Retro Television Review: Malibu CA 2.17 “The New York Girl”

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Posted on July 3, 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. Almost the entire show is currently streaming on YouTube!



This week, it’s guest star time!

Episode 2.17 “The New York Girl”

(Dir by Gary Shimokawa, originally aired on February 26th, 2000)

There are only two likable characters on Malibu CA.

One of them is Murray, played by Brandon Brooks. Usually, I hate overly eccentric sidekicks but Brooks played the role with such sincerity that he won me over. The other is Traycee, played by Priscilla Inga Taylor. Traycee is likable because she’s supposed to be an airhead but, because everyone around her is so terrible, it’s hard not to appreciate her kind and nonjudgmental attitude.

As for our other characters, Scott (Trevor Merszei) is not as bad as he was during the first season but he’s still basically a shallow frat boy. Jason (Jason Hayes) is a sociopath and, deep into the second season, Hayes still had a bad habit of looking directly at the camera before delivering his lines. Peter (Ed Blatchford) was likable but it’s hard to respect his decision to continually leave his restaurant in the hands of idiot sons. Lifeguard Alex (Suzanne Davis) is boring. Scott’s girlfriend, Lisa (Marquita Terry), is a judgmental killjoy who needs to change her name. (If her name was Lisa Marie, I’d probably have to abandon this show.)

My point is that there’s really no one to root for on Malibu CA. Murray and Traycee are mostly just supporting characters and all of the main characters suck. Given that no one was going to watch this show for the main cast, it’s perhaps not a surprise that, in the 2nd season, Malibu, CA started bringing in guest stars from other Peter Engel shows. Earlier, Hang Time’s Dick Butkus showed up as Uncle Charlie. This week, City Guy’s Marissa Dyan shows up as Maggie, an old friend from New York. Maggie used to be awkward and had braces and Jason pretended to be sick to get out of going to prom with her.

(Why was Jason going to prom in New York when, last season, he was a junior at Malibu High?)

When Maggie shows up in Malibu, Jason is shocked to discover that she now looks like Cassidy from City Guys. Jason is eager to date her now because Jason is an extremely shallow person. When Maggie finds out that Jason faked being sick to get out of prom, she gives him a chance to come clean. “Were you really sick?” she asks. Jason, being the worst person ever in the history of television, swears that he was. He also asks her to bid on him in a bachelor auction that Lisa and Alex have put together for charity.

Ha ha, Jason, joke’s on you! Maggie not only doesn’t bid on him but she allows Jason to be “won” by Kitty (Missy Dotty), who is slightly overweight. The audience gasps, stunned at the idea of Jason having to spend time with someone who isn’t blonde. And it bears repeating that Malibu CA is, without a doubt, the worst freaking thing I have ever watched for Retro Television Reviews. Anyway, Jason apologizes to Maggie before she goes to New York.

Meanwhile, Peter and Scott had a stupid bet going over which one of them could raise the most money for charity at the bachelor auction. Does no one find it weird that the auction is basically just Peter and his sons? Peter’s a wimp and his sons probably aren’t going to survive the #MeToo era. Are Lisa and Alex actually trying to raise money for charity or is this all a cruel joke?

I hate this show.