S02.E01: Sweet Child O' Mine

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

After finding out Johan has been pretending to be a different race, Rainbow gets mad; Alicia and Paul try to find a way to encourage Johan to be proud of being Black.

Original air date: 1/26/21

[LBS]

I’m glad this show is back! Especially after the not so funny Black-ish episode that came before. I laughed out loud several times.  I felt it was a natural merging of social issues and comedy.  Aunt Dee and Harrison continue to be my favorite duo.

Edited January 27, 2021 by LBS

[JeezumCrow]

Aunt Denise threatening to and actually dressing up as a ten-year-old had me rolling! Same for Harrison the equal-opportunity bigot (Gary Cole is nothing short of incredible, making the least likable characters some of my favorites). I didn’t think I missed this show all that much, but I was wrong - it’s cute, it’s funny, and since it’s set in the 80s it’s inherently a Covid-free environment. 

[AnimeMania]

I thought bathrooms had locks on them, learn to use them, I always did.

[txhorns79]

I'll just note that Dukes of Hazzard went off the air in 1985.  

12 hours ago, LBS said:

Aunt Dee and Harrison continue to be my favorite duo.

Seriously, they make the show.   

[ifionlyknew]

33 minutes ago, txhorns79 said:

I'll just note that Dukes of Hazzard went off the air in 1985.

I went and checked that myself when I heard Rainbow say 1986 and then Dukes of Hazzard.  Does anyone do just even casual fact checking of scripts?

[Aileen]

Even though it was old footage, I loved seeing the grown up siblings at the end.

I’m wondering if we will ever see a Denise and Harrison coupling. They have great chemistry.

[greekmom]

Great episode.  I don't mind that the writers were off by the Dukes of Hazzard. Honestly I found it funny that this was the show they all agreed on. I would have thought it would have been Cosby Show but because of his conviction, that is persona non grata.

I was disturbed that they would show The Color Purple to the kids as there are a few disturbing scenes. Lean on Me would have been a better movie but since Bow said it was 1986 it was 3 years too early. 

Glad Paul finally has a job. 

[tennisgurl]

I think I forgot how much I missed this show until I saw this episode, I am really glad to see it returning, especially as its parent show has been rather running on fumes for awhile. I laughed out loud several times, and I think this show does a good job of mixing comedy and social issues while also having a lot of heart. 

Denise and Harrison are always the highlights of any episode. I lost it at the super judgmental look Denise threw Paul and Alicia when they showed the kids The Color Purple, which only managed to traumatize them. And that she and Harrison both love Dukes of Hazzard. "Its the only time of the week we both root against the police." 

[Mr. Sparkle]

4 hours ago, ifionlyknew said:

I went and checked that myself when I heard Rainbow say 1986 and then Dukes of Hazzard.  Does anyone do just even casual fact checking of scripts?

The Slash reference bothered me. No one had heard of Slash in 1986. 

[ifionlyknew]

Just now, Superclam said:

The Slash reference bothered me. No one had heard of Slash in 1986. 

I caught that too. I saw G n R in concert as an opening act and that wasn't till 1988.

[JakeyJokes]

“It is a legume-based slur ...” had me dying, as did Dee Dee pondering about the existence of a Levar O’Malley.

I didn’t know about Dukes of Hazzard, but the Oscars nerd in me knew that The Color of Purple came out in 1985, so at least that being on VHS was accurate.

[AnimeMania]

2 hours ago, JakeyJokes said:

I didn’t know about Dukes of Hazzard, but the Oscars nerd in me knew that The Color of Purple came out in 1985, so at least that being on VHS was accurate.

I am not sure if that is true as well, the movie "The Color of Purple" came out in 1985, but I don't think it was released on VHS until 1987, although I don't have definitive proof of this. I don't think they were watching a bootleg copy.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I was happy to finally have this show back too. It's by far the best of the -ish shows. The parent show has become a weekly wash-rinse-repeat of Dre being a man baby, stomping around because he's convinced he's correct, and then somewhat learning a lesson that will be immediately forgotten, while grown-ish has wasted its potential by focusing on Zoey's love life. This show, on the other hand, has a great cast, fun music, and the added bonus of reminding us of crazy 80s fashion. It's also consistently funny, which is more than I can say for the other two shows.

I continue to love Harrison and Dee's friendship and how they are slowly mellowing each other out ever so slightly. Early S1 Harrison would have constantly told Dee to stop talking while they were all watching the Dukes of Hazard, but S2 Harrison just accepts that she's going to do it and tapes the show so he can have family night and then rewatch it at home to catch whatever Dee made him miss with her commentary.

I loved that Alicia and Paul were so prepared for their kids being called the N word that they had a binder prepared yet were so totally flabbergasted by what Johan was actually called that they froze, panicked, and somehow ended up with a legume based explanation.

This is the level of Santamonica that I can appreciate - calling her older siblings to be her backup dancers, demonstrating her sassy walk, volunteering to repeat what Johan was called, and then asking in all seriousness, "I'm not going to get in trouble for saying this, am I?" Resist the urge to turn the dial up any higher than this, writers.

[DearEvette]

I legit laugh out loud a bunch of times watching this.

"Hurty isn't a word."

"Assuming that guy really is your dad"

Denise saying "I don't have to dress up like a ten year old to fight a kid" (pause) "I have done it before."    took me out!

"Um so... it's.... a...  legume based slur"

So many...

Glad this show it back. And Am really loving the dynamic of Denise and Harrison.  They really are a great comedy duo.

[possibilities]

Bow is starting to get more savvy, too. She knew her parents were lying to buy time and she told them so, but she was still in character as the "nice" kid, who sweetly informs them she knows, but continues to try to be helpful (though inept).

Also demonstrated in "I can't believe I even have to explain this!" when she was unable to think of a way to explain it.

Edited January 28, 2021 by possibilities

[JakeyJokes]

Spoiler

 

Episode title

[Joimiaroxeu]

I must've been an outlier because I never watched Dukes of Hazzard. It still amazes me that was ever a popular show.

Not an orgy commune, an overthrow capitalism commune. Gah, Harrison!

So by 1986 in CA the term Chicano had been replaced by Latino or Hispanic?

OMG, Santi was catfishing before catfishing was a thing. She was on the leading edge, lol.

I'm still getting a feeling that Denise and Harrison are going to get together at least once, assuming they haven't already. Their vibe has drunken ONS or hate sex written all over it to me.

On the "wait, they're actually Black?" front, I remember when on Suits it was revealed that Meghan Markle's character's father was Black. On several discussion forum sites including this one, posters were varying degrees of shocked and angry about it because they'd assumed MM was White. It was kind of funny to the people who had already figured out the actress was biracial or at least had some Black ancestry. Little did we know back then though how unfunny things would become for her IRL because of her racial background, at least in the UK.

Edited February 1, 2021 by Joimiaroxeu

[DearEvette]

22 hours ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

I'm still getting a feeling that Denise and Harrison are going to get together at least once, assuming they haven't already. Their vibe has drunken ONS or hate sex written all over it to me.

I mean...!  I totally get this vibe and would be so down if they go this route.  It has such potential.

 

22 hours ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

On the "wait, they're actually Black?" front, I remember when on Suits it was revealed that Meghan Markle's character's father was Black. On several discussion forum sites including this one, posters were varying degrees of shocked and angry about it because they'd assumed MM was White. It was kind of funny to the people who had already figured out the actress was biracial or at least had some Black ancestry. Little did we know back then though how unfunny things would become for her IRL because of her racial background, at least in the UK.

Oh man, I remember some of those reactions.  Seriously, I was baffled people did NOT know Meghan Markle was biracial.  Ditto with Jennifer Beals.  And I love that both actresses strongly advocated that when it came time to cast a parent in a show they were in that they cast a black parent to mirror what they had IRL.

The only time I was really surprised was Vella Lovell who played Heather in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.  I always thought she ws SE Asian and she plays a lot of SE Asian roles.  But her parents on CEG were black-white  She is super cagey about her race preferring to be Vin Diesel like.  But a couple of times she has claimed to be mixed black/white and "all things."