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Tread Perilously


Mar 8, 2018

Tread Perilously continues its month of TV movies with the infamous 1970s network TV movie Bad Ronald.

When the socially maladjusted and bath-averse Ronald Wilby (Scott Jacoby) kills a local girl on his birthday, his mother (Kim Hunter) devises a way to hide him in the disused downstairs bathroom. Thanks to her great fear that a conviction will imperil Ronald's medical career, she tells him to stay in the bathroom until she can spirit him out of town. Unfortunately, her gallbladder acts up; requiring surgery. Providing him with plenty of canned goods, she goes into the hospital and promptly dies. After the home is sold to a new family, Ronald begins to obsess over youngest daughter Babs, whom he observes via a number of peepholes he drilled into the bathroom walls.

It's both more innocent and terrifying than you might expect.

Erik and Justin discuss the late 70s stock character known as "The Questionable Guidance Counselor." They also immediately trade the names of the daughters for Marcia, Jan and Cindy. Erik admits he makes the Eve Plump connection with a number of 70s TV actors. He also makes a case for Nick Cave scoring a remaking of The Night of the Hunter. Justin takes Ronald's fantasy world concept of "Atranta" to task. Erik keeps a list of things Ronald is bad at and Justin chooses the wrong position on canned cranberry sauce. They also celebrate local busybody Mrs. Schumacher.