We get an Elyse (Meredith Baxter) story with Suzanne Takes You Down. Written by Ruth Bennett it debuted on 16 March, 1983. One of Elyse’s friends, Suzanne (Brooke Alderson) who we’ve seen before with her husband, Ron (Jay Tarses), is having a bit of a tough time. She is suffering from empty nest syndrome and…
Author: TD Rideout
Wild and Crazy Guys (2019) – Nick de Semlyen
I loved Nick de Semlyen’s The Last Action Heroes which took readers behind the scenes of the big 80s action heroes, their successes and blunders. When I heard he’s also written one about the big comedy stars of the 80s I sought out a copy of Wild and Crazy Guys immediately. The focus of this…
Sphere (1987) – Micheal Crichton
It’s been a while since I’ve read anything by Michael Crichton. There was a time when there were a number of novels on my bedside table that had his name on them but nothing for a couple of decades, and I thought perhaps I should revisit those I knew and explore the ones I didn’t,…
Batman (1966) – The Penguin’s Nest, and The Bird’s Last Jest
The Penguin (Burgess Meredith) returns to Gotham City, but Batman (Adam West) and Robin’s (Burt Ward) alter-egos of Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson are shocked to discover that he seems to be going on the straight and narrow and is currently running a high-end restaurant that has the weird touch of having the customers write…
Escape Plan (2013) – Mikael Hafstrom
Escape Plan feels like a bit of an action throwback and leans into the escapist (pun intended) entertainment of the 80s and early 90s. And what better way to do that than with two of the biggest stars of the 80s Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger? Stallone plays Ray Breslin, a professional escape artist. He…
Moonrise Kingdom (2012) – Wes Anderson
The framing, the quirky characters, the details, the whipsmart dialogue and its delivery. Every time I watch a Wes Anderson film that one becomes my new favourite until I watch another one. I love how he tells his stories, how his characters interact, and all the little moments, styles, and touches that make a Wes…
Hill Street Blues (1985) – Seoul on Ice, and In the Belly of the Bus
There’s a lot going on in Seoul on Ice. LaRue (Kiel Martin) and Washington (Taurean Blacque) are attempting to run down leads to solve the vicious attack on Garibaldi (Ken Olin) that landed him in critical condition in the hospital – can you say debts owing to loan sharks? And that’s just the tip of…
Logan (2017) – James Mangold
With Mangold’s take on Indiana Jones causing divisiveness in the theatres, I thought it was maybe time to revisit Logan, his take on an older Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), and was delighted as I settled into this dark, violent, and bloody R-rated Marvel movie to find that it’s more or less the Marvel Universe take on…
Batman (1966) – Come Back, Shame, and It’s How You Play the Game
Holy guest stars, it’s Cliff Robertson as this week’s villain! He seems to be leaning into the camp of the thing, as he dons a cowboy outfit and claims the name Shame just so that a child, Andy (Eric Shea) can later on deliver a riff on the iconic line from Shane. This two-parter was…
Family Ties (1983) – Margin of Error, French Lessons, and I Gotta Be Ming
Alex (Michael J. Fox) gets in all manner of trouble in Margin of Error. Written by Michael Russnow it was first broadcast on 9 February, 1983. Alex is playing the stocks on paper every day for a school project, and he’s been making a theoretical killing. When he asks Steven (Michael Gross) and Elyse (Meredith…
The Mind Reels 