Analytical Episode Review:The Cosby Show, "And So We Commence"

Series finale month continues my friends!
Two weeks ago I talked about how a final episode can be huge events, like Friends or Seinfeld. Last week I talked about horrible final episodes of great series like Alf which was painful! Sometimes these finale's lead to spin-off series which always takes something away from the final episode. See Three's Company, The Golden Girls, and The Facts of Life as examples of that. But is it possible to have a perfect final episode? An episode that isn't so big, isn't over hyped, and feels in step with the series while also giving it a clear sendoff? The answer to that my friends is today's subject :

"And So We Commence"



This episode aired on April 30, 1992. I already talked about the great opening they used combining all the openings over the years, so why not discuss the rest of the episode?





Plot Summary:Theo is finally graduating from college. Cliff tries to find tickets to the ceremony for everyone while Olivia plans to join her family in Singapore.

A Look at Movie Stars who Started Out on TV Shows

Something that has always amazed me is how many distinguished, respected actors have come from sitcoms or other TV series. In some cases, the fact these actors came from humble beginnings is almost forgotten as the actors gets more and more famous. Today I thought I would run through some examples of actors/actresses who are major movie stars that got their start in TV shows.





Tom Hanks


I think everyone knows that Tom Hanks co-starred in Bosom Buddies with Peter Scolari. But did you know that he actually has a pretty impressive resume of sitcom work before he letp onto the big screen? He appears in two episodes of Family Ties as Elyse's brother, an episode of Taxi where he was very funny, an episode of Happy Days, and like most people in that time an episode of The Love Boat. It seemed like he was on his way to being a major TV star...until a little movie called Splash changed all of that in 1982.




Ron Howard


Speaking of Splash (which is a really good movie by  the way!) it just happened to be one of the first movies directed by Ron Howard. Of course, Ron Howard was a child actor starring in The Andy Griffith Show and Happy Days. He got his movie career going when he was in American Graffiti (which, I'm sorry, bored me) but it was when he got into directing things really took off. I loved Apollo 13 and many other of his films.

Analytical Episode Review:Roseanne, "Into That Good Night"

Series finale month continues my friends!

Today I want to talk about a final episode to a popular series which was awful. After nine years of being a groundbreaking comedy, it goes out on a really disappointing note. As you may have guessed, I am referring to :

Show of hands, who is surprised I picked this one as my example of a terrible series finale? This is universally considered a dispointing final episode though it does have its fans. But is it really as bad as people say?




"Into That Good Night"



This aired on May 20, 1997 and left a lot of viewers...confused.




Plot Summary:Darlene and the baby comes home as the family gathers and DJ is forced into the basement. Then....but we'll get to that.

Top 5 Favorite TV/Movie Car's

I have been putting this off because others have done this and probably better than I. But I finally decided the time had come for me to talk about this, so here we go.The vehicle in a series can often be the most important part. The car or truck has to be sleek and memorable in a way that makes our heroes even cooler than they already are. While truck's are awesome I always love a cool car. And here the five I love the most. 

Analytical Episode Review:Cheers, "One For the Road"

 May is Series Finale Month at 80's & 90's Central!!


"How I Met Your Mother" had a final episode recently, and it pissed a lot of people off. I missed watching but I can understand why it upset so many. The truth is, ending a series is not easy. Some do it well and others do it....not so well.  Since May is generally known as the time when TV shows have their final episodes, I thought it would be fun if every Monday in May I take a close look at a popular series finale to see why some work, and others don't. I will discuss two finale's which were fantastic, and two which were just painful.



Today let's take a look at a great one, and save the bad one for next week (and no it is not Seinfeld I have said MORE than enough about that). I want to talk today about :

Cheers went off the air after 11 seasons on May 20, 1993 after a ton of hype! And my friends I live in the Boston area. Trust me, the hype was CRAZY around here! I have only seen the Friends finale (ok and Seinfeld) compare in terms of publicity. But how good a final episode was it? Did it do the series justice? And why am I asking when I already spoiled that this was good? Ah, let's just discuss the episode:






"One of the Road"

My Top 12 Favorite Nostalgia Critic Episodes--Reconsidered

I have made no secret of how much I love the NC. I stumbled onto him at a VERY low point and he gave me some much needed laughter. I came into these reviews by accident, as I stumbled on his cliche list on YouTube. It got me interested so I wanted to see more and more. That night I was up past 1:00 in the morning, I just couldn’t stop. It is hard to get me to laugh, but his videos had me laughing my a** off!  For the longest time all I watched was Nostalgia Critic, I had no interest in anyone else. That was until a little film called Suburban Knights came along. That was when I officially became a fan of the site and went thru and learned about all the reviewers. Since then I a loyal fan, watching the old episodes while enjoying his newer stuff.





Back in July 2012 I did a list of my top 10 favorite NC episodes. But since that time he has done a LOT more episodes. And I have had second thoughts about some of my choices after re-watching the older stuff. I am also adding a few rules. I have to like the whole review, sketch(es) and all. And no Top 11 or Old vs. New. Those are great but deserve their own category. So here now is my reconsidered list for my TOP 10 NOSTALGIA CRITIC'S!






Wait, there are to many choices. Ah the heck with it....TOP 12 FAVORITE NOSTALGIA CRITICS!!






#12.Pearl Harbor


I am putting this high because to be honest this may not be his best review ever. Doug Walker had admited he was not as clear on certain points as he should have been. However, I love the sketch in this one. There was just something about the Michael Bay stuff which I couldn't get enough of! Maybe because this was the first so it felt different, I don't know but I loved this review.

Analytical Episode Review:Frasier, "Trophy Girlfriend"

For my tribute to one of my favorite actors who passed away yesterday a special look at an episode of one of the biggest shows of the 90's:

Bob Hoskins was one of my favorite actors. Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Mermaids, Hook, A Christmas Carol (ok I hated the movie but he was fine in it)...just to name a few. But one of my favorite Hoskins roles was on this episode of Frasier. I briefly mentioned this in MovieFan's article yesterday, but decided to take a closer look. Ladies and gentlemen:




"Trophy Girlfriend"




Let's take at a closer look at this episode from late in this series run.






Plot Summary:Frasier pairs up with an attractive new partner in Squash who is also a Gym teacher. All is going well until he sees her yelling at a student, and gets a flashback to his own painful experience with a rough Gym teacher. After that Frasier can only see that nasty Gym teacher!