Retro Television Review: Malibu, CA 1.14 “Murray For Mayor”

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Posted on October 17, 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!



This week, Dennis Haskins guest stars!

Episode 1.14 “Murray for Mayor”

(DIr by Gary Shimokawa, originally aired on January 24th, 1999)

Upset that his favorite tree stump has been slated to be destroyed to make room for a new road, Murray decides to run for mayor of Malibu. When they discover that Murray’s father has given him a check for $20,000, Scott and Jason declare themselves to be Murray’s campaign managers.

Being two sociopaths, Jason and Scott proceed to spend the money on things for themselves. It doesn’t matter, though. Murray soon finds himself rising in the polls.

Who is Murray’s opponent? It’s none other than Dennis Haskins, of Saved By The Ball fame! Haskins plays himself in this episode, offering up a bunch of vacuous plans and slogans while continually having to explain to people that Mr. Belding was just a character that he played on television. When Haskins learns that Scott and Jason have been using the money on things like a new television, he informs them that he will report them to the campaign board unless Murray loses.

Being two sociopaths, Jason and Scott try to sabotage Murray’s campaign by telling Murray to make increasingly outrageous promises. But it doesn’t matter …. Murray wins the election!

Yay! Jason and Scott are going to prison! The show’s over!

No, not quite. After making sure that his stump will be saved, Murray resigns as mayor. Dennis Haskins announces that he’ll be running to replace Murray and, for some reason, this means that he’s dropping his investigation into Jason and Scott’s financial activities. I don’t think that’s the way it works but whatever.

Meanwhile, Tracy is learning how to be a magician. She accidentally handcuffs herself to Stads, totally ruining Stads’s date with some random guy. Luckily, Tracy later handcuffs herself to the same guy and convinces him to give Stads a second chance.

(Where would mediocre sitcoms be without aspiring magicians and handcuffs?)

This episode was actually not as bad as it probably sounds. Casting Dennis Haskins as himself and then having him spend the entire episode angrily saying that he’s tired of talking about Screech was actually kind of clever and probably a good reflection of what was actually happing in Haskins’s life at the time. With its story of a washed-up celeb running for political office, this episode actually felt a bit prophetic. (Just a few months before this episode aired, Jesse Ventura was elected governor of Minnesota.) Just as Ben Savage had to spend his entire congressional run dealing with questions about why he no longer talks to the cast of Boy Meets World, Dennis Haskins finds his entire campaign defined by one role.

In the end, this episode predicts our cynical future. Murray is elected despite being an idiot. How often does that happen nowadays?