just like that, he somehow magically knows who he is. Not only that, without a shred of evidence he concludes he is the killer.

Eventually Brenner has the CIA director meet Columbo to reveal that Brenner is a high level agent, and the victim was also an operative.

At the end when he confronts Brenner he says that he realized the coat had been removed to remove the victim's gun and holster to hide the fact he was a CIIA agen and that is what made him suspicious. That is total garbage, a pathetic and obvious contrivance, since Columbo knew nothing about the man on the beach.

It is a poorly written episode filled with contrived coincidences that allow Columbo to solve the case. In addition, there are annoying and extensive pauses and inane comments in conversation put there as obvious time fillers because the writers were too lazy to write meaningful dialog.

I gave it four stars rather than the one it deserved because of Patrick McGoohan. But, it is definitely among the bottom episodes for quality.

Highway Patrol: Hot Rod (1956) Season 2, Episode 7

Once Again Uses Supernatural Power to Solve Crime.

[1/10 · 5 October 2022]

This episode set a new record for implausible plots with Dan somehow divining exactly the information needed to catch the criminals.

The first time is when an officer says the victim heard a loud hollow roar from the getaway car. The officer barely finishes when Dan blurts out "supercharger!" There is nothing in the exhaust sound that differentiates a supercharged engine from any other souped engine. It is the exhaust system that determines the sound. Beyond that, just hearing someone say the exhaust was loud is not enough information to declare the car is supercharged. By the way, the car was NOT supercharged even though it was claimed to be.

Then he looks at the map and with no information points out the town to which they fled after both robberies, having road blocks set, which surprise, surprise, just happens to be correct.

He must have extrordinary ESP to be able determine all those things. The police work bears no resemblance to anything like real police work. Dan is ridiculously insightful to the point of being right in all his assumptions. If I could rate this atrcity zero stars, I would.

Barnaby Jones: The Deadly Charade (1977) Season 5, Episode 12

After a Couple of Good Episodes Right Back to the Tired Old Predictable Plots

[1/10 · 3 October 2022]

It looked like the series had turned the corner with some genuinely interesting episodes, but no, this episode went back to the tired old predictable blue print for which the writers are so famous.

They gave us our two murders as usual, with the second being necessary to eliminate an alibi witness for the man being framed for the first murder. They did add one murder that occured prior to the start of the episode which Barnaby found out about. Other than that we had the usual corny shootout at the end, with Barnaby executing another of his amazing hip shots hitting the perpetrator in the shoulder as usual in all his shootouts.

Oh yes he and J. R. managed to figure out exactly where to go to stop the bad guy from killing Betty, even though the guy coukd have been anywhere in the marina. Once again he arrived just in time to save the third potential victim, in this case, Betty. There was no reason for the bad guy to have a gun on him other than it was needed so Barnaby could shoot him in the shoulder. About the only mystery is figuring which shoulder will be shot.

Checking yes for spoilers seems dishonest because it is impossible to have spoilers for such a predictable plot, i.e., two murders and a shootout at the end.

Smallville (2001–2017)

One of the Worst Superboy Series of All Time

[1/10 · 24 September 2022]

About the only resemblance to the Superboy comic book story are some of the characters.

The first problem was the addition of the annoying Chloe. She was an annoying know it all, who stuck her nose into everybody's business. For some reason they relegated Lana Lang to an insignificant minor outlying character as the annoying Chloe took center stage as Clark's confidant.

Then we have Lois Lane showing up in Smallville, which does not match the Superman story. Clark first met Lois when he went to Metropolis as an adult.

Then there were the stupid clothes that Clark wore when he was doing his super feats, and the equally idiotic name by which he was known. In addition, it appears they tried to save money by his not being able to fly.

Now we get to his hip 21st century mother and father with all the left wing trappings. Ma and Pa Kent were an elderly farm couple not a hip young couple with a liberated domineering wife.

The supposed ghost of his Kryptonian father, Jorel, has the same problem all the movies have. The emblem on his uniform should not be an S. Jorel had a large sun emblem, the S was used by Ma Kent, to signify super when she made his uniform from the blankets in his spaceship. The S had absolutely no significance on Krypton.

This is the kind of garbage you get from modern day Hollywood writers who spend more time worrying about morality lessons and less about entertainment. Any true Superman fan will be disappointed in this abysmal series.

Mannix: Cold Trail (1971) Season 5, Episode 2

A Real Mystery Right Up to the End (a real review, not just a synopsis)

[10/10 · 22 September 2022]

Mannix and two young women are standing on a ski trail. They decide to ski to the lodge and Mannix starts down the hill. The two women are alone when the woman in yellow says her binding is loose and tells her friend to go on ahead. Somewhere along the trail a skier wearing a hockey mask way lays her. We then see Mannix and the woman in yellow at the restaurant without the woman in blue. Shortly thereafter we learn the missing woman was found dead from an apparent skiing accident.

Mannix is suspicious because her body was so far from the ski trail. Also, while waiting for the surviving woman to pack he spots a picture of the women wearing opposite colored suits and surmises that the surviving woman was the intended target. Just before they leave someone tries to kill Mannix.

We also see a mystery man in a house who gets the news about the dead woman being the wrong woman and sends an armed man who appears to be a goon to correct the mistake and finish the job of killing the woman.

As Mannix drives down the highway from the resort a car with two men gives chase, one of them makes several attempts to shoot out the tires of Mannix's car. After an exciting gun filled chase Mannix spins his car sideways so it blocks the road. The driver of the bad guys' car swerves to avoid an aciident and drives over a steep hill. The car explodes for no apparent reason except for dramatic effect. It is stupid and contrived, but is a common effect used to make scenes more exciting.

Mannix examines his car and mysteriously discovers a wheel is bent making the car undriveable. Another stupid plot twist, since sliding a car cannot possibly bend a steel wheel, but it was necessary to the plot. Sure enough a man from the lodge arrives and volunteers to take Mannix and the woman to his house so they can call road assistance. Mannix and the woman are given drugged drinks which renders them unconscious. Who didn't see that coming?!

This is a review and not a synopsis so this is where I stop telling the story and actually review it complete with criticism.

We have two separate groups who are after this innocent woman. There does not seem to be a reason and it is a great mystery. While there are a couple of obvious plot twists, it is unlikely the viewer will solve the mystery of the two groups after the woman and why they want her. There is also the mystery of why they killed her friend thinking it was her but took her captive without killing her too.

There is a hint as to why she was kidnapped near the end, but we don't get all the details until the wrap up at the end.

This is a great episode for people who love real mysteries, and I doubt most viewers will figure out what is happening. I enjoyed every minute even with the two negative points I wrote about. I strongly recommend this episode.

Columbo: Columbo and the Murder of a Rock Star (1991) Season 10, Episode 3

Sloppy Writing

[2/10 · 19 September 2022]

Columbo arrives and immediately focuses on the way the sand is raked, then focuses on the corks and foil wrappers from the champagne bottles. He has absolutely no reason to check the corks for needle holes, he does so anyway. He also is suspicious about both bottles of champagne being opened in the kitchen. His logic is flawed becuse it was obviously concocted to make her live-in boyfreind look guilty.

It's lazy sloppy writing. It's one thing for him to spot obvious inconsistencies, but having him immediately focus in on clues without any reason or clues is just plain lousy writing.

I was generous giving it two stars. The quality of writing has declined to the point that it is as abysmal as it is in this episode. This series should have ended years ago.

Barnaby Jones: Dead Heat (1976) Season 4, Episode 15

Hohum! Another Two Murders and This Time a Thwarted Final Shootout

[1/10 · 3 September 2022]

Unfortunately, an all star guest cast, Pat Hingle, Barney Phillips, and Jacqueline Scott, are not enough to save this predictable cookie cutter plot. Once again the writers pulled out the Barnaby Jones checklist and ticked off most of the boxes, only missing the ubiquitous milk plugs, and modifying the end to a thwarted shootout.

There was the original murder, this time accidental, followed by the murder of his co-conspirator. The final, inevitable shootout almost happened until Barnaby managed to disarm the murderer.

The plots are all the same basic story only the names and the details change, but not enough to make the story unpredictable.

A murders B either deliberately or accidentally. (Murder 1) C is either involved or finds out about it.

A murders C to hide the crime. (Murder 2) A then attempts to murder D with Barnaby showing up just in time for a final shootout, or attempts to murder Barnaby ending in a shootout.

There are only two reasons to watch the show. The first is to see the contrast in Buddy Ebsen's portrayal of the suave Barnaby and Jed Clampett. The second is to see the beautiful and elegant Lee Meriwether. Too bad that is not enough to rate the show higher than one star.

Barnaby Jones: Blood Relations (1975) Season 4, Episode 11

Writers are Still Using the Barnaby Jones Checklist

[1/10 · 28 August 2022]

Somehow the writers managed to turn a hunt for a woman's natural mother into a show with the formulaic two murders and a shootout. The only box they didn't check off was the ubiquitous milk plug. There's nothing new here except that the attempted murder at the end which Barnaby miraculously showed up just in time to stop with one of his miraculous shoulder shots didn't invo!ve a cover up.

It is difficult to tell one show from another except for minor details used to set the stage for the two murders and final shootout. If you have seen one episode, you have effectively seen them all, that is why I don't think it is necessary to give a spoiler warning.

Adventures of Superman: Panic in the Sky (1953) Season 2, Episode 12

Loaded with Factual Errors

[6/10 · 22 August 2022]

This was a tough rating. The show is aimed at children and from that perspective it rates a nine or ten. On the other hand, as a Physics teacher who has to fight to rid my students of scientific fallacies ingrained from years of television and movies, it rates zero. That's right, it is so bad it doesn't even rate one. I averaged the two and rated it six with the extra star being earned for excitement.

Here are the problems.

1) If Superman has amnesia, then how did he know to change into his Clark Kent clothes?

2) Perry says the object is a giant comet which the scientists are calling an asteroid. Comets are huge balls of ice that orbit the Sun like planets. Asteroids are chunks of rock left over from the formation of the Solar System, they are nothing alike.

3) Jimmy says the asteroid flew past Venus and Mars and headed straight fo Earth. Earth is located BETWEEN Venus and Mars so that course is impossible.

4) Asteroids don't fly around on erratic courses suddenly changing directions as this one did.

5) Using the information about it size and the time it took (12 hours) to circlr the Earth I caculated its altitude to be 12,500 miles and its weight to be a hundred billion tons, about a hundred million times less than the Moon. An object with that weight would have almost no effect on the Earth and could not possibly affect the other planets. Ther would not be tidal waves, eartquakes, and volcanic eruptions.

6) An atomic bomb as small as the one used could not explode with as much energy as shown, if it explode at all. It certanly would not destroy the asteroid.

7) Since the asteroid is so small, it would not have an atmosphere so there would be no sound, so Superman could not talk.

This kind of sloppy writing teaches children wrong concepts thst they accept as fact which becomes ingrained making it extremely difficult for teachers like me to counter. Children should not be trivialized by spewing false information by adults who dismiss it as okay because they are just children.

Barnaby Jones: The Orchid Killer (1975) Season 4, Episode 3

Two Murders, a Couple of Glasses of Milk, and a Non-Fatal Shootout. Yawn!

[5/10 · 17 August 2022]

Just when it seemed the writing had improved the script writers pulled out the oft used Barnaby Jones checklist and checked off the overused and predictable plot points. Namely, two murders, two blatant milk (one was buttermilk) references, and the ubiquitous final shootout where Barnaby executes an impossibly difficult shot hitting the perpetrator in the shoulder.

The only point that saves this mundane episode from a rating of one star is the fact that we don't learn the identity of the killer until the very end. Numerous hints lead us to suspect several people until the identity is revealed, and it is a real surprise, as most good mysteries should be.

The Rifleman: Meeting at Midnight (1960) Season 2, Episode 34

Good Story, as Usual Mark ("Paw, paw, he' s my friend") Opens His Big Mouth

[10/10 · 15 August 2022]

Let's start with the cast. The guest stars are some of the biggest TV character actors of the fifties and sixties, Claude Akins, Chris Alcaide, John Milford, and Frank. DeKova. The cast makes this show worth ten stars.

Adventures of Superman: Superman in Exile (1953) Season 2, Episode 7

Ridiculous Plot Filled with Factual Errors

[1/10 · 15 August 2022]

The scientific errors are so numerous it would take several screens just to debunk them.

The scientists are portrayed as an incompetent group who not only perform a dangerous experiment that they do not understand and cannot control, but also come up with all kinds of hair brained schemes to get rid of the radiation contaminating Superman..

The police are also shown to be ineffective and incompetent in that criminals think they can commit crimes with impunity because Superman is not around to stop them.

Barnaby Jones: Bond of Fear (1975) Season 3, Episode 24

A Real Mystery

[10/10 · 13 August 2022]

The viewer is led to believe a number of different people committed the murders. Just when it looks like one person is the murderer, someone else comes under suspicion. There are three very believable suspects and the actual murderer is not revealed until the very end, although there are subtle clues to the identity, and if the viewer esxpects a surprise ending the identity becomes obvious. In all honesty, I changed my mind several times as clues were revealed that seemed to point to one suspect then another. The motive is not obvious and that is why it is so difficult to figure out who did the murders.

This was an excellent episode that broke the tired old predictable plots of most episodes. If you like real mysteries, this is the episode to watch.

America's Hidden Stories: Mrs. Benedict Arnold (2019) Season 1, Episode 7

Overly Melodramatic Filled with Errors in Fact and Grammar

[3/10 · 12 August 2022]

The narrator is atrocious. He is overly melodramatic trying to make every fact seem momentous and Earth shattering. There are numerous grammatical errors. There are also errors in fact.

In addition, the so-called experts are a motley group of people are tossed together based on whoever they can get. For instance, they use a graphic artist who has nothing to contribute.

The quality of this broadcast is embarrassing to the Smithsonian Institute.

Barnaby Jones: The Deadlier Species (1975) Season 3, Episode 21

Yet Another Formulaic and Predictable Plot

[1/10 · 10 August 2022]

Once again the writers pulled out their tired overly used plot outline and checked off all the boxes. Sure enough, a murder followed by a second murder to cover up the first. Once again we have the inevitable and predictable shootout where the bad guy just misses Barnaby and he manages to make a perfect shot wounding the bad guy. So predictable!

They didn't forget to include Barnaby's miraculous insight that leads him directly to the bad guy based on nothing. This time it was based on the fact that the victim was allergic to caulk, but showed no signs of allergic reaction before his death. The flawed and contrived conclusion was that he couldn't have been caulking the boat so he had no reason to be under it. The reason it is contrived is that there may have been numerous reasons he was under the boat, caulking is not the only job that may have been needed. However, the writers needed some excuse to make Barnaby suspicious. And as ususl he jumps right to murder.

The only high point was Lee Meriwether dressed up as a beautiful, sexy and sophistcated client, beyond that, this was another predictable formulaic episode indistiguishable from dozens of others.

Barnaby Jones: Doomed Alibi (1975) Season 3, Episode 20

Another Predictable Jones Plot

[1/10 · 9 August 2022]

The problems start with Barnaby's extraordinary ESP leading him to somehow focus in on Barrett. Time and again Jones miraculously investigates the right person based on no real evidence. This time he finds a small jewel that fell out of Barrett's hat. He would have visited the house, his business partner, numerous times during which he could have lost the jewel. It becomes tedious and annoying. Over and over, it's the same.

We also get our ubiquitous two murders followed by Barnaby showing up just in time to stop a third murder ending in the inevitable and predictable shootout where Barnaby wounds the bad guy.

It's like the writers are mailing it in.

I feel guilty clicking yes for spoilers because it's impossible to spoil a program when everyone knows esactly what the plot is.

Barnaby Jones: Fantasy of Fear (1975) Season 3, Episode 19

A REAL Mystery

[10/10 · 7 August 2022]

This episode is excellent because it breaks the tired old mold of most Barnaby Jones episodes and gives the viewer a real mystery. It is not immediately obvious who the culprit is. And we are led down a couple of wrong paths with false clues before we finall learn the identity of the real culprit.

Even Barnaby did not solve the mystery until the very end, arriving just in time to save the victim.