# any love here for "Raising Hope" - besides mine? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 7, 2011, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-love-here-for-raising-hope-besides-mine/605411 "2011-12-07T20:46:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-love-here-for-raising-hope-besides-mine/605411/1 "2011-12-07T20:46:55Z")
I love “Raising Hope”. I love all the inventive ways the main character’s Mother & Father have of dealing with their poverty. Play ring the human with hula hoops! Wear the mother’s hand me down shirts! Last night I also loved the weird friend’s miniature town with everything in it the way in should be in an ideal world. Love his party - Let’s blow up things! Until we get dizzy and fall down! Martha Plimpton is a delight in this, but I like the whole cast. Call me weird but I enjoy this show far, far more than the critically acclaimed (but annoying to me) ‘Modern Family’. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-love-here-for-raising-hope-besides-mine/605411/2 "2011-12-07T20:55:59Z")
For me it’s been one of those shows that I really, really liked when it was new but has worn a little thin as it’s gone on. I still like it enough to watch but just not as much. The less they feature Maw-maw, the better I like the episode. I enjoy Modern Family much more. ---
**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-love-here-for-raising-hope-besides-mine/605411/3 "2011-12-07T21:05:24Z")
Love Raising Hope! Always makes me laugh, although I will say, growing up in a relatively poor family, some of the jokes hit a little close to home. Still funny, though. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-love-here-for-raising-hope-besides-mine/605411/4 "2011-12-07T21:59:16Z")
I liked it enough to get the DVD\*, since I’m not always home on Tuesday nights and don’t have a DVR. I love that Virginia and Burt are (generally) unashamed about their circumstances. And rightly so. They have nothing to be ashamed of, unless we count taking advantage of MawMaw. And they’re really not doing that either. She’s better off with them than in a nursing home. MawMaw will have more lucid moments, according to something I read somewhere. \*Not worth buying if you’re expecting any cool special features. Except for one – an extended version of the S1 finale. Lucy showed up at the front door, bearing gifts and asking “Where’s my daughter?” AFAIK, there’s no doubt that Lucy’s dead, so this must have been filmed just for fun. ---
**Author:** ![Sally\_Mander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@Sally\_Mander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sally_Mander)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-love-here-for-raising-hope-besides-mine/605411/5 "2011-12-07T22:06:05Z")
I think I like Martha Plimpton and Garrett Dillahunt’s characters better than the character of Jimmy. They’re hysterical. I’d actually like _more_ Maw-Maw. Cloris Leachman is wonderful in that role. ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-love-here-for-raising-hope-besides-mine/605411/6 "2011-12-07T22:45:02Z")
I _adore_ Raising Hope. It’s one of my very favorite shows. It’s so nice to see a realistic family that is actually happy! The last time you saw real, normal middle class folks on TV was Roseanne, and, while I loved the show, Roseanne was a bitch. Raising Hope is always upbeat, always funny, and _always_ kind. I never cringe at the jokes, or feel like they are laughing at the characters. I never get offended. It seems like a little thing, but so many shows are so negative! It’s nice to watch a genuinely funny show about a good family that loves each other. I love Raising Hope. ETA: I know I sound like a total simp, and I’m not, I promise! I just like light entertainment sometimes, and I think this is some of the best. ---
**Author:** ![Sally\_Mander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@Sally\_Mander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sally_Mander)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-love-here-for-raising-hope-besides-mine/605411/7 "2011-12-07T22:47:16Z")
One of the best moments was when they snuck into another family’s house for Thanksgiving, and Maw-Maw saw a phone on the nightstand that started vibrating, and commented, “In my day, they were shaped like penises.” ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-love-here-for-raising-hope-besides-mine/605411/8 "2011-12-07T22:57:38Z")
I stumbled over this show this season, and at first I didn’t know what the hell I was looking at. Now I love it. I loved “My Name is Earl,” too - this feels like a continuation of that show. Like, the family down the street from the Earl bunch. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-love-here-for-raising-hope-besides-mine/605411/9 "2011-12-08T00:26:49Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I stumbled over this show this season, and at first I didn’t know what the hell I was looking at. Now I love it. I loved “My Name is Earl,” too - this feels like a continuation of that show. Like, the family down the street from the Earl bunch. 🙂 Both made by the same guy - [Greg Garcia](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0305228/). ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-love-here-for-raising-hope-besides-mine/605411/10 "2011-12-08T01:00:35Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > Both made by the same guy - [Greg Garcia](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0305228/). I think all the main actors from Earl have been on Hope. Except Nadine Velazquez . ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-love-here-for-raising-hope-besides-mine/605411/11 "2011-12-08T02:38:29Z")
My daughter is the one who got me hooked on “Raising Hope.” The baby is absolutely adorable, and since she’s about the same age as my granddaughter, I can get a “baby fix” when we aren’t visiting! I’d LOVE to see more of Jimmy’s art! Cloris Leachman is a HOOT! ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-love-here-for-raising-hope-besides-mine/605411/12 "2011-12-08T02:42:16Z")
much love here. best new comedy in years. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-love-here-for-raising-hope-besides-mine/605411/13 "2011-12-08T02:48:17Z")
I love Maw-Maw. Jimmy suffers from Ted Mosby syndrome in that he often loses definition in order to showcase the others’ weirdness, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Sally\_Mander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@Sally\_Mander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sally_Mander)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-love-here-for-raising-hope-besides-mine/605411/14 "2011-12-08T03:01:34Z")
> [@River\_Hippie](#): > > I think all the main actors from Earl have been on Hope. > > Except Nadine Velazquez . A lot of the recurring characters from \*Earl \*are on it, too. Barney, Frank, the other grocery store employee (who was the guy Joy killed), the police officer, and the lawyer. I think there have been more, but I’m drawing a blank. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-love-here-for-raising-hope-besides-mine/605411/15 "2011-12-08T03:35:16Z")
Also Joy and Crabman. No Patty the Daytime Hooker yet though (I don’t think). ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-love-here-for-raising-hope-besides-mine/605411/16 "2011-12-08T03:37:01Z")
> [@miss\_elizabeth](#): > > I _adore_ Raising Hope. It’s one of my very favorite shows. It’s so nice to see a realistic family that is actually happy! The last time you saw real, normal middle class folks on TV was Roseanne, and, while I loved the show, Roseanne was a bitch. Raising Hope is always upbeat, always funny, and _always_ kind. I never cringe at the jokes, or feel like they are laughing at the characters. I never get offended. It seems like a little thing, but so many shows are so negative! It’s nice to watch a genuinely funny show about a good family that loves each other. There’s an underlying gentleness to the show that’s hard for me to define. Maybe it’s the creator’s respect for the characters, even though they are flawed, and not always very bright. Much like Garcia’s _My Name is Earl_, the characters may be shown doing ridiculous things, but it never feels like they’re being ridiculed. Maybe it’s the lack of a laughtrack. You’re left to deal with the craziness without a crowd of unseen people pointing and laughing. EVERYONE’S great on the show, but Garret Dillahunt is a revelation. As many times as he’s played thoroughly detestable characters, it’s nice to appreciate him playing a likable character, and getting laughs as well. ---
**Author:** ![Sally\_Mander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@Sally\_Mander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sally_Mander)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-love-here-for-raising-hope-besides-mine/605411/17 "2011-12-08T03:55:02Z")
> [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](#): > > EVERYONE’S great on the show, but Garret Dillahunt is a revelation. As many times as he’s played thoroughly detestable characters, it’s nice to appreciate him playing a likable character, and getting laughs as well. Garret Dillahunt is AWESOME! Off the top of my head: he played two thoroughly detestable characters on _Deadwood_, a creepy child molester on an episode of _Law & Order: SVU_, and a cold-blooded killer on an episode of _CSI: NY._ To see him as Burt, a somewhat dim, but goofy and silly and completely loveable character is such fun. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-love-here-for-raising-hope-besides-mine/605411/18 "2011-12-08T03:56:43Z")
I like the show. I particularly liked the Thanksgiving episode. And BTW, the [AV Club write-up](http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-men-of-new-natesville,66147/) of the episode has more details about Marwencol, the documentary that inspired Frank’s town model (which was actually very cool). ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-love-here-for-raising-hope-besides-mine/605411/19 "2011-12-08T04:13:48Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > Both made by the same guy - [Greg Garcia](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0305228/). Sorry, that was kind of my point - I guess I wasn’t clear enough. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-love-here-for-raising-hope-besides-mine/605411/20 "2011-12-08T04:22:15Z")
This week’s episode was hilarious. And expensive. That miniature town and the figures had to cost a fortune. And I love that her credit reads, “Introducing Cloris Leachman”. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-love-here-for-raising-hope-besides-mine/605411.md?page=2)