S01.E06: A Regular Samaritan

[chitowngirl]

Georgie joins a church to sell tires to the congregation and Mandy worries there is more to it than that.
 

Air date December 5, 2024

[ams1001]

So Georgie's just a general card shark, doesn't matter the game...

I thought maybe they'd kick him out when he started passing out business cards, but a prosperity-gospel pastor probably respects the hustle.

[Dimity]

I found this one tedious.

[MollyMelrose]

In the spirit if the season, this episode ...

[shura]

I’ve got to ask, if your wife punches a reasonably prominent member of the congregation in the face, do you still get the church’s business?  Btw, that was not Rebecca Romijn, right?

25 minutes ago, MollyMelrose said:

In the spirit if the season, this episode ...

Nah, it wasn’t that bad.  We learned that Charlie Harper’s pizza delivery man is now a pastor.  I learned that “muy fuego” is, in fact, proper Spanish.  No tango music transitions between scenes for at least the second episode in a row.  There were some decent lines (“Church? Ehhhh… no, too much work.”). Connor wasn’t there.  Strangely, I kinda missed Connor, what’s up with that?

[ams1001]

50 minutes ago, shura said:

Connor wasn’t there.  Strangely, I kinda missed Connor, what’s up with that?

And I didn't even notice until I read your comment... 😄

I enjoyed this episode well enough.

 

[Jodithgrace]

Good that  Georgie got out of that church before they started asking him for serious contributions, in order to keep up his prosperity. That’s how those prosperity churches work. 
 

The Mother is such an unpleasant character. And a hypocrite to boot. She doesn’t  go to church herself, but heaven forbid CeCe goes to a non Catholic Church with her father. 

[Yeah No]

Eh, it was an OK episode, but not great. 

Other than the card shark and sales stuff Georgie is barely recognizable as himself in this series unless he's acting alongside his OG family cast members. It's like he's a kid trying to play the role of an adult. Neither the actor nor the show is selling this to me and it's still not funny nor interesting. I almost can't believe Chuck Lorre has anything to do with this series as every other show I've seen of his has been funny.

[hoodooznoodooz]

Unpopular opinion: I wish I had married a man like Georgie.

I find Georgie so charismatic and charming. 
 

I guess that I don’t pay close enough attention to see inconsistencies in his character. Sorry!

 

Another unpopular opinion: Kristen Bell, Kaley Cuoco, Emily Osment and this “Valerie” character actress are exceptionally gorgeous… because they have blonde hair?

[highway61]

9 hours ago, shura said:

I’ve got to ask, if your wife punches a reasonably prominent member of the congregation in the face, do you still get the church’s business?  Btw, that was not Rebecca Romijn, right?

I was trying to place her too. Kelli Goss was the ex-wife in "United States of Al", also from the Lorreverse (and where Rachel Bay Jones played a more appealing character).

And yes, muy fuego.

 

Edited December 6 by highway61
update

[Tom Holmberg]

I liked that this episode basically focused on Georgie and his rise to Dr. Tire, but it still wasn't particularly funny.  We no from the title of the show that the marriage doesn't last but could they show more good times between Georgie and Mandy (there were the bedroom scenes in this).

[appositival]

I felt sorry for the woman at the end. Is Georgie the only tow truck in town or will someone else pick her up?

I do wonder if Mandy's right cross will cause complications in the future or if we will never hear of this church again.

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, Tom Holmberg said:

from the title of the show that the marriage doesn't last

I keep assuming they divorce as a means of protecting Georgie's income from Mandy's debts. 
But I've never lived in Texas, and when my ex and I were in our 20s and 30s in the 1980s-90s, we didn't have any money or property to fight over in the divorce. 
So:
Does anyone here know if divorcing to protect Georgie's income from Mandy's debts is a legal possibility at the place and time of the show?

 

 

23 minutes ago, appositival said:

I do wonder if Mandy's right cross will cause complications in the future or if we will never hear of this church again.

I would think Mandy would get arrested for assault, except that would give Mandy reason to make public that the hot church lady was trying to hook up with a married man who was also a new convert. 
He said / she said is very problematic in sexual assaults.
She said / she said would likely be even worse in a so-called "cat fight."
Ugh. Why am I watching this show? 

Edited December 6 by shapeshifter

[ams1001]

1 minute ago, shapeshifter said:

I keep assuming they divorce as a means of protecting Georgie's income from Mandy's debts. 
But I've never lived in Texas, and when my ex and I were in our 20s and 30s in the 1980s-90s, we didn't have any money or property to fight over in the divorce. 
So:
Does anyone here know if divorcing to protect Georgie's income from Mandy's debts is a legal possibility at the place and time of the show?

I don't know, but if he starts doing so well financially and that's the only issue, why wouldn't he just pay off the debt and be done with it? Wasn't it something like $12K? It's a lot of money, especially to someone in her current position, but in the grand scheme of things it's not actually that much if he's really starting to bring in a real income (which we know he eventually will).

[Tom Holmberg]

35 minutes ago, appositival said:

I do wonder if Mandy's right cross will cause complications in the future or if we will never hear of this church again.

Even without the right cross, I'd bet we'll never hear of the church again.

[Dimity]

1 hour ago, ams1001 said:

Wasn't it something like $12K?

Considering we are never given any reason to think her parents are anything but very comfortably off financially it makes zero sense to me that they didn't step in and help Mandy with that debt.  Not pay it off necessarily, but there are other ways they could have helped - get her a consolidated loan as one example.  Give her a job working at the store as another. 

It's a typical Lorre Plot Device.  And it's getting really old.

[possibilities]

We're talking 12,000 in those days, not now. I don't know the exact conversion, but it's a lot of money now, and even more then.

I'm horrified that the parents might pay off her debt. Why would they do that? She's already getting free room, board, and childcare. 

I actually think G and M are getting along better than I expected, and am happy enough to see them continue to get along for as long as the show decides to play it that way. Mandy's mother is enough unpleasantness for me, more than enough.

I cannot see the woman prosecuting the wife of the man she just kissed in church, after a single punch by the wife who saw the kiss.

The pay off for filing charges would be what? She would have to testify, the circumstances would be revealed, and what possible punishment would Mandy receive that would counterbalance the scandal that would blow back on the woman herself for having initiated that kiss? She KNEW Georgie was married. They were IN CHURCH.

Yes, people behave badly in church as elsewhere, but still-- what sympathy would she receive? She has more to lose than gain from filing charges. It's not like Mandy beat her to a pulp or murdered her.

I'm not saying punching someone is a good idea. But filing charges in this case I don't think would be in the best interests of the woman who got punched, either. 

 

[Tom Holmberg]

21 minutes ago, possibilities said:

We're talking 12,000 in those days, not now. I don't know the exact conversion, but it's a lot of money now, and even more then.

More than double.

[Dimity]

30 minutes ago, possibilities said:

I'm horrified that the parents might pay off her debt. Why would they do that? She's already getting free room, board, and childcare. 

This is a long standing debt though that her parents were aware of long before she had moved back home with a husband and baby, not at all saying they need to pay it off for her but it's odd to me that it was never an issue until they needed a reason to send Mandy back to work.  Plot Device.  Not something the writers gave any real thought to.

[Katy M]

9 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

I keep assuming they divorce as a means of protecting Georgie's income from Mandy's debts. 
But I've never lived in Texas, and when my ex and I were in our 20s and 30s in the 1980s-90s, we didn't have any money or property to fight over in the divorce. 
So:
Does anyone here know if divorcing to protect Georgie's income from Mandy's debts is a legal possibility at the place and time of the show?

No idea, but we also know that at some point Georgie has 2 ex-wives, so they're not going to be living happily ever after not married, either.

[Genus]

On 12/6/2024 at 3:02 AM, Dimity said:

I found this one tedious.

Ditto

[ams1001]

17 hours ago, possibilities said:

We're talking 12,000 in those days, not now. I don't know the exact conversion, but it's a lot of money now, and even more then.

I hadn't thought about that, actually, but Google tells me 12K in 1994 is about 25,500 today.

[Yeah No]

21 hours ago, Dimity said:

Considering we are never given any reason to think her parents are anything but very comfortably off financially it makes zero sense to me that they didn't step in and help Mandy with that debt.  Not pay it off necessarily, but there are other ways they could have helped - get her a consolidated loan as one example.  Give her a job working at the store as another. 

It's a typical Lorre Plot Device.  And it's getting really old.

It may be that they come from a generation and social background that were more likely to expect their adult children to pay off their own debts. That ol' pull yourself up by your bootstraps stuff. Mandy's parents don't seem to come from money so their values might be like that. And generally once kids were adults back then their parents often expected them to be fully independent. And as someone pointed out, Mandy's already getting free room and board as it is. But then what about the weird son who was absent in this episode? What's the story with him? I'm hoping he disappears by next season.

Also they might be seeing the debt as Georgie's responsibility to pay off now if they have those older traditional values.

By the time I was an adult my parents could have helped me pay off my student loan when my husband and I were really struggling (they didn't contribute much to my college education to begin with), but they weren't anywhere near as well off as this family even when older and had poor childhoods and younger adulthoods thanks to the Great Depression and WWII. I thought they deserved to enjoy their retirements, but I still wish they could have done something. They gave us nice gifts but it didn't make enough of a dent and we struggled for a long time. In the end I inherited their co-op apartment so at least there was that, although it wasn't worth all that much. Mandy stands to inherit much more than a house in this case (shared with her brother of course). So there is that too.

[ams1001]

1 hour ago, Yeah No said:

By the time I was an adult my parents could have helped me pay off my student loan

My parents helped us pay off our student loans, but it was in the form of earmarked Christmas gifts. I had to start paying in December after I graduated, and they gave us $2500 (and my grandmother gave us $1000) that year for Christmas. My brother's was to put toward a car, and mine was for loans, so my second payment was $3500, and then I paid the regular amount each month so I was always ahead. They did the same the next year but the earmarks were the other way around, then the third year again I got a chunk to put toward my loans.

If I had a bunch of credit card debt because I was irresponsible, I doubt they'd be bailing me out, other than letting me live with them (with a nominal rent), if I really needed to.

[Jodithgrace]

The thing with credit card and student loan debt is that they it really escalates if you only pay the minimum. If Mandy’s parents had the money, they would be better off paying the CC and billing Mandy, but $12k is a large chunk of change even back then. 
I wonder if this debt will ever be mentioned again or just disappear the way things in sitcoms tend to do. Chuck Lore is pretty good about continuity though.

Its touching that G&M named their baby after her debt. 

[Dimity]

2 hours ago, Yeah No said:

It may be that they come from a generation and social background that were more likely to expect their adult children to pay off their own debts.

Money on a Chuck Lorre show rarely makes much sense - as I said Plot Device.  People are broke when it suits the plot and then it's all over and done with.  Penny on BBT had lots of credit card debt, then had her awesome job and was suddenly wisely investing her income under the guidance of a investment counsellor - until they decided to forget they did that and had her back in heavy debt again.  Do the writers pay any attention to previous episodes?

But anyway I agree with @Jodithgrace that as is the way of most sitcoms this debt will never be mentioned again.

[Yeah No]

9 hours ago, Dimity said:

Money on a Chuck Lorre show rarely makes much sense - as I said Plot Device.  People are broke when it suits the plot and then it's all over and done with.  Penny on BBT had lots of credit card debt, then had her awesome job and was suddenly wisely investing her income under the guidance of a investment counsellor - until they decided to forget they did that and had her back in heavy debt again.  Do the writers pay any attention to previous episodes?

Interesting, although that's not what I remember about Penny on BBT. I am almost ashamed to admit how many times I've seen every episode so I'd have to see some proof on this because I am am pretty sure that Penny never got back into debt after she became a pharmaceutical salesperson. After she got that job she not only paid off her own debt but paid Leonard back the money he spent when he bought her a car (which he didn't want to accept but then they decided to use it on something for both of them). And it became the running "joke" that she and Bernadette made so much more money than their husbands. It did make some sense but I always thought it was kind of nasty to make out like the guys made crap money. I'm sure scientists don't make as much as drug salespeople but they're not exactly destitute either.

[ams1001]

28 minutes ago, Yeah No said:

It did make some sense but I always thought it was kind of nasty to make out like the guys made crap money. I'm sure scientists don't make as much as drug salespeople but they're not exactly destitute either.

ScreenRant has an article estimating what each of them would have made; most of them are at around $100K, Sheldon and Bernadette maybe a bit more, Amy a little less, and Penny's waitress salary (based on the CA minimum wage + tips) is estimated at around $50K, while her pharma rep range is estimated at $75-150K depending on what kind of bonuses she might get. How all that compares to the cost of living in Pasadena at the time, I don't know, but they weren't poor (well, maybe Penny was, relatively, in the beginning).

I also have no way to compare that to Mandy and Georgie's likely mid-90s income as a waitress in a small-town Texas diner and a tire store employee/tow-truck driver. 

[Yeah No]

9 hours ago, ams1001 said:

ScreenRant has an article estimating what each of them would have made; most of them are at around $100K, Sheldon and Bernadette maybe a bit more, Amy a little less, and Penny's waitress salary (based on the CA minimum wage + tips) is estimated at around $50K, while her pharma rep range is estimated at $75-150K depending on what kind of bonuses she might get. How all that compares to the cost of living in Pasadena at the time, I don't know, but they weren't poor (well, maybe Penny was, relatively, in the beginning).

I also have no way to compare that to Mandy and Georgie's likely mid-90s income as a waitress in a small-town Texas diner and a tire store employee/tow-truck driver. 

That's very interesting, but the article doesn't say if that's in today's money or back when the show was on the air. Actually $100,000 a year is not bad but it's also not that great in an area where the cost of living is 60-65% above the national average. Where I live it's only 4% less than that higher number not factoring in rent/mortgage and that wouldn't be considered spectacular money here (although when you factor in housing my area is 2% higher than Pasadena!). I remember when Penny got the pharm. job the show pushed her as one of their best salespeople so I guess the show was trying to get us to think she'd be at the higher end of the pay scale.

[Dimity]

10 hours ago, Yeah No said:

I am almost ashamed to admit how many times I've seen every episode so I'd have to see some proof on this because I am am pretty sure that Penny never got back into debt after she became a pharmaceutical salesperson. After she got that job she not only paid off her own debt but paid Leonard back the money he spent when he bought her a car (which he didn't want to accept but then they decided to use it on something for both of them)

In the season nine episode "The Big Bear Precipitation" we find out that Penny has massive credit card debt and that she hates her job.   We also find out that Leonard has a secret bank account that he hasn't told Penny about because he knows she's bad with money. 

And as you so rightly point out this makes no sense at all.  At all!  And completely contradicts what we learn about Penny and Leonard's finances in the episode you mention.  Penny has her money invested in a "diversified portfolio" and suddenly out of nowhere Leonard is still paying off student loans and has no money to spare (which is contradicted in almost every single other episode).

And they are doing the same crap with Georgie and Mandy.  Despite his tender years Georgie is the responsible one and Mandy is heavily in credit card debt.  They even pull the same thing with her debt as they did with Penny's where money is owed because of a debt created by as ex boyfriend.

Anyway of course Mandy has lots of debt, she's a woman, amirite?  Lorre isn't all that original when it comes to how he prefers to negatively portray the women on his shows.

Edited December 8 by Dimity

[Yeah No]

14 hours ago, Dimity said:

In the season nine episode "The Big Bear Precipitation" we find out that Penny has massive credit card debt and that she hates her job.   We also find out that Leonard has a secret bank account that he hasn't told Penny about because he knows she's bad with money. 

That's interesting, I always thought that line referred to her past credit card debt from prior to her getting the job and before they were married that she didn't tell him about, not present debt. Like it was still a sore subject with Leonard that she never told him about it and he opened the account because he didn't trust her with money as a result. But I presumed that it had been paid off because of the way they were depicting Penny after she got the new job. But I see how it could mean present debt, although that would contradict a lot.

14 hours ago, Dimity said:

And as you so rightly point out this makes no sense at all.  At all!  And completely contradicts what we learn about Penny and Leonard's finances in the episode you mention.  Penny has her money invested in a "diversified portfolio" and suddenly out of nowhere Leonard is still paying off student loans and has no money to spare (which is contradicted in almost every single other episode).

Yeah, the one where she tells Leonard he really needs to get some money and a "guy" (meaning a financial advisor). And I know that in at least one other instance she offers to lend Leonard money. So that would make no sense.

BBT did those kinds of things all the time. It would fill a full sized book to chronicle them all. Like in that very same episode during that game of "Never have I ever" Sheldon admits to having been arrested for jaywalking which seems to be a big surprise to the others. Meanwhile he was arrested earlier in the series at least once when he talked back to a judge trying to defend himself over a moving violation. He also once said early in the series that he was allergic to cats but then when Amy broke up with him he filled his house up with cats. The list goes on.

15 hours ago, Dimity said:

And they are doing the same crap with Georgie and Mandy.  Despite his tender years Georgie is the responsible one and Mandy is heavily in credit card debt.  They even pull the same thing with her debt as they did with Penny's where money is owed because of a debt created by as ex boyfriend.

Anyway of course Mandy has lots of debt, she's a woman, amirite?  Lorre isn't all that original when it comes to how he prefers to negatively portray the women on his shows.

Yeah, I don't like that at all. And on this show there's no way to imagine that Mandy is earning enough money to pay it off like I was imagining about Penny. But if she gets a job will that parallel BBT too? Will she get a job making great money and that will cause conflict between her and Georgie? Because he's not Leonard and would likely feel more threatened by a woman making more than he does. I think he would want to be the "big provider".

[proserpina65]

On 12/6/2024 at 3:33 PM, Dimity said:

This is a long standing debt though that her parents were aware of long before she had moved back home with a husband and baby, not at all saying they need to pay it off for her but it's odd to me that it was never an issue until they needed a reason to send Mandy back to work.  Plot Device.  Not something the writers gave any real thought to.

Doesn't seem odd to me at all.  Not all parents rush to pay off their children's debts.

On 12/7/2024 at 11:38 AM, ams1001 said:

If I had a bunch of credit card debt because I was irresponsible, I doubt they'd be bailing me out, other than letting me live with them (with a nominal rent), if I really needed to.

That's the same way with my parents.  They helped out with expenses when I moved, but my credit card debts were not going to eat into their retirement funds, and I wouldn't have wanted that to happen.

[possibilities]

And it's not even like we were led to believe that she got into debt for unavoidable reasons. I think it's crazy for parents to bail their adult children out of things like that.

Edited December 14 by possibilities

[iarwain]

10 hours ago, possibilities said:

And it's not even like we were led to believe that she got into debt for unavoidable reasons. I think it's crazy for parents to bail their adult children out of things like that.

If I were her parent, I wouldn't want to give her money to pay for a debt that was run up on her boyfriend.  If it had been something she really needed, i might have thought about it.

[chediavolo]

On 12/6/2024 at 3:54 AM, hoodooznoodooz said:

Unpopular opinion: I wish I had married a man like Georgie.

I find Georgie so charismatic and charming. 
 

I guess that I don’t pay close enough attention to see inconsistencies in his character. Sorry!

 

Another unpopular opinion: Kristen Bell, Kaley Cuoco, Emily Osment and this “Valerie” character actress are exceptionally gorgeous… because they have blonde hair?

I have always found a beautiful brunette actress to be far superior in looks  to a blonde one. Sultry, sexy, just gorgeous. I really never understood why men are drawn to a woman just because her hair is blonde. Yes a natural blonde is not as common but now most are bleached. 

[Yeah No]

1 hour ago, chediavolo said:

I have always found a beautiful brunette actress to be far superior in looks  to a blonde one. Sultry, sexy, just gorgeous. I really never understood why men are drawn to a woman just because her hair is blonde. Yes a natural blonde is not as common but now most are bleached. 

Yes, it has always irked me that average looking blondes would get all the attention meanwhile more attractive brunettes felt like chopped liver by comparison. As a brunette that never went blonde, I remember that well when I was young. But thankfully there are a lot of men out there that actually prefer brunettes, and interestingly many of them are fair haired themselves. Viva la difference! 😉

[iarwain]

1 minute ago, Yeah No said:

As a brunette that never went blonde, I remember that well when I was young. But thankfully there are a lot of men out there that actually prefer brunettes, and interestingly many of them are fair haired themselves. Viva la difference! 😉

I believe it has been shown that statistically men prefer brunettes.  I've been through phases where I have preferred one or the other.  But hair color has never been a deal breaker.  Now if you are looking for rarity, then you are looking at redheads.  Which is also very attractive.

[chediavolo]

7 hours ago, Yeah No said:

Yes, it has always irked me that average looking blondes would get all the attention meanwhile more attractive brunettes felt like chopped liver by comparison. As a brunette that never went blonde, I remember that well when I was young. But thankfully there are a lot of men out there that actually prefer brunettes, and interestingly many of them are fair haired themselves. Viva la difference! 😉

This was me and my blonde haired best friend back of the day. Not saying I was a sultry beauty, but I did have beautiful, thick brown hair and an awesome figure which I can say now because, well that’s gone! But don’t you know all the guys flocked to Blondie, who was tall and skinny and not not very pretty quite frankly, but it was the Hair! 

7 hours ago, iarwain said:

I believe it has been shown that statistically men prefer brunettes.  I've been through phases where I have preferred one or the other.  But hair color has never been a deal breaker.  Now if you are looking for rarity, then you are looking at redheads.  Which is also very attractive.

Agree. Redheads are rare and can be quite becoming. I don’t want this to become all about looks but as humans we are attracted to well, the attractive. Nothing wrong with being plain and nothing wrong with being beautiful. I just don’t think blondes should be the be all end all.  

[Yeah No]

1 hour ago, chediavolo said:

This was me and my blonde haired best friend back of the day. Not saying I was a sultry beauty, but I did have beautiful, thick brown hair and an awesome figure which I can say now because, well that’s gone! But don’t you know all the guys flocked to Blondie, who was tall and skinny and not not very pretty quite frankly, but it was the Hair! 

Yeah that was me too, although being petite was another drawback in a way because some men liked taller women (although again, some men actually prefer petite women!). But I had a nice figure, well proportioned and pretty face and blue eyes. Lots of hair too. And if I hung out outside a lot in the Summer my hair would get lighter by itself. Then I found out thanks to my DNA profile that it's a genetic tendency. Although it was never lighter than medium brown.

[iarwain]

2 hours ago, chediavolo said:

Nothing wrong with being plain and nothing wrong with being beautiful. I just don’t think blondes should be the be all end all.  

Have you heard the concept that guys fool around with the blonde and marry the brunette?

[chediavolo]

21 hours ago, Yeah No said:

Yeah that was me too, although being petite was another drawback in a way because some men liked taller women (although again, some men actually prefer petite women!). But I had a nice figure, well proportioned and pretty face and blue eyes. Lots of hair too. And if I hung out outside a lot in the Summer my hair would get lighter by itself. Then I found out thanks to my DNA profile that it's a genetic tendency. Although it was never lighter than medium brown.

Yes, my hair actually got to the point in the summer where some people thought I was a “ dirty blonde”.  Blue eyed brunettes are quite a pretty combo.