Episode Review: Better Late than Never Visits Dixie…Well, Sort Of

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Photo from the episode "Seoul Brothers"

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Photo from the episode "Seoul Brothers"

Photo from the episode “Seoul Brothers”

Yes, our four adventurous gringos paid a visit to the sunny south, but of Korea. For some reason, the Yankee version of the K-word was off the menu, but maybe not entirely. More about that later.

As I mentioned in an earlier article about this short, but amusing series, we the viewers sometimes get fun facts thrown into the mix as we behold the misadventures of our protagonists. When The Gang of Four (Drat! Why didn’t use that when they still were in China?) next journeyed to South Korea, we learned that the people of that wired-up nation sleep less on average than the people of any other nation, the number being under five hours a night.

Right off the bat, we see our designated tourists (Henry Winkler, William Shatner, Terry Bradshaw and George Foreman) involved in some of that frenzy as their guide, Jeff Dye, talks them into a K-Pop video with some very fetching young ladies. The fellows’ function will be to dance, and, toward the end of the segment, we may have had grounds for a little disappointment. Three of the four were not looking especially adept at the challenge, but Henry Winkler seemed more than ready to bust, if not a move, then maybe a few small bones with his high-energy warm-ups. In the end, though, all we saw were heads and shoulders in the background.

There seems to be an ongoing battle between Dye and his charges about whether they will sleep in the lap of luxury or someplace…shall we say, challenging. In Hong Kong, as I mentioned last week, the guys managed to overthrow their handler’s tyranny and get themselves some top-notch accommodations, but in Seoul, it was back to the Spartan life, unless you consider the floor to be the lap of luxury. To be perfectly fair about it, Jeff Dye subjects himself to the same indignities, but I’m not sure that made Terry Bradshaw’s rest any more comfortable for the shared sacrifice. I should also point out that there was one surface not on and of the floor available, which Shatner spotted and claimed with a celerity that belied his age.

There were some other notable segments, although the one that involved trying to get Dye hooked up (He being the only single man out of the five) ran a little longer than it needed to, but the undoubted highlight of the show came from the fellows’ desire to see the DMZ, from which they could at least peer into the forbidding façade of North Korea. As we might have suspected (especially since it was broadly hinted at in the previous week’s previews), there is a little more than looking afoot. Then lo (also behold, if you wish to press the point), somebody in the group is perceived as having violated sovereign space. Guns are drawn and angry words in a language most of us cannot understand are exchanged.

Suffice it to say that all survive the encounter. When it is all over, Jeff Dye delivers a punch line that is too good to function here as a spoiler. Find a way to see the show.

The next and last stop is Thailand, where maybe Terry Bradshaw gets to cash in. Way back in the first episode, he spoke of a pool they had set up about which country would be the one William Shatner dies in. Bradshaw’s pick had been Thailand, and with all the other principalities out of the way, with Shatner still breathing, Bradshaw looks like a lock for the prize. That is, unless someone had the foresight to pick the United States of America in a time that is not now. Well, let us hope so, at any rate.

I am, much like the late, great Gene Wilder’s filmic sidekick, Igor to catch the finale next week.

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Thomas Cleveland Lane

Thomas Cleveland Lane is a semi-retired freelance writer for pay and a stage actor for nothing more than the opportunity to make a fool of himself. Well, he does get a small stipend from the Washington Area Decency League, after playing the role of Hinezie in The Pajama Game, to never, ever appear on stage in his underpants again. When he has not managed to buffalo some director into casting him, Thomas can often be found at his favorite piano bar, annoying the patrons with his caterwauling. Thomas is the author of an anthology called Shaggy Dogs, a Collection of Not-So-Short Stories (destined to become a cult classic, shortly after he croaks). He is also the alter-ego to a very unbalanced Czech poet named Glub Dzmc. Mr. Lane generally resides in Gaithersburg, Maryland, and was last seen in the mirror, three days ago.
Thomas Cleveland Lane

Thomas Cleveland Lane

Thomas Cleveland Lane is a semi-retired freelance writer for pay and a stage actor for nothing more than the opportunity to make a fool of himself. Well, he does get a small stipend from the Washington Area Decency League, after playing the role of Hinezie in The Pajama Game, to never, ever appear on stage in his underpants again. When he has not managed to buffalo some director into casting him, Thomas can often be found at his favorite piano bar, annoying the patrons with his caterwauling. Thomas is the author of an anthology called Shaggy Dogs, a Collection of Not-So-Short Stories (destined to become a cult classic, shortly after he croaks). He is also the alter-ego to a very unbalanced Czech poet named Glub Dzmc. Mr. Lane generally resides in Gaithersburg, Maryland, and was last seen in the mirror, three days ago.