The Telltale Talk Show Host

I’m really glad The Telltale Talk Show Host didn’t involve a scandal sheet program and lots of obscene comments. That was what I initially thought and worried it was. But instead, the titular character was nasty in other ways. Putting everybody on at night? Ugh!

I was surprised they had to continue sticking to the nighttime schedule even after he was killed. I thought his replacement would surely put things back in a logical order.

It was interesting that we saw the infamous meeting of the five radio personalities and the unknown person, presumably for the purpose of arranging a murder. Hence, it wasn’t really a surprise when it was revealed that was pretty much what was going on, only one of the five got itchy when the private detective didn’t do anything and decided to hire an assassin instead. I was slightly surprised at the one it was, but then again, since it seemed all along it had to be one of those five, it wasn’t a huge surprise.

The Judith person made my blood curdle. She clearly didn’t like the defendant, although I don’t recall what she had against her. According to one of the others, the defendant wasn’t popular at the station. Obviously not, since she wasn’t invited to the meeting and was instead framed for the murder.

The two obnoxious guys were . . . well, obnoxious and annoying. Their first stunt was downright disgusting. The second was somewhat amusing, since I assume what they were giving away were all those balloons they were blowing up. The other radio personalities I didn’t have much of an opinion on.

It was interesting that the frame-up against the defendant included a tape recording from the dead man, which the police figured had been crafted by the defendant to give herself an alibi, making it look like she was talking to the deceased on the phone right before the gunshots came. That plot was used in The Midnight Howler episode, with the talk show host really being guilty instead of being framed.

The female police officer certainly was cocky. It didn’t seem like her experience with that horrible hitman/pimp tempered her attitude any. When she first appeared, I wasn’t even sure she was really a policewoman. She gave off a serious vibe of someone who thinks she’s cool but isn’t. It was a very cheesy scene, from the bad dialogue to the sunglasses. I was relieved when that didn’t persist, although her attitude certainly did. Nevertheless, I didn’t want her killed, and the movie certainly threw in a deliberate scare by breaking for commercial right when it looked like she was dead.

Poor Ken; I felt really bad for him, feeling like her disappearance was all his fault. I’m glad she was alive for Ken’s sake as well as her own. And of course, I found it nice that it didn’t end up romantic yet again. That gets so old when the character is only there for one movie; you can’t really take it seriously.

I wonder why Della was suddenly so obsessed with odd-tasting teas. It was a slightly amusing subplot, although my stomach turned at the thought of some of the flavors.

Of course, the shippers love the ending, and it is sweet, with Della bringing Perry cocoa instead of more tea and he says he hasn’t had that since he was a boy and he’s been waiting a long time. It would seem that he means that in a double way, as he leans in and kisses her. Certainly the most blatantly shippery moment in any of the movies, I imagine.

This movie also boasts one of the creepiest opening scenes, with someone breaking into the defendant’s house, whispering her name in an eerie way, and then leaving that disgusting mannequin with a grotesque mask long enough for her to see it hanging there in a noose.

Also, may I say I liked that she was wearing pajamas. Modern things so often look for any way possible to be suggestive and it’s much more usual to see women in seductive lingerie than pajamas. If they want to wear things like that, that’s their business, but it gets eye-rolling when you know it’s only being put in something to make it suggestive. Conservative pajamas seemed to fit that character’s personality better than revealing lingerie would.

Overall, I did enjoy the movie, although it isn’t one of my top favorites. I wonder if there are any left now other than the four they made without Perry. I also wonder if they plan to show those. I don’t really have an interest in them, although I would like to see Della and Ken in them. I’m still appalled those movies were made at all. Greedy, greedy, unbelievable people, thinking they could keep Perry movies going without Perry! I wonder what Barbara Hale thought about it.

It seems that MeTV should be getting ready to announce their summer lineup soon. I’ll honestly be surprised if they keep the Mystery Movie feature during the summer. It would be nice if they would, but I wonder how many things are left for them to show among the series they’ve been rotating.

I wish they’d show some old television movies, like maybe the two movies that introduced The Bold Ones: The Lawyers or police movies like Crosscurrent or fun disaster movies like Skyway to Death. I remember seeing the latter on television once; it’s a really good movie with quite a few MeTV veterans in it.

In any case, it’s been another fun week of Perry movies. It’s been enjoyable watching them all, and hopefully I can get around to seeing the ones I either missed or have around here but haven’t ever watched yet.

Also, the next post after this will be the 300^th post. I shall have to try to make it momentous!