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The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air: Christmas Show (1991)
This is the episode where the Carlton Dance was introduced
Even though I've seen this episode a million times, it was today (March 21, 2017) when I watched this episode on disc three of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air season 2 DVD, that it really hit me that the Carlton Dance was introduced to the world back in 1991.
And Carlton did the dance out of nowhere. Ashley was dancing and then the camera panned to Carlton doing his famous dance by himself and then he moved the dance to near the front door of the Banks' rented cabin.
It was that scene and then season three where Carlton's character really started to get popular.
For an actor that is as talented as Alfonso Ribeiro is, it's kind of messed up that most people remember him because of the Carlton Dance. Because at the end of the day, Alfonso Ribeiro can act his butt off!!!
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air: The Butler Did It (1991)
Will, Bell Biv Devoe, and Tyriq. How could you NOT like this episode!
At the time when this episode aired, NBC knew they had a SERIOUS hit on their hands with this show. And like all TV networks are apt to do, NBC knew they had to up the hype machine of this show by adding a huge pop culture reference in Bell Biv Devoe (BBD).
I'm a BIG fan of New Edition and BBD. And it was nice to see this episode again and see BBD in a period (1990-1991) where their music and image were as hot as an Arizona summer.
Will as usual was his super funny and goofy self in this episode. For me, the height of his being super funny and goofy in this episode, was when he was dancing his way into BBD's music video by backing up into Michael Bivins and pushing Biv out of the video! That part had my dying of laughter so much that I rewound that scene about five times! Then there's Tyriq, who danced in and near the BBD video shoot. Plus, near the end of the episode he decided to ditch Will and the Banks' cleanup effort, to go hang out with some honeys at one of those Hollywood parties.
This episode was priceless and indicative of how hot this show was especially in the 1991 through 1994 period.
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air: The Ethnic Tip (1991)
You wonder why Janet Hubert is still bitter about leaving this show because of episodes like this!
Janet Hubert was marvelous on this episode as an African-American Studies teacher at Bel-Air Prep.
She sung, she acted, she was funny, and she educated the audience all in one episode.
Hubert was brilliant on this show. And you wonder why since about the late 2000s, she has publicly come out that she is angry about being let go from this show.
But her pregnancy around season 3 of this show and her attitude around the set during that season, helped exacerbate her exit from this show.
But all in all, she was fun to watch in her three seasons of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air: Day Damn One (1990)
"Day Damn One" is the episode when NBC, the show's producers, and writers knew that Will Smith was going to be a TV megastar.
Case in point is the scene in this episode where Will sat on the couch at home by himself and with none of the rest of the cast around, with shades on and singing for around three minutes, an off-key version of Jennifer Holliday's "And I'm Telling You (I'm Not Going)."
The NBC suits, the Fresh Prince producers, writers, and director of this episode let Will sit there and butcher Holliday's classic song for some valuable running time.
Powers that be on a show and at a network, don't let no actor do stuff like that unless they know the actor is going to be a star, is a star, the ratings are high, or the ratings are on the up and up.
Look at this way, NBC and the show's administration wouldn't have let Uncle Phil, Carlton, Ashley, or Hilary sing an off-key version of any song for around there minutes because they weren't as popular or as vital to the show's ratings as Will was.
That scene was funny though.
Miami Vice: The Fix (1986)
The Fix shows just how dangerous gambling can be
The Fix started out with an excellent opening scene in an exotic bird sanctuary at the Miami Metro Zoo. The sheer excellence of that scene was only helped by Jan Hammer's heavenly "Cool Runnin" score, which paralleled the action and the flying/squawking of the birds. That was a quintessential Miami Vice scene.
Judge Roger Ferguson (Bill Russell) couldn't get out of his own way in terms of gambling and paying off debts; which included asking his own son Matt (Bernard King) to throw a key basketball game.
Michael Richards (Pagone) turned in a solid performance as a loan shark/thug. I really thought he was pond scum in this episode but he was only doing his "job" as an enforcer of paying what you owe.
Don Johnson as always turned in a top-shelf performance. Particularly in the scene where he had a special talk with Roger at a ghetto stand-in park (the producers, director, etc. wanted the viewer to think it was taped in Overtown or one of the other ghettos of Miami proper) that was actually taped in Coconut Grove. Then of course the ending scene (I'm not going to give away the scene) where Crockett's eyes get as big as saucers due to what he just saw happen in front of him. What a scene and what a freeze-frame by Mr. Johnson.
Also I enjoyed the usage of music in this episode. A scene that was another testament of Hammer's musical gift was the 24:18-24:23 mark of the episode. In this scene, Judge Ferguson walked to the basketball awards area of his house and proceeded to pick up a picture of him and Matt in happier times, with Hammer's "Dutch Oven" hitting a sentimental chord/keys as the camera zoomed in on the picture.
Using Madonna's "Gambler" song at the race track just after the opening credits was perfect for the fast paced action of horse and dog racing. Also Jim Gilstrap's "The Water's Too Deep" was a very good musical touch/cue in the scene where Judge Ferguson was shooting baskets at the school's basketball gym. Dominating his psyche and soul in that scene were his gambling debts and his impending plea for his son to throw a key basketball game.
Tom Dick & Harriet (2013)
A solid film for the underrated Steven Weber
Tom Dick and Harriet's premise was that Tom Burns (Steven Weber) lost his job at an ad agency mainly because he wasn't hip or young enough to appeal to the coveted teenage through early 20s demographic. Then a chance meeting with two grifters ended up changing his life for the better to a certain extent.
Weber is one of the better actors in the business and he showed it on this Hallmark movie of the week.
He had to deal with his daughter moving into his apartment and life, he had to find a way to make enough money (after getting fired) to pay for alimony, his daughter's college tuition, rent and other bills, etc. while trying to find the right woman and right way(s) to get his job back at the same agency that didn't want him around.
The standouts in this film were Weber and Andrew Francis (Dick Varnett). Meanwhile, Tom, Dick, and Harriet was a sweet and innocuous film that showed that it's not about looks, money, and image. It's about experience and talent. But its too bad majority of the people in this world don't understand that.
Miami Vice: Back in the World (1985)
One of the best Miami Vice episodes ever
Fans used to scene by scene action or shoot em-up fare would have been turned off by this episode. But "Back In The World" showed just how much Miami Vice was about more than just guns, fast cars and women, flashy clothes, and flashy story ideas.
TV is already a time consuming business and just imagine what Don Johnson had to go through during the taping of this episode, as he was the director of this episode and he had to remember and act his lines that he was given for this episode. That's a lot of work, especially for a big TV star who had so much people and responsibilities tugging at him for his time back then.
"Back In The World" was about a man named Ira Stone (Bob Balaban) who was adamant about writing a story about dead Vietnam soldiers and the heroin that was smuggled with their bodies back to the states where they were to be buried or cremated. But in the midst of trying to write this story, it was found that he was a drug user himself, a liar, a bad husband, and a nutcase.
One of the best lines I've ever heard in my life was uttered in this episode by Johnson, "Selling out, it's the American dream Tubbs." People (Americans and immigrants) sell out in this country every day, for money, to fit in, for acceptance, for show business, the opposite sex, friends, and jobs.
G. Gordon Liddy, who was big in American history for his role in the Watergate Scandal, made a interesting villain in this episode. And Miss Patti D'Arbanville, always a welcome sight for me, was a trip as the angry wife of Stone.
I've seen this episode a million times and it always intrigues me to see D'Arbanville and Johnson in that hotel scene together (as she's packing up her stuff and leaving Miami after being wronged too many times by Stone), seeing as how those two were an item around the time this episode aired.
The last scene accompanied by The Doors' "My Eyes Have Seen You" was a classic event in this show's history. I loved it how Crockett and Tubbs were quietly and stealthily trying to eliminate or bring to justice Maynard and that Laotian goon of his. The camera close-ups of Crockett and Tubbs' eyes and the synchronization of that Doors song with their every movement was just beautiful for me. One of my favorite scenes in the show's 5 year run.