Smaller Than Life (4.3)

Rate, review & discuss the episodes from the fourth season

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How Would You Rate This Episode?

10 (Perfect!)
0
No votes
9.5 (One of the Best)
1
1%
9.0 (Excellent)
2
2%
8.5 (Very Good)
6
6%
8.0 (Pretty Good)
14
14%
7.5 (Decent)
20
20%
7.0 (Average at Best)
20
20%
6.5 (Not So Good)
18
18%
6.0 (Pretty Bad)
9
9%
5.0 (Just Awful)
8
8%
 
Total votes: 98

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miltontheripper
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#21 Post by miltontheripper »

Love your comments about the fight scene in the mansion nha trang. I almost started crying when his ridiculous stunt double had the kung fu/cane fight with the other guy. what a horribly ridiculous scene. as if higgins would help them break in to that mansion? i mean, come on what a stupid (but funny!) episode. I do love Rick though he did a good job of carrying the episode even though I didn't like it very much.

AmandaByNight
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#22 Post by AmandaByNight »

The fight scene is indeed hilarious. I didn't really notice the obvious stunt double until I watched the episode with a friend of mine, who was quick to point it out. I felt a bit like a dolt, but when I watch a lot of shows, I just tend to immerse myself in them and I miss a lot of flubs or obvious, silly things. Now it's all I can see when I watch the scene. It hasn't lessened my love for the episode though. I don't think anything could!

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MaiTaiMan
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#23 Post by MaiTaiMan »

AmandaByNight wrote:The fight scene is indeed hilarious. I didn't really notice the obvious stunt double until I watched the episode with a friend of mine, who was quick to point it out. I felt a bit like a dolt, but when I watch a lot of shows, I just tend to immerse myself in them and I miss a lot of flubs or obvious, silly things. Now it's all I can see when I watch the scene. It hasn't lessened my love for the episode though. I don't think anything could!
I usually purposely try to immerse myself in an episode of whatever show I'm watching...not caring about whatever so-called mistakes or flubs may or may not be in it. Noticing or being made aware of every single flub or mistake there might be sort of ruins the epsiode for me, and I don't like that. :wink:

Nothing's perfect...so just watching and "going with it" is the best way to enjoy a show. If all you do is look for mistakes or flubs...you miss out on the show and purpose of the episode completely! All you're doing is watching for the slightest mistake possible, just to point it out. :roll: Most of the time, I really don't care!

But, sometimes certain mistakes or obvious flubs are funny and/or even entertaining! :) This stunt double scene was one of those...and I not only laugh when that scene comes on, but I laugh and shake my head throughout most of this episode! :lol:
"It was more ironic than a Robin Masters novel--she thought he was dead, he thought she was dead...and only the chauffeur knew the truth! He should have been the butler!" "Lest We Forget"

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miltontheripper
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#24 Post by miltontheripper »

I agree with you completely MaiTaiMan. If you focus only on errors, you don't really enjoy the show and it's too great not too! This (the midget stunt double) was my first "flub" I have ever brought up and I only did because I agree with you that it compeletly enhanced the episode for me and I laughed my ass off. Most of the humor of the show comes from some of the ridiculousness of it lol. BTW I think were watching the seasons in order at almost the same pace as this is my most recent episode so enjoy! Lots of great ones ahead.

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MaiTaiMan
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#25 Post by MaiTaiMan »

miltontheripper wrote:I agree with you completely MaiTaiMan. If you focus only on errors, you don't really enjoy the show and it's too great not too! This (the midget stunt double) was my first "flub" I have ever brought up and I only did because I agree with you that it compeletly enhanced the episode for me and I laughed my ass off. Most of the humor of the show comes from some of the ridiculousness of it lol. BTW I think were watching the seasons in order at almost the same pace as this is my most recent episode so enjoy! Lots of great ones ahead.
Exactly! Some flubs are okay or funny to point out...I don't really care that much. But, some members or posters primarily focus on mistakes and that's all they report or post on. That's what I don't care for and usually chose not to read those posts.

Actually I'm part way into season 5 now...so it's been at least a couple weeks since I've seen this episode. But, I still found it humorous and fairly entertaining. :)
"It was more ironic than a Robin Masters novel--she thought he was dead, he thought she was dead...and only the chauffeur knew the truth! He should have been the butler!" "Lest We Forget"

Seaver41
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#26 Post by Seaver41 »

have to agree....and being a child of the 70's and 80's.........most shows had horrible stunt action filmed........body doubles were readily visible as being the stunt people.................so for me it's just something I readily dismiss unless really obvious.

All in all.......like someone else posted, very watchable. Had a few laughs as well.

Sensors must've had the hand on the panic button in that scene with Magnum's girl describing the sensation of skydiving..........wow that was some inuendo. :D

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Stelth
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#27 Post by Stelth »

This was not a great episode. I gave it a 7.

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charybdis1966
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Re: Smaller Than Life (4.3)

#28 Post by charybdis1966 »

Like others before me I started to find the Waldo character annoying after quite a short time, even the way he said "figurine" I found annoying.

Plus points were that Rick comes across as quite a likeable, decent guy and TM's rather silly attempt to impress the thrill-junkie girlfriend although Higgin's appears to behave out of character in agreeing to assist in a breaking and entering felony.

Marked a 7.0.
Last edited by charybdis1966 on Sat Mar 05, 2022 12:30 am, edited 1 time in total.

Neil Peel
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Re: Smaller Than Life (4.3)

#29 Post by Neil Peel »

Both this episode and the previous one "Luther Gillis: File #521", contain scenes where a dead body, standing upright, falls flat on the floor after a door has been opened.

marlboro
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Re: Smaller Than Life (4.3)

#30 Post by marlboro »

^^^^

I just finished "Echos of the Mind part 2" and it has the same thing.

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J.J. Walters
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Re: Smaller Than Life (4.3)

#31 Post by J.J. Walters »

Neil Peel wrote:Both this episode and the previous one "Luther Gillis: File #521", contain scenes where a dead body, standing upright, falls flat on the floor after a door has been opened.
That's hilarious! Never made the connection before, despite the fact that the episodes are back-to-back!
Higgins: It's not a scratch! It's a bloody gouge!

SignGuyHPW
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Re: Smaller Than Life (4.3)

#32 Post by SignGuyHPW »

I wasn't a big fan of this one. I thought the comedic parts with Magnum and Savanah were gold. I also liked the thought of Rick getting some shine instead of getting beaten up for a change.

I thought the Waldo character was horrible. It just didn't seem well written. The fact that Rick was able to just pick up the phone and get the president with no huge effort at all was beyond rediculous. Higgins sudden change from wanting to have Waldo arrested to being so convinced by one of the most outlandish stories ever was hard to accept as well.

Scotophor
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Re: Smaller Than Life (4.3)

#33 Post by Scotophor »

Apologies to those who hate posts only about flubs, here's another:

Member Jay-Firestorm mentioned:
One thing I did find, was that there were several blatant ‘convenient’ plot points in the story; Lee (the boy who Magnum is sharing a hospital room with), just happens to have a modem on his computer, is excusable enough (although very dubious and dated), but what stuck out to me more was that Higgins ‘just happened’ to be hosting a showing of sketches of various building layouts – one of which just happens to be the one Waldo needs!
Another "too convenient" moment was when Magnum was attempting to check CIA files on "William Shuler", from a written note. In a moment of desperation which is somewhat brilliant, Thomas tries again, changing the first name to "Billy" (which really shouldn't have worked at all) but also inadvertently misspelling the last name as "Skuler" ... and gets exactly the info he's looking for! What are the odds?!? I groaned out loud at this horrible bit of writing.
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Stelth
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Re: Smaller Than Life (4.3)

#34 Post by Stelth »

Upon further reflection, I hate this episode. It is the only one I won't watch again. 1 1/3 viewings was enough.

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Milton Collins
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Re: Smaller Than Life (4.3)

#35 Post by Milton Collins »

Stelth wrote:Upon further reflection, I hate this episode. It is the only one I won't watch again. 1 1/3 viewings was enough.

While I agree with most of you who feel its a pretty dumb episode I have to say I don't think it's the worst of all time (for me nothing could be worse than season 5's Kiss of the Saber with Shelly Faraday, YUK!!!) . I sort of like this one just for comedic value alone (the fight where Waldo turns into a crazed staff wielding black belt ninja is nothing short of hilarious.) But I will say it's a pretty awful plot and Waldo may be the worst actor to ever appear in the whole series. Good for a few laughs but that's about it in my humble opinion.

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