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Columbo: Murder in Malibu (1990)
Is there a worse actor than Andrew Stevens?
There are very few shows that don't have at least a couple throwaways. Episodes so, so bad that you still watch out of habit, maybe even rewatch in hope of formulating a more positive opinion, even if you have to pinch your nose to get through the stench while viewing. This epitomizes that category as far as Columbo episodes. The script and effort by all involved seems either uncharacteristixlly half hearted, or completely over the top. It's ceimgingly cliched, snappily conceived, and the acting is dreadful, led by one of my most despised actors ever, Andrew Stevens. The problem with this episode and his contribution here is, I can't figure out the angle that's used here. Stevens' hammy, over the top approach is his trademark,'and typical of the era of his performances. "Columbo" has used that in the past as a tribute to certain ages of Hollywood, and made something out of it. Anne Baxter and "Requium For a Falling Star," comes immediately to mind. And how it's ustilzed makes for an extremely entertaining episode. Even if you watch it now, it's a time capsule of an era in every way possible, particularly the acting, But hat doesn't detract from that show's appeal. Here, there are times when Columbo's response to Andrews character appears to be a tongue on cheek acknowledgement to Stevens' cliched, hamminess ("I've never seen a guy fall apart so fast!; "He fainted?"), that it almost looks as if it's treating this like a fish out of water episode. Other times, Stevens' presence is so dominating and suffocating of those around him, that it's like listening to someone chewing on a ballon for a couple hours, and you just want it to end. And you wonder if it wasn't just another case of the producers salute to an actor from a bygone era gone bad.by the time this episode was ending, I wasn't satisfied unless I got to see Stevens character actually hanged, electrocuted, or shot by a firing squad. I mostly always skip this episode, or immediately erase it if automatically recorded. There's only a handful of episodes like that ("Candidate for Crime" comes immediately to mind). But sometimes you gotta watch them again to remember just how bad they really were.
Little Red Riding Rabbit (1944)
Absolute classic spin on "Little Red Riding Hood" through the eyes of Looney Tunes.
My favorite cartoon of all time, Bugs Bunny or otherwise. An absolutely hilarious spin on Little Red Riding Hood, during the war years, and with Bugs Bunny to put the exclamation point on it. I've actually had friends call me up to tell me, "Turn your TV to channel 'x'", because this cartoon was on, and I was known for it. While there's lots of Bugs cartoons that have me in stitches, this one hit me so hard, I know it verbatim. Before that was known to my friends, most of whom are also Bugs junkies, while playing poker 1 night I said to the guy w/ the winning hand, "That's a pretty good hand for you...TO HAVE!" And the table busted out laughing knowingly, leading to talk of our fave Bugs episodes. Actually, my fave cartoon character ever is Foghorn Leghorn. Everything about that character and his episodes is timeless and hilarious. But this Bugs cartoon has everything that could possibly make you laugh. It was years before I realized Red's voice was that of Bea Benaderet of Petticoat Junction fame. Though once I learned that, the cartoon is even funnier in what all it includes- the little twists played on the classic "Red Riding Hood" story line during the war years. To this day, I still use the line, "....TO HAVE!" when complimenting someone for whatever reason, and am not at all surprised to hear reactions in the unlikeliest of places, including when ordering a beer at a Cubs game- "That's a pretty big case of beer for you... TO HAVE!" Instant chuckles. I'm not at all surprised this ranked 39th in cartoon fame as voted by animators and such. But it does make me wonder how much funnier the first 38 are.