rbass418

Just saw this episode for the first time, and it really knocked me out. 3 words - compelling character development. I'm not invested in the this show for the long haul, so I don't have many preconceived notions regarding the normal flow of the episodes. I guess I shouldn't be surprised at some of the negative comments here. Reminiscent of many horror movie fans who get annoyed when the slice-and-dice stops for 2 or 3 minutes to actually understand what moves a character. I was completely pulled into the police/prison psychiatrist angle, and the slow reveal of his past. It's excellent story-telling without clubbing you over the head (so to speak). John Carroll Lynch deserved and Emmy for best guest star performance for this role.

At first glance of the premise, one might think this a variation on the 'Lucy, Ricky, Fred & Ethel Put on a Show' formula, (which is usually a primary symptom of Shark-Jumping) however this episode is anything but that. Frasier & Friends stage a radio re-creation of a 1940's-type murder mystery ("Nightmare Inn") for KACL's 50th anniversary, however Frasier's Orson Welles complex takes over and he's soon directing, starring, and re-writing the script. Not to digress, but while living in Orlando, Florida, you could get the audio from the local CBS affiliate (WCPX Channel 6) on your car radio at 87.7FM, and that's where I first experienced this episode. I didn't see it on TV until years later, and the amazing thing, for me anyway, is that it completely works as a stand-alone radio play. Very tightly paced, and packed with great development moments for each character, "Ham Radio" goes like Gang-Busters, so don't blink, or you'll miss something great. Wonderful farce, with lots genuinely big laughs, this should make just about anybody's top list of great TV half-hours.

Late one night on Tom Snyder's "Tomorrow" Show, I watched Tom ask his guest Henry Morgan what he considered to be 'perfect.' Morgan responded, "Anything with Glenda Jackson." And although I wouldn't consider this film to be perfect, it does bear out that notion very well. I was about to use the cliché' about Hollywood not making pictures like this anymore, but then I just saw, "Up in the Air," another intelligent film about 2 people over the age of 35 who fall in love. That's where the similarities end, though. "House Calls" is just sheer fun watching 2 pros like Matthau and Jackson hit it off and seem completely natural while they're at it. I saw this film in the theater in 1978 (at the ripe old age of 18) and it took me another 20 years to get all of the jokes. Any film that can make punch lines out of 1920's tennis great Bill Tilden, and British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain wouldn't play too well at the megaplex these days. One other thought: the original theatrical release featured a 'walk on the beach / fall in love' montage set to The Beatles/George Harrison tune, "Something." It seemed a bit forced at the time, but that song has since been swapped out for a rather generic Henry Mancini music cue for subsequent home video and cable release. Too bad, because that scene just lays there now, another victim of music licensing Hell.