I watched “Major League II” Sunday. That sums up the depth of my quarantine despair.
During a commercial break, Pedro Cerrano was in a spot for Allstate. When the movie resumed, the scene featured Cerrano. Cue “Twilight Zone” music.
“Major League” was sharp, clever comedy. “Major League II” was a lazy, formulaic reboot. The original was rated R, so the language matched baseball’s. The sequel was rated PG and the relative lack of obscenity made it seem too gee-whiz.
The difference between the movies is reflected by Willie Mays Hayes being played by Wesley Snipes in the original, but Omar Epps in the sequel. Epps subtracted all of the character’s vulnerability but doubled down on being obnoxious.
A welcome bonus: “Major League: Back to the Minors” aired after “Major League II.”
“Back to the Minors” was more spin-off than sequel and featured only a handful of characters from the first two movies. Scott Bakula does a solid turn as a washed-up pitcher turned minor-league manager. But Ted McGinley is way too over-the-top as Bakula’s managerial rival. It’s like Jefferson Darcy donned a baseball uniform. “Back to the Minors” is an entertaining watch in its own right, however.
I admire all of Corbin Bernsen’s work, including the “Major League” movies. (He played Roger Dorn.) I'm reminded of hanging with him and Ric Flair after the Saturday session of a comic-con in Monroeville in 2015. Corbin is a good guy, very genuine. He got a kick out of me saying I was a fan of his late mother, Jeanne Cooper, who played Katherine Chancellor for 40 years on the CBS soap opera “The Young and the Restless.” You didn’t mess with Katherine Chancellor. I hope to run into Corbin again.