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Reviews
Forensic Files (1996)
Provides ideas for other shows
I am a big fan of Forensic Files! In fact, I believe many cases highlighted in this series has served as ideas, if not inspiration, for other police procedurals. Case in point: an episode involving a suspected arson that killed a child led to murder charges against the mother. The mother sought out and found a fire specialist who helped prove that the fire was accidental and ruled arson by people who rushed to judgment and not well qualified. The fire was recreated to show a series of incidents came together to produce an inferno that was nobody's fault. Now compare this with a Law and Order:SVU episode involving a fire that killed three children and put the father on trial for murder. The DA, played by Sharon Stone, initially went after the father but eventually got a fire scientist to look at the fire. He recreated the fire, which was videotaped, and proved to the fire Marshall who made the initial determination that the father set the fire, that a series of unfortunate and seemingly harmless mishaps resulted in the tragedy. The concepts between this episode and the Forensic Files episode are similar. In fact, both Sharon Stone and Peter Thomas used the same description of the work of arson investigators -"Junk Science". You will find other stories that are similar in other shows. So, Forensic Files stands alone as a fascinating study of human psychology, science-based investigations, and the evolution of criminal techniques as well as concepts that other shows use. Good job Paul Dowling and Peter Thomas!
Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration (2022)
A valiant attempt, but....
We have had the animated version, a human action version, and now with this show Disney has combined the two. Probably because the animated movie was such a masterpiece, I found the live action sequences falling a bit. In particular the "Be Our Guest" sequence fell flat. While much was made of Shania Twain's performance of "Beauty and the Beast" as paying tribute to the late great Angela Lansbury, nothing was mentioned about another Broadway and TV icon, Jerry Orbach, the voice of Lumiere in the animated movie, who passed away in 2004. It was Orbach's depiction of Lumiere in the style of Maurice Chevalier that added a light-hearted atmosphere to the story. Martin Short's depiction of Lumiere comes nowhere near it, and at times even dropped the French accent. However, the three leads- H. E. R. As Belle, Joshua Henry as Gaston, and Josh Groban as the Beast - were a joy. Their voices added to their characters and a delight to the ears.
Disney's casting of the main characters with diversity in mind is a laudable attempt (despite what some may say), and I hope they continue such projects. But they should understand - the original animated movie was about as perfect as possible - and if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service: Musical Chairs (2019)
A few musical errors but overall well done
Being a former Army officer once assigned to the US Armed Forces School of Music at Little Creek, I wondered if NCIS ever did an episode involving the school or military musicians. Did not have to go far back to find "Musical Chairs". Quite interesting. Starts off with an impromptu performance of "Sing, Sing, Sing" . I won't go into details of the episode itself but the NCIS team was not fully aware of Navy musicians or music in general, with Nick being corrected about an instrument being the piccolo and not the flute. Another scene has Palmer stating he never knew the Navy had a band. Sorry, Palmer - Navy bands have existed since 1845, and the oldest of the military services, the US Marine Corps Band (The President's Own), was established in 1798. Nick was correct in stating that "Anchors Aweigh" was composed for a Navy-Army football game, in 1906. The episode, again without going into details, did do a nice rendition of the Navy hymn, "Eternal Father, Strong To Save". Overall, even though it was about Navy musicians, I found it to be well-done and I appreciate the fact that the cast and crew of NCIS consider musicians just as important to all aspects of the military as the other specialties. The only reason I did not give this episode a "10" - the Navy's most elite musical organization is, of course, The United States Navy Band.