mctirpak Reviews

Gunsmoke: The Jailer (1966) Season 12, Episode 3

One of Matt's most memorable lines

[8/10 · 8 January 2022]

I'm not going to agree or disagree with any of the reviewers here. They run quite a gamut of opinions!

I wouldn't call myself a big Bette Davis fan but her appearance certainly made this episode memorable. But what I've remembered through the years most, from the time I first saw this episode almost 40 years ago, is something Matt said to Kitty shortly before he is to be hung and all hope seems lost: "Kitty--an awful lot can happen in only two hours.". That may not be exactly word for word, but I can still hear him saying it. It could be a lot of good, or a lot of bad, or just downright surprising--but it's something that each one of us should try to bear in mind.

Land of the Giants: Giants and All That Jazz (1969) Season 2, Episode 6

I love the snake lady!

[7/10 · 23 November 2021]

To my mind, the snake lady in this episode is the most unanticipated and delightful giant on the entire planet and provides perhaps the greatest comic relief in the entire series!

I don't think I ever saw this episode when I was a kid. It's kind of interesting and different for a Land of the Giants episode. Sugar Ray Robinson appears to be about the only black man on the planet... I realize jazz it's not the only type of trumpet playing, but I agree with Valerie and the others at the beginning that his trumpet playing is rather bland... No wonder he couldn't keep his club generating money; but I can't quite imagine even on this planet a culture where the clubs don't have lively music yet!

As much as I love this show, the plots often stretch or simplify things past belief ... It seems incredible that in less than 3 hours Dan could teach this guy how to be such a dynamic jazz musician that he could get on an afternoon TV show and wow the crowd so much that he could earn thousands of dollars just from one performance!?! Also, I just can't quite swallow the ending where (although with the help of Nell) he beats up the thugs and takes their guns and they just lay there defeated, telling him that he's making a mistake by letting the little people go. Although yes, I do realize he had already paid them the money that he owed them.

But once again, I believe it is Nell who lights up the show the most and makes it memorable, with that cadence to her speech that makes it sound like she might have had a nip or two, with the anaconda? Boa constrictor? Around her neck, her menagerie, and her addition of Fitzhugh to her zoo, complete with ridiculous monkey cap!