Reviews

Tom Arnold plays Jackie Thomas, the star of his own sitcom, and this show is about the behind the scenes look on the show. Truth be told, I don't remember much about this show, just that it was funny, and I enjoyed it. In fact, I remember a good majority of my friends enjoying it as well. However, it was on immediately after Roseanne, and ABC didn't feel it was doing well enough to hold on to. I remember reading that while Roseanne was #1 in the ratings, Jackie Thomas was #20 or so, and they felt this number was pitiful following a #1 show. But most of us felt this show could have improved ratings-wise had it been given the chance it deserved. Remember all the shows that started off at the bottom of the barrel and climbed to the top, I.E.: MASH and Cheers. Sometimes networks will give a struggling show a chance, so long as they can see that it is genuinely a good show. I just wish they would have done it with this one.

I had a video with a few old Disney cartoons back when I was ten or so, and haven't watched it in about 10 years. I happened to be watching my nephew today, when I decided to pop it in again. And to my surprise, I was still entertained.

The best on this tape was a toon from '38 called "Mickey's Trailer." An incredible short, with loads of amazing sight gags...the house revealing itself to be just a trailer by the dump, Goofy getting the short end of the stick via some disagreeable drawers, and probably best of all, a near-miss with a train--TWICE!

It is so hard to believe this was made over 60 years ago. Somehow the animators back then had a knack for making their works timeless. Hopefully, kids will be watching this short for another 60 years.

One of the best shows of all time simply had to have one of the best reunion shows...and it did! One of the reasons it was so good: everyone showed up! As opposed to other reunion shows, there were no dead cast members, nor were there any disgruntled cast members. Everyone showed up, though looking much, much older...with the exceptions of Wayne Rogers and Loretta Swit, (Shudder)... Plus, there were no scandals, no "I had a romance with Allan Arbus" stories. Just good memories. There were several classic clips, including several clips that got butchered for syndication. A good example is Blake's sex-talk, and Trapper's "Figure A/Figure B" analysis. Then there were a few bloopers, such as McLean Stevenson and Gary Burghoff cracking up during filming of "The General Flipped at Dawn." Probably best of all, there were clips of "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen"...and because I hadn't yet seen the finale, and because in 1991, Fox wasn't syndicating that episode, it was a real treat to get a glimpse of it. The reunion was made at the perfect time. Sadly, McLean Stevenson would pass away a few years after they made this, and Larry Linville a few years later. A wonderful chance so see the members of our favorite show one last time.

When looking through the video 'discount bin' the next time you go shopping, you'll probably notice a tape saying "Three Stooges Classics" or something like that. No matter the design of the sleeve, and no matter what company manufactured the video, there is about a 99% chance that this video will contain the following episodes:

Disorder in the Court, Brideless Groom, Malice in the Palace, Sing a Song of Six Pants

Yes, these are the Three Stooges episodes that somehow slipped through the fingers of our friends at Columbia Pictures, and have found themselves in the ranks of Public Domain Films. I received copies of these episodes when I was nine or so, mainly because they were the most affordable, and I watched them quite possibly 50 times. Nowadays, when I see an episode of the Three Stooges, I tend to think its juvenile and unfunny. But these four episodes still make me chuckle. Are they funny because they're public domain, or are they public domain because they're funny? I guess it's one of those chicken/egg questions.

Malice in the Palace is one of the all-time greats. It's almost impossible not to laugh in the scene where everyone is convinced Larry is chopping up the cat and dog. And just like any Three Stooges episode, loaded with plenty of puns and lame jokes, and pokes and slaps galore. 3 1/2 stars.