August 1999 Reviews
A Few Favorite Sitcoms-
"Thanks," CBS, Mondays, 8:30 est- A comedy about pilgrims and the comical side of Puritanism. Very, very funny! ***Five cats***
"The Nanny," CBS, recently canceled- A sitcom with a new take on the classic "nanny" theme... unfortunately, not too big of a fan base because of Fran Drescher's voice. Hey, I myself like the voice, but others find it annoying. (Ahem... Dad) ***Four cats***
"Laverne and Shirley," not sure of the specifics- The first "Friends" and the best friends would have to be Laverne and Shirley. Oh, sure, this happens to be one of the older sitcoms out there, but I never said I was only reviewing 90s stuff, did I ever say that? (You're supposed to reply, "No, Duchess, you never said that. May we always be your slave because we thought to trick you...") ***Four and a half cats***
The Exceptions to the Five Cat Rule
"Horatio Hornblower," four movies, A&E, Sundays in April (1999, that is...)- Beautiful, absolutely perfect. I couldn't have asked for a better adaptation of a classic. Believe me, my gushing is not all for nothing; the stars are absolutely fabulous (especially the male lead, Welsh actor Ioan Gruffudd, who got a mini-mention on my front page) and the costumes are incredible! A must see especially for history buffs. ***An unbelievable six cats...*** (September 1999 Update: This show has won 1 Emmy as of September 5, and is up for Best Miniseries!!!)
"Allo, 'Allo," this one's been canceled for a while...- Hilarious comedy from the UK set in World War II Nouvion, France, specifically the café of Réné Artois, touted as the bravest man in all France, who really is only a hapless tool of the Resistance, led by my hero, Michelle Dubois. (Her catchphrase: "Listen very carefully, I will say this only once.") Poor Réné has to deal with the Germans, the Communist Resistance, the deGaullist Resistance, the Liberal Resistance (members: precisely one), his bumbling wife Edith, his barmaid and lover Yvette, the British airmen who he can't seem to be rid of, and the English idiot, Crabtree ("Good mowning"). ***An enthusiastic six cats***
"The Red Green Show," various public TV stations- Three words: funny as hell! (or 'eck, as Réné would say) Red Green is every man's man and his nephew Harold is, well, not. These two host the Red Green Show, a look into the lives of the Possum Lodge members and their various friends and family. To see it is to believe it. And it's kind of hard to describe... so I'll leave it up to you to catch Red Green whenever he's on at YOUR house. ***A bucolic six cats***
And now for the flops...
"Two of a Kind," ABC- Look, they were cute as Michelle on Full House, and fairly tolerable in "It Takes Two," at least the first fifty times I was forced to watch it. But come on, twins playing twins? Dear god, it's more than I can handle. ***A dismal one cat for the "romance" between the twins' father and their babysitter***
'Tooning around...
"Ripley's Believe It Or Not," Fox Family Channel, Sundays, 10:30 am- I was flipping through the channels one boring Wednesday afternoon when lo and behold, I stumble upon a cartoon that looks vaguely familiar. I decided to check it out. Thirty minutes later, you have one new fan hanging on for what happens next in the series. This one only has 23 episodes so far (I checked at the CINAR site) but I really think there should be more. Hmmm, and while they're at it, maybe Sam and Rip could become slightly better (I said SLIGHTLY better) than just amigos? They're perfect for each other in my opinion. If you've ever lived in Europe, specifically France, Germany, and the like, you probably know the style of animation here. It's animation that looks more advanced, a bit more ten and up oriented. In fact, I could recommend two other animated shows, both kind of like kiddie dramas, that caught my eye in Germany- "Nadine, Stern der Seine" and "Sophie & Virginie." Check back next month for those reviews! ***An animated five cats***