TV Review: Rising Damp

I should have gotten this one out a few weeks ago, since it's been that long since I finished it. This is a Britcom classic that I hadn't heard about until my mom picked it up in the library, all four seasons and a movie.

I was surprised how much I enjoyed it. Everything is hit and miss, and this one turned out to be a hit.

It's about a cranky, racist, bigoted landlord (Leonard Rossiter) and his various tenants, an African man who is the son of a chief, Phillip (Don Warrington), his roomie, Alan (Richard Beckinsale), and a supposedly ladylike woman whom the landlord has his pervy eye on, Miss Jones (Frances de la Tour). And his cat.

Every season is good, although the first two were better because Alan was in both. Sadly, the actor who played Alan, Richard Beckinsale (Kate Beckinsale's dad), died in 1979 from a heart attack at age thirty-one. It was a bit sad after that, but still funny.

The movie, however, is a total disappointment. I was surprised at that. It won awards! It was supposed to be funny. As it happened, it was just a longer, unfunny version of previous episodes. The writers must not have had to work hard, since they recycled scenes from past episodes word-for-word. I'm not going to grade the movie, though, because I couldn't finish it. It was just so boring and disappointing.

My grade (for the show): A

Comments

Movie Review: Serial Mom

*may be spoilers* I feel as if I should have seen this before, but it somehow managed to escape my notice. But hey, I found it! Great premise, too: Kathleen Turner as a picture-perfect wife and mother, living in a nice house in a nice neighborhood. She's also insane and likes to kill people over the smallest matters. She has a talent for murder, but not, sadly, for covering her tracks. The thought of wearing gloves or wiping fingerprints doesn't even cross her mind. The first half of this is the strongest. After she gets arrested, it loses some of its humor and charm, though it doesn't completely fall flat. Good ending, as well. Ricki Lake plays her daughter, Misty. It's easy to forget about her acting days, especially when you haven't seen her in anything...like me. I liked her in this, and may I say that it was refreshing to have a chubby young actress instead of a typical, thin, dime-a-dozen actress? Overall, not a bad comedy, but not a masterpiece.

Inspector Lewis: Wild Justice

You know, I was excited last night. Why? Because, after weeks of no Inspector Lewis, they were finally airing two new episodes back to back! Yay! PBS has been a bit backed up, what with all of their pledge programming and favorites. There are four new episodes in total, and two, I believe, were supposed to air in September. Only one did. Naturally, I was looking forward to the 9-midnight Lewis-athon. And you know what ticked me off? They didn't play two new episodes back to back. They repeated the first one and then played a new one. So I had to wait until 10:30 to get my fix. Because of course everyone wants to re-watch the first one, right? Wrong! Mamma not happy! But we did get one new episode, so I'll be content with that. They should be playing the other two next week, since a new series is supposed to start soon. This one is called "Wild Justice". Lewis and Hathaway are investigating the death of a female Bishop. She flew across the pond from the USA for

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