S02.01: Call Me Kerfuffled

[Door County Cherry]

Quote

When a celebrity charity golf tournament comes to Louisville, it brings the cast of "Blossom" together for a long-awaited reunion. Meanwhile, Kat (Mayim Bialik) struggles with a romantic crisis and Randi (Kyla Pratt) and Phil (Leslie Jordan) get help in the cafe from a customer

Season premiere at a special time:  Sunday, Jan. 9th at 9/8 Central. 

[Starchild]

I haven't seen Joey in decades, but his face looks really different to me. Even after knowing who it was, it was hard to tell.

[SoMuchTV]

I hope someone who watched Blossom back in the day will chime in on some of the references. I caught the thing about how the girl in the hat is hosting a quiz show now, but I don’t remember enough about all the actors. One or both of the guys were her brothers? Boyfriends? 

[Door County Cherry]

On 1/9/2022 at 9:49 PM, SoMuchTV said:

I hope someone who watched Blossom back in the day will chime in on some of the references. I caught the thing about how the girl in the hat is hosting a quiz show now, but I don’t remember enough about all the actors. One or both of the guys were her brothers? Boyfriends? 

They were both her brothers so it was a little weird that Kat had a crush on Joey even though there is no relation between Mayim and Joey or Kat and Joey.  

They referenced Blossom's dance.  And I believe Joey and Leslie Jordan both said "whoa" at the same time which was his catch phrase.  

The dance is in the opening for all seasons of Blossom.  This version had all the cast doing it. 

 

As for the actual episode, I kind of liked it.  Phil and Randi eating tuna actually cracked me up and I like how they resolved the Oscar, Max and Kat plot.  I've seen Oscar listed in in the guest credits but  in episode descriptions but he was listed as a regular in the show credits so I think he'll be around for at least this season.  

I still don't know if it has 100% found its footing but I think it felt smoother than it did last season. 

[Aulty]

The episode wasn't bad and that mini reunion wasn't cringe - thats some praise from someone who thought the show should've been binned after season 1.
I still have issues with mainly the Kat/Phil/Randy scenes in the cafe feeling like mediocre, exaggerated stage work. And that Cheyenne Jackson and Mayim have so little chemistry. Why didn't they cast Christopher Rivas as Max, he is adorable with Kat.

[Snow Apple]

Ha. Nobody remembering Blossom's other brother. The actor was a good sport about that joke.

Kat didn't break the 4th wall as much, and I think it's a big improvement. The only one I noticed was the wink at the "game show host" joke.

I also laughed at how nobody can say no to Max when he smiles at them. I know people like that.

Edited January 10, 2022 by Snow Apple

[Door County Cherry]

45 minutes ago, Snow Apple said:

Kat didn't break the 4th wall as much, and I think it's a big improvement. The only one I noticed was the wink at the "game show host" joke.

That's a great point.  I think there was at least one or two more glances to the camera but it was MUCH more subtle and natural than it was last season--more in line with how the original did it. 

[kirkola]

11 hours ago, Door County Cherry said:

They were both her brothers so it was a little weird that Kat had a crush on Joey even though there is no relation between Mayim and Joey or Kat and Joey.  

They referenced Blossom's dance.  And I believe Matthew and Leslie Jordan both said "whoa" at the same time which was his catch phrase.  

The dance is in the opening for all seasons of Blossom.  This version had all the cast doing it. 

 

As for the actual episode, I kind of liked it.  Phil and Randi eating tuna actually cracked me up and I like how they resolved the Oscar, Max and Kat plot.  I've seen Oscar listed in in the guest credits but  in episode descriptions but he was listed as a regular in the show credits so I think he'll be around for at least this season.  

I still don't know if it has 100% found its footing but I think it felt smoother than it did last season. 

I can see teen-Mayim having a crush on teen-Joey.  I think most girls had a crush on Joey at the time.  As adults it was a little weird, and I had to remind myself that she's Kat, not Mayim. 

The first bit, seemed like stunt casting, attempting to draw in viewers who watched Blossom, and not Call Me Kat.  So I really wasn't expecting Joey to just appear in her daydream.  I admit that was kinda funny.  I also loved the cat antics. 

And as much as I like Oscar, it feels apparent he's not long for the show.  She might have picked Oscar, but her actions say she picks Max. 

[greekmom]

Super shocked this got a S2.  I would have enjoyed seeing the cast (or some of them) from Big Bang Theory.

I was waiting for the Joey 'woah' and missed it.

[appositival]

I was definitely shipping the retired customer and Houdini. I'm glad to see one relationship working out on this show.

I was pleased that Max got called-out on only wanting Kat when she is unavailable.  

[Cherpumple]

13 hours ago, kirkola said:

And as much as I like Oscar, it feels apparent he's not long for the show.  She might have picked Oscar, but her actions say she picks Max

I agree. I really thought Oscar was going to dump her when she was so late for their rooftop date, and was pleasantly surprised they avoided that cliche.

Loved the Blossom reunion. Jenna and Joey look great! I always liked Michael (the other brother), and it was a bit startling to see him looking so rough compared to the others.

I kinda hope the retired customer starts working at the cafe. He was fun and fits in well with the gang.

[sugarbaker design]

8 hours ago, Cherpumple said:

Loved the Blossom reunion. Jenna and Joey look great! I always liked Michael (the other brother), and it was a bit startling to see him looking so rough compared to the others.

Not everybody ages gracefully!  Speaking from experience!

[Lone Wolf]

Aaaand we're back....

Like others, I wasn't expecting a second season, so this is a nice surprise.

I never watched "Blossom", but I was able to recognize that there were some inside jokes and callbacks going on - the brother, the dance, the hat, "Whoa", Mayim hosting Jeopardy.

Swoosie's still a little disturbing to look at, but not as much as last season.  I'm glad they still wave at the end and that TPTB are making sure that cats are part of the plotline - those kitties are pretty much the only reason that I tune in.

And to that end, here's a real life Houdini cat:

Edited January 11, 2022 by Lone Wolf

[tennisgurl]

I never saw Blossom (a bit before my time) but the reunion was still cute in a goofy kind of way. I didn't get all of the references except that no one remembers the other brother. Good on that actor for being a good sport. 

I thought this episode was a bit smoother then a lot of last season, especially the bits of fourth wall breaking. They really toned it down which I think was a good idea, a lot of times it really hurt the shows flow. I don't know if I would say this is the show fully finding itself, but its a good step forward. Things seemed a lot more polished, the actors seemed to be mugging less, and I like how they resolved the Max/Oscar/Kat triangle. I am sure that Kat/Max is still endgame, but I like that they called Max out on only wanting to be with Kat when she isn't available. 

The cats are still the real heroes, Houdini really has star quality. 

[CrystalBlue]

I wasn't a Blossom viewer and couldn't care less about the so-called reunion of the aging actors in this second season premiere episode.  It felt kind of weird that they made Kat a fangirl of the show and not the lead actress of it.  The inside joke about Jeopardy! was obvious.

Good for Kat for calling out Max on his newfound attraction to her when she now has Oscar.  Either Oscar stays, or they break up and Kat finds someone else (or not) but I hope they don't make Kat and Max the endgame.

Best part were the cats who were the stars of the show.  I hope Houdini will be a regular, coming in with the retired guy who adopted him.

[jewel21]

5 hours ago, CrystalBlue said:

Best part were the cats who were the stars of the show.  I hope Houdini will be a regular, coming in with the retired guy who adopted him.

Wait, I thought the actress who played Six on "Blossom" adopted Houdini? Am I remembering wrong?

[Cherpumple]

3 hours ago, jewel21 said:

Wait, I thought the actress who played Six on "Blossom" adopted Houdini?

You're right. The older retired guy was the one who returned Houdini to the cafe after Houdini jumped from the roof into his arms.

[Yeah No]

I feel like the show took seriously the criticisms it got after last season.  It went down the list echoed here, like Kat needing to tone down a little, less 4th wall breaking, better timing and flow, sharper punch lines, Swoosie's appearance, etc.  And that's a good thing so far because I think it's going in the right direction.  Also Mayim seems to have lost a few pounds since last season and I think she looks good.  Some of the preview clips make it look like they're going to take the crazy antics up another notch, which may or may not be a good thing depending on how they handle them.  They were hilarious in the original but last season those scenes were hit or miss in this series.

I'm glad that at least if they were going to do a Blossom reunion the references they used were pretty obvious even for people like me who never watched the original.  I never even heard of it until "What Not to Wear" made over Mayim and talked about her role in that show (this was before she was in BBT).  If I had known that Finola Hughes was in several episodes I might have watched it.  We didn't have the internet back in the early '90s to clue us in on these things.

Houdini is a beautiful cat.  Very stunning.  So stunning I almost didn't notice it was the only cat in the entire shop.  I agree with the idea of giving the retired guy a job at the café.

I don't see Kat ending up with her current boyfriend and I think Max is still endgame at this point, but that may change in the future.

[tkc]

I also am not too familiar with Blossom, although for me it's because I was a little old for the target audience when it was broadcast.

Get off my lawn.  😉

Oh, and as for retiree Wyatt, I'll always think of Tim Bagley as Harold Krenshaw, Monk's nemesis and competitor for their therapist's attention on Monk.

[love2lovebadtv]

On 1/10/2022 at 10:00 PM, appositival said:

I was definitely shipping the retired customer and Houdini. I'm glad to see one relationship working out on this show.

I was pleased that Max got called-out on only wanting Kat when she is unavailable.  

I really love that it was Kat's mom who pointed out that Max is interested now that she's unavailable. I think Kat and Oscar are cute together. I appreciate that he's portrayed as just a regular handsome guy who really likes Kat. I feel like Kat puts Max on a pedestal, which is why it's hard for me to even believe they're friends. Even in her dream, he was wearing a superhero costume. And it's not like they have any chemistry. I know he's a regular on the show but I'm hoping Oscar stays. 

[CrystalBlue]

I wasn't in Blossom's target audience back in the day either but I did watch some other shows that weren't aimed at me:  one of them featured a talking black cat and weirdly enough I was too old for the lead-in show but watched that too!  I hope that Oscar stays too along with retired guy who wants to fill in his days at the cafe.  I too think that Kat and Max are TPTB's endgame but I don't feel it.

[Guest]

I thought that was a big improvement. For the first time it felt like it’s own show rather than a Miranda copy. I appreciate that they were able to do that without making it a jarring transition. 

I loved that Kat handled the Max situation maturely and that it wasn’t dragged out unnecessarily. Particularly when Kat point blank asked him why now and pointed out that she faced the same rejection and didn’t run away. It felt like a moment when Kat took of the blinders and stopped seeing Max a a fantasy superhero. 

The B plot was also an improvement but that was mostly because of Houdini and Wyatt. 

[Bruinsfan]

I did love that Kat did the right thing, choosing in good faith the guy that she's actually in a relationship with rather than her previously unavailable dream crush. This is also the scenario where no one gets hurt too bad, as I'm sure Max will get over the rejection and their friendship will continue more or less as before. That wouldn't have been the case if she'd broken up with Oscar; I don't see how they could have remained friends afterwards.

[ctlady]

This episode showed just how full of himself and immature Max is.  You're 'friend' whom you had previously rejected romantically, and is now involved with an awesome guy, now has rejected your romantic feelings that you had the nerve to make known while she's happily involved with someone else.  And boo-hoo, aesthetically pleasing and charming Max can't handle a woman turning him down so what's his first response?  Quit his bartending job at his friend's place on the spot (nice to do that to another friend with no notice) then pack up his apartment to move on.  What a complete, arrogant, full of himself tool!

TPTB will have their work cut out for them if they do intend to have Kat wind up with Max.  They'll either have to trash Oscar's character completely or have Max take some humility courses and do a complete 180 of his smug 'I can get anything I want with just a smile' personality

[Bruinsfan]

Oscar and Kat could break up down the line without trashing the former's character though. For example, in another year or so their respective views on having children could become a dealbreaker without either being in the wrong.