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Many television series, sooner or later, have one particular episode which can be identified as to where the series finally "jumped the shark." I believe this is it, and it can all be blamed on the new character, Officer Ruby Patterson. Watch the episode...even the other characters, when first meeting her, realize she doesn't belong there!

Having a comic relief character is fine. It can be argued that Dwayne Meyers filled that role when he was there. But Dwayne did it subtly, with style, and didn't overdo it. Ruby is almost a caricature! More like the Officer Hooks character from the Police Academy movies.

Death In Paradise has been my favorite TV series since episode 1 premiered, but if this Ruby character remains the way she is, as far as I'm concerned, DIP ended with season 7.

I grew up watching Rowen & Martin's Laugh-in. To this day I still find its humor funny, if dated. The show really did break new ground and introduced comedy routines people today can still relate to.

But in its attempt to (ahem) "honor" this classic show, Hollywood managed only to disgrace the original. Updating some of their more famous skits (such as the Joke Wall, the Party, the Dirty Old Man On the Park Bench) they used a large all-star cast of current celebrities. But to anyone who actually watched the original show it was downright painful! The jokes fell flat and were poorly-delivered...and acted. And updating them to reflect today's politically-correct culture severed any true connection they were meant to have with the '60s version.

And finally, if there was any doubt about this show's leftist agenda you need only stay to near the end (I barely made it there myself), when Bill Maher reenacted the classic Flying Fickle Finger Of Fate Award, presenting it to...wait for it...President Trump. Seriously?? About as subtle as a friggin' hammer through a window!

So if you remember and love the original Laugh-In, skip this fake tribute; you'll be disappointed. And if you've never seen Laugh-In, this won't make any sense to you, anyway.

Stacy Keach's Mike Hammer can be divided into the 80s version and then this one, the 90s version. In my opinion the 80s Hammer was much better. Look, call me a chauvinist, but beautiful women and cleavage are part of the Mike Hammer mystique. It's one of the things that made the 80s Hammer so popular. Unfortunately for the "new & improved" 90s private eye, Keach's wife Malgosia Tomassi, who also plays the useless yoga instructor, insisted there be less emphasis on skin. Can you say Yoko Ono?? I knew you could.

Also, say you're a private dick in New York. You carry a .45 for protection. Suddenly you round a corner and get jumped by two huge gorillas who begin pounding you with baseball bats. Obviously they intend to kill you or at least maim the crap out of you. Do you...

A) Grab your gun and repay the favor, or B) Lay there like an 88-year-old woman and take it.

If you said "A" then you're more of a man than THIS Hammer is. I don't know how many episodes I've seen this pathetic scene played out. I kept yelling at the TV "Grab Betsy, dumb ass, that's what you have her for!!" But alas, Keach never heard me. (BTW, "Betsy" is his gun) Until they release the 80s Mike Hammer on DVD, I'd suggest watching two Hammer movies Keach did: "Murder Me, Murder You," and "More Than Murder," both from the 80s. And both B.M.T. (Before Malgosia Tomassi).

The one movie I'd choose if I could have only one...the Original, of course. I've watched this classic more times than I can count. Considering when it was made (1953) the special effects are exceptional. To this day some of the scenes still creep me out. For example, near the beginning when the "snorkle" part of the alien ship pokes out of the meteor and looks around 360 degrees. All you hear is the pulsating sound it makes. The director, Byron Haskin, really knew how to build suspense; he makes it easy to believe the Martians will quickly win this war. And considering so many films during this decade were filmed in black & white, kudos to Haskin for choosing Technicolor. I think a lot of impact would have been lost without color. In my opinion this is one of the top three sci-fi films EVER made.