I thought the plural of spouse was jail time, except in Utah.
I walked out because I had things to do, not because I was disinterested. But I did tune in tonight, and watched the repeat of last week’s show in its entirety.
I seem to be the only one in this thread holding on to this “not rich” theory, and yeah, I could be wrong, but my ideas about what constitutes the vagarities of high-end upper middle class consumerism versus what the rich tend to own and how they live are decidedly different from what I’m seeing so far on this show.
We know the Nakamuras derive their income from at least two sources-- Dr. Nakamura’s cosmetic surgery practice and a car wash. (She’s identified as co-owner in the opening credits.) Now, I’m not sure how lucrative car washes are, but if owning one helps buy a home like that, I want one.
Thanks to skyrocketing malpractice insurance premium crisis in Texas, I’m not sure any doctor in practice there can be called ‘rich’ – esp. when you account for being in the 35% tax bracket and the (very likely) possibilty that Dr. Nanamura is first generation wealth.
Nakamura home: their whole side of the street seems planned around a what I suspect is a manmade lake connected to maybe half-a-dozen properties, with several families sharing the lake and possibly the lakehouse. That’s really not that unusual.
They own a family van. They do their own driving. Live-in mother-in-law cooks. No sign of any other household help.
They don’t appear to live in a gated or restricted community. Houses are too close together for the kinds of privacy wealth typically purchases.
Sidewalks? (I admit this perception of mine may be outdated.)
Plus that shot of the neighbors on tomorrow night’s show just didn’t strike me as a gathering of the rich.
Askia After reading your post, I tend to agree with you. I would probably say they are more ‘well-off’ than they are ‘rich’. Especially since like you said, Mr. Yuki is more than likely first generation wealthy. Also, my definition of being rich is that you don’t have to work for your money anymore. Your money works for you.
Jenny*
Heh. That was funny as hell.
Mela rules. It was an execellent choice. Nana deserved every penny. I love it when good things happen to good people!
Tammy’s choices were good, too. But for all her talk about college I wish she’d stipulated college funds for the children, starting with $500.
Tammy’s last words about her mother-in-law’s tax bracket cracked-me-the-hell-up.
I thought this episode ended really well.
I love that Mela gave Nana all of the money! She deserved it so much. That lady works hard. She should be paid! Gotta love the comment that Tammy makes at the end. “Good thing about Nana getting the money is that she will have to pay taxes according to her tax bracket, not ours” :rolleyes: How thoughtful of you Tammy. I know that is a good thing, but not something to be focusing on right now. Tammy did an excellent job in allocating the Biggins’ family their money. I had to give her a thumbs up for that.
Either way, I still don’t really like Tammy. After hearing her yesterday on the talk show commenting on how she’s really a wonderful person, I don’t see how she could think so after seeing the shows. She just doesn’t see the big picture. I mean I’m sure she can be nice, it’s just she not able to adjust too well to her new environment.
I still love Mela. She has a great personality, and I think the host family realized that. I think it is wonderful that her and Nana have such a great connection.
Good TV.
Jenny*
Tammy did really well, in allocating the money. And it was nice of Mela to give Nana the money.
However, as much as Mela and Nana hit it off, it looked to me like the gift made Nana a bit uncomfortable. Was it practical? Does Nana want to go to Japan? Does she need a car? Will she use it? Hope so.
What’s the dynamic in extended families, where one of the family members lives in someone else’s house and does most of the work? And then gets a windfall like that?
Plus, who’s to say that the Nakamuras don’t have debt that should be paid down?
Mela looked at the Nakamura house and decided they didn’t need anything that money could buy.
I didn’t see either mom make an effort to find out what the families needed. When were they told the twist? Towards the end?
I’m glad Tammy’s family seems to like her. 
Goes to show, we fit the lives we make.
Emily Post question for you guys – I agreed with Mela that guests shouldn’t be asked to bring food to the party. Dr. Nakamura disagreed.
Tammy took care of the food for her party – afraid of the Deadly Chicken Wings, no doubt, but still, she did it, which makes me think it wasn’t a big deal, that that’s how she does parties.
So why didn’t Dr. N. want Mela to do the food?
Are they all afraid of the Deadly Chicken Wings?
And since when do you invite people over and ask them to bring their own food?
Without ever haing met the woman, I’m quite sure Nana got over any discomfort.
As much as Mela and Nana talked, Nana must have mentioned something about driving and a certain wistfulness about Japan. Practical? No. But her practical needs are pretty much taken care of.
I seriously doubt debt was a concern to the Nakamuras. First thing Tammy mentioned buying with the money was buying a boat.
AuntiePam. Mela and Tammy were told of the twist about halfway through part one and kept it a secret. The families had no idea until the spouse swap was over the new mommies decided about the money.
I’m guessing that in Doc Nakamura’s world, guests are asked to bring food. I’ve attended parties like that. I’ve attended MORE parties where the host provided everything. Silly me, I’ve always thought the latter was the norm. Maybe it was gecause the party was technically a ‘welcome wagon’ kind of thing and when welcoming people you bring food?
Mela tried so hard to fit in, but I could definitely tell she was nervous. I’m glad she had help preparing for the guests. Damn skippy those Nakamura kids should wash dishes! They seemed to be pretty good sports about it.
Tammy threw a party where she agitates her other hosts, knows none of the people coming and insists on offering only food she likes, and playing a music genre she likes, overruling obvious objections. That’s just… so…
Askia, selfish? Egotistical? Clueless?
Definitely not a good hostess.
I only watched part of the first episode, but I caught all of the one tonight.
Tammy and her husband both got on my nerves. I know that the producers try to show them in more of a bad light, but I don’t think they had to stretch much with Tammy. That woman really needs to take a step back and re-evaluate herself. She’s not a savior. I don’t even think she really taught the Biggins anything other than to appreciate having Mela as their mother/wife.
Tammy also seemed to rag on the children a lot, especially about their weight. That’s the last thing I would want to hear from a stranger.
She kinda redeemed herself in the end with how she allotted the money. I don’t understand why she didn’t set up college trustfunds for the kids though. She kept pushing college on them, why not give them more of a chance?
I thought Mela did a great job with giving everything to Nana. She seemed to be the most accepting of the new mom. With as much as Nana does on a daily basis for the family she deserves something.
Even the producers of the show were making fun of Tammy. During her, “You can do anything you want because you live in America” speech, the show had patriotic music and cut to a fireworks display. An obvious slap against her preachyness.
The rich white woman kept emphasizing how much more money her family had than her host family…I think that the 2 families will continue to be friends even after the show.
Potluck.
I can’t believe that people are arguing that the Nakamuras aren’t rich! That family probably has at least a $1 million in property alone (Beamer, house and summer house), and that ain’t upper middle class…They are freaking rich! I sure would like to experience Askia’s relativity if he doesn’t think they are rich. But then again, he’s probably rich.
I teach in the public schools. Many people assume I’m middle-class, but I work for a living, believe me. I come from a middle-class extended family that was almost well-to-do – but several breadwinners got extended illnesses and died, and the subsequent family reversals of fortune taught me a few things about money.
- ‘Great income’ and ‘wealth’ are not the same things.
- ‘Affluent’ does not mean the same thing as ‘rich’.
- Sound investments and insurance trump high income and a nice house.
To me, rich means the security of generational wealth and non-liquid assets that helps a family weather sudden tragedies like extended illnesses, accidents and death of a breadwinner.
There is a simple test.
“If the family breadwinner suddenly stops earning primary income, can the family maintain its current lifestyle without liquiding most of its assets and retain the primary home?”
If the answer is no, you’re probably not as rich as you think.
I look at the Nakamuras and don’t see them being able to carry on their current lifestyle if Dr. Nakamura (God forbid) suddenly got ill/or died.
I still maintain they’re not really rich NOW, and if you put my reasoning to any 1st generation high-income family with only one primary breadwinner, they would probably agree, too.
How did Tammy allocate the money, I missed it :(.
Oh, and I’m still sticking to my contention that the Nakamura’s are obviously rich and I think that Askia has a very narrow definition of the word rich, which is not used in common parlance.
Tammy’s allocation:
$20,000 to help pay off any debts they might have
$22,000 as a down payment on a new house
$500 to each of the kids
$750 to dad (Anthony) for electronic toys
Did I forget anything?
My daughter was afraid Tammy was going to use the money to build them a weight room.
Yup. Common use of ‘rich’ is not accurate because most people confuse income with wealth. I don’t have a narrow definition for rich; I have a very wide definition of what it means to be middle class.
IIRC, Tammy gave Mela authority to allocate the rest of the money and to treat herself to a day at the spa.
I found this interesting, from the Fox site…
“Tammy, the Nakamura Mom, a former truck driver from Kentucky, is a strong-willed and determined blonde who co-owns a car wash with her best friend. Her friends and neighbors can always count on Tammy to throw a great party - she is the consummate entertainer, and throws elaborate gatherings at the expansive Nakamura mansion. Tammy was working at a restaurant when she met Yuki. After dating him for a short time, Tammy asked Yuki to marry her. Years later, they are still in love and have two children, Natalia and Nico.”
I really liked this show as well. I wanted to slap the Tamm-ster at times–especially with the coffee, her lame urban legend story, and the TV things.
Noticed, though that they failed to show more of the Biggin’s party…which was featured in the commercials.