S02.E07: A Star is Born

[chitowngirl]

In search of a new hobby, Dean joins the drama club -- only to find himself mixed up in drama of his own; Bill and Kim grapple with Bruce's choice to campaign for a local politician.

[chitowngirl]

Jack McBrayer usually irritates me, but this role was a good fit for him

[nelroy78]

2 hours ago, chitowngirl said:

Jack McBrayer usually irritates me, but this role was a good fit for him

Yeah he was much more likable in this role than in Call Me Kat when they tried to get him to fill in for Leslie Jordan at the cat cafe. That just didn’t work and his character was dropped after a few episodes. 
 

Karen was a case of right girl but wrong place, wrong time, wrong era. Her and Dean had great chemistry though. Apparently according to IMDb she had been in a few Season 1 episodes. (The pilot, Brad Mitzvah and Black Teacher episodes). I’ll have to go back and look. 

Edited August 3, 2023 by nelroy78

[Raja]

21 minutes ago, nelroy78 said:

Karen was a case of right girl but wrong place, wrong time, wrong era. Her and Dean had great chemistry though.

Given my objections to other seemingly easy integration plots on the show I was surprised when Lilian twice hammered home that plot point before Dean's narration of it being 1969 Alabama

[cinsays]

12 hours ago, chitowngirl said:

Jack McBrayer usually irritates me, but this role was a good fit for him

well, better than on Mayim's show, but i just do not like him at all

[zoey1996]

Fun episode! I enjoyed McBrayer as the counselor/drama teacher. Learning play dialogue can be really hard; Dean did a good job with his.

I understand where Lillian is coming from and her concerns, but she seemed rude when she didn't ask "little white girl's" name. I was in high school in 1969, and race relations could be difficult. This was in Kansas, small town, only one black family in town.

Also get Bill, Kim, and Bruce differences with their local politician at that time and place. It can be difficult to work within the system when it seems like it's all lip service and nothing ever progresses or changes.

Best line was Bill wondering if the usher would give him his dime back!

Edited August 3, 2023 by zoey1996

[Sarah 103]

59 minutes ago, zoey1996 said:

I understand where Lillian is coming from and her concerns, but she seemed rude when she didn't ask "little white girl's" name.

 

YES!! Lillian being that rude seemed completely out of character for her. Her lines/dialogue would have made much more sense and been more in character for Bill. When Karen showed up at thier house, Lillian should have at least asked the girl's name and then politely and firmly said something along the lines of, "Karen, do your parents know where you are and that you're alone? You can talk to Dean in school tomorrow. Goodbye."

There's no way they would have given Dean the lead with only a few days/a week to go before opening night. I get it's a sitcom/TVLand, but I am not willing to roll with it. That's too far for me. 

I wish they had saved Bruce's plotline for another episode, and we got to spend more time on Dean and the theatre kids. Demonstrate that the theatre kids are unpopular misfits and that Dean fits in really well with them. Show Dean torn between enjoying his new friends and the popularity he risks giving up by being with them. (basically, I want "Square Dance" but with theatre kids instead of Kevin's dance partner who was into zoology/entomology).

Also, Bruce's plotline has a major flaw. In 1969 Alabama, the odds are pretty low that the incbumbent would be a Republican. This is still the era of the solid Democratic South (granted, it's towards the end of it, but still very much within that era). I love the idea of the plotline, but it doesn't work historically. 

I actually wish that plotline had been the whole episode. Show Bruce supporting a candidate that Bill disagrees with and Kim protests against. Have the argument between Bruce and Kim about trying to work within the system and cause change from within as opposed to protesting from the outside. 

Show Dean torn between his older siblings and how awful it is for him to watch them fight. 

Still have all the father/son stuff with Bruce and Bill, just find a way to make it more historically accurate. 

It's a common problem with this series. They try to do multiple plotlines and end up shortchanging them. 

 

[tennisgurl]

Its really too bad its Alabama in the 60s, Dean and Karen are adorable together. I can totally see Dean thriving in drama club, he's a nerd with a lot of imagination so that would totally work out. I thought that Jack McBrayer was actually quite good here after thinking he was nails on a chalkboard on Call Me Cat. I guess that's what happens when your on a show with much better writers. 

I liked the transition from the guidance counselor/drama teacher saying how underfunded their school is to Kim protesting underfunded schools. I'm really glad the last few episodes have had more of Bruce and Kim and Bruce, I would like to see more of their dynamic. I really liked their plot and Bruce's fight with Bill but I wish we had more of it. It seems like we just scratched the surface. 

Agreed that Lillian was weirdly rude to Karen, she normally has a lot more social tact than that. It would make more sense for her to ask her name then very gently shut the door then slamming it in her face. 

[possibilities]

Considering what happened to Emmett Till, I understand that Lillian wanted to make sure there was ZERO impression of even a tiny opening for friendliness. It's dangerous for Dean, her job is to protect him, and she can't trust the girl.

[Raja]

1 hour ago, possibilities said:

Considering what happened to Emmett Till, I understand that Lillian wanted to make sure there was ZERO impression of even a tiny opening for friendliness. It's dangerous for Dean, her job is to protect him, and she can't trust the girl.

My head canon was that the mom's found out what Dean was saying publicly, in front of White and Black kids about being with Brad's mom sexually. In the story they have said that since the rest of Alabama knew they were Jewish some of the social norms of the day did not count.

It was glaring on this episode because it was something the story ignored before having Lilian acting hard, twice. And then adult Dean reminding us of the when and where we are watching  a story about

[andromeda331]

I liked Bill's list of things he could accept Bruce then a Republican. I don't believe him about hating jazz.

Bill thinking he never did anything his father disapproved of. I was laughing even before his father corrected him on that. Of course you did Bill.

I agree about Lillian. There were less ruder ways to tell Karen to leave that was more in character for Lillian.  

[Cress]

I'm just confused why Dean has so much free time after school. Did he get kicked off the football team? All his friends are in sports and he's not anymore? And last episode, he had extra work after school with the music teacher. It feels like we are missing an episode somewhere. If he's been kicked out of football, I think it had to be fallout from the love triangle/breakup with Keisa and Broderick. We never got a followup after she tackled him. The next time we saw her, she wasn't mad at him anymore.

[Raja]

3 hours ago, Cress said:

I'm just confused why Dean has so much free time after school. Did he get kicked off the football team? All his friends are in sports and he's not anymore? And last episode, he had extra work after school with the music teacher. It feels like we are missing an episode somewhere. If he's been kicked out of football, I think it had to be fallout from the love triangle/breakup with Keisa and Broderick. We never got a followup after she tackled him. The next time we saw her, she wasn't mad at him anymore.

The plot of Football Team said that they had the same policy as the high school in the Denzel Washington movie Remember the Titans, being a school so anyone who wanted to play was on the team. Dean quit by the end of the episode that was mostly about his sister and father.

[JenLily]

20 hours ago, Sarah 103 said:

There's no way they would have given Dean the lead with only a few days/a week to go before opening night. I get it's a sitcom/TVLand, but I am not willing to roll with it. That's too far for me. 

Mr. Lily related *hard* to this part of the plot. Apparently the exact same thing happened to him when he was in the sixth grade. His class was putting on Tom Sawyer, he was playing the part of some secondary character, and then a week before opening night he was told he had to play Tom Sawyer because the kid that had the role couldn't remember any of his lines. He said up until then he never studied so hard for anything in his life. 😂

[Cress]

On 8/4/2023 at 4:18 AM, Raja said:

Dean quit by the end of the episode that was mostly about his sister and father.

He quit? Was this when she dated the college guy? I'll have to go back and look for it. I still think there's a missing episode, because I thought Patti Labelle was supposed to be in 2 episodes, but she was only in one.

Anyway this week's episode was interesting with Bruce getting a good plot. We barely saw the politician guy because the conflict was mainly with his dad. I liked seeing Clisby again too, advising that he should let Bruce make his own mistake.

Edited August 5, 2023 by Cress

[mojito]

I know this is nit-picky. But it hit me like a ton of bricks. I am not a barber or a hairdresser, and haven't been in a shop in more than 12 years. These guys are getting their hair cut with the cape on yet nothing around their necks to keep the hair from going down their collars? Someone really dropped the ball on this! 😏

 

[Cress]

On 8/5/2023 at 6:57 AM, Cress said:

Dean quit by the end of the episode that was mostly about his sister and father.

I rewatched the episode and saw that he quit and stopped wearing the uniform. I don't know why I forgot it. I think last episode when Bill mentioned his PE grades and sports, I got the impression that Dean was still on the team.