‘The Powers of Matthew Star’: A cute sci-fi/fantasy diversion

Enjoyably simple and light early 80s fantasy sci-fi fluff. It could have been better, but staggering competition at the other networks spelled low ratings and a mid-season thematic shift likely left casual viewers confused, leading to its first season also being its last. Continue reading “‘The Powers of Matthew Star’: A cute sci-fi/fantasy diversion”

‘The Jeffersons’: Norman Lear sitcom disrespected, but we love it!

The strangest thing: my younger kids think television coming over our old aerial—complete with commercials and limited choice of channels—is the coolest thing now (high tech burnout was inevitable). And one of their favorite digital channels is our local MeTV outlet, with its old timey sched of classic television fare (yes, they have taste, but of course, I’m shilling for a potential job offer, too…). So the upcoming “Summer of Me” programming change this Monday should be a lot of fun for them—and for you, too, particularly since The Jeffersons will be movin’ on up into the primo 6:30pm (Eastern) timeslot (now you don’t have to watch the fake news!). Continue reading “‘The Jeffersons’: Norman Lear sitcom disrespected, but we love it!”

‘The Yellow Rose’: Primetime soap could have been a contender

All that talk in 2018 about the 40th anniversary of Dallas’s debut got me thinking about one of the many pretenders to its prime time network soap opera throne—NBC’s The Yellow Rose—right around the time I saw that actress Susan Anspach had passed away. She was quite good in this expensive, all-star outing from NBC, so in memory of Miss Anspach, let’s look back at The Yellow Rose. Continue reading “‘The Yellow Rose’: Primetime soap could have been a contender”

‘Yor, the Hunter from the Future’ (1983): Speedy, entertaining B-actioner

Yor, the Amusingly Adept Dreck from the 80s! Continue reading “‘Yor, the Hunter from the Future’ (1983): Speedy, entertaining B-actioner”

‘Nightmares’ (1983): 4 scares for the price of 1

More hits than misses in this vintage 1980s four-part suspense/sci-fi/supernatural/horror anthology. Continue reading “‘Nightmares’ (1983): 4 scares for the price of 1”

‘Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone’ (1983): Skip the 3-D, enjoy the film

Ah! That 1980s 3-D that was “new and improved” over the old-timey 3-D…that now looks decidedly old-timey itself. Continue reading “‘Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone’ (1983): Skip the 3-D, enjoy the film”