Retro Television Review: Malibu, CA 1.10 “The Costume Party”

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Posted on September 19, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Thursdays, I will be reviewing Malibu CA, which aired in Syndication in 1998 and 1999. The entire show is currently streaming on YouTube!



Summer forever! Hey, who wants to go to a costume party on the beach? Like, seriously, why would you even do that?

Episode 1.10 “The Costume Party”

(Dir by Gary Shimokawa, originally aired on December 13th, 1998)

Well, this is sure stupid.

This week, Jason once again proves himself to be the world’s worst boyfriend by getting jealous just because Stads is working with a totally hot lifeguard named Kip (Taso Papadikis). Jason fears that Stads will dump him for Kip, just because Kip happens to be better-looking and a lot more athletic than Jason.

Scott proves himself to be the world’s worst brother by suggesting that Jason flirt with Tracy in order to make Stads jealous. Jason does so, not knowing that Stads has absolutely no romantic interest at all in Kip because Kip’s dumb. Stads, however, doesn’t know that Jason is just flirting with Tracy to make her jealous and she starts to get insecure about their relationship. Stads, being a doormat, doesn’t realize that a decent boyfriend wouldn’t be flirting with another girl right in front of her in the first place.

Sam proves herself to be the world’s worst friend by suggesting that Stads make Scott jealous by flirting with Kip. Stads flirts with Kip. Jason responds by continuing to flirt with Tracy. Eventually, Scott and Sam realize that they’ve royally screwed things up but it’s too late. Jason and Stads have already broken up.

Luckily, there’s a costume party on the pier! Because seriously, who wouldn’t want to go a hot beach in a suffocating costume? Thinking that Stads is dressed as an astronaut and that Jason is dressed as a gorilla, Scott dressed up like a gorilla and pretends to be Jason. What he and Sam don’t know is that Stads and Jason switched costumes. So, when Scott tries to give a romantic note to who he thinks is Stads, he actually gives it to Jason.

As you can probably guess, this leads to Jason and Scott holding each other tight and dancing while the audience whoops it up. If this sounds familiar, it’s because the exact same joke was used on Saved By The Bell and a host of other Peter Engel-produced sitcoms. In the Engelverse, there’s apparently nothing funnier than two guys dancing together.

This was a pretty dumb episode but, surprisingly enough, Murray’s antics did make me laugh this week. Having forgotten the security code to his house, Murray moves in with the Collins family. First, he’s a slob. Then, he’s a neat freak. In the end, he dresses up like the Silver Surfer and runs around the costume party. It was silly but Brandon Brooks really went all-out in the role and, for once, the character’s weirdness made me smile.

Otherwise, this was all pretty dumb. Seriously, Stads …. you deserve better!