ljenkins782

I'm eager to check this series out as an adult, I remember watching it as a kid but I don't think I really understood the show all that well. Can't really remember any storyline except Joel and Maggie and the young woman with the much older man. I didn't really think it was ever going to hit streaming.

Mama’s Family is now available on demand on the Pluto channel! I couldn’t find it streaming anywhere for awhile now. i was bummed at first cause they only had seasons 1-3 and I prefer the later ones, but they just changed it over to seasons 4-6.

The best part of this past episode was Kara's friend playing that exaggerated version of a Native American and Whitney falling for it hook, line, and sinker. That's the first genuinely funny thing I've seen on this show. I'm struggling to understand the Asher and Dougie relationship, it seems like Dougie is undermining Asher in almost every way, but were they friends before? I wish they would tighten up the storylines just a smidge so I could follow along better, because there are interesting nuggets in there but the choice to tell things so slowly is making it harder.

That's very true, the ladies man past was a completely unnecessary addition and in fact, detracts from the appeal of this specific character. The young widower looking for a better life for his young daughter angle that Mona used to sell Angela on Tony in the first episode was a more appealing version and makes more sense than the sleazy womanizer version in terms of the story they were telling. I guess they assume that people can't judge what's appealing on their own, they have to show just how many other people want them in order to show them as attractive? I don't know, I can't think of any other reason to add this contrary detail to Tony's past that completely obliterates the backstory they've already laid out. It would have worked well enough to have Tony's friends think of him as the one that all the women are after, I'm sure he would get the most attention in that crowd of doofuses. But he doesn't have to actually BE a Sam Malone-esque womanizer. And it seems like Tony being that sort of person would derail their main aim of the show, which was the Tony/Angela relationship, feeling like yet another woman in a long line probably wouldn't appeal to Angela.

Is it supposed to be funny? I mean, I know it's in the comedies section here, but I can't really understand how it's supposed to be funny. It actually stands up as a drama, but the title part of it is the piece of the show that doesn't make sense to me. Like, all the curse stuff seems like a total aside and unless they tie it all together somehow later on, it really feels like the part of the show that could've been left on the cutting room floor (and the title would have to change). But the main pieces of the show are actually somewhat interesting, like Emma Stone being the cringe-y white savior character who's constantly putting her foot in her mouth and trying to act against her parents while still relying on them. And the unraveling of the relationship that didn't make sense from the start with the awkward guy that doesn't seem to share her world view and doesn't fit into her life socially and has a hard to overlook physical defect. I'd be curious to know the backstory of how they ended up together, but it makes perfect sense that she's having major regrets. The director guy's backstory with the drunk driving accident is just whatever to me, but the direction they're taking now with him undermining the couple is kind of interesting too. It's very Jon & Kate Plus 8 to watch them filming these scenes of a marriage breaking down. And the friction with the local community is interesting too, I feel like there's enough in those storylines to sustain a show and every time they cut back to the young girls and the curse storyline, it feels like a non-sequitur.

Yeah, that would have been my first conclusion if I found a woman was hiding out with their child. And I would have expected one of them to consider that. Speaking of absentee parents, does Jonathan's non-relationship with his father make any appearance in the later seasons? I usually bow out around season 5, does Jonathan ever make any mention of the dad that wanted custody of him for 5 mins and then disappeared from his life entirely. I know Tony filled in as his father figure, but he did have an actual dad out there. And not for nothing, but Tony was VERY against Jonathan spending time with his father, where was all his concern for parental rights back then? It's another instance where the first part of the scene is cut off due to Hulu's inability to time ad breaks, but I don't think it's missing enough for him to have said that. There is something earlier where he tells her now she has him feeling like he's back in high school, but it wasn't about him being a loser/geek back then, too. No, that scene was just an imaginary scene to show how Angela felt in school and they slotted Tony in there as part of her remembrances, they weren't implying that the actual Tony was a geeky loser in high school. Although by the time we get to the longer-haired Tony of the later seasons, it becomes more plausible that he could have been a dork since he kind of becomes one. And what was the reason that Sam had to accelerate? Did the actress have another commitment or was this just an attempt to shake up the show now that they've all been living together for that many years? Ugh, Donna Dixon. Beautiful woman who should have just been a model who doesn't have to speak. It's actually stunning that she had any acting career at all, she has the most wooden and unnatural line delivery. Ironically, her character and conversations with Fran Drescher in that terrible backdoor pilot is a pretty good summation of Donna Dixon herself, she does this whole riff on things she considers to be problems that other people would kill for (like not being able to gain weight and how things fall into her lap because of her looks, etc). And it seems pretty clear that Dixon's career was entirely thanks to her appearance because she was atrocious at acting.

Should have been the episode title. Jake's accent made that moment so hilarious, "you made me swear on my nan-uh, what the hell, dude?" Seth McFarlane's description of Peter Griffin at roughly 1:10 is Jake in a nutshell.

Agreed, Austin was never gonna write Dee's name down, Jake had an idol that she couldn't be sure he was going to play for her, so writing Jake's name was a gamble. That left Julie's name. So her reasoning wasn't that terrible, it was just unfortunate for the others that the plan actually would have worked and would have changed the outcome entirely. Jake just couldn't orchestrate a play on his own, he made all the wrong moves and talked too much. He should never have told Austin about the idol and I can't quite follow his logic in doing so. A surprise idol play works much better when it's, you know, a surprise... Overall I enjoyed the season and think Dee deserved the win. She did have a ton of luck, which she open acknowledged, but she also played well when she needed to and kept her head in the game when it came down to choosing whether to tell Austin or keep her mouth shut and use that opportunity to take out a threat and put an item on her resume. They all truly seemed to be having a blast at the reunion and whether it's love goggle or what, Austin took it remarkably well that he missed out on a million dollars by a single vote.

I liked the brothers, but have to admit that John started to wear on my nerves a little with the way he seemed to have some experience or background that related to every task, like I studied abroad here or I speak this language, etc. But he could certainly back up the talk, so they deserved to win after dominating the whole race. I like an underdog story so I was rooting for the bearded guys, they were the unlikeliest duo to make the finale. Rob was also unlikely, but Corey was young and fit and had a good attitude, so I wasn't too surprised they made it. I just remember judging the beards a little harshly at the start and then found them more endearing every week and their friendship was lovely. How frustrating to find out they lost by minutes. Also, related to the above about the brothers, I think I would have liked to see the older guys take it just because they are older and aren't going to have another shot at a million bucks like this, while two young guys with great jobs have potential to do very well. Not a great reason, but I'm the same way with Survivor, I like to see the million go to someone without a fortune of their own. Overall, what a great cast and great season, the Amazing Race casting people need to be hired for more reality shows, they've found some great people in recent seasons.

Agreed. Plus, Austin saying out loud that he was leaving someone behind to babysit seemed so tone deaf. Like, it's not a bad plan to work out with your alliance ahead of time, like "hey, if we get rewards, we should alternate so we don't leave a whole group behind who could turn on us while we're gone" but you wouldn't announce to the entire group that that's what you're doing. Also, choosing someone outside your group could be an opportunity to lather them up and make them them think they're in with you, but announcing that you're leaving your real ally behind and choosing that other person by default doesn't exploit that opportunity. LOL, fair enough. But given that I can't even remember who Gabler beat, I think it might have been an outlier that he won, like a lack of better options at FTC. In this season, there are some decent contenders left in Dee and Julie, and maybe Austin too. If Jake somehow wins, Dee and Julie would have to go. Drew was slightly interesting to me only because he didn't entirely carry himself like a nerd who was always picked last. Maybe he benefited from the nerd revolution of the last few decades where people wear the nerd label more proudly, but he carried himself with more confidence than I would have expected from Napoleon Dynamite's skinnier twin. Austin actually seems more insecure than Drew, but he has the benefit of an exterior that doesn't match his interior. Drew in personality was more like Yul, who was pretty prone to making geeky observations and expounding on them, but since Yul had an 18-pack stomach and good looks, his nerdiness got overlooked. If Drew looked like Austin, he'd probably have gotten the Yul 2.0 label.

I guess, but the idea of doing a couples photoshoot after a few months as a couple still reeks of wanting attention more than wanting a relationship. It's not a normal thing to do.

Her attempt at tears in the Ray Charles episode is so cringey, that scene is hard to watch. With James Coco's actual death, she had something real to be sad about, I guess fake cheating by an ugly redheaded boy and a fake fight with her fake not-mother wasn't enough to stir her emotions, lol. I love that episode and agree that it was nice to see Bonnie get a positive spin. I so relate to Sam in this episode though, I'm forever doing things because someone else seems to be having a great time and then I don't enjoy it and that same person is having a blast somewhere else. Some people are just better at blooming where they're planted and can make the best of anything. I also wonder why there just had be a dumb one among Sam's friends. Like Julia, there was some random blonde twit in one episode, and then Bonnie (who had previously been normal) had her IQ removed once she became the main friend. I just don't find that dumbness as funny as the show runners seem to think I should and much prefer the Bonnie moments where she's just being normal. Agreed. The "it's never a good time" is close enough to being true, but there is such a thing as the wrong time and if Angela is the pitch person and this account was that important, then the day of that presentation really IS the wrong time. Especially since the rest of that team seemed like a bunch of stiff and/or incompetent men and in advertising, the pitch is crucial. No matter how good the concept is, if the wrong person is pitching it, it can flop. But for them to accuse her of not caring was ridiculous, given her history. Although I sort of wonder what she was going to do if they already "lost the toilet paper." They'd already blown the pitch, the client bailed, what was Angela going to do at that point? Yeah, that made no sense, the actor who played Todd was far better looking than Chad. If they'd said Chad was the coolest (I mean, still hard to believe given what we saw of Chad, but charisma can override looks) and Todd was the cutest, that would have fit better.

US magazine links never open for me because of the ad overload, but did Kylee and Aven even live near each other? They seemed fairly miserable leaving the beach together and if they were apart afterward, it feels like "cheating" is a strong word for a relationship that developed over a matter of weeks and then maybe went long distance for a month or so (open to correction if they were indeed together and in a serious relationship). Also, Kylee just always seemed to be more into the idea of a relationship than the reality of one, so wounded pride seems more likely to be what upset her than actual sadness over Aven himself.

I knew she wouldn’t tell him. A. because it would be dumb to do so but B. because she has the upper hand with him and can most likely get away with it. He’s got an inferiority complex from being a chubby kid with braces and acne and she seems pretty confident. She’ll be his demise, but he won’t be hers. Drew was so incredibly bitter toward Julie for having the audacity to save herself when he deemed it her time to go, I was rooting for his blindside for that alone. I don’t think Julie could get his vote now even if she’s sitting next to Jake and katurah, he won’t be able to reward her gameplay. Jake is my entertainment for the season, but he’s getting such a buffoon edit that I can’t see him winning. It’s like he’s playing his own game within a game and his experience isn’t aligning with what’s actually going on. He’s definitely got a shot to be final 3 though, his goat level goes up with each tribal he skates through due to being the lesser threat.

I agree. The only "reward" part of the rewards this season seems to be getting out of punishment. The rewards have been shockingly cheap, it's reminding me of the Covid season of the Bachelorette where they filmed the entire season at a La Quinta Inn and the dates were things like homemade carnival games or pretending to be somewhere scenic with a background made out of cardboard. I wonder why it's so bargain basement this season. And honestly, all they really have to do is give them a day at a pool with a nice meal, that plus not having to do the punishment should be reward enough. It's so much more obviously tacky when they try to do a super cheap version of an activity, like putting some lawn chairs under popup tents with massage guns and calling it a spa day.

I just meant the part where she gave a speech pretending to be falling in love with yet another guy she'd known for 5 mins. She seemed like a relatively fun person to hang out with when she wasn't playing to the cameras, so hopefully she does better offscreen.

Also, she could not have looked more miserable as she tried to browbeat him into a proposal. It couldn't be clearer that she wanted the televised moment and not the proposal or the marriage. They didn't even seem to be having fun together, even if she'd been able to drag him to the proposal site, it would have been a lackluster scene. I KNEW Aaron was going to bring up that damn breakfast thing in the proposal. He really seems convinced that's the height of sensitivity or whatever. Still can't really stand him, there is something so calculated about his speech patterns and he commits to this show's nonsense a little too fully. Not at all surprised to see the end tag suggesting that they're on the rocks. Who the hell could have predicted Kat and John Henry as the potential success story of the season. I was positive she was rose hunting and would drop his monosyllabic ass as soon as they returned to civilization, but by the end tag, I was kind of buying them as a couple. Her story about her childhood in a group home made me look at her a little differently. She's still annoying AF, but seems a little damaged at the core and John Henry might be good for her. Olivia's exit was as cringe-y as the rest of her stay, she should probably stick to dating off the television. I feel bad for her, but she also could benefit from not falling head over heels with every guy who gives her a passing glance. I hope Jess watches this back and realizes that collecting compliments on her outfits does not constitute a relationship. The fact that she's said that out loud to 2 different people just astounds me, does she not hear how self absorbed and ridiculous she sounds?

I'm pretty sure they're original, in fact there are lines in some of the episodes that I didn't remember from my many previous watchings. But I can't be 100% sure.

Exactly. I was very surprised to find this show under the Comedy section here, there's nothing funny about it. I can't figure out why I find it even a little interesting, most of the storylines are meandering and I can't follow along with them. Like, how does the casino stuff fit into the house stuff and the tv producer's storylines are baffling. But the acting is excellent if cringe-y, uncomfortable viewing is the goal. That scene of trying to recreate the sweater incident had me crawling out of my skin. I'm very curious to see an interview with the actor who plays the husband, I'm wondering if he's kind of an awkward guy in real life and that's why he got the role or he's just a great actor nailing the mannerisms of a super awkward person.

I came across it searching for something to fall asleep to, made my night. I think I'm 4 seasons deep in 3 day's time. I love when they stage snowy scenes, the house is so cozy with the stone fireplace and neutral tones with the snow drifting past the windows.

That aerobics thing is the greatest thing I've seen in recent memory, ah the 80s! She was damn good too and that haircut made me LOL. I also assume he's picking Theresa in the end. I can't help but think that someone with a very long marriage ended only by death is not going to be able to relate to someone twice divorced on a very basic level. And vice versa, I have to imagine that someone with two bad marriages isn't going to be able to relate to someone who had such a lasting relationship, her attitude toward marriage had to be affected by having 2 bad ones.

There were some storylines that didn't bother me (Lily's mom and sister, Scotty and Alyssa, Stillman's wife and daughter, Will's wife, Vera's marital issues). Actually, I'd say a lot of the earlier season's personal life plots were woven in fairly smoothly and without too much disruption. The mistake they made later on was making the stories way too much of the episodes and in some cases, just overwhelming the stories, like the Lily vs Stephen Baldwin thing. And the Scotty relationship storylines seemed so repetitive, always some tough-talking chick that starts out adversarial and turns into a relationship. He had hideous taste in women. I loved that too, plus Lily and Kite dancing in the disco. They had some nice end tag moments like that sometimes, like when Vera's marriage tanks, they show the guys showing up to his motel room with beers, it was a very unobtrusive way to acknowledge the personal life thread without overwhelming the actual storyline of the episode.

No, I have always wondered about him and especially on this episode. Something about him just pings. Also after last year's BiP, the girl he'd left with broke it off because he was clingy and suffocating, so I'm not sure how much of a catch he really is. If Katie Thurston really thinks she has any future in comedy, she needs to think again. Oof, that was awkward. The roast had a lot of potential to be entertaining, but no one was funny. Even something mean can be funny if delivered right, but not one of these people could deliver a joke. The meanest one had to be Tanner's joke about Gabby vs Rachel, that one was way too personal (and too true). I must have blinked and missed the arrival of Taylor (I think?) Who the hell is that? Did they bring another person from another country's version of the show again? I've watched the last several seasons of Bachelorette and don't remember this guy at all. He seems super awkward too, I'm assuming he didn't get the now standard "so hot, going to set paradise on fire" spiel that they make everyone say.

It seems like a lot of people think Morgan and Lena have a particularly horrible relationship based solely on their bickering, but I have to assume that those people are not women with sisters. Because this is 100% par for the course behavior. As adults, you rarely have the occasion to spend every waking moment with your sibling, but I guarantee that you'd default to your childhood relationship and for sisters, that tends to be endless bickering. It was actually my favorite part of watching them, they occupied the big and little sister roles so thoroughly, I laughed through all their scenes. And I'm also not surprised that Morgan was nicer to AL than to Lena, AL is probably someone's annoying little sister, but she's not Morgan's annoying little sister. Of all the many dumb moments in this episode (climbing 1100 stairs for lack of reading a sign, leaving a notebook behind, missing the flag markers to the express pass), the answer of 1199 really took the cake. Particularly coming from one of the older racers who was indeed alive and presumably somewhat cognizant of the wider world in the 1990s. Even 1919 would have made more sense than 1199 if you were gonna get it wrong using two 1s and two 9s.

When the 4th vote was read, Kellie turned to Austin first and said "did you do this" and he (kinda savagely, IMO) nodded his head. So I'm not sure she's blaming/crediting Emily wholly with this move. I was with the group who thought he might be having another medical episode when he kept losing his train of thought, but that might have just been a setup for when he pretended to slip up about an idol. He certainly played what seemed like his last moments to the hilt, so I guess he was not aware that there was any other target. His Family Guy-esque "WHOA" followed by a muttered "sorry, but woah" cracked me up. He is entertaining, at the very least. I loved the auction twist of running through the jungle to find money, that was a rare fun update to an old standard. The other twist of whoever has the most money loses their vote felt a bit pointless, unless the show budget is now so tight that they can't stand the idea of cast members taking their $150 leftover cash home with them, LOL. And only ONE dog item in the bunch?? Come on, show. Bruce had perhaps the luckiest day out there since Kaleb nullified 11 votes. He found the least money, didn't get to buy a single thing, but got 1/3 of a chocolate cake anyway, wound up with the most money and lost his vote, but then won immunity so it didn't matter. And he probably got to pocket that $80, to boot. I'm ready for Kendra and her buggy eyes to go. She seems to be on the very fringes, often on the wrong side of the vote, and just generally irks me.