S01.E10: Kids in America

[Sakura12]

Synopsis TBD

 

Premiere Date: January 19, 2023

[NeenerNeener]

Ok, I've watched all 10 episodes. The kids look like they feel more comfortable in their roles by episode 10. Red and Kitty are still carrying the show, though, and the writing for Leia could be better.

[braziliangirl]

18 hours ago, NeenerNeener said:

Ok, I've watched all 10 episodes. The kids look like they feel more comfortable in their roles by episode 10. Red and Kitty are still carrying the show, though, and the writing for Leia could be better.

What would you change?

[greekmom]

Saw all the episodes.

The writing could have been tighter I agree.   Shocked that Red and Kitty do not understand what the kids are doing down there in the basement and the smell of skunk.  Kitty and Red are definitely carrying the show. No question. 

Excellent casting by the producers on the kid that plays Jay Kelso. He does look like a product of Michael and Jackie. 

If Fuller House is/was G rated this show would definitely be it's PG cousin (due to drug/alcohol use).

Surprised that Topher only made 1 cameo, Mila/Ashton 2 and Laura and Wilmer 3+.

Missed moment that they could have mentioned in passing that Hyde died as an inside joke: "He was helping out some old dude and his son on some Ranch in Colorado.  He got high one night and thought the bull was the old man.  Tried to wrestle with him."

The show is what I call a background show.  Good to play when I am cooking, cleaning or working. It's in the background.

 

[backhometome]

Kitty and Red were the best part of the show. They haven't aged at all. They look great. 

Jay did look a lot like Kelso. Good casting.

 

 

[NeenerNeener]

5 hours ago, braziliangirl said:

What would you change?

They should have written Leia as less hesitant about everything. She's the only one that really didn't come off like a normal kid.

[jmonique]

This show was PAINFUL. I had it on in the background while working on a project, but WOW was it bad. 

"Bro."
"Bro..."
"BRO."
"BROOOO." 

Is not comedy. 

[andidante]

I wish they would have mentioned Laurie by name at least and said where she was or something. I know the actress passed away, but it still would have been nice for the character. I really did not care for this show at all. I did watch all 10 episodes, but the only parts I liked were with Red, Kitty and the old gang. Just my take/opinion.

[callie lee 29]

Overall, I liked it. The kids got better and I like the neighbor (I liked her in modern family too). The actors who play the kids do lack the chemistry the original group had but I don't really blame them for that. I liked it enough I'll watch next season assuming there is one.

[Slade347]

I mostly liked it too. Red and Kitty did do a lot of the heavy lifting, but the teens got better as the season went on. definitely think Leia is her father's daughter. I thought they did a good job there. I'd watch a second season. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mehtotheworld]

I’d watch a second season too, but dear god can they please drop that random, lame Leia/Nate nonsense. Did I miss any level of foreshadowing there since I was only background watching? They didn’t have any sort of connection, while Leia/Jay actually seemed cute and had a little chemistry. Also, Nate as a character just didn’t work for me even outside of that last minute attempt at a twist. If they wanted a better (albeit cliched) twist, they probably should have switched it around so Leia/Nate had a sweet innocent crush type thing at the beginning of the season, then Leia and Jay’s better chemistry comes through to end the season. 

I actually really liked the wacky neighbor lady. Fond memories of Better off Ted came flooding back. 

This cast doesn’t have the spark or chemistry of the original cast (nor the writing unfortunately), but I saw progress at the end of the season. No real laughs from the kids’ antics, but definitely some amusement. More than anything, I was really there to watch Upstairs People scenes though. 

[absnow54]

I think the show found its groove around episode 6, when they started leaning in heavy on pop culture references (ie 90210 and Jerry Springer parodies.) The cast really doesn't click though, and I'd be surprised if it gets a second season. The only standouts from the kid set were Ozzie and Nikki.

I wanted to like Gwen, but the actress couldn't pull it off. I'm pretty sure she was supposed to be channeling dark and sarcastic, but instead she had this aura of "just happy to be here" which didn't click with the writing.

Jay Kelso was also a flop for me. He certainly looked like the offspring of Jackie and Kelso, but I feel like there was a real disconnect, because they wanted to keep him a viable love interest. They should have made him the anti-Kelso, instead of pretending he was just like Kelso, when he was dull and harmless. It would help if Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis had more time to drop in like Laura Prepon did throughout the season.

I actually thought Leia and Nate had better chemistry than Jay and Leia, but I hate triangles (and between 90210 and Dawson's Creek, I understand that it's a hard trope for a 90s show to ignore.) I thought it was kind of haphazardly slapped on out of nowhere. They should have waited another season for almost kisses and angst. 

I hope this show lasts through 1999, if only to see Eric's reaction to the Star Wars Special Edition in 1997 and The Phantom Menace in 1999.

The most egrigious thing about this episode was that nobody wound the disposable camera between pictures.

[braziliangirl]

4 hours ago, absnow54 said:

I think the show found its groove around episode 6, when they started leaning in heavy on pop culture references (ie 90210 and Jerry Springer parodies.) The cast really doesn't click though, and I'd be surprised if it gets a second season. The only standouts from the kid set were Ozzie and Nikki.

I wanted to like Gwen, but the actress couldn't pull it off. I'm pretty sure she was supposed to be channeling dark and sarcastic, but instead she had this aura of "just happy to be here" which didn't click with the writing.

Jay Kelso was also a flop for me. He certainly looked like the offspring of Jackie and Kelso, but I feel like there was a real disconnect, because they wanted to keep him a viable love interest. They should have made him the anti-Kelso, instead of pretending he was just like Kelso, when he was dull and harmless. It would help if Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis had more time to drop in like Laura Prepon did throughout the season.

I actually thought Leia and Nate had better chemistry than Jay and Leia, but I hate triangles (and between 90210 and Dawson's Creek, I understand that it's a hard trope for a 90s show to ignore.) I thought it was kind of haphazardly slapped on out of nowhere. They should have waited another season for almost kisses and angst. 

I hope this show lasts through 1999, if only to see Eric's reaction to the Star Wars Special Edition in 1997 and The Phantom Menace in 1999.

The most egrigious thing about this episode was that nobody wound the disposable camera between pictures.

I agree with pretty much everything. I also thought Leia and Nate had better chemistry but the crush was out of nowhere. Maybe they should've added more scenes with them. I think there was something missing about Gwen but it did feel realistic that infatuation when someone meets a new best friend when you're 14/15. 

Something I didn't like was the fact that Leia and Jay never met. They didn't need to be best friends or anything but it did kill my buzz the fact that Donna/Eric's daughter wasn't at least acquainted with Kelso/Jackie's son. Or that Kitty didn't knew him (Point Place is a very small town, right?). That 70's show was about a lot things but the most compelling theme for me was about friendship. So while I didn't expect the core group to have the same bond I was a bit disappointed that it almost seemed like they felt out of each others lives. I know they have restrictions with shooting scenes with the old gang but they could've written a bit differently. 

Jay could've said something about not seeing Leia for a long time. Red could've asked if Kelso and Jackie were marrying AGAIN. Little things like that.  

But I'm in if there's a season 2. 

Edited January 23, 2023 by braziliangirl

[Captain Carrot]

On 1/20/2023 at 5:47 PM, greekmom said:

Missed moment that they could have mentioned in passing that Hyde died as an inside joke: "He was helping out some old dude and his son on some Ranch in Colorado.  He got high one night and thought the bull was the old man.  Tried to wrestle with him."

This may seem odd, but I like Hyde and don't want him to be dead. (Although the actor that played him should be in jail). They should just mention that he moved away and they don't hear from him that often.

[memememe76]

I hated the love triangle. The 90210 episode was the best. I think Netflix should give shows like this (ie any sitcoms) more time to grow. With so few live action sitcoms being made these days, I forgive the younger cast. It is a skill set that take times to learn. 

[absnow54]

7 hours ago, memememe76 said:

I think Netflix should give shows like this (ie any sitcoms) more time to grow. With so few live action sitcoms being made these days, I forgive the younger cast. It is a skill set that take times to learn. 

Yes, sitcoms really struggle in this new, short season format. With a drama, it's usually an overaching plot that's driven from episode to episode by character arcs, and they usually benefit from the shorter episode seasons, because there are less superfelous, filler episodes. With sitcoms, it's the opposite. Each plot is introduced and resolved within an episode and the characters development from situation to situation is what ties it all together. It's hard to get any kind of development in 10, 22 minute episodes. Especially with an ensemble.

This show is also going to struggle with the premise that Leia lives outside of the Point Place bubble for 9 months of the year, while the rest of the friend group is still there. They need to send Eric back out of the country and come up with an excuse for Donna and Leia to move back to Point Place through the rest of her high school years. 

[NeenerNeener]

On 1/23/2023 at 9:39 PM, Captain Carrot said:

This may seem odd, but I like Hyde and don't want him to be dead. (Although the actor that played him should be in jail). They should just mention that he moved away and they don't hear from him that often.

He could be running a weed dispensary in Colorado, or he could have "sold out" and become a lobbyist in Washington, DC. There's lots of things his character could be doing off camera. 

[Insert Username]

Can we just kill the laugh track already? We have had so many amazing comedies without them, that hearing one is just jarring and ruins the flow.

The first few episodes were so bad--everyone seemed to be subscribing to the Disney Channel School of "Acting" Things got a bit better by the end. The friendship between Leia and Gwen began to feel real.

There was only the briefest mention of Laurie, when Red said "I only wanted one kid, but you made me have Eric and..."

I found it weird that Kitty didn't seem to know about Fez's salons and none of the friends stayed in touch. DOnna says something to Leia about "Uncle Casey" Kelso, so people are correct, there is no way Leia and Jay had never met

[Kel Varnsen]

The show definitely grew on me. The characters got a lot better, especially Ozzie who was super annoying at the start. But the scene where he came out to Kitty was really well done. And by the end the kids actually started to seem like real friends. 

If they have season 2 I would be good with turning down the the volume of the laugh track. Also it's Netflix not network tv, take advantage of that and let the kids talk like actual teens. I mean the language doesn't have to be south Park but some mild cursing would be ok.

I am also good with zero mention of Hyde, but it would be nice if we got at least a line about Grandma Midge.

[NeenerNeener]

On 1/27/2023 at 11:18 PM, Kel Varnsen said:

The characters got a lot better, especially Ozzie who was super annoying at the start. But the scene where he came out to Kitty was really well done

I started to warm up to Ozzie when he dressed as the Blind Melon "Bee Girl".

[incandescent]

Nate/Leia made sense to me, they as a ship weren't strongly foreshadowed but the issues in their romances with Nikki and Jay definitely were.

[chediavolo]

On 1/21/2023 at 9:25 PM, andidante said:

I wish they would have mentioned Laurie by name at least and said where she was or something. I know the actress passed away, but it still would have been nice for the character. I really did not care for this show at all. I did watch all 10 episodes, but the only parts I liked were with Red, Kitty and the old gang. Just my take/opinion.

Same. I would definitely watch a show about red  and kitty if they were in  90 percent of the scenes. these kids were just awful. You can not  go back again. It was great when it was the 70s show but these children have no chemistry or much talent and maybe because I’m old, I am totally not interested in watching their shenanigans.😊