The show is extremely funny week to week and has some of the best kid actors on TV (for some reason ABC sitcoms often excel at hiring funny kid actors) but one thing it has done very well are Very Special Episodes.
Those are usually awful but so far they have nailed it each time. Their real time episode on Police shootings was well written and fair (although obviously coming from one side). This week they did an episode on the Trump election. It was funny but they dove tailed it into a discussion of MLK. It was really something. I would suggest you check it out.
Indeed; I was so impressed by that ep that I wanted to gush about it at work, but it would be lost on that crowd. Wednesday’s have been my “must see tv” night for a few years now. Thank you, Black Jesus!
I like how Dre keeps trying to maintain his Black Power identity, but nobody seems to understand why it’s so important to him. The kids don’t really identify with his values, and Rainbow is more of a feminist.
I think my favorite scene was Dre telling Mr. Stevens “You donated all that money to UNCF just so you could say ‘Negro’” and the latter cheerfully acknowledging it. As marketing slime, Stevens maintains an image that’s acceptable on all fronts, even though he knows he’s a thorough phony.
I won’t see it. I can always watch him on Blackish. There’s no way in hell, no matter who may be starring in it, will I waste another cent or minute of my life watching the spewed crap that Bay makes…
(besides, another reason why I saw the first Transformers film was because I worked on that toy at Hasbro. I even got a credit in the animated film of the 80’s. But seriously, Bay’s involvement almost stopped me from seeing it, despite my history)
I’ve been enjoying the show. I really think it’s great how they include very topical looks on race, while being a family comedy. The Diane-Charlie dynamic is really the funniest part of the show (I’m glad Charlie is back - the show was missing something when he was gone for a bit).
I really love this show. It’s very funny, and at the same time it can be deep.
One thing I like about it is that Zoey isn’t a shallow brat. It’s a sitcom cliche that the pretty daughter is an entitled airhead. There have been times when the show has leaned toward that, but they always pull it back. I also like that, while Junior is nerdy, he’s not shown as a clueless fool or a complete misfit.
An odd thing about the show is that no one in the family seems to have any friends (that we see, at least). Dre has work relationships, but the only co-worker who might be considered a friend is Charlie, and that’s marginal. Zoey is supposed to be popular, so why don’t we see her friends at the house? Junior should be hanging out with nerds. Bow should have at least a couple of close friends. The twins should go to the occasional birthday party. Maybe the problem is that there are a lot of characters in the show already.
I’m glad they got Johan out of the house. That character wasn’t working.
If the show has a weakness, it’s that Dre is too often portrayed as an insecure buffoon. For instance, his behavior with the Christmas tree fire was unworthy of an adult. I hope they dial back this aspect of his personality.
I love this show now. I watched the first episode and didn’t see any point in ever watching again but Skald the Rhymer said that after a few episodes it had improved greatly so I gave it another try and I see it had improved and has continued to do so. The Trump episode was quite good. They had a Halloween Purge episode that was hilarious. That little evil daughter is among the funniest characters on television right now and she barely gets 3 lines an episode.
