User Reviews

This was one of only two TV guest roles Arnold Schwarzenegger did before getting into movies, and it's his best early role before The Terminator. It was hard to find good roles for a muscle-bound hunk for whom English was a second language (very second language at the time), but the story works beautifully for Arnie, who plays a bodybuilder who comes to San Francisco to make it in the big time. Despite his immense muscles, he can't quite crack it, and he has developed an extreme hypersensitivity to criticism which could combine to produce a lethal assault on somebody (which it does). I only watched this episode on first broadcast so I'm fuzzy on the details, but my recollection is that steroids weren't explicitly mentioned. Schwarzenegger has always denied taking them, but there's no doubt that he saw other body builders use them and saw many of their effects -- which would include the temper and the hypersensitivity. In today's steroid-scandal era, this episode would be a fascinating look at the beginning of the steroid era and why people should be so concerned about it. Hopefully, this episode will show up on DVD some day and be a selling point for the fifth season.

***SPOILERS**** Very sensitive at being laughed at and ridiculed pumped up weightlifter Joe Schmidt, Arnold Schwarzenegger, just loses it when pretty collage student, whom he picked up in the park while doing his morning jog, Irene Lupoff, Hillary Thompson, cracked up laughing as he was doing his muscle flexing routine. Grabbing Irene and shaking her like a rag-doll Joe end up killing her by breaking her neck. With the SFPD headed by Let. Det. Mike Stone, Karl Malden, and his partner Insp. Dan Robbins, Richard Hatch, on the case that know the man that their looking for is as strong as a wild silver back gorilla and would definitely needs back-up, like the entire San Francisco police department, to bring him down and have him put behind bars.

Meanwhile Joe's problems don't just end with Inrene's murder he's fired from his job as a loader in a beer distributor wear-house for making his fellow employees look bad by doing, in lifting 100 to 200 pound beer cages, 10 time as much as work as they do. Not really a bad guy Joe can actually be both witty and charming especially with the ladies when he wants to. But just make the slighted fun of him and his physic he turns from being a kindly and lovable a Dr.Jeakel into a crazed and homicidal Mr. Hyde at the drop of a hat.

***SPOILERS*** After his latest outburst in him being laughed up while doing his muscle man act on the stage during a Mr. San Francisco contest, Joe finished 2nd, he turned his rage on his very understanding girlfriend Judith Winter, Diana Muldaur, who was always supportive of him and his feelings about being treated like a freak by everyone he ever encounters as well as beat up. Flipping out big time Joe tears Judith's house apart and when he's just about to do the same to her the police arrive. With Let. Det. Stone, who knew that bullets won't hurt the big gorilla, using both psychology as well as kindness and understanding he gets a by now very confused and guilt ridden Joe to meekly give himself up without as much as a shot being fired.

I usually avoid this show, where there is never any violence, with smooth endings without bloodshed, only to please family audiences. But here, as an ex bodybuilder, I made an exception and watched this episode, with Schwarzy in his early days of career, with great attention. In this era, he was still competing in the big arena of bodybuilding. As he is shown here, he was in his off season shape, that means he was not that huge and he was also a bit smooth. But believe me, as he approached closer to the competition,he suddenly grew bigger and bigger whilst getting ripped to the bone, with his body a sharp as an anatomic chart. So this episode is interesting because he shows how bodybuilding was watched from the large audiences. The sport was still rather unknown at this period, and the episode will certainly not get things better. Arnold Schwarzenegger is shown as a freak, a monster, a lunatic one, and the sequence at the beginning where a lonely woman invites him - a stranger for her - at her apartment is totally lousy. And the scene where he throws her on a coach and, only with this gesture, kills her, is also absolutely unbelievable. But this time, for once, the smooth ending was touching, when Malden refused to put the hand cuffs to the suspect, because he trusted him.

Dead Lift has Arnold in body building shape portray a psycho body builder. An appearance before Arnold had jaw augmentation, and the tooth gap fixed. There is a bit of Arnold's own self as a perfectionist who' want to win so badly intertwined with the psycho character who blow a fuse during criticism, which make the role so memorable. 1970's there was no idea of roid rage and everyone knew a rumor of guys at the gym losing it. Dead Lift follows the rage vibe. In fact during the investigation Dan and Mike had no idea about body building and had to narrow the sports down to find the perp. Arnold who made body building famous was the perfect character. Aronld's Schmidt character scalped, and talking about proportion and the Greek sculptures, which would be a surprise if Arnold added personal input for the character. Well calling the guy a freak might have been common back in the 70's, and stupid with the body build community added another element for the story. Well there is this perfections and short tempered body builder who has trouble at work, in the army, hasDan and Mike tracking Arnold down before the next incident was a great story. I remember watching the Detroit feed of this episode when I was 18 after seeing the Running Man and I thought cool. Arnold kinda was of a preview of the Terminator be the movie, and left an impression on the series. 7 stars.