Benjamonster's TV

Next week, I will be presenting my regular Schedules of the Past post on Tuesday followed by Emmy Previews on Wednesday & Thursday and then another Friday Five. Then the following week will be my final week for the "season" on the blog with Emmy Previews on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and a Summer Preview to end the week. I am ending my blog posts for the season a little bit earlier this year due to many other things going on in my life but I will be doing the Benjamonster Awards again in July! Anyway, here are the Top 5 TV news stories of the week! #1 - TUCKER CARLSON & DON LEMON GONE FROM CABLE NEWS The week started with a bang with two cable news bombshells that were released within an hour of each other. Tucker Carlson was dropped from FOX News less than a week after FOX's huge settlement with Dominion Voting Systems. Reportedly, the findings from the potential trial resulted in some very troubling details of the work environment at Carlson's show plus...

Back in the mid-1990s, Nick at Nite ran a programming block on the weekends called "Very Very Nick at Nite," which looked at four episodes with a similar theme. Now I will look at four sitcom episodes from across the decades that have a similar plot or theme. This week's topic is  Very Very Family Ancestry! This Week's Episodes 227 #3 "Family Hero" (First Aired: September 28, 1985) Mary helps Brenda with a family ancestry assignment for school and discovers that they are related to a Civil War corporal. This is an early episode of 227  and only the second episode I've ever seen of the show (the other was a later one for Very Very Snowbound earlier this year). I think it's clear that the actors are still finding their characters and dynamics with each other. This episode would probably play a little different now because there probably wouldn't be nearly as much of an emphasis on the ancestor wearing a dress. But it was 1985, so it is what it is. ...

FANTASY ISLAND September 26, 1998 - January 23, 1999 13 episodes ABC Starring: Malcolm McDowell, Madchen Amick, Edward Hibbert, Louis Lombardi, with Sylvia Sidney and Fyvush Finkel Based on: Fantasy Island by Gene Levitt, Developed by Bob Josephson Plot: A remake of the popular 1977-1984 anthology, each week new guests arrive at the mysterious Fantasy Island where they encounter Mr. Roarke (McDowell) and his shapeshifting lieutenant, Ariel (Amick). Rounding out the main cast is the island bellhop, Cal (Lombardi), the concierge, Harry (Hibbert) and two travel agents who work with Roarke (Finkel & Sidney). Brief Pilot Review: I never watched the original Fantasy Island but I know it is full of 70s cheesiness and "Da plane! Da plane!" moments. From what I know though, this version, which came in between the original and the recent FOX redo seems to be the darkest of the three. That's due in large part to Malcolm McDowell who always brings an element of darkness and perha...

On Tuesdays, I take a look at schedules from yesteryear. Here's a look at Saturdays in the 1998-99 season! ABC 8:00 9:00 10:00 Sep America’s Funniest Home Videos Fantasy Island Cupid Oct Nov Dec Jan Saturday Night Movie Fantasy Island Feb Various Programs Mar Apr The Big Moment Saturday Night Movie May Various Programs Despite year after year of failures with scripted programming, ABC gave it the old college try again in 1998-99 with two new series and a new slot for America's Funniest Home Videos . Videos was in its second and final year of the John Fugelsang & Daisy Fuentes era and was pretty much an afterthought for the network at the time. At 9pm was Fantasy Island , the first remake of the iconic 1977-1984 series. The original series ...

Here's a look at the Top 5 TV news stories this week! #1 - FOX NEWS & DOMINION REACH SETTLEMENT This was one of those weeks where one of the biggest TV stories was also one of the biggest politics stories. Just before a trial got underway, FOX News reached a settlement with Dominion Voting Systems that saw them paying the company $787.5 million after Dominion sued FOX News for defamation after fraudulent claims regarding the 2020 election. While this was a huge amount of money, many were left feeling that FOX sort of got away without having to truly admit to their lies and help in spreading former President Trump's false claims about the 2020 election. The findings showed that many of FOX's top talent including Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham didn't really believe what they were spreading. Whether or not this has any impact on the hugely popular conservative news network going forward remains to be seen but I wouldn't hold my breath. 

Back in the mid-1990s, Nick at Nite ran a programming block on the weekends called "Very Very Nick at Nite," which looked at four episodes with a similar theme. Now I will look at four sitcom episodes from across the decades that have a similar plot or theme. This week's topic is  Very Very Séance! This Week's Episodes Cheers #191 "The Ghost and Mrs. LeBec" (First Aired: April 12, 1990) When Carla starts dating someone for the first time since her husband's death, she sees her dead husband's face everywhere so she decides to bring a fortune teller to the bar to hold a séance.  Cheers is an interesting show on this list. You didn't see a show like Cheers dabbling in a trope like seances very often. The show is usually "above" something goofy like that unless it has a particular purpose. I'm not 100% on board that they needed to do the séance scene to make this plot work. Although this is listed first (because I list shows alphabetica...

BUDDY FARO September 25, 1998 - December 4, 1998 8 episodes CBS Starring: Dennis Farina, Frank Whaley, Allison Smith, Charlie Robinson Created by: Mark Frost Plot: Buddy Faro (Farina) was a legendary detective who abruptly disappeared in 1978. Twenty years later, he is tracked down by a PI, Bob Jones (Whaley) and he re-opens his agency with actress Julie Barber (Smith) and his old partner, El Jefe (Robinson). Brief Pilot Review: This was a really fun pilot but it left me with very little understanding of what kind of show Buddy Faro was going to be. It was very much an origin story that had an awful lot of exposition to get through. The entire first half of the episode was nothing like the type of show Buddy was destined to become because we had to actually spend time finding the missing detective. However, it was clear from the get go that Buddy Faro was a very stylish show. It seemed to be relishing an old school noir feel with a jazzy score that paid homage to the late 60s spy and s...

On Tuesdays, I take a look at schedules from yesteryear. Here's a look at Fridays in the 1998-99 season! ABC 8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30 10:00 Sep Two of a Kind Boy Meets World Sabrina the Teenage Witch Brother’s Keeper 20/20 Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr Sabrina the Teenage Witch Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place May Home Improvement Sabrina the Teenage Witch ABC took care of the new competing CBS family lineup in 1997-98 but the battle seemed to leave ABC's once powerful TGIF lineup in a weaker state. They tried to liven up the night by bringing the Olsen Twins back to the night for their first TV show since Full House went off the air in 1995. It seemed like a good bet because the Olsen Twins were still quite well known in pop cult...

Here's a look at the Top 5 TV news stories of the week! #1 - HBO MAX TO BECOME MAX IN MAY It has been anticipated for awhile but it became official this week. HBO Max will officially merge with Discovery+ to become a new service simply called "Max" on May 23. This was part of a deliberate attempt to remove the "HBO" name from the platform but it's heading from a unique platform (& look) to something so generic in its title and visuals. Do we really need another blue-themed streaming service after Prime Video, Paramount+ and Disney+? I liked that Hulu was green, Netflix was red, HBO Max was purple and so on but I digress. The pricing mostly aligns with current HBO Max pricing and while customers can still get Discovery+ as its own entity, that will not be the case for people who just want the HBO Max content and don't care about Discovery+ (*raises hand*). I don't fully understand the business behind all of this and I get that those Discovery show...

Back in the mid-1990s, Nick at Nite ran a programming block on the weekends called "Very Very Nick at Nite," which looked at four episodes with a similar theme. Now I will look at four sitcom episodes from across the decades that have a similar plot or theme. This week's topic is  Very Very Home Stakeout! This Week's Episodes Coach #197 "The Neighbor Hood" (First Aired: April 23, 1997) Christine signs for a package for their Florida neighbors, who they don't really know, and then find out that they have the attention of the secret service. This is the last regular episode of Coach before the three part series finale. This episode is set up well because it plays into Hayden's reluctance to interact with anyone but when he finally does interact with the neighbors, after two years, they get embroiled in a stakeout. Unlike the rest of the episodes on this list, the agents actually want active participation from the sitcom characters we know and love. Tha...

VENGEANCE UNLIMITED September 29, 1998 - February 25, 1999 16 episodes ABC Starring: Michael Madsen, Kathleen York Created by: John McNamara & David Simkins Plot: Mr. Chapel (Madsen) works in the shadows to serve justice to those who deserve it but got away with crimes for one reason or another. He secretly works with a member of the District Attorney's office, K.C. Griffin (York). Brief Pilot Review: I thought the first couple minutes of Vengeance Unlimited was very interesting. It basically took us through an entire case that got us to the point of justice not being served in the case of the week. Despite being fast-paced (or maybe because it was fast-paced), it worked quite well. I felt like I had a really good understanding of the plot for the particular crime that had been committed and I was already irritated at those involved (guest stars Gregory Itzin & Gregg Henry) who were about to get a big old dose of, you guessed it, vengeance unlimited. This was a show that kn...

On Tuesdays, I take a look at schedules from yesteryear. Here's a look at Thursdays in the 1998-99 season! ABC 8:00 9:00 9:30 10:00 Sep Various Programs Thursday Night Movie Oct Vengeance Unlimited Nov Dec Jan Cupid Various Programs Feb Mar America’s Funniest Home Videos The Drew Carey Show Spin City Apr May Thursday Night Movie ABC stuck with its plan it used for the second half of the 1997-98 season on Thursdays to start the 1998-99 season with a drama leading into a movie. New drama Vengeance Unlimited took the 8pm slot. Vengeance Unlimited was a crime drama starring Michael Madsen and Kathleen York and it centered on a stranger serving justice to those ignored by the law. Check back tomorrow for a One Season Wonder post on Vengeance U...

Here's a look at the Top 5 TV news stories of the week! #1 - "THE RESIDENT" CANCELLED It was a pretty quiet week as far as TV news with things like a potential Writer's Strike and Upfronts season still on the horizon but quiet at the moment. So, I guess the biggest news is the official cancellation of The Resident on FOX. The show has quietly become one of FOX's longer running shows (not counting animation) as it soldiered through six seasons and 107 episodes since its debut in January 2018. After only receiving a 13 episode order for its sixth season and the report that its set pieces were being sold off, this was widely expected. The medical drama was a solid utility player for FOX since its debut but it never really made the leap to hit status. With the news that the show was cancelled, it was also reported that series lead Matt Czuchry (formerly of The Good Wife ) will be joining the next season of FX's American Horror Story .

Back in the mid-1990s, Nick at Nite ran a programming block on the weekends called "Very Very Nick at Nite," which looked at four episodes with a similar theme. Now I will look at four sitcom episodes from across the decades that have a similar plot or theme. This week's topic is  Very Very Cooking! This Week's Episodes The Andy Griffith Show #43 "The Pickle Story" (First Aired: December 18, 1961) Andy and Barney scheme to keep Aunt Bee from knowing how terrible her homemade pickles are, but that backfires when she wants to make more and enter them in a contest. This is such a fun episode that's so well crafted. It amazes me how much mileage a well-written 1960s sitcom, like this one, could get out of a really simple plot that would probably be a "C" story at best in today's world. Instead, the story takes a whole bunch of turns and the potential resolution just keeps changing as Andy and Barney keep getting foiled with their planned resolu...

MAGGIE WINTERS September 30, 1998 - February 3, 1999 16 episodes CBS Starring: Faith Ford, Alex Kapp Horner, Jenny Robertson, Brian Haley, with Clea Lewis and Shirley Knight Created by: Kari Lizer Plot: Maggie Winters (Ford) moves back to her small Indiana hometown to live with her mother (Knight) following a divorce. She reunites with her best friends from high school, Lisa and Robin (Horner & Robertson) as well as a rival, Rachel (Lewis) who still lives in the town. Rounding out the main cast is another friend, Tom (Haley). Brief Pilot Review: Faith Ford is a really fun personality and that shined through in an otherwise run of the mill sitcom. She made it a better sitcom that it had any business being. It wasn't a fantastic pilot, but it was a likable enough one that did a good job of establishing Faith Ford's character as well as the relationships of those around her and their connection to her. Even when things were getting sort of dumb (like the friends singing "...

Welcome back to the blog after Spring Break! On Tuesdays, I take a look at schedules from yesteryear. Here's a look at Wednesdays in the 1998-99 season! ABC 8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30 10:00 Sep Dharma & Greg Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place The Drew Carey Show The Secret Lives of Men 20/20 Oct Nov Dec Whose Line is it Anyway? Jan Feb Mar It’s Like, You Know… The Norm Show Apr May Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place ABC sent Spin City back to Tuesdays for the 1998-99 season because they had a show ready to take over the 8pm slot. Dharma & Greg had been a breakout freshman hit for the network and took over at 8pm while The Drew Carey Show remained a Top 20 show at 9pm. The half hour slots were a little more unsteady. Two Guys, a ...