S05.E01: The Dead Eyes Of A Respectful Son

[DanaK]

Quote

“The Dead Eyes of a Respectful Son" - When Abishola finds out Dele cancelled his plans to go to Harvard behind her back, Bob steps in to keep her from going ballistic, on the season premiere of BOB HEARTS ABISHOLA, Monday, Feb. 12 (8:30-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network, and streaming on Paramount+ (live and on demand for Paramount+ with SHOWTIME subscribers, or on demand for Paramount+
 

 

Edited February 10 by DanaK

[Keywestclubkid]

Ok it was weird his mom sister and brother were nowhere to be seen 

[SoMuchTV]

29 minutes ago, Keywestclubkid said:

Ok it was weird his mom sister and brother were nowhere to be seen 

I didn’t even notice! But really, I’m all right with them not forcing every single cast member into every single episode. Didn’t they make a lot of them recurring rather than main cast?

I hope to see the Dele actor go on to more roles. 

[EtheltoTillie]

Have they now officially abandoned the medical school plot for abishola?  

I definitely noticed the other characters being missing. But that was what they had apparently had to do to cut costs?  

[possibilities]

I kept expecting to see Dele staying with Christina.

[Yeah No]

3 hours ago, SoMuchTV said:

I didn’t even notice! But really, I’m all right with them not forcing every single cast member into every single episode. Didn’t they make a lot of them recurring rather than main cast?

I hope to see the Dele actor go on to more roles. 

There was a noticeable absence of some of the characters we were used to seeing in most episodes, like Kemi and the hospital crew and Bob's office crew but we were warned about this.  I remember hearing that they were going to cut the budget so that fewer cast members would be featured in each episode.  I felt like the timing was a little off and some of it felt unsatisfying as a result.  Too bad.

[bad things are bad]

To me that felt like a long wait for a whole lot of meh 

[Harvey]

11 hours ago, Keywestclubkid said:

Ok it was weird his mom sister and brother were nowhere to be seen 

As per the guidelines of the new season, only Bob & Abishola will be in all episodes. The other characters will be in a maximum of 5 episodes this season this was announced very well in advance.

And it's all for the better! What a lovely episode this was. Just the focus on the core characters, and the storyline had a chance to breathe. I am surprised they started with such a heavy subject, but since it's the final season I guess they have no time to spare.

Too bad that Abishola gave in to Dele's foolish dreams, but since this is a sitcom of course they have to support his stupid aspirations. By every objective metric Dele should choose a different career, but I am sure we will end on a happy ending for him, because sitcom magic.

Edited February 13 by Harvey

[Keywestclubkid]

11 minutes ago, Harvey said:

As per the guidelines of the new season, only Bob & Abishola will be in all episodes. The other characters will be in a maximum of 5 episodes this season this was announced very well in advance.

And it's all for the better! What a lovely episode this was. Just the focus on the core characters, and the storyline had a chance to breathe. I am surprised they started with such a heavy subject, but since it's the final season I guess they have no time to spare.

Too bad that Abishola gave in to Dele's foolish dreams, but since this is a sitcom of course they have to support his stupid aspirations. By every objective metric Dele should choose a different career, but I am sure we will end on a happy ending for him, because sitcom magic.

It felt off im sorry .. she didn't go to work at all? like it made no sense that at least Christina would be in the episode because that is who he normally runs to when he has a issue with family ... it was sloppy bad writing

[Yeah No]

1 hour ago, Keywestclubkid said:

It felt off im sorry .. she didn't go to work at all? like it made no sense that at least Christina would be in the episode because that is who he normally runs to when he has a issue with family ... it was sloppy bad writing

It felt to me like the episode was edited down from a better version which would have included more of the supporting characters that were taken out thanks to the rule of having those characters in no more than 5 episodes this season.  A bad decision, in my opinion (like so many others made by TV execs these days).  Why not let this show have its last season without those limitations?  Meanwhile so much of the stuff the networks pour all their money into really sucks.  They don't know what they're doing anymore.

[possibilities]

I kept wondering how he planned to PAY for Juilliard without family money. Unless things have changed from when I was in college [maybe they have? it was decades ago], you can't get financial aid as a newly emancipated minor, they will automatically include your family's income in your financial aid assessment, even if the family refuses to help you. 

Also, no shade meant for the actor, but was his dancing really good enough for Juilliard?

My idea is that he could pursue dancing but if that doesn't work out, he can then go to school for dentistry or whatever. He's smart enough, and they do have the money to support him. So it's not really that big of a deal the way it would be for someone who really doesn't have the resources for a lark. But it wasn't really portrayed as a survival issue so much as a cultural/values difference, so I guess that kind of suggestion wasn't really on theme.

Also... he hasn't been accepted to Juilliard yet, so all of this is just spitballing, really. It's a sitcom so maybe he will be. But IRL, he'd be waaaay over his skis with his confidence about going there.

 

[Browncoat]

Juilliard was a surprise.  I expected Dele to say he was going to go to Bob's alma mater.

[shapeshifter]

The episode title was on the nose.

[Yeah No]

11 hours ago, possibilities said:

I kept wondering how he planned to PAY for Juilliard without family money. Unless things have changed from when I was in college [maybe they have? it was decades ago], you can't get financial aid as a newly emancipated minor, they will automatically include your family's income in your financial aid assessment, even if the family refuses to help you. 

No it hasn't really changed and you can't even fully qualify for independent status until age 24 now which I think is older than it was when I was young unless you were in foster care or some other situation.  There is another way around it if you claim that you and your parents are estranged from each other and you can't provide their financial information because you have no access to it, but it involves proving that and I don't know how well that works.

[EtheltoTillie]

So is Juilliard realistic for Dele?  Not on the basis of the garden variety break dancing he was demonstrating.  I just looked at the Juilliard web site for the dance program, and it's very ballet centric.  Has he studied ballet?  They seem to want to see a strong foundation in ballet training.  Ballet training is a strong foundation for every type of dance--e.g., theater dance, modern, and even hip hop.  It's how people learn to articulate the body. 

I used to take some adult beginner ballet and tap, and even that small amount of exposure--learning how to move--is a powerful demonstration of this.  I used to take some intermediate tap classes where professional dancers would show up (e.g., Rockettes and Broadway hopefuls) just for the practice.  (I followed a teacher with a theater dance style.)  It was inspiring to watch how their bodies move (from my position safely in the back row LOL). 

[possibilities]

I think TV writers only know about two higher ed institutions. Juillard for arts and Harvard for everything else. It's like shorthand. 

[EtheltoTillie]

25 minutes ago, possibilities said:

I think TV writers only know about two higher ed institutions. Juillard for arts and Harvard for everything else. It's like shorthand. 

Don't forget Johns Hopkins Medical School (for this very show). 

[EtheltoTillie]

2 hours ago, possibilities said:

I think TV writers only know about two higher ed institutions. Juillard for arts and Harvard for everything else. It's like shorthand. 

Also don't forget Hudson University--in the Law and Order universe. 

[possibilities]

2 hours ago, EtheltoTillie said:

Don't forget Johns Hopkins Medical School (for this very show). 

That's this show's way of being edgy!

[DoYouLikeMutton]

After waiting so long for this new and final season to begin, this episode was a let down.  I was aware that each character (besides Bob and Abishola) would only appear in a limited number of episodes, but I missed scenes with Kemi & Gloria and Dottie's smart alec remarks.  The pervasive tension between Dele and Abishola got dull, but I guess I put up with just about anything for the 20 or so total minutes. 😆

[shapeshifter]

7 hours ago, EtheltoTillie said:

So is Juilliard realistic for Dele?  Not on the basis of the garden variety break dancing he was demonstrating.  I just looked at the Juilliard web site for the dance program, and it's very ballet centric.…

Comedy show writers often include impossible plot points like this; I guess they're supposed to be funny??
But maybe they'll have a throwaway line in another episode about how Dele did not get into Juilliard because he didn't have the prerequisites, so he went to NYU (with magical money) and then, after his first semester, switched majors to something like Finance, maybe because of a girl he met. 

[chediavolo]

I’ve seen much better dancers on the streets of NY.  No way is Dele  getting anccepted into Juilliard. Abishola continues to be a nasty shrew until she breaks down and gives in a little. She threw her son out of the house, and this being the sitcom that it is, luckily he found refuge with his relatives and lucky for her. He didn’t have to go out into the streets and be mugged or killed, or never seen  again didn’t think about that, did you Abishola?. . And Bob is a big P. He needs to stand up for himself a little more instead of letting Abishola walk all over him. They could have a conversation without yelling, and without the wife acting like she controls everything and the husband bowing down to her like a little mouse.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

On 2/13/2024 at 8:21 AM, Harvey said:

Too bad that Abishola gave in to Dele's foolish dreams, but since this is a sitcom of course they have to support his stupid aspirations. By every objective metric Dele should choose a different career, but I am sure we will end on a happy ending for him, because sitcom magic.

Dele should:

1) have applied to Harvard and any other top school that his mother would approve of Bob paying for (because it's his income that will deny them financial aid),

2) have submitted his essay about how much he enjoys dance.  A top student who also has a demonstrated skill in an extra-curricular will have an advantage over someone who is just a top student.  The only problem is that Dele has been very limited in what his mother has allowed him to pursue with his dance interests.  This should also be a problem for Juilliard-they don't just want to see a video, they want to see a list of performances and experiences.

3) major in something practical that he likes, such as chemistry, economics, etc. - it's a fallacy that top schools have pre-med majors.  A pre-med student takes all the pre-med courses, and majors in anything he wants to, although there will be more overlap if it's biology, chemistry or biochemistry.  

4) minor/concentrate/whatever in dance and perform in as many dance groups/shows as possible while at college

5) attempt to participate in dance-related experiences during the summer: internships, auditions, teaching

6) if he does well, dance-wise, drop the pre-med pretense and just finish his college years in whatever (non-dance) major he chose 

7) if dance doesn't work out for him right away after graduation, with his diploma he should be able to get a job that's better than waiting tables while he keeps practicing, auditioning, and waiting for his big break

And yes, you can break into the arts without a degree from a performing arts school.  One example is Anthony Roth Costanzo, an accomplished opera singer who attended Princeton instead of a music school because he "wanted to spend his college years seeing “the world through a larger prism” before moving full time into the narrower world of opera.":  https://paw.princeton.edu/article/life-opera    Also see this article, written after he won a Grammy:   https://playbill.com/article/countertenor-anthony-roth-costanzo-on-the-transformative-nature-of-philip-glass-akhnaten

On 2/14/2024 at 12:46 PM, EtheltoTillie said:

So is Juilliard realistic for Dele? 

Of course, Costanzo was an acknowledged talent before he went to college, so Dele should definitely have an education that does not focus primarily on dancing.

On 2/14/2024 at 12:46 AM, Yeah No said:

No it hasn't really changed and you can't even fully qualify for independent status until age 24 now which I think is older than it was when I was young unless you were in foster care or some other situation.  There is another way around it if you claim that you and your parents are estranged from each other and you can't provide their financial information because you have no access to it, but it involves proving that and I don't know how well that works.

Dele also has a father whose income would be considered.

Also, if Dele refused to apply to Harvard, he's certainly not getting on a plane to Nigeria.

I'm also a bit shocked that Abishola didn't insist on looking over all his applications and watching him submit them. And acceptances don't come via email.  There's a portal the applicant logs into on a specific date.  And wouldn't Abishola know the date that Harvard issues acceptances?  It's easily searchable. 

Edited March 19 by ItCouldBeWorse

[SoMuchTV]

25 minutes ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

Dele should have:

1) applied to Harvard and any other top school that his mother would approve of Bob paying for (because it's his income that will deny them financial aid),

2) submitted his essay about how much he enjoys dance.  A top student who also has a demonstrated skill in an extra-curricular will have an advantage over someone who is just a top student.  The only problem is that Dele has been very limited in what his mother has allowed him to pursue with his dance interests.  This should also be a problem for Juilliard-they don't just want to see a video, they want to see a list of performances and experiences.

 3) major in something practical that he likes, like chemistry, economics-it's a fallacy that top schools have pre-med majors.  A pre-med student takes all the pre-med courses, and major in anything he wants to, although there will be more overlap if it's biology, chemistry or biochemistry.  

4) minor/concentrate/whatever in dance and perform in as many dance groups/shows as possible while at college

5) attempt to participate in dance-related experiences during the summer-internships, auditions, teaching

6) if he does well, dance-wise, drop the pre-med pretense and just finish his major in whatever major he chose

7) if dance doesn't work out for him right away, with his diploma he should be able to get a job that's better than waiting tables while he keeps practicing auditioning, and waiting for his big break

And yes, you can break into the arts without a degree from a performing arts school.  One example is Anthony Roth Costanzo, an accomplished opera singer who attended Princeton instead of a music school because he "wanted to spend his college years seeing “the world through a larger prism” before moving full time into the narrower world of opera.":  https://paw.princeton.edu/article/life-opera    and this article, written after he won a Grammy: https://playbill.com/article/countertenor-anthony-roth-costanzo-on-the-transformative-nature-of-philip-glass-akhnaten

Of course, Costanzo was an acknowledged talent before he went to college, so Dele should definitely have an education that does not focus primarily on dancing.

Dele also has a father whose income would be considered.

Also, if Dele refused to apply to Harvard, he's certainly not getting on a plane to Nigeria.

I'm also a bit shocked that Abishola didn't insist on looking over all his applications and watching him submit them. And acceptances don't come via email.  There's a portal the applicant logs into on a specific date.  And wouldn't Abishola know the date that Harvard issues acceptances?  It's easily searchable. 

You would appear to be overqualified for a job as a college counselor to tv teenagers. 

[shapeshifter]

4 minutes ago, SoMuchTV said:

You would appear to be overqualified for a job as a college counselor to tv teenagers. 

🤣Yes, but where was @ItCouldBeWorse when my 40-year-old was in high school?

[ItCouldBeWorse]

23 minutes ago, SoMuchTV said:

You would appear to be overqualified for a job as a college counselor to tv teenagers. 

17 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

🤣Yes, but where was @ItCouldBeWorse when my 40-year-old was in high school?

Thanks.  On the Conners, Mark's "journey" to college as a very smart student from a very poor family is even worse than Dele's (I can believe that Dele has an inflated sense of his dance ability and therefore made poor application choices, but it's basically unbelievable that Mark wasn't getting inundated with full/almost full rides to schools that are better than the one in his community that came with no money.)

I've been through the process a bunch of times in real life in the last dozen years (although never had a kid interested in the arts) and did my research.  And I definitely knew the dates that acceptances went out!

Edited March 19 by ItCouldBeWorse

[txhorns79]

On 3/18/2024 at 8:30 PM, ItCouldBeWorse said:

I'm also a bit shocked that Abishola didn't insist on looking over all his applications and watching him submit them. And acceptances don't come via email.

This.  Abishola has been pretty intense about having Harvard as a goal for Dele.  The idea that she wouldn't be driving his application process and making sure everything was in, is pretty ridiculous.  I would be furious at Dele for pulling this kind of stunt, but I'd have trouble believing Abishola would simply leave it to him to handle the process.