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Reviews
My Mother the Car (1965)
Like They Say...
Many authors of the previous comments have eloquently pointed out that My Mother the car wasn't the "wackiest" show of its era, nor was it the shortest running, or even the worst. They held up qualified examples to bolster their opinions, and I for one heartily agree! I also loved this show as a kid, and for years afterward I tried to understand why it was held in such malicious contempt. I think it wasn't only unfair to the show, but to all who participated in it, ESPECIALLY Jerry Van Dyke. I am sure it affected his career, but I am very happy for him that it didn't destroy it for him. It would have been a dirty shame. I recently downloaded all 30 shows, and I watch them on my Blackberry every day. So far I have not seen one episode that I would consider a true clunker. I am happy I rediscovered the show, and I hope TV Land will offer it up more than once a year.
10.5 (2004)
I lasted about 10.5 seconds before I went to bed.
I haven't watched a miniseries since `North and South', and I didn't even watch all of that. Let's face it, I was never the miniseries kinda guy, I am more of the pointless sitcom sort. But I am a native Californian, and as such I grew up with earthquakes AND disaster movies, so when `10.5', a miniseries about a mammoth westcoast earthquake, hit last night on CBS I threw caution to the wind and pulled up to the TV to check it out.
I lasted about 10.5 seconds before I went to bed.
Irwin Allen, the undisputed king of disaster films, knew how to work the formula; character development, disaster, characters in stressful and dangerous situations, payoff, roll credits. His films cheesy as they were had excitement, great visual effects, and could even make you believe that a luxury liner could be capsized by a gigantic, cresting wave in the middle of the Atlantic.
The show opens with a bike messenger screaming around the streets of Seattle until he comes to rest in the shadow of the Space Needle. The earthquake hits, and remarkably the biker not only stays on his feet, (for the uninitiated, an 8.0 will knock you off your feet if you are close enough to the epicenter,) but as the 605-foot tower starts to fall, he peddles off in a race to beat the tower before it hits the ground, and squishes him. He loses, and deservedly so.
That is when I went to bed. Therefore my thoughts on this show are not valid since I didn't choose to sit through the whole affair. I figured with an opening stolen straight out of a "Tom and Jerry" cartoon, the rest had to be pretty bad as well. It just may well have turned out to be the greatest, most important miniseries since Roots, but I kind of doubt it.
Give me a real earthquake and Irwin Allen anytime.