wgunnelsiii Reviews

The Mary Tyler Moore Show: Lou's Second Date (1974) Season 4, Episode 22

Time, distance, and new feelings

[29 July 2008]

If Lou never had any secret feelings for Rhoda until this episode, why was Rhoda allowed in the newsroom so often?

This was VH's last episode of TMTMS before moving on to RHODA. How much time elapsed between the events of this episode and Rhoda's return to New York? If Rhoda was going to leave for New York immediately, why did she make a date to meet Lou secretly at a hockey game? I didn't know it before rediscovering the delightful "Mary and Rhoda: Love and Laughs" article in TIME, but the hockey date was a sweet allusion to Valerie's father's former profession.

This was perhaps an introduction to the new, sentimental Rhoda of the early episodes of her own series--the romantic bud that died and later fully flowered in Valerie Hogan, however different the two characters were otherwise.

A Christmas Romance (1994 TV Movie)

Derivative?

[19 November 2007]

Newton-John and Harrison only did what Julie Andrews and James Garner did in ONE SPECIAL NIGHT. Still, she's never been more serious as an actress (nor has she ever been lovelier, except in the 1975 Glen Campbell special. Only Valerie Harper prevented Olivia from being the indisputable belle of Aspen in John Denver's ROCKY MOUNTAIN Christmas.)

A CHISTMAS ROMANCE is more unforgettable than ONE SPECIAL NIGHT for three reasons. Olivia is even prettier (in my eyes) than Julie; I had never seen Olivia act at this level before (corny though the plot was); and I had never seen Chloe before. Since PEOPLE quoted Olivia as saying she never accepts a dramatic role unless there's another for Chloe in the same project, I already suspected that one of the daughters in A Christmas ROMANCE was played by Olivia's own daughter. Olivia's resolute sheep-ranching widow instantly banished Julie's stuffy obstetrician from my dreams (though not from my critical memories).

My Sister Sam (1986–1988)

Dawber at her sweetest

[25 October 2007]

Both Mindy and Samantha really were as nice as Shirley Feeney should have been--and certainly as pretty as Shirley. Miss Dawber is unforgettable, reportedly as nice in real life as on both shows. It was nice to see her without Robin Williams' antics (no offense to a great comedian, but they did get a little distracting).

What I really can't forget, a perfect warm-up for her charms, is the theme song, "Room Enough for Two." It was as warmhearted as the WELCOME BACK, KOTTER theme song--this time with a sweet show to match. I haven't heard anyone sing this song since SAM, but the words were among TV's sweetest.

Spenser: For Hire (1985–1988)

The one quotation they missed

[26 March 2007]

I never liked VEGA$ very much, never read any of Parker's books, had never heard of Parker before, and found myself watching almost every episode of SPENSER only because TV GUIDE described it as a conventional cop show. (Not that VEGA$ was unconventional, but SPENSER was the first such show I ever watched without considerable parental guidance.) What I didn't expect were Spenser's delightful literary meditations. They (along with the beauty of Barbara Stock) made this show not just a rite of passage (for me) but one of my all-time favorites.

However, there was one Shakespearean passage I waited to hear and never did. Given Spenser's apparent compassion for all those involved in his cases, when he had to kill someone or witness a scene of massive killing I kept waiting for him to quote Fortinbras' lament for both the innocent and the guilty dead at the end of HAMLET:

"Take up the bodies. Such a sight as this

Becomes the field, but here shows much amiss."

The Void (2001 Video)

Reservations

[4/10 · 15 February 2007]

I watched this movie only because I was falling in love with Miss Tapping on STARGATE SG-1.

The only part in which I thought she was as pretty as on the series was when she's in the bathtub and Mr. Paul kisses her on the shoulder. One assumes her to be nude then. Unfortunately, she remained half-naked--in increasingly sexual situations--for the remainder of the film. What a waste of the rose of sci-fi!

Why did Eva have to be a civilian scientist rather than a military one like Samantha Carter? At the end, she was escaping through a tunnel while her superiors mistakenly thought the cloud of gas had killed her. When American military personnel die in action, a tune called "taps" is played. The resulting inadvertent pun on the actress's name would have caused us to laugh over her instead of cheering.