S02.E05: Boo-Who?

[AnnaRose]

Quote

The Ottos receive a "Boo," which is a Westport tradition of an anonymous note and goodies being left on a neighbor's doorstep, and Katie is absolutely giddy about it, but then they find out it was put at their door by accident.

[MortysCleaningLady]

AnnaKat is deeply committed, isn't she?

 

And I hate getting "Boo-ed".  You then have to prep a basket and move it along...

[scenicbyway]

Wouldn't everyone just recycle the same basket?  It would save on having to come up with something new and pay for it.

I'd like to see the mom a bit more accepted in her neighborhood/town.  We get that she's normal looking and not at yoga class all the time, but there's got to be some other "housewives" that would want to be friends, especially since she was popular in high school.  I also don't really understand why she doesn't have a part-time  job at this point with 2 teenagers and the other one in elementary school.  We never see her do anything for herself other than have coffee with her two girlfriends.

[joanne3482]

51 minutes ago, scenicbyway said:

I'd like to see the mom a bit more accepted in her neighborhood/town. 

The problem is that Katey doesn't really WANT to be accepted. I know the Westport moms are mean to her but she's just as mean to them.  The brown-haired mom basically said that to her awhile back (Maybe the first episode this season or the pregnancy episode last season?)

 

Getting boo-ed seems like it would be a fun thing, but I could see how a place like Westport would make it into a competition and you'd have to do better than your neighbors.  I did like Oliver's eventual costume as Bane. That was pretty clever and a fancy mask. 

[TheLastKidPicked]

Did you all know that the house used in the show is the same house used in Leave it to Beaver?  For some reason that makes it even funnier.  It invites the comparison between the Otto's and the Cleavers.

 

***as the younger people on the boards open a new tab to google "Leave it to Beaver" ***

[iMonrey]

No way in hell did Chloe deserve her Boo Basket back just because her assistant delivered it to the wrong house. Finders keepers.

I wonder what actual responsibility Greg would have for all the destroyed merchandise. I mean, if it's an accident . . . can they force him to pay? Isn't she insured?

My favorite part was Angela accusing Doris of having "attack dogs" and Doris saying "They're not attack dogs, they're just untrained dogs that bite people."

[AnnaRose]

1 hour ago, TheLastKidPicked said:

Did you all know that the house used in the show is the same house used in Leave it to Beaver?  For some reason that makes it even funnier.  It invites the comparison between the Otto's and the Cleavers.

Was it really?  I had no idea.  I've only seen a few LitB episodes on Nick at Night years ago.

57 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

No way in hell did Chloe deserve her Boo Basket back just because her assistant delivered it to the wrong house. Finders keepers.

I wonder what actual responsibility Greg would have for all the destroyed merchandise. I mean, if it's an accident . . . can they force him to pay? Isn't she insured?

I was wondering that too.  Those shelves were very flimsy and easy to topple.  Maybe they want to have more storylines with the shop owner?

I agree though - finders keepers!

ETA:  I liked the resolution of the prom pregnancy costume. Katie has had some very nice scenes with her eldest daughter lately.  Toilet baby!  Haha.  And the resolution for Oliver's costume problem was pretty inspired.

Edited October 26, 2017 by AnnaRose

[PradaKitty]

I laughed at the local wives/mothers who have "vanity" businesses.   I know a few women in my city who do the same thing - purse shops, knick knack shops, etc. Nothing ever sells. Good thing they have family money to pay the shop rent!

[Snarklepuss]

I didn't love this episode primarily because of the low-blow dig at Norwalk with the pregnant prom dress.  Norwalk is a beautiful town and not at all deserving of a dig in such poor taste.  Now if they had said Bridgeport, maybe but IMO it would still be in poor taste.  I suppose I should lighten up and realize it's just a joke, but they've dissed Norwalk a few times already on this show and I took it in good humor but now I just think they're going too far.  I lived in Norwalk for 5 years and it's anything but a town you would poke fun at by spoofing pregnant high school students.  I think they should have left out a specific town's name.

All that said, I did laugh in spite of myself at the "toilet baby" suggestion!
 

5 hours ago, TheLastKidPicked said:

Did you all know that the house used in the show is the same house used in Leave it to Beaver?  For some reason that makes it even funnier.  It invites the comparison between the Otto's and the Cleavers.

No kidding?  I watched that show as a kid in reruns.  Certainly the interior is not the same nor is there any comparison whatsoever between the Ottos and the Cleavers, LOL!  In fact just attempting that is funny because it's so ridiculous!
 

4 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I wonder what actual responsibility Greg would have for all the destroyed merchandise. I mean, if it's an accident . . . can they force him to pay? Isn't she insured?

Yeah I didn't find this realistic at all.  I thought Katy and Greg would be worrying about their liability in all of this knowing how much that woman hates Katy and how expensive all those things would be.  I know it's just a sitcom but their lack of concern was really too hard to swallow for me.

[iMonrey]

Quote

 Now if they had said Bridgeport, maybe but IMO it would still be in poor taste.  I suppose I should lighten up and realize it's just a joke, but they've dissed Norwalk a few times already on this show and I took it in good humor but now I just think they're going too far.  I lived in Norwalk for 5 years and it's anything but a town you would poke fun at by spoofing pregnant high school students.  I think they should have left out a specific town's name.

Is it really a dig at Norwalk, or is it really more of a dig at Westport, that people who live there are so stuck up they think people in Norwalk are comparatively poor? 

[Snarklepuss]

20 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

Is it really a dig at Norwalk, or is it really more of a dig at Westport, that people who live there are so stuck up they think people in Norwalk are comparatively poor? 

I'd have seen it that way if it came from one of the richer kids in Westport, but not Taylor.  The Ottos themselves would fit right in in Norwalk.  There is an "in town" area of Norwalk that might drag down the average income level of the town by comparison to Westport but it's really a very small part of the town.  Most of the town (and certainly the part that borders Westport) is very nice and it's expensive to live there!  The average income in Norwalk (and that's including the "poorer" area) is $131,000 a year!  The average house is around $430,000.

Edited October 26, 2017 by Snarklepuss

[AnnaRose]

Eh.  Since fictional Westport and the housewives who inhabit it are nothing like their real life counterparts... I don't read too much into them using the name Norwalk in the show's universe.  I don't expect it to be accurate on any level.

[Snarklepuss]

2 hours ago, AnnaRose said:

Eh.  Since fictional Westport and the housewives who inhabit it are nothing like their real life counterparts... I don't read too much into them using the name Norwalk in the show's universe.  I don't expect it to be accurate on any level.

Maybe it's easy for you, but I lived there.  It's kind of hard not to expect it to be a little closer to reality when it's your world.  If they were going to go so far off reality why did they bother to name it after a real town?  This is one reason I always appreciated "The Middle", because the town of Orson is fictional so no one can compare it to any place in the real world.

Just think if a show took your home town and the one joke they thought they'd make about the place is a pregnant prom girl.  Gee thanks, now the town I thought was heaven on earth is what is essentially being made to look like a trash hole on the other side of the tracks.  Hey, I grew up in the Bronx, I'm kind of tired of having some of my favorite places trashed by TV shows, especially ones I had to save all my money in order to finally be able to live in and which by anyone's standards are expensive.  Good for anyone else if that's not their reality, but it is mine.

Edited October 27, 2017 by Snarklepuss

[AnnaRose]

1 minute ago, Snarklepuss said:

Maybe it's easy for you, but I lived there.  It's kind of hard not to expect it to be a little closer to reality when it's your world.  If they were going to go so far off reality why did they bother to name it after a real town?  This is one reason I always appreciated "The Middle", because the town of Orson is fictional so no one can compare it to any place in the real world.

I know you lived there and you have a difficult time with how it's represented.  I think they should have used fictional names.  Especially because they probably are offending people from both of those towns.  It's not a documentary on real life Westport and Norwalk though.  It's a comedy that exaggerates everything and is populated with sitcom characters.  It's its own little universe, divorced from reality. 

I'm originally from a city that gets made fun of all the time in the entertainment world.  I know that the mocking isn't close to the truth, so I don't let it bother me.

[Snarklepuss]

1 minute ago, AnnaRose said:

I'm originally from a city that gets made fun of all the time in the entertainment world.  I know that the mocking isn't close to the truth, so I don't let it bother me.

I think it's different when you actually have been on the snobbed end of some REAL Westport women.  It hits a little too close to home.  I identify with the Katy character, just not the way they've chosen to play her.

[Snarklepuss]

11 hours ago, AnnaRose said:

I know you lived there and you have a difficult time with how it's represented.  I think they should have used fictional names.  Especially because they probably are offending people from both of those towns.  It's not a documentary on real life Westport and Norwalk though.  It's a comedy that exaggerates everything and is populated with sitcom characters.  It's its own little universe, divorced from reality.

I don't know why I should just "let it go" when the main character on this show herself can't let it go.  This show was based on something real and continues to hammer that point home in its plots.    IMHO it's really not that hard to empathize with someone not being able to slough it off as some kind of alternate universe especially when they keep relating things to real life places and situations in the real area.

P.S.  I would not have such a problem with this if it were made clear that the snobbery was coming from the rich women in the town but when even the Ottos themselves start making disparaging jokes about Norwalk, that's where I draw the line.

P.P.S.  This "joke" could even be taken as implied racism because the statistics show that the overwhelming majority of teenage mothers in Norwalk are not white judging from statistics I saw online and what I know about the place, which to be honest is another reason I found it offensive.

Edited October 27, 2017 by Snarklepuss
The P.S.

[MaryMitch]

Huh... try living in the South. We get dissed all the time. You get used to it.

[Snarklepuss]

23 minutes ago, MaryMitch said:

Huh... try living in the South. We get dissed all the time. You get used to it.

Norwalk is the kind of place people move to to get away from being dissed, so it really hurts all the more.  I can even slough off the dissing at the Bronx because, well, it's the Bronx, but Norwalk is different.  I've never liked the dissing of the South either, BTW.

Edited October 27, 2017 by Snarklepuss

[TheLastKidPicked]

19 hours ago, Snarklepuss said:

No kidding?  I watched that show (Leave it to Beaver) as a kid in reruns.  Certainly the interior is not the same nor is there any comparison whatsoever between the Ottos and the Cleavers, LOL!  In fact just attempting that is funny because it's so ridiculous!

 

23 hours ago, AnnaRose said:

Was it really?  I had no idea.  I've only seen a few LitB episodes on Nick at Night years ago

The Otto home / Cleaver Home is called the "Paramount House".    Here's the facade they used for shooting scenes in the front yard:

 

 

Edited October 27, 2017 by TheLastKidPicked

[MaryMitch]

Diedrich Bader sure is perfect for playing the Frankenstein monster, isn't he?

I've noticed the past couple episodes how much Oliver and Taylor resemble each other; they really look like brother and sister. They even SOUND alike! Good casting!

[AnnaRose]

7 hours ago, MaryMitch said:

Diedrich Bader sure is perfect for playing the Frankenstein monster, isn't he?

I've noticed the past couple episodes how much Oliver and Taylor resemble each other; they really look like brother and sister. They even SOUND alike! Good casting!

I agree.   I love Halloween episodes because it's so fun to see costumes that are done by professional costumers and stylists.  Greg made an awesome Frankenstein's monster.

I laughed when Taylor came into the hall in that beautiful prom gown and then turned sideways showing her pregnancy belly.  Every mother's nightmare.  And then when Katie told her to lose the baby, she nonchalantly took out her earring and popped it.  I wasn't expecting that and it made me chuckle.

Anna-Kat makes a pretty adorable zombie.  I love how it always has to be somebody specific.  She really gets into it.

[floridamom]

Is it me? Has anyone else noticed that the parents speaking pattern is a bit strange and annoying? They seem to speak in a few quick words, then pause or slow down the rest of their sentences? They just don't speak normally. The children don't do that nor do the other characters. I hope I described it accurately. I find it tiring to try to follow and listen to. They need a better dialogue coach.

[Cowgirl]

On 10/28/2017 at 10:52 AM, MaryMitch said:

I've noticed the past couple episodes how much Oliver and Taylor resemble each other; they really look like brother and sister. They even SOUND alike! Good casting!

I agree!  I also think that Taylor looks a lot like katie, from certain angles.  It looks like those actresses really could be mother and daughter.  Then Anna-Kat has the same bone structure as Oliver and resembles Katie and Taylor.  I don't know where Greg fits into this. :)

[readster]

1 hour ago, hanifanze said:

 I would not have such a problem with this if it were made clear that the snobbery was coming from the rich women in the town but when even the Ottos themselves start making disparaging jokes about Norwalk, that's where I draw the line.

Oh I know and like I've said it's gotten to the point where the "Mean Housewives" have become a parody to the point anyone who did these things regularly or believed the crap that Katie tells them to get them riled up or to just leave her alone. Would be in jail by now or ran out of town.