Plot:
Gary and Rita are brother and sister owners of a radio station. She's a cold, bitter business woman who makes the corporate decisions and he's the station's biggest embarrassment- an angry, out of control sexual fantasy talk show host with no callers. After he loses his last sponsor, Rita shakes things up by moving his show to a new time slot and then, partners him up with bookish blonde Valerie. Valerie says she has some ideas on how to make it better. On his first night with her, things begin to get steamy. The call-in lines light up like crazy. His ratings rise. Eventually, after the first month of this- his show becomes a hit. And his sister Rita is none too happy about it. Neither, to his surprise, is Valerie. She wants him to talk about something other than sex. When he does, old family wounds open up. Rita goes on the warpath. And his worst nightmare comes true...
Thoughts & Observations:
Miguel Ferrer is such a hottie. Now, here's a man who can get away with a toughguy front. Though, not so much in this episode where he plays a frustrated D.J. whose show has a theme about sex. He just... complains a lot. And, taking the awful twist into account, he's so easy to manipulate that you realize he wasn't a strong character to begin with- unlike the toughguys in earlier episodes (i.e.: Lance Henriksen's Reno in Season 2's "Cutting Cards"). The only person here with any real character is sitcom pro Wendie Malick, stunning as always as the evil, bitchy sister. It's not a great bitch role, but she looks great playing it. Then, we've got the blonde (Linda Doucett) who practically just sits there and lets her hair do all the talking. I have a hard time believing she gets in anyone's head. Anyway, the twist in this episode is so bad, that you realize how much you wish they would have gone for something supernatural. Heck, The Ben Stiller Show did a parody of Tales from the Crypt that is shockingly similar to this episode's storyline and yet- that had a better twist than this boring "conspiracy" plot. Who else was waiting to see the ghost of the evil dead mother come back and kill someone? Also, not enough shots of Ferrer in those leather pants. Cameos include the multi-talented Rusty Schwimmer (the strip-search guard in Candyman, Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday) as a jilted caller (but why is she dressed like she works at a fast-food chicken franchise?), and - believe it or not - the real Slash from Guns 'N Roses playing another D.J. who I can only assume is supposed to be a fake Slash.
Grades
Writing: F
As I said above, this story just plain sucks. We're talking more loose ends, dead ends, and flat ideas than you can shake a stick at. The characters aren't interesting, likable, or entertaining. Gary is probably supposed to be some kind of Howard Stern knockoff. He's got the deep, sexy voice and can yell with the best of them. But he completely lacks charisma as a personality. Valerie is completely lame. Had the story given her more to do, maybe then her "I'm just sitting here, being blonde and fit" label would be useful for something. Sister Rita is mean and spiteful but she's not really any fun, as these kinds of characters can be when done right. It would have been equally lame to try and turn her into a younger version of their mother, but we don't even get that much depth and insight into what makes her tick. It's just a nasty family and that can be boring- as it certainly is here. The plot is not interesting nor does it leave any real room to do anything creepy or scary. At best, you have some implications of incestual thoughts (which no one cares about anyway). Then, I already mentioned that the twist sucks so, you know what I think about skipping this episode.
Style / Direction: C-
Maybe this is supposed to be some dark-yellow room-lit noir sort of thing. Visually, there's almost nothing going on. Lots of dull offices, house rooms... it's as dull to look at it as is to try to find substance within. You get a little color with the buttons on the control consoles and a couple lights. And the ending has a couple people dressed in sleek black clothing. How stimulating! The fashion is kind of boring as well, but Wendie and Miguel wear clothes well. No good shots of the main cast in anything especially alluring.
Acting: B-
The acting quality is underwhelming but it's definitely serviceable and shows that, in a better show, this cast is worth what they were paid on later shows such as Crossing Jordan and Just Shoot Me. Wendie is too rushed in all her deliveries and Linda Ducett (as mentioned before) is a total snore. Which just leaves us with Slash, who is exactly what they hired him for: presence, and Miguel who gives it all he's got and is his usual sexy, brooding self in the confrontation scenes. And with this character, you know almost every scene is a confronation.
Special Effects / Gore: C+
A little blood on someone who has already been killed and we see a little blood on a knife during a stabbing... but we don't see the stabbing itself. The rest is just make-up and, other than Wendie's red lipstick, I barely noticed anything. Just all the yellow light.
Music Score: D
You'll barely notice it, which means that must be what they wanted. It's lifeless, cliched, tired. Not special at all.
Atmosphere: C-
The 6th season of Tales from the Crypt is the weakest out of the first six, so this episode blends in with most of the others. Which means, you will get some atmosphere. You will know it's an episode of this show if you watch it in a row with the others. And you'll get the same sort of vibe as you get with several other episodes. Thank the show, ignore the episode.
In Conclusion:
I think you got it all above. There's nothing more I can say.
Final Grade: D (3 out of 10)
-
No comments:
Post a Comment