Classic Coverage looks back on the episodes of past shows from a modern perspective.
So, yeah, the baby did it. If “Part One” was all buildup, this is all winding down – the consequences for all those actions. I’ve always been struck by the elegance of the plotting of this episode. Each act has … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Seven, Episode One, “Who Shot Mr Burns? (Part Two)”
In which the chief mystery is why Mr. and Mrs. Robinson were able to rent a nice, high-end flat no questions asked while others have been repeatedly turned away. Who are… the Lucky Renters?!? 1936 London housing crises aside, the … Continue reading Poirot (Classic): S02E08 “The Adventure of the Cheap Flat”
You know, having gone through this whole series, breaking down each episode in eye-bleeding detail, “Who Shot Mr Burns (Part One)” feels like something momentous in a way catching it on reruns or seeing it on DVD didn’t. I missed … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Six, Episode Twenty-Four, “Who Shot Mr Burns? (Part One)”
Je suis desole, mes amis! Real-life 21st century concerns kept me from our weekly check-ins with our favorite expatriate Belgian last week, but this week find us back in the saddle with a tale of… well, I… um. Poirot is … Continue reading Poirot (Classic): S02E07 “Double Sin”
It honestly awes me that an episode of TV this good was allowed to happen – if you asked me to write down my top five, this would easily make it – hell, if you asked me to make my … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Six, Episode Twenty-Three, “Lemon Of Troy”
Freaks And Geeks, a comedy-drama about high school in 1980, premiered September 25th, 1999, on the NBC network, lasting a mere 12 episodes before being cancelled. An ardent fan campaign persuaded NBC to air three more episodes in July 2000, … Continue reading Freaks And Geeks: S01E01 “Pilot”
It’s been a long time since we’ve had a ‘first’ anything on this show. I stand by my belief that the Golden Era is seasons four to eight, with the first three seasons being the show’s Experimental Era, where it … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Six, Episode Twenty-Three, “The Springfield Connection”
Mathew Davenheim (Kenneth Colley), a successful bank owner, arrives home for the weekend and prepares to receive a guest – one Gerald Lowen (Tony Mathews), another banker with whom Davenheim has a contentious relationship. As Mrs. Davenheim (Mel Martin) locks … Continue reading Poirot (Classic): S02E06 “The Disappearance of Mr. Davenheim”
I shouldn’t be as astounded by how this show constantly finds new depths to its protagonists at this point. ‘Character development’ can mean one of two things, and it’s not often immediately clear which version people mean when they use … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Six, Episode Twenty-Two, “‘Round Springfield”
On a rainy afternoon in London, Mrs. Alice Pengelley (Amanda Walker) asks M. Poirot to meet her in the park to talk about the fact that she’s being poisoned. Although the village doctor Adams (Derek Benfield) insists it’s nothing more … Continue reading Poirot (Classic): S02E05 “The Cornish Mystery”
Season 7 Directed by Timothy Combe Written by Malcolm Hulke After last week’s standout serial, we head into the back half of this season with another seven-episode story. It was also a serial that ended in a way that would typically … Continue reading Doctor Who (Classic): S07E03 “The Ambassadors of Death”
It’s been noted before that The Simpsons’ satire is less about specific problems (like how The Wire is a brutal point-by-point takedown of structural flaws in the Baltimore police, school, and newspaper systems) and more about general principles. This, I … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Six, Episode Twenty-One, “The PTA Disbands!”
Alas, mes amis, your faithful chronicler is under the weather this week, so a much-abbreviated writeup (which honestly, is about what this episode deserves). The Good: Poirot and Our Man Hastings play Monopoly constantly during this episode, appearing to do … Continue reading Poirot (Classic): S02E04 “The Lost Mine”
“Tomorrow is Yesterday” Season 1 Production Order #22 Airing Order #19 Directed by Joseph Pevney Written by D.C. Fontana Story by Michael O’Herlihy We had quite the range in quality last time with the episodes “Arena” and “The Alternative Factor” (which honestly … Continue reading Star Trek: TOS – S01E22/23 “Tomorrow is Yesterday” and “The Return of the Archons”
I wonder how many sitcoms before this had a plot centered around a horny dog. This show has cycled through a lot of showrunners, so it’s fascinating to me how the show feels like it’s always building on what came … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Six, Episode Twenty, “Two Dozen And One Greyhounds”
In a cold open, a shady character robs a jewelry store in a crowded marketplace. The next day, as Poirot is bemoaning the lack of criminal ingenuity, Japp recounts the crime to Poirot and Hastings as the three of them … Continue reading Poirot (Classic): S02E03 “The Veiled Lady”
This is the first, best, and arguably only good future-set episode of The Simpsons. This is one of those concepts that can only work in either animation or extraordinarily goofy live-action comedy. Our favourite four-fingered freaks are perpetually frozen in … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Six, Episode Nineteen, “Lisa’s Wedding”
Poirot and Hastings take a weekend vacation to the town of St. Looe (“Queen of the Cornish Riviera”), and while complaining about the service at the Hotel Majestic meet young woman Magdala “Nick” Buckley (Polly Walker). She’s the owner of … Continue reading Poirot (Classic): S02E01/02 “Peril at End House”
Season 7 Directed by Timothy Combe Written by Malcolm Hulke Last time, Doctor Who took its first steps into reinventing itself in colour and more relevantly to the plot as an Earthbound show. It was an effective serial both on its … Continue reading Doctor Who (Classic): S07E02 “Doctor Who and the Silurians”
This episode is the biggest example people use to say that Matt Groening isn’t necessarily right about everything Simpsons, because he famously hates this episode to the point of taking his name off it and refusing to do the commentary … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Six, Episode Eighteen, “A Star Is Burns”
The Green Lantern Corps are a mainstay of the DC universe. They’re a simple concept: light rings, willpower, good…most of the time, anyway. Those rings are formidable in the right hands. Even the toned-down DCAU versions still stand up against … Continue reading Justice League, “Hearts and Minds”
