S06.E07: Practicum?!

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

When Evan starts to behave more like a typical eighth-grader, Jessica worries that his future as doctor-president may be in danger. Meanwhile, Eddie has decided on Allen Iverson as his "hero" subject for an essay, sending Louis on a mission to prove that he's just as worthy of that title.

Original air date: 11/15/19

[Snow Apple]

Jessica forgot Emory graduated from junior high. I'd like to say I can't believe Jessica can get any worse but I'd be lying. Just when you think she can't get lower, she digs a new basement.

I also hate that she keeps saying "teacher boss" instead of principal. I hope they drop that story soon due to her flaming out. She isn't interested in the education of children. She just want to be boss.

Constance must have really pissed off the writers somehow. Jessica used to be a tiger mom but she had a warmth. Now she's just a horrible human being.

[rmontro]

4 hours ago, Snow Apple said:

I also hate that she keeps saying "teacher boss" instead of principal.

That really is obnoxious.  But it fits her character, unfortunately.  Anyone know what the real Jessica Huang did, whether or not she became a principal?  Just wondering if this was based on something.

Didn't think this episode was very interesting, really.  It wasn't a hard watch, but I didn't really care much about what was going on.  Jessica inadvertently tries to ruin Evan's life, and Louis wants to be hero worshipped by his kid.  Not much new to see here.

[floridamom]

Jessica's husband is way too nice for her. Why does he put up with her awful treatment? The writers should give him a good script where he finally tells her off and puts his foot down causing his awful wife to finally take notice. The writers need to drop the 'studying to be principal' storyline. Unbelievable and awful.

[Robert Lynch]

I was afraid of that. Another Jessica is bad  and needs a lesson storyline. I wish Evan would have gone ballistic and shut Jessica down in a way to what she did to him in class. That was really embarrassing. 

[Harvey]

It was horrible when Evan called Jessica a jerk. What even was that? She is your mother!

I did laugh at all the president burns in this episode, those were good.

The Louis - Eddie B-plotline was so wacky and hilarious, Louis really delivered this week with ruining his car and that "SHARK!" diversion.

Anyway, what was most interesting about this episode is the juxtaposition of the parenting style of Jessica and Louis. Did you guys notice? Louis is there for his kids and cares about their happiness even if it's not necesarrily the best thing for them, while Jessica is more brash and forceful and all about the results and long term goals. Of course, we already knew all this, but to me this episode just emphasized all that even further.

[readster]

54 minutes ago, Robert Lynch said:

I was afraid of that. Another Jessica is bad  and needs a lesson storyline. I wish Evan would have gone ballistic and shut Jessica down in a way to what she did to him in class. That was really embarrassing. 

Jessica is just horrible, even as a teacher, my school would have kicked her out. I get that Constance didn't want the show to come back and is tired of the character. I get why, and trying to have it where we get Jessica more awful than ever or even calling the principal "teacher boss". I'm sorry, this show might take place in the late 90s, but the principal would go: "Get your ass out of my office!" Plus, Jessica is trying to be a principal crap needs to just stop. She still need to be a teacher, she would still need her admin license and so forth. At this point, what school district would want her? Put her in an inner city school and shape the place up, that be it. I'm sorry, but Jessica is a grade A bitch. 

[Snow Apple]

1 hour ago, Harvey said:

It was horrible when Evan called Jessica a jerk. What even was that? She is your mother!

Well, she *was* acting like a jerk. And Evan may be book smart, but he's still young and probably doesn't know how to articulate his frustration. Especially to his mommy.

It also set up the scene at the Bar Mitzvah where Evan apologized to Jessica for calling her "the J word" and everyone gasped. LOL

[dmmetler]

Hate to tell Jessica this, but she won't graduate without the practicum, and while private schools do not require an administrator's license, they do want degrees and references. And bailing on practicum is a great way to insure that you won't get a positive reference from anyone who actually has authority in education.  And a 100 hour practicum is actually pretty minor-student teaching is a full time job without pay for 3 months. 

I do wonder if ABC is thinking the can cross Jessica over to Schooled (or vice versa) and have her shadow that principal.

[biakbiak]

10 hours ago, rmontro said:

the real Jessica Huang did, whether or not she became a principal? 

It’s been forever since I read the book but I am pretty sure the real Jessica was a stay at home mom, who also helped out at the restaurants. Even when Eddie was doing the narration the show was only loosely based on his memoir but since he left there are very few similarities.

[Robert Lynch]

8 hours ago, Snow Apple said:

Well, she *was* acting like a jerk. And Evan may be book smart, but he's still young and probably doesn't know how to articulate his frustration. Especially to his mommy.

It also set up the scene at the Bar Mitzvah where Evan apologized to Jessica for calling her "the J word" and everyone gasped. LOL

And how many episodes would they be of after this? I don't think I can take another one of those Jessica based episodes anymore.

[Camera One]

Considering this was an episode full of Jessica at her worst, I actually didn't mind it.  I liked seeing Evan and his friends.  It's actually quite rare that the character is given any realistic human response and the actor did a good job with it.

Louis trying to get Eddie to call him a hero was unfortunately quite boring. 

Still hate Jessica wanting to be a principal storyline and agree about the despicable "teacher boss" moniker.  Do these writers have half a brain?  I know it's a sitcom but you need to at least adhere to the very basics of reality.  A practicum is where someone is observed and a report is written based on their conduct.  Jessica would have flunked the practicum by the second day, or at least be given a severe warning.

Edited November 17, 2019 by Camera One

[angora]

Louis trying to score hero-points with Eddie was a meh plot, but there were some great moments within it. I loved the "Iversqn" jersey, Louis getting real with Eddie about not getting a basketball scholarship, Louis's "subtle" strategy of getting Eddie to play a tape that was just "Holding Out for a Hero" on a loop, and of course, "Shark!" (and the security guard's attempt to save face afterwards.) Eddie's basketball reel at the end was goofy, but I got a kick out of him including "bench support" among his skills, along with the random, "Grandma, get out of the street!"

The less said about the Jessica-Evan plot, the better, although I did laugh at Emory telling Evan he was "already too involved" in the whole thing. I've been rewatching old episodes lately, and Jessica could be so great when they did her right. Her Flanderization has dragged the show down so hard.

[rmontro]

15 minutes ago, angora said:

Eddie's basketball reel at the end was goofy, but I got a kick out of him including "bench support" among his skills, along with the random, "Grandma, get out of the street!"

I actually thought the basketball tape was the best part of the episode.

[MaryMitch]

Emory was great in this episode. For a teenager, he's really observant and gave out good advice!

[fishcakes]

I missed this episode because I completely forgot this show existed. That makes me sad because I remember how excited I was when it debuted to have a show with a predominantly Asian cast for the first time in 20 years (and only the second time in TV history), but I've missed more and more episodes over the last couple years. I think this ran long enough to go into syndication so I might catch up on everything eventually if I stumble across it, but I wouldn't bother to watch it on demand or anything.

[Robert Lynch]

There is really not going to be many episodes so I am wondering how the whole thing would end.

[tennisgurl]

The basketball tape was the highlight of the episode, especially the incredibly obvious edit to make it look like he made the basket! 

At this point, the writers must just be fucking with Constance, making Jessica more and more unlikable every episode. I loath these "Jessica needs to learn a lesson" stories, they are so damn repetitive and they make Jessica just look so awful. And she is so high on herself, like, yes Jessica, you do have to do a practicum, like every other damn person has to, you are not special! Jessica should not be the boss of anyone, let alone the education of young children and teachers who are working their asses off to do the most with what little they have. 

Oh my God Jessica, just say Principle! Saying Teacher Boss over and over just sounds stupid and just shows that what she really wants is to boss people around, not to actually help educate anyone.  

[rmontro]

19 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

At this point, the writers must just be fucking with Constance, making Jessica more and more unlikable every episode.

They must have been messing with her for six years now.

The "Jessica learns a lesson" stories are just as bad (or worse) than the Goldbergs "I'm annoyed at my parent but I learned to appreciate him/her" plot.  They go to the well with these way too often.

[Minaboo]

Gee, no one has mentioned the beautiful little rant on “practicum” that was based on Allen Iverson’s practice rant:

"We sitting in here -- I'm supposed to be the franchise player, and we in here talking about practice. I mean, listen: We talking about practice. Not a game. Not a game. Not a game. We talking about practice. Not a game. Not the game that I go out there and die for and play every game like it's my last. Not the game. We talking about practice, man."

I must be the only basketball watcher in this audience?

[rmontro]

8 hours ago, Minaboo said:

I must be the only basketball watcher in this audience?

I'm not a big NBA fan.  I follow it a little.  I remember that now that you bring it up, but no I didn't catch it during the show.  It did sort of make my spider senses tingle a little, but I didn't know why.

Edited November 18, 2019 by rmontro

[joanne3482]

On 11/16/2019 at 8:49 AM, dmmetler said:

Hate to tell Jessica this, but she won't graduate without the practicum, and while private schools do not require an administrator's license, they do want degrees and references. And bailing on practicum is a great way to insure that you won't get a positive reference from anyone who actually has authority in education.  And a 100 hour practicum is actually pretty minor-student teaching is a full time job without pay for 3 months. 

I was thinking that. How is a principal's practicum only 2.5 weeks? My student teaching was about 5 months - January until May. Plus a practicum is just that - practicing. She would be in the office meeting with students and whatnot. Not just shadowing her kid around. 

[readster]

18 hours ago, joanne3482 said:

I was thinking that. How is a principal's practicum only 2.5 weeks? My student teaching was about 5 months - January until May. Plus a practicum is just that - practicing. She would be in the office meeting with students and whatnot. Not just shadowing her kid around. 

That's exactly it. You also have to go through Board Meetings, Committee hearings, have to deal with Learning and Culture Objectives and so forth. The writers don't know how becoming a principal works and they have Jessica acting like she can just walk into a school and get a job. What next? All the boys head to college and she needs to continue to follow and boss them around. She'll try to become a Dean at an Ivy League College? They drag her off campus in handcuffs. It's just, stupid!

[snarktini]

On 11/16/2019 at 6:49 AM, dmmetler said:

Hate to tell Jessica this, but she won't graduate without the practicum, and while private schools do not require an administrator's license, they do want degrees and references. And bailing on practicum is a great way to insure that you won't get a positive reference from anyone who actually has authority in education.

On 11/16/2019 at 4:54 PM, Camera One said:

Still hate Jessica wanting to be a principal storyline and agree about the despicable "teacher boss" moniker.  Do these writers have half a brain?  I know it's a sitcom but you need to at least adhere to the very basics of reality.  A practicum is where someone is observed and a report is written based on their conduct.  Jessica would have flunked the practicum by the second day, or at least be given a severe warning.

Argh, that is not a practicum. However, even if she did it properly or doesn't need it, what school would actually hire her as a principal? No educational experience whatsoever, just a degree, a bitchy attitude, and an ego as big as Everest. This is so far from the very basics of reality we can't even see it anymore.

But I felt the same way about the author storyline. In no universe (even sitcom universe) did she finish a book and find a real publisher. 

This is the kind of show that benefits in the DVR era. I would have passively stopped watching by now except I have a season pass and it just keeps showing up. 

Edited November 21, 2019 by snarktini

[snarktini]

On 11/16/2019 at 4:42 AM, Harvey said:

It was horrible when Evan called Jessica a jerk. What even was that? She is your mother!

IMO she 100% earned that.

[Aryanna]

Another Jessica is awful episode. Big surprise. Next week? Wash, rinse, repeat.

It's become the Jessica show and she's the worst character. Why do I keep watching? I'm so over this show.

[Ms Lark]

Well, it's the last season and the whole thing ends in February, so mostly watching for closure.