S01:E10 Lads and Ladies and Us

[AgentRXS]

Quote

Bill and Lillian decide to join high society club Lads & Ladies as a way to introduce Kim and Dean to positive influences in the community. Bill, Kim and Dean fit right in, but things take a turn when Lillian is treated differently for being a working mom.

Original Air Date: January 5, 2022

[CeeBeeGee]

Is Lads and Ladies a real organization or just a fictional version of Jack and Jill?

[tribeca]

This is such a cute family show.   Wish it was more popular.  
 Kim wearing a business suit was surprise and sweet moment for the mom. 

[txhorns79]

1 hour ago, tribeca said:

 Kim wearing a business suit was surprise and sweet moment for the mom. 

I thought the moment was cute, but it would be highly unlikely that Lillian would be allowed to wear a pantsuit to work in 1969.  To give an example, the school district where my mother taught (in Texas) did not allow women to wear pantsuits to work until 1974, and that was considered major progress.

17 hours ago, CeeBeeGee said:

Is Lads and Ladies a real organization or just a fictional version of Jack and Jill?

I thought it was just a fictionalized version of Jack and Jill.   

I continue to maintain that the more interesting characters on this show are Bill, Lillian and Kim.  Dean just seems so blah to me.

[Arcadiasw]

Bill escaping by the power pack is very reminiscent of what Gus would do on Psych🤣

[Empress1]

3 hours ago, txhorns79 said:

I thought it was just a fictionalized version of Jack and Jill.  

I laughed when Mom took the door off the hinges. I slammed a door in my mother's face ONCE and she followed me and yanked it open. I also laughed about Cokes - my best friend is from Atlanta, home of Coca-Cola headquarters, and she does the same thing. "You want a Coke?" "Sure." "What kind of Coke do you want?" "Ginger ale."

I thought Dean being in his element with the Lads was so cute.

3 hours ago, txhorns79 said:

I thought it was just a fictionalized version of Jack and Jill.   

Me too. I watched something else that called it Jack and Jacqueline once.

[Constant Viewer]

4 hours ago, Empress1 said:

I also laughed about Cokes - my best friend is from Atlanta, home of Coca-Cola headquarters, and she does the same thing. "You want a Coke?" "Sure." "What kind of Coke do you want?" "Ginger ale."

In the South all sodas are cokes. 

[bybrandy]

So, in the not so distant past my mom was interested in joining the local seniors group.  However, literally every single event was on during the day, every single one.   My mom still worked and when she suggested that lots of seniors still worked and they might consider doing an occasional not in the middle of the day event the woman got the most patronizing tone in her voice and said she could join the senior group when she retired.   My mom was really, really hurt that she didn't have any value in that group because she had a career.   So I felt the no place for a working mom story hard.

And I appreciated the kids had no issues with having a working mom.  I didn't.  But my brother genuinely believes his life would have been significantly different if our mom baked cookies for the PTA.  

So much discussion of Pluto made me think of Gus and how if this was Psych there would be  a meta joke there but not so much on this show.  I really, really, really like this show... but would have liked it more if there had been a wink there.

[JLaw]

Lads and Ladies must me the worst "Jack and Jill" stand in name I've ever heard

[tennisgurl]

I've always found people from the south calling all pop "coke" to be so confusing, but then my friends from the coast laugh at my midwestern self calling all soda "pop" so who am I to judge? 

Awww Dean was so in his element with the Lads and Ladies kids, too bad it didn't work out. Cant blame Lilian for wanting out through, what a bunch of snobs those ladies were. Shade indeed. 

Lillian taking the hinges off the door was a real old school mom power move. Still really liking the show.

Edited January 7, 2022 by tennisgurl

[Sarah 103]

On 1/6/2022 at 2:55 PM, txhorns79 said:

I thought the moment was cute, but it would be highly unlikely that Lillian would be allowed to wear a pantsuit to work in 1969.  To give an example, the school district where my mother taught (in Texas) did not allow women to wear pantsuits to work until 1974, and that was considered major progress.

I was going to post a variation of the exact same thing. A pantsuit in 1968 would have been a shocking, daring, and controversial fashion choice, which is not Lillian at all. 

On 1/7/2022 at 1:11 PM, JLaw said:

Lads and Ladies must me the worst "Jack and Jill" stand in name I've ever heard

Slightly on-topic/slightly off-topic: Everbody Hates Chris had an episode where the organization standing in for "Jack and Jill" was named "Hanzel and Gretel."  

I like the idea of an episode centering on mother-daughter tension. I like the idea of an episode dealing with classism and/or colorism. I like the idea of Lillian wanting to join an organization, which everyone else in the family resists but then enjoys far more Lillian. Trying to do all three in the same episode didn't work. It felt too disjointed and disconnected 

[andromeda331]

On 1/7/2022 at 3:43 AM, bybrandy said:

So, in the not so distant past my mom was interested in joining the local seniors group.  However, literally every single event was on during the day, every single one.   My mom still worked and when she suggested that lots of seniors still worked and they might consider doing an occasional not in the middle of the day event the woman got the most patronizing tone in her voice and said she could join the senior group when she retired.   My mom was really, really hurt that she didn't have any value in that group because she had a career.   So I felt the no place for a working mom story hard.

Wow, that really stinks.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

At least Lil achieved the desired affect with Kim, who apparently had never realized that at college she could meet like-minded individuals (without her parents looking over her shoulder) and have new opportunities.

However, Lil and Kim do not have the same body type, and it's ridiculous to pretend that Kim could so easily wear her mom's clothes without significant alterations.

Edited January 10, 2022 by ItCouldBeWorse

[lovinbob]

I used to work at a private school and we had lots of Jack and Jill parents. I had no idea J&J was elitist and selective—the parents I knew played it off like they were trying to create opportunities for all Black families. I wonder if the organization has changed or I just had the wrong perceptions. 

On 1/6/2022 at 2:55 PM, txhorns79 said:

I continue to maintain that the more interesting characters on this show are Bill, Lillian and Kim.  Dean just seems so blah to me.

I hate to agree because I am rooting for this show so hard, but I agree that Dean is not my favorite. I like that he is smart/nerdy. But I guess I have the Kevin Arnold template in my head. Kevin was so appealing, even when he was a weasel at times. 

Bill on the other hand ... sorry to be shallow but he is a sexy man. 

Lillian is also excellent. I love that she has a career--it's interesting to explore that as a source of conflict/tension in the late 60s. 

Watching with my 12 year old son--he loves it. But last night I realized he was surprised at how well off the Williams family is. (We are White.) I think he thought that every Black family in the 1960s would be poor--he hadn't considered there were middle class Black families just like there were White families. Just goes to show you how incomplete our understanding of history and culture is.

[CeeBeeGee]

12 hours ago, lovinbob said:

Bill on the other hand ... sorry to be shallow but he is a sexy man.

He is! I could never get into the OG Wonder Years, in large part because I couldn't stand that sourpuss of a dad. He seemed so grumpy all the time and just cast a negative pall over everything. I like this dad! He's funny, sexy, talented and engages in self-reflection. Plus he picked a fantastic wife (love her)--that has to reflect well on him.

[HappyBerry]

On 1/7/2022 at 3:43 AM, bybrandy said:

So much discussion of Pluto made me think of Gus and how if this was Psych there would be  a meta joke there but not so much on this show.  I really, really, really like this show... but would have liked it more if there had been a wink there.

There was a wink though. After Cory was talking about Pluto, Dean as narrator said "Cory was probably the only kid out there who could make a pick-up line about Pluto work". I feel like that isn't even just a wink but a whole nudge and "get it?".

[andromeda331]

5 hours ago, HappyBerry said:

There was a wink though. After Cory was talking about Pluto, Dean as narrator said "Cory was probably the only kid out there who could make a pick-up line about Pluto work". I feel like that isn't even just a wink but a whole nudge and "get it?".

Oh, it was definitely a whole nudge. That was Gus's pick up line during the whole series even thought it really only worked once. I do have to admit as a someone who loves astronomy and refuse to accept Pluto is not a planet. it would work on me. 

[Scarlett45]

On 1/19/2022 at 9:42 AM, lovinbob said:

Watching with my 12 year old son--he loves it. But last night I realized he was surprised at how well off the Williams family is. (We are White.) I think he thought that every Black family in the 1960s would be poor--he hadn't considered there were middle class Black families just like there were White families. Just goes to show you how incomplete our understanding of history and culture is.

I know where your son was coming from- when I was 6 (in 1991) I didn’t know there were a significant number of white families that were poor (I am black and grew up with parents that are physicians- “The Cosby Show” was my reality). When we are children we often assume all families are like our family. 

On 1/19/2022 at 10:39 PM, CeeBeeGee said:

He is! I could never get into the OG Wonder Years, in large part because I couldn't stand that sourpuss of a dad. He seemed so grumpy all the time and just cast a negative pall over everything. I like this dad! He's funny, sexy, talented and engages in self-reflection. Plus he picked a fantastic wife (love her)--that has to reflect well on him.

Yes I like Bill. I can tell he and Lillian have a good marriage. Lillian looked AMAZING in her outfit, the yellow with the black and white checkered coat. 

On 1/10/2022 at 10:12 AM, ItCouldBeWorse said:

However, Lil and Kim do not have the same body type, and it's ridiculous to pretend that Kim could so easily wear her mom's clothes without significant alterations.

I thought that too!