JakeyJokes

That joke was simultaneously so smart and so stupid and I loved it. Also very clever when Jacob said he'd been a "Cooper Trooper" since WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER. It's a cult hit that Bradley Cooper did even before ALIAS, and even though it's a comedy, he has a surprisingly explicit gay sex scene with Michael Ian Black. So of course it's Jacob's favorite.

Could be because of their different career trajectories. Selena was on TV since she was tiny. Ashley originated the Gretchen role in MEAN GIRLS on Broadway. (Six degrees of Tina Fey separation)

Chris has said he doesn’t really follow pop culture. I thought it was funny that during the game, Gabriel was freaking out after seeing Mariah Carey’s name and it ended up being related to Chris’s clue anyway! And good for Monay for absolutely crushing that game. I definitely think Jada/Jane would have figured out Chris by now. Can’t truthfully say I miss her, though, as I thought she was rather smug. Maybe there’s an unaired clip where Chris lied to everyone and said his family was British. I’ll give the other players some credit, though. Karsyn remembers the shredding clue as being about “colorful coats”, when the clue specifically mentioned DREAMCOAT.

I don’t think Chris has a clue (no pun intended), as he has said that his wife knows everything pop culture and he has no idea. However, he’s such a damn good player that he doesn’t let it show. Every time Lil Nas X comes up he smiles and nods, and I don’t think he has any point of reference for him other than Old Town Road.

I am a the older spectrum of millennials and realizing these people must be way younger than me! My points of reference for Donny Osmond are my mom having the cassettes of JOSEPH — she subsequently dragged me to every local high school production whenever one was happening and I joke that seeing so many well-sculpted high school seniors in loincloths made me gay — and his infamous appearance on the first season of THE ROSIE O’DONNELL SHOW where he made a fat joke and she berated him on TV for months and he came back to apologize to her while singing “Puppy Love” in a dog costume. Donny and Marie on Rosie Still, what a gamut of emotions I had. I was eye rolling at everyone being convinced it was Elton John to crying when everyone else was when Hugo talked about his grandpa being in hospice. There’s something very sweet about this show in that the housemates all seem to like each other and there’s not a lot of cutthroat cattiness (thank goodness Carly left right away). Monay could have been a total bitch about how bad Hugo was doing as a partner but she just took it in stride. Ana Gasteyer of SNL fame grew up in DC and was childhood friends with her because her dad was a diplomat, I think. Yes, Nick Cannon is the baby clue. I wouldn’t have got it had Gabriel not said something in the confessional! Then I saw the other pictures and remembered his breakthrough was a movie called “Drumline”. I couldn’t be in the house knowing that or I’d just keep asking him if he ever got to meet Mariah.

Olivia could have won this thing. I even thought I was smart for knowing that Carrot Top had won a Razzie award! Well played by Karsyn, whom I am now convinced is related to Danica Patrick. The bunny for Playboy makes sense in regard to Jenny McCarthy. (For the young ‘uns, it was a BIG deal if you were a Playmate in the ‘90s … six-figure deals for covers and the savvier ones like McCarthy were able to propel entire careers from it). Gabriel is playing this game so well because people are overlooking his sunny disposition and not realizing he might be the smartest one there.

I’m actually debating going to Philly next year because of WrestleMania, but if I do, the tourist board should send you a check. I love going to a museum when traveling alone! I also “aww”’d at Gregory watching Night of the Museum for Janine, and then I might have teared up at the second Gregory/Jacob. I would argue it wasn’t a “bro hug” because that’s a typical “straight guy” hug like they did the first time. It’s just so rare to see a friendship between a gay man and a straight man on TV, and Gregory has been trying to grow emotionally in some ways this season, too, just not as obviously as Janine. I thought Chris Perfetti’s facial expressions were phenomenal. (And I also howled earlier when he told Gregory that he really shouldn’t give away so much with his face. Oh, JACOB.) Like others, I also like the idea of every finale being a field trip. And thank you to those that said the heart exhibit really does beat that loud, because I thought it was a good way to add comic absurdity to an otherwise serious scene.

“It’s not magic if you LIE, Melissa!”

I’m with you that the show wouldn’t go that dark, but I couldn’t help but notice that she reminded me a lot of addicts I know — the manipulation, the effortless lying, the hiding behind humor. But we also know nothing about Janine’s dad, do we? Maybe Vanetta just thought she would never have to work and then one day her youngest turned 18 and she stopped getting child support payments. Regardless, Taraji played the hell out of her. As someone who is not a morning person in the slightest, my jaw dropped when they said it was 7:09 AM in the cafeteria scene. Good grief! I did like that Gregory and Shanae found a common bond with being Orioles fans. I got a relatively new job and didn’t bond with an ornery coworker until I found out we’re both pro wrestling nerds!

I admit to projecting here … FWIW, I am a 5’7” slenderish dude and the friend I was speaking of is 6’6”. Remember the S5 episode of RHONY when Sonja out of nowhere was bitching about LuAnn always walking in a room first because she’s tall and then nobody notices anybody else? It’s very that. More on topic, I appreciated that Candiace seemed to be legitimately afraid of the elephants but stayed present and tried to still be open to the experience!

The last wedding I was in, it was for one of my closest female friends from high school, but because of stupid gender norms I got put with the groomsmen and I was always either bored or anxious. It felt like school! I also appreciated the dig about bridesmaids at gay bars — a lot of gay bars nowadays don’t allow bachelorette parties because of the “petting zoo” aspect. I love when sketches get weirder and weirder and I’m fascinated by child actors that can crush a sketch at 1 AM local time. If I may be indulgent for a weird soapbox moment: I’ve known people who have died because they unknowingly did coke laced with fentanyl, but I thought the sketch was really funny and actually liked it BETTER because of the fentanyl punchline at the end; I would have been annoyed if they were gonna do a sketch based about the premise and then dance around it. Good for them for going there. I’m a huge fan of Abbott Elementary but it was really fun to see Quinta playing “normal” people. I thought everyone’s facial expressions in the Newlywed Game sketch were hilarious. Can I steal “Petite prince” if I’m 5’7”?

I have a friend who, like Leah, is very tall and charismatic — and talks about sex all the time when he feels insecure. He even noticed it turned off one of his crushes at the bar.

Candiace bringing a hat that was as big as she is was comedy gold. It got even funnier when Gisele and Porsha marveled at how she packed it and guessed it had its own seat on the plane, Candiace revealing the hat was named Janet, and Heather thinking it should have a more fabulous name than Janet.

Season 2 was filmed in summer of 2021 when there was another nationwide COVID spike, and every time the women went on outings they were either eating outside or in a private room. I think the pandemic played a big part in the location choice.

I’ve had nasty friend breakups that have since reconciled, but the Heather/Whitney stuff will always make me feel uncomfortable. That’s really well put. I didn’t even think Gisele was shit-stirring when she was asking for clarification, unlike her “game” at the dinner. I didn’t watch the reboot of RHOM or all of Porsha’s Atlanta seasons, but I’m liking Porsha as the unofficial narrator/Greek chorus so far. I watched the original RHOM and if you close your eyes, drunk Marysol sounds more and more like Elsa. Breaking the fourth wall and talking about the show, fame, etc. is always the best thing about the Girls Trip franchise.

It was a highlight of the season for me because I immediately recognized He was doing Michael Keaton in Batman. I have participated in dunk tank fundraisers and they are fun when outdoors on a summer day. Inside a gymnasium in the spring, maybe not so much. My grandma was a grade school librarian for many years (which Abbott sadly doesn’t have), and some things that come out of Barbara’s mouth remind me so much of her. Tonight’s was “never have I ever been so happy to hear such explicit content!” She said “more your speed,” which I wouldn’t take away as necessarily the same thing. But it was very direct, orange Teflar bag and all. Didn’t know Zack Fox had some body ody under there and I wasn’t mad about it.

The biggest laugh for me came at the end when Melissa was getting the Frisbee. “Should she really be up there in heels?” ”She’s wearing a helmet, she’s fine.”

Awww! She’ll remember when she’s older. I remember being sooooo embarrassed that my mom was crying during The Lion King, and then 20 years later I saw the remake in the theater and was crying.

I’ve only seen clips of this Ep so far, but can’t resist in commenting that Janine saying “and we’re watching the FIRST Toy Story! Toy Story makes me cry” had me howling. I rented Toy Story 3 as an adult and watched it at home by myself, and I was crying so hard I was shaking. Sounds ridiculous, but IYKYK.

As a lifelong pro wrestling fan, I did love the idea of Melissa parading around a gaudy championship belt. With their last name and accents, I think we can infer that they are Nigerian immigrants, and there is a stereotype, right or wrong, about them being very demanding of their children, especially academically (i.e., Wendy “I have four degrees” Osefo’s parents on Real Housewives of Potomac). I think the show was going there without trying to be too ham-fisted about it. My brain focused too much on why Melissa would love The King’s Speech that I didn’t even get the Colin Powell joke right away.

There was a crosswalk! But he still should have been looking both ways. The show doesn’t need to get too serious, but his hinting of Christmas not being a good time for him makes me think that he is very similar to Janine in being an overzealous “people-pleaser” to make up for not feeling loved as a child (this especially happens to children of substance abusers). It definitely explains why they’re such good friends.

Good reminder. They even got the show’s most prolific director, Randall Einhorn, to direct the pilot.

I went to a public elementary school and we recited it every Monday — I sometimes wonder if it was also done to also teach kids repetition/paying attention. This episode only made me think of it because we had a JW classmate who was always seated for it, and would also get similar but different activities if we were making Santas or Valentine’s Day projects. The religious songs surprised me a bit, too, but Go Tell it on the Mountain was always my favorite hymn as a kid! Barbara and Melissa may be cliquey, but I seriously love them as friendship goals. I also like that they have brought in Erika as a friend of Janine. She doesn’t get to be funny that much, but she’s not obnoxious and serves her purpose well. A lot of the club scenes reminded me of my youth, or the kind of clubs that my brother still frequents. (They’re always in a basement and you’re always yelling over the music and just lying that you heard what the person said, just like Janine and Gregory were doing. Heterosexual SHENANIGANS, I tell you.) Jacob was annoying but if Janine’s love language is Gifts, his is Acts of Service. I love that Barbara appreciated the sentiment and praised him like she would a five-year-old, and Melissa was genuinely happy about the scratch-offs, as I would be, too. Ava putting herself a bunch of times in the gift exchange was in character and kept the scene going, but I loved the unlikely combos we got! This is the joy an ensemble show. Janine - Janitor Janitor - Melissa Everyone Else - Ava

I just found a meme page on Instagram last week that linked to a bit of Joan Collins and Diahann Carroll on DYNASTY, and now I have to think either Keke or one of the writers saw the same thing and were inspired.

This was GOLD. Also, in that same scene that was blink if you miss it AVA: Y’know, we grew up with that all around us. Li’l Kim, Foxy Brown, Eve. BARBARA: Well, I grew up with Adam and Eve!