S03.E09: I'm Not Edsel

[jewel21]

Quote

Abishola gets the surprise of a lifetime when she finds out Bob has flown in Dele and her mother, Ebun, from Nigeria. However, the joy is cut short when Ebun's constant criticism makes Bob question his success as a businessman.

Airdate: 12/06/2021

[LittleIggy]

Really funny episode with lots of Bob and Abishola. Ebun is what used to be called a battle axe. I bet her husband and family back in Nigeria are enjoying their break from her. I loved Bob pointing out that Henry Ford “hated unions and was an anti-Semite.” 😆

[shapeshifter]

25 minutes ago, LittleIggy said:

I loved Bob pointing out that Henry Ford “hated unions and was an anti-Semite.” 😆

Yes. Thank you, writers, for giving Bob that line about Ford that was already forming in my head.

My sister coincidentally just made a rare, brief, in-person visit from another country. She is similarly contentious in her relationships with family members.

I am so glad Bob got outvoted rather than trying to create a sock empire and ruining his chances of retirement.

[greekmom]

6 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

I am so glad Bob got outvoted rather than trying to create a sock empire and ruining his chances of retirement.

Agreed.  It's not like Bob is 25 years old. At this point I agree with Dottie. He took over a business that was barely hanging on and went through a few recessions without laying off anyone. and making it successful.  I think he is considered a success. 

I miss Dele.  The mother in law could just go back now.  I was actually hoping that Dottie would give Abishola's mother a smackdown.  Shocked she was scared of her as well.

[DanaK]

Fun episode. Mommy dear is an absolute nightmare and everyone is afraid of her. I'm glad Abishola finally stood up to her when she insulted Bob

[shapeshifter]

Since this is a sitcom, it might only take one more episode for Mommy Dearest to "turn over a new leaf."

And now wondering:
If Travis Wolfe Jr./Dele was absent primarily due to not being able to be vaccinated (due to age) during the shooting of the previous episodes this season and is "now" (when this episode was shot) fully vaccinated, maybe he will stay with Abishola and Bob when Mommy Dearest returns to Nigeria?

[HurricaneVal]

I was also very surprised that Dottie didn't smack Ebun down either.  Differing cultural expectations aside, Ebun was insulting her son, and Dottie should have stood up for him.  Or not.  Dottie insults her own kids all the time, and often doesn't seem to think that much of them either.  Even Bob.  Dottie is written very inconsistently, she can be a strong matriarch mama-bear, or a goofy old lady.  There's not a lot of middle ground for her character.

Bob was extremely patient with her, he obviously loves Abishola very much.

Poor Dele, the literal conversational football between his grandmother and his mother.

I was also a little disappointed that Olu didn't have a sister-to-sister talk with Ebun.  Olu's not afraid of a good smack-down either, but maybe family dynamics makes that a little hard to do with her own overbearing older sister.

 

Sadly though....I turned to Mr. HurricaneVal last night and said "See, my mother could be worse!" and he just looked at me and said "Eh, not by much...."  Yeah.  My mom can be an overly critical piece of work, that's for sure.

[shapeshifter]

5 minutes ago, HurricaneVal said:

Sadly though....I turned to Mr. HurricaneVal last night and said "See, my mother could be worse!" and he just looked at me and said "Eh, not by much...."  Yeah.  My mom can be an overly critical piece of work, that's for sure.

That reminds me of when I tried to end an argument with my ex by saying that his father made my mother look like Mother Theresa. 
He was not amused. 

[tennisgurl]

That was a fun episode, Ebun certainly is a whole lot, I bet her family back in Nigeria is enjoying some rest and relaxation right about now! I am really glad that Abishola stood up for Bob and that his family talked him out of expanding his sock empire. Inheriting a struggling business and running it without a single layoff through two recessions for over twenty years really is very impressive. Plus, he isn't an anti-Semite who hates unions. 

I've missed Dele, can he stay? I would love to see him adjusting to having a new step dad.

Edited December 10, 2021 by tennisgurl

[Harvey]

The whole sequence where everyone voted against Bob was fun.

I look forward to Ebun being humbled next week. 😈

[jewel21]

I also miss Dele. I wish he could stay. There's so much story potential with him living with Bob and his interacting with his new family. 

[Yeah No]

17 hours ago, greekmom said:

Agreed.  It's not like Bob is 25 years old. At this point I agree with Dottie. He took over a business that was barely hanging on and went through a few recessions without laying off anyone. and making it successful.  I think he is considered a success. 

Yep, the age factor is real.  At his age it's too risky to gamble on such aggressive expansion unless you're mega-rich and can afford to spend money you may never make back before retirement age.  Unless you don't want to retire!

I agree with the general sentiment that this was a good episode.  At least it put some of the focus on Bob and Abishola as a couple and even featured them in bed together, which I had only just complained last week was not being done.  Although we never see much romantic chemistry between them, which bothers me.  At least show them snuggling or hugging.  They might as well be roommates. 

[Kiddvideo]

They made it seem like MaxDot’s a small company when it supports 4 adults with affluent lifestyles. And Bob’s massive 3 story home (two floors with a dormer attic) is only 3 bedroom, and Dele has to sleep on the couch in the living room? Bob wants to be retired in 10 years meanwhile Abishola will barely be finished with med school and training by then, and they’ve discussed having their own child. Their life goals seem to be out of sync, and Bob’s retirement will be full time stay-at-home Dad if those all work out. Not much boat time in his future.

I so felt Dele’s pain about sleeping on the couch, though. I’m the single in my family, so that’s me. Mom goes to sleep around 2:00am, and Dad’s up by 5:00. If I get 2 hours of sleep a night I’m lucky.

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, Kiddvideo said:

They made it seem like MaxDot’s a small company when it supports 4 adults with affluent lifestyles. And Bob’s massive 3 story home (two floors with a dormer attic) is only 3 bedroom, and Dele has to sleep on the couch in the living room? Bob wants to be retired in 10 years meanwhile Abishola will barely be finished with med school and training by then, and they’ve discussed having their own child. Their life goals seem to be out of sync, and Bob’s retirement will be full time stay-at-home Dad if those all work out. Not much boat time in his future.

I’ve come to accept——if not expect——that there will be retconning in TV sitcoms, perhaps even more so when Chuck Lorre is executive producer, although the prime example  is probably the earlier (1970s-80s) unexplained disappearance of a main character son in Happy Days.  But I still find the inconsistencies to be distracting.

 

[Yeah No]

5 hours ago, Kiddvideo said:

Bob wants to be retired in 10 years meanwhile Abishola will barely be finished with med school and training by then, and they’ve discussed having their own child. Their life goals seem to be out of sync, and Bob’s retirement will be full time stay-at-home Dad if those all work out. Not much boat time in his future.

Abishola has to be younger than Bob, but by how much?  Some of their out-of-sync life goal issues may be due to the age difference.  Plus if Bob had enough money to hire Abishola to care for his Mom they will have enough money to hire a full time nanny if necessary.  Even with that, though, Abishola's later in life ambitions of becoming a doctor are a little unrealistic.  Are a lot of people really successful in doing that?  I know people who have become lawyers in middle age that didn't get very far and ended up on their own basically doing small stuff like wills, estates and real estate stuff, but forget getting picked up by a law firm.

[possibilities]

I think doctors are in demand while there's a glutted market for lawyers. I'm not worried about Abishola finding a way to be a doctor once she graduates, if that's what she wants to do. 

It does seem a bit off that Bob's house doesn't have more bedrooms. But they can always move to a bigger house if they want to, or build an addition or renovate the attic or whatever. They have enough rooms for Bob and Aboshola and Dele, as long as they don't have an overnight guest needing a guest room. Plus there's that fully outfitted garage/den space. I think Bob living alone, and then fixing up space for his mom for a while, he didn't really make it a priority to furnish the place for more residents. It's not like he had a need for it before. 

[SoMuchTV]

10 hours ago, Yeah No said:

Even with that, though, Abishola's later in life ambitions of becoming a doctor are a little unrealistic.  Are a lot of people really successful in doing that? 

Of course!  Didn’t you watch that show with Patricia Heaton?  I think it might have even been in the same timeslot! (/sarcasm, if it’s not obvious)

But seriously, she seems like someone who would have a decent shot at making it work. She has the nursing background, she has a partner who can support her financially and emotionally, and she definitely has the desire and work ethic. 

[Sarahsmile416]

On 12/7/2021 at 3:01 PM, HurricaneVal said:

I was also very surprised that Dottie didn't smack Ebun down either.  Differing cultural expectations aside, Ebun was insulting her son, and Dottie should have stood up for him.  Or not.  Dottie insults her own kids all the time, and often doesn't seem to think that much of them either.  Even Bob.  Dottie is written very inconsistently, she can be a strong matriarch mama-bear, or a goofy old lady.  There's not a lot of middle ground for her character.

Bob was extremely patient with her, he obviously loves Abishola very much.

Poor Dele, the literal conversational football between his grandmother and his mother.

I was also a little disappointed that Olu didn't have a sister-to-sister talk with Ebun.  Olu's not afraid of a good smack-down either, but maybe family dynamics makes that a little hard to do with her own overbearing older sister.

 

Sadly though....I turned to Mr. HurricaneVal last night and said "See, my mother could be worse!" and he just looked at me and said "Eh, not by much...."  Yeah.  My mom can be an overly critical piece of work, that's for sure.

Mr Sarahsmile said something similar to me - “and you thought your mother was bad!” 
 

[Yeah No]

4 hours ago, possibilities said:

I think doctors are in demand while there's a glutted market for lawyers. I'm not worried about Abishola finding a way to be a doctor once she graduates, if that's what she wants to do. 

Perhaps, but even if she had no trouble getting into medical school it would still be a stretch for her to do that plus work AND have a child unless she intends to cut back her hours or quit working altogether.  Otherwise given that she is nearing 40 if not 40 she would finally become a doctor a little late in the game.  If that's what she wants, fine, but it's not going to be easy I'm sure.  And like others have said, this is sitcom reality not real reality.

In my late 20's/early 30's I went to graduate school while working a full time demanding job and at the time the program didn't allow working students to go part time because they had a full time job.  I didn't have children either and the profs. didn't tailor the curriculum for working people.  I'm a very good student and it was still VERY hard for me to accomplish and keep up a 4.0 GPA, and I didn't have all that Abishola has going on or wants to have going on in her life, either.  I can only imagine that medical school would be even more demanding than my program (which was Psychology).

[cardigirl]

On 12/7/2021 at 6:42 PM, Harvey said:

The whole sequence where everyone voted against Bob was fun.

I look forward to Ebun being humbled next week. 😈

The show doesn't come back until Jan. 3.  Short winter break. 

[ItCouldBeWorse]

On 12/7/2021 at 5:48 PM, tennisgurl said:

I've missed Dele, can he stay? I would love to see him adjusting to having a new father in law. 

Stepfather.

 

[SmithW6079]

This was another enjoyable episode. I hope they keep Abishola's mother's appearances to a relative minimum; she's funny only in small doses.

I loved the relaxed back and forth between Dele and Abishola when they were talking about the Pistons.

Technically, doesn't Max-Dot have no factories? Their product is manufactured in China and shipped to the USA. Isn't the warehouse only a distribution center?

The one thing I don't like is the insistence on Abishola becoming a doctor. It's not as though she's 20 years old. The actress is in her late 30s; I'm assuming Abishola is around the same age. I think nursing is a noble profession; in all my hospitalizations, it's the nurses who really get to know what's going on with a patient because they see them on a daily basis.

On 12/8/2021 at 8:28 AM, Yeah No said:

Even with that, though, Abishola's later in life ambitions of becoming a doctor are a little unrealistic.  Are a lot of people really successful in doing that? 

 

On 12/8/2021 at 6:35 PM, SoMuchTV said:

Of course!  Didn’t you watch that show with Patricia Heaton?  I think it might have even been in the same timeslot! (/sarcasm, if it’s not obvious)

Ugh. The premise of that show was awful; that the lead was Patricia Heaton made it worse. I think I watched it for about two or three episodes before I realized that every episode would be the same -- the attending doctors are stumped, Dr. 50 (when she's really 60) diagnoses the real problem just from her motherly, homey chats with the patient.

[bad things are bad]

They were unfair to poor Edsel.  He fought his father on a lot of stuff,  wanting to modernize Ford's product, but Henry was stubborn.  He died before Henry,  of cancer 

https://www.taftmidwaydriller.com/business/cars-we-remember-edsel-ford---remembering-the-man-not-the-machine/article_bf43e404-2f42-51f6-b32f-82dc916be3ff.html

 

[shapeshifter]

3 hours ago, bad things are bad said:

They were unfair to poor Edsel.  He fought his father on a lot of stuff,  wanting to modernize Ford's product, but Henry was stubborn.  He died before Henry,  of cancer 

https://www.taftmidwaydriller.com/business/cars-we-remember-edsel-ford---remembering-the-man-not-the-machine/article_bf43e404-2f42-51f6-b32f-82dc916be3ff.html

I did not know that👆:

Quote

The Edsel was produced from 1958 through 1960 and is still regarded as one of the biggest failures in motorcar history. Sadly, Edsel Ford had nothing to do with the car he was named for as he had passed away in 1943

—and I think we can safely assume that Bob did not know this either (that Edsel Ford had nothing to do with the infamous lemon, the “Edsel,” named after Edsel Ford after he was dead) and likely Bob did not know that Edsel was not the anti-Semite that his father Henry Ford was (history.hanover.edu/hhr/99/hhr99_2.html) when Bob declared  “I’m not Edsel!”

Still, not the show’s writing team’s finest work, IMO, with regards to research, but good enough for a sitcom.

Edited December 12, 2021 by shapeshifter

[LittleIggy]

5 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

I did not know that👆:

—and I think we can safely assume that Bob did not know this either (that Edsel Ford had nothing to do with the infamous lemon, the “Edsel,” named after Edsel Ford after he was dead) and likely Bob did not know that Edsel was not the anti-Semite that his father Henry Ford was (history.hanover.edu/hhr/99/hhr99_2.html) when Bob declared  “I’m not Edsel!”

Still, not the show’s writing team’s finest work, IMO, with regards to research, but good enough for a sitcom.

I think the writers were using the pop cultural view of Edsel being a failure when Bob said that. I don’t recall Bob saying Edsel was an anti-Semite.

[shapeshifter]

2 minutes ago, LittleIggy said:

I don’t recall Bob saying Edsel was an anti-Semite.

Yes, at least the script only called for Bob to say that about Henry, which is very true as well as "the pop cultural view."

Edited December 12, 2021 by shapeshifter