Retro Television Review: Malibu CA 2.5 “Off The Deep End” - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

TMC · 03-14-2025, 01:16 AM

https://unobtainium13.com/2025/03/13...-the-deep-end/

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Posted on March 13, 2025 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!

This week …. well, we’ll get to it in a minute.

Episode 2.5 “Off the Deep End”

(Dir by Gary Shimokawa, originally aired on November 6th, 1999)

Well, this is embarrassing. I sat down, ready to face my weekly chore of watching the next episode of Malibu CA, and I promptly discovered that the fifth episode of season two has never been upload to YouTube.

Now, to be honest, this isn’t exactly a tragedy. I don’t particularly like this show and it’s not like my reviews of an obscure sitcom from the 90s are responsible for much of this site’s daily traffic. It does bother me as a completist. If I ever find a free copy of this episode, I’ll review it. But, to be honest, I’m not going to spend that much time looking.

Here’s the plot summary, via the imdb:

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Peter has been ignoring Scott’s swim meets and now only three are left before the Olympic trials. Fearing that he’s doing the same thing to Scott now that he did to him when he was younger, Peter now tries to get as involved as possible. He’s taking care of Scott’s diet, hiring a masseuse, and making Jason do all the chores.

It’s tempting to try to review this episode without even watching it. I’ve seen enough of these Peter Engel-produced teen sitcoms that I can imagine almost everything that probably happens in the episode, from Scott getting angry at Peter for being overbearing to Peter apologizing for not having been there for Scott in the past to Jason coming up with some crazy scheme to try to get Murray to do all the chores for him. I’m pretty sure all of this happened to someone on Saved By The Bell: The New Class as well.

But no, I have my ethics. I’ll wait until I can actually watch the episode and I say that with the full knowledge that I may never see the episode. And I’m kind of okay with that.