photo fox February 1, 2015 Share February 1, 2015 Louis and Jessica clash over how to raise the kids and how to run the restaurant. When the boys get straight A's in school, Jessica decides that their school must be too easy and takes it upon herself to give them more homework and tutor them after class. She takes the same strict approach at the restaurant (no extra croutons for anyone!), so it's up to Louis to get her to lighten up on everyone. Link to comment
photo fox February 5, 2015 Author Share February 5, 2015 "Enjoy your stick, white friends." Lol 6 Link to comment
Valny February 5, 2015 Share February 5, 2015 (edited) The crouton stealing bit was quite funny. (or was that in the pilot?) Man, I hope the restaurant does better business. I enjoyed both eps, I'll keep watching. Edited February 5, 2015 by Valny Link to comment
pookat February 5, 2015 Share February 5, 2015 I like the show so far and I think this episode was an improvement over the pilot. Even the cringeworthy accents seemed to mellow a bit in this episode, but I really enjoy how Randall Park and Constance Wu play off one another. Hudson Yang plays Eddie with just the right mix of posturing and vulnerability. Bottom line is that I love solid humor with genuine heart. That plus the 21 years that have elapsed between the only two Asian-American sitcoms to air on network TV has made me root for this show that much more. Did anyone else notice the placating Blackish ad that aired telling us not to worry, they'd be back next week in their regular timeslot? It kind of made me wonder if ABC thought that airing two solid hours of "ethnic" family sitcoms (Goldbergs, Blackish, FOB) was too much for one night, so they temporarily shelved the Jewish and Black families to make room for the Asian family but kept The Middle and Modern Family in their usual spots. Way to ease middle America into diversity, ABC. 11 Link to comment
VCRTracking February 5, 2015 Share February 5, 2015 "We didn't say 'I love you' to each other. We expressed love through criticism and micromanagement." And with that line the show had me. It's so true for my family! Also love Louis talking to those guys who were about to dine and dash. Then later Jessica hitting them with her car and knocking out the one guy running with an onion! (guy lying on the ground)"My body feels cold!" Jessica:(offhand) It's shutting down. 12 Link to comment
galax-arena February 5, 2015 Share February 5, 2015 Chinese Learning Center? What, Kumon ain't doing it for you? The identical reactions of Eddie and the other kid to their very different grades killed me. 6 Link to comment
Skittl1321 February 5, 2015 Share February 5, 2015 Did anyone else notice the placating Blackish ad that aired telling us not to worry, they'd be back next week in their regular timeslot? It kind of made me wonder if ABC thought that airing two solid hours of "ethnic" family sitcoms (Goldbergs, Blackish, FOB) was too much for one night, so they temporarily shelved the Jewish and Black families to make room for the Asian family but kept The Middle and Modern Family in their usual spots. Way to ease middle America into diversity, ABC. I thought it was more that the Wednesday night line up was incredibly popular, so they were going to use it to expose the audience to a show they probably wouldn't have bothered to turn on on a Tuesday. No way they are replacing Modern Family for the night, so Blackish and The Goldbergs took the week off. If The Middle had been directly before or after Modern Family, I bet it would have been one of the ones to go. 2 Link to comment
joanne3482 February 5, 2015 Share February 5, 2015 I loved the two younger boys' grades and the tag at the end trying to explain what trumped what. Clouds are good unless they are rain clouds, then they're bad... "Oh she said you were an alligator with sunglasses." Hysterical. While I know the show is basically about Eddie's story, I do love the youngest of the two younger boys, the one who is the total kiss up. Every time he wrote down what Eddie did wrong I cracked up. 1 Link to comment
solotrek February 5, 2015 Share February 5, 2015 I loved the two younger boys' grades and the tag at the end trying to explain what trumped what. Clouds are good unless they are rain clouds, then they're bad... "Oh she said you were an alligator with sunglasses." Hysterical. The reaction of the 2 kids when their mom called the teacher crazy cracked me up. What a ridiculously hilarious convoluted system. While I know the show is basically about Eddie's story, I do love the youngest of the two younger boys, the one who is the total kiss up. Every time he wrote down what Eddie did wrong I cracked up. I hope we get to know the kids better as opposed to them just being really different from Eddie. Also, is the grandma just there to deliver random Chinese lines when needed? She seems to not exist otherwise. Link to comment
lilacgirl February 5, 2015 Share February 5, 2015 Also, is the grandma just there to deliver random Chinese lines when needed? She seems to not exist otherwise. I was wondering the same thing. Link to comment
Zalyn February 5, 2015 Share February 5, 2015 Also, is the grandma just there to deliver random Chinese lines when needed? She seems to not exist otherwise. Maybe she's being established as "just being there" from Eddie's perspective first? Link to comment
Nidratime February 5, 2015 Share February 5, 2015 While I know the show is basically about Eddie's story, I do love the youngest of the two younger boys, the one who is the total kiss up. Every time he wrote down what Eddie did wrong I cracked up. And the third kid strikes me as one of those live and let live, flower children. Everything rolls off his back and he doesn't even have to try to be liked. (I can see the former characteristics being a problem for the mom in the future.) 1 Link to comment
peeayebee February 5, 2015 Share February 5, 2015 I keep forgetting that this show is set in the past. For instance, when the principal informed the parents about the guy handing out drug stickers, I thought that was weird. Then I read a review where the guy said this really resonated with him because he remembered the scare about LSD stickers. I liked this ep better than the pilot. Loved the younger boys' report cards. I also like the boy next door. I hope he's a regular. So funny when he threw the basketball at the trampoline, and it bounced back into his face. Then the broken stuff and all the things in his driveway at the end made it fun to imagine what he was doing. I liked the "I love you" bits, esp when Jessica said it then made an almost cartoony exit off screen. 2 Link to comment
OpieTaylor February 5, 2015 Share February 5, 2015 This episode was really funny! I'm actually kind of jealous of how academically demanding the mom is - wish I'd been a little harder on my kids. But then I'm not as smart as this mom, either! She does need to lighten up in the restaurant though - hilarious! Link to comment
photo fox February 5, 2015 Author Share February 5, 2015 I keep forgetting that this show is set in the past. For instance, when the principal informed the parents about the guy handing out drug stickers, I thought that was weird. Then I read a review where the guy said this really resonated with him because he remembered the scare about LSD stickers. Yes! I hadn't thought about the oddity of the LSD stickers, although I do remember the scare. But I did notice the hideously high-waisted "mom" jeans. I thought they were trying to make a reference to Jessica being out-of-step with her style, but in the 90s they would have been totally "in". (I'm always distracted by them on Friends reruns as well.) Link to comment
Skittl1321 February 5, 2015 Share February 5, 2015 I totally remember drug stickers. But I thought it was that you stuck them on your skin and the drugs absorbed. I mean- why would you lick a sticker? (You lick a temp. tattoo) Link to comment
PRgal February 5, 2015 Share February 5, 2015 I was forced to do Kumon when I was a kid (early late 80s/early 90s). It was probably 99% East Asian and the remaining 1% were a few white Jewish kids (not a lot of South Asians at that particular centre). Yep. Rings true. The actual slide shows (rather than PPT) reminded me of those bad ol' days, too... (by high school, teachers preferred overheads, since they can reuse the sheets). 2 Link to comment
mojito February 5, 2015 Share February 5, 2015 The crouton stealing bit was quite funny. I realize that this was a comedy. But a restaurant where employees handle the food? That wasn't acceptable 40 years ago, let alone 20. That's just not sanitary; I'm surprised the writers left that alone. The show reminded me of Norman Lear comedies focusing on black people in the 70s. A bit too heavy-handed with the ethnic humor. It took a long time for comedies featuring mainstream black people to evolve ("227"); hopefully, the Asian comedy won't take so long. But no, this wasn't as bad as "The Jeffersons" or "Good Times". Bring on other Asians: Vietnamese, Iranians, Indians, Pakistanis, Indonesians, etc.! And let's not forget the continent of Africa or the Caribbean, either. Soon, as in "227" and "Bernie Mac", we'll be able to watch non-whites on TV without being reminded constantly that they're non-white, yet we will still understand the humor of the situations they're in. (I give "black-ish" a pass because it's about a guy trying to come to terms with a more racially tolerant world, while his family isn't carrying his same baggage.) Skittl, have you ever licked a sticker to adorn a piece of paper? Or even a postage stamp? Link to comment
Auroraborealus February 6, 2015 Share February 6, 2015 I have to say, this show, while not perfect, has gotten off to a nice start. Yes, there is some absurdity because, well, sitcom, but there's also a very genuine quality about the experiences many children of immigrants share. As a 1st generation Korean American who grew up with completely fobby (and totally amazing) parents I found a lot I could relate to and look back on my own childhood with wry amusement. Much better than the TBS show Sullivan and Son which I watched eagerly and then dumped in disgust after maybe 5 episodes of overblown, obnoxious, cartoonish stereotypes trotted out for cheap laughs. 2 Link to comment
peeayebee February 6, 2015 Share February 6, 2015 But I did notice the hideously high-waisted "mom" jeans. I thought they were trying to make a reference to Jessica being out-of-step with her style, but in the 90s they would have been totally "in". Doh! See, I noticed the jeans and wondered why she was wearing such out-of-date pants. Link to comment
MaryMitch February 6, 2015 Share February 6, 2015 That glass of "iced tea" with 4 teabags hanging out made me gag. A restaurant in the South that doesn't know how to make iced tea? They better fix that, pronto! I like this entire family. I know a couple families that are just like that (except the parents' English isn't as good, but their written English would put you to shame). 2 Link to comment
PRgal February 6, 2015 Share February 6, 2015 The kid Eddie was having a conversation with while waiting for report cards was a bit sadd. We know that Eddie was jealous of the white kids because he was stuck being after school tutored by his mom, but the kid seeing Louis playing basketball with his sons kind of broke my heart. Glad that the kid was asked if he wanted to join in. If Eddie is the "Kevin Arnold" of the series, I wonder if this kid is going to be...Paul... Link to comment
Skittl1321 February 6, 2015 Share February 6, 2015 Skittl, have you ever licked a sticker to adorn a piece of paper? Or even a postage stamp? A sticker no- isn't that the point of a sticker? It sticks. Yes, a postage stamp I have, but the show said sticker. 2 Link to comment
Shermie February 6, 2015 Share February 6, 2015 Well, fancy-pants rich kids had self-adhering stickers, but when I was a kid, you licked stickers. Remember sticker/colouring books? They had pages to colour and a page of stickers, one for each page. The spot was outlined in a dotted line. Those were always lick-and-stick. What a random memory. I'm not sure how I feel about the show yet. The mom is great, acting-wise, but her character is too much. What good is being cheap in the restaurant if it drives all the customers away? Better to have 100 customers and make a dollar on each one, than to have 5 customers and profit 3 each. And if the jukebox is 25 cents a song, but it costs 35 cents to play it, then charge more. Duh. And why is the napkin choice to have none or a huge stack? I know they wanted the jokes, but it has to make sense. 2 Link to comment
ridethemaverick February 6, 2015 Share February 6, 2015 This episode was OK but I didn't enjoy it as much as the pilot. I really hope the Tiger mom stuff isn't a major theme of the season. The first couple of jokes were funny enough but it's going to get old fast if they keep at it. I could also do without the grandmother if she's just going to be a setup for Eddie's jokes. 1 Link to comment
twoods February 6, 2015 Share February 6, 2015 I hope the restaurant does well. I really like the dad- he seems like a great guy and I like how he's respectful to his staff. I hope the mom calms down with her craziness or else she's going to drive away the customers. The neighbor kid and longing for his dad is so sad. I laughed at all the families celebrating straight C's because I remember everyone's parents being happy about B's and my mom freaking out because I got an A-. I never brought ethnic lunches to school but my clothes always smelled of curry. Link to comment
DB in CMH February 6, 2015 Share February 6, 2015 I realize that this was a comedy. But a restaurant where employees handle the food? That wasn't acceptable 40 years ago, let alone 20. That's just not sanitary; I'm surprised the writers left that alone. The show reminded me of Norman Lear comedies focusing on black people in the 70s. A bit too heavy-handed with the ethnic humor. It took a long time for comedies featuring mainstream black people to evolve ("227"); hopefully, the Asian comedy won't take so long. But no, this wasn't as bad as "The Jeffersons" or "Good Times". Bring on other Asians: Vietnamese, Iranians, Indians, Pakistanis, Indonesians, etc.! And let's not forget the continent of Africa or the Caribbean, either. Soon, as in "227" and "Bernie Mac", we'll be able to watch non-whites on TV without being reminded constantly that they're non-white, yet we will still understand the humor of the situations they're in. (I give "black-ish" a pass because it's about a guy trying to come to terms with a more racially tolerant world, while his family isn't carrying his same baggage.) Skittl, have you ever licked a sticker to adorn a piece of paper? Or even a postage stamp? Cristela is doing a good job of it this season. The first few episodes were like lead with constantly reminding the audience that they're incredibly Latino and all whites are racists, but the show has backed off of that and has become far better for it. It haven't seen Black-ish, but ABC is doing a great job this season. I enjoyed FOTB and hope all three make it to next season, although likely only Blackish will. As for the stickers, yes, back in the 80s as a kid I used to covet magazines that had tons of these stickers. Covet them as in "plead with my grandmother to buy them, but she never did." Link to comment
rozen February 6, 2015 Share February 6, 2015 Ha, the CLC bit brought back so many memories. My mother would run her own version of it during the summer, I only got 2 weeks of 'real' vacation, and even then she'd still force to go through my flashcards whenever we were traveling anyplace. I def remember looking out the window at the happy and frolicking children and wondering what happiness felt like. 4 Link to comment
Skittl1321 February 6, 2015 Share February 6, 2015 As for the stickers, yes, back in the 80s as a kid I used to covet magazines that had tons of these stickers. But this show took place in the mid-90s! Sticker technology had progressed! Well, fancy-pants rich kids had self-adhering stickers, but when I was a kid, you licked stickers. This made me laugh out loud. I like to use this line a lot. My husband and I joked about lunchables and I said I never got them because we weren't rich. But I think it was actually because they were total crap. 3 Link to comment
qtpye February 6, 2015 Share February 6, 2015 (edited) This episode was really funny! I'm actually kind of jealous of how academically demanding the mom is - wish I'd been a little harder on my kids. But then I'm not as smart as this mom, either! She does need to lighten up in the restaurant though - hilarious! Believe me, sometimes there is a very dark side to this type of demanding academic excellence. I remember a L&O where this Eastern European guy would lock his daughters in the basement all day and make them kneel on uncooked rice, until they had solved these very complex math problems. Of course because this was a Law and Order, it ended in tragedy. I am sure this show would never go that dark and so far I am enjoying it. I wish I would have once presented one of my all A report cards to my parents with such swagger. Edited February 26, 2015 by GenL fixed quotes Link to comment
ridethemaverick February 6, 2015 Share February 6, 2015 "This episode was really funny! I'm actually kind of jealous of how academically demanding the mom is - wish I'd been a little harder on my kids. But then I'm not as smart as this mom, either! She does need to lighten up in the restaurant though - hilarious!" Sorry...my quote function is not working. Believe me, sometimes there is a very dark side to this type of demanding academic excellence. I remember a L&O where this Eastern European guy would lock his daughters in the basement all day and make them kneel on uncooked rice, until they had solved these very complex math problems. Of course because this was a Law and Order, it ended in tragedy. I am sure this show would never go that dark and so far I am enjoying it. I wish I would have once presented one of my all A report cards to my parents with such swagger. Right and given the depression and suicide rates in many of these high-achievment at all costs cultures, I don't think it should be glamorized. I think balance is great and I like that the mom let the kids play outside in this episode. 1 Link to comment
pookat February 6, 2015 Share February 6, 2015 And if the jukebox is 25 cents a song, but it costs 35 cents to play it, then charge more. Duh. According to closed captioning, the cost was 2.5 cents per song, which made Jessica's reaction even funnier to me. 1 Link to comment
AyeshaTheGreat February 6, 2015 Share February 6, 2015 I just finished the second episode and thought it was funny. I won't lie, I don't think I've ever seen so many east Asians on a TV show at one time. Especially children. The little brothers are cracking me up. Eddie is good too but the little one who was placed in charge was great. Mom in the restaurant is bad but hopefully she will learn some balance. She was right about the croutons. While she was looking at it from a cost perspective, someone should have mentioned how it's unsanitary. As for the CLC, I am sure I heard of these things later in life but didn't think about it growing up. I wouldn't have mind extra study as a kid but I can see how it can be too much. Link to comment
Unraveled February 6, 2015 Share February 6, 2015 I never experienced "CLC" (or the Korean version of it, "Hagwon"), but it is still pretty prevalent in the US. In South Korea, it is pretty mandatory (and costly since these are done for-profit). After having moved to a more metropolitan area in my adulthood, they are apparently pretty prevalent among immigrants in the US too. I guess it's good if you have half-decent teachers/tutors, but I think most of them are unnecessary. I actually like how that turned out. The parents really do care about their kids and want them to be prepared for their adulthood. Being academically challenged is much better than getting straight As and not being prepared for your later years. The neighbor kid was sad, and I think Eddie got how great his parents are. I guess his dad works in sports or something. (Wasn't his last line about watching a sports game and trying to spot his dad?) Link to comment
PRgal February 6, 2015 Share February 6, 2015 I never experienced "CLC" (or the Korean version of it, "Hagwon"), but it is still pretty prevalent in the US. In South Korea, it is pretty mandatory (and costly since these are done for-profit). After having moved to a more metropolitan area in my adulthood, they are apparently pretty prevalent among immigrants in the US too. I guess it's good if you have half-decent teachers/tutors, but I think most of them are unnecessary. I actually like how that turned out. The parents really do care about their kids and want them to be prepared for their adulthood. Being academically challenged is much better than getting straight As and not being prepared for your later years. The neighbor kid was sad, and I think Eddie got how great his parents are. I guess his dad works in sports or something. (Wasn't his last line about watching a sports game and trying to spot his dad?) But not every kid wants or needs to be too academic. And it's usually STEM subjects that the parents are obsessed with. What if someone likes literature? Why can't a kid be well-rounded? What's wrong with a bit of tennis? I think some Asian parents are way too focused on (certain) academic subjects. Link to comment
raiderred1 February 6, 2015 Share February 6, 2015 (Wasn't his last line about watching a sports game and trying to spot his dad?) "in the stands." I'm pretty sure that is what he said. Pretty sad. Link to comment
solotrek February 6, 2015 Share February 6, 2015 (edited) But not every kid wants or needs to be too academic. And it's usually STEM subjects that the parents are obsessed with. What if someone likes literature? Why can't a kid be well-rounded? What's wrong with a bit of tennis? I think some Asian parents are way too focused on (certain) academic subjects. I think it's funny you mentioned tennis. Tennis was something that every Asian had to take private lessons in in my area and swimming for the boys (not sure why not girls beyond learning to swim) and be on the school teams for. [ETA: oh year, the Chinese girls had to be part of the traditional dance groups] The influx of both of those is the reason that 2 very big professional institutes have opened up in the area to facilitate that. Not to mention piano and violin (suzuki of course) or some other acceptable second instrument. Asian parents know what colleges are looking for. grades, if going into STEM then+ research, sport, instrument, academic clubs/competitions, other non-academic club, language school. Do the CLC books have answers in the back? Otherwise with all the extra work they're doing, would they know if they're getting the right answers? Might be hard to learn if you're not sure you're leaning the right thing. Edited February 6, 2015 by maculae Link to comment
Skittl1321 February 6, 2015 Share February 6, 2015 Do the CLC books have answers in the back? Otherwise with all the extra work they're doing, would they know if they're getting the right answers? Might be hard to learn if you're not sure you're leaning the right thing. Isn't that what "Mom tutoring us" is about? Presumably she was checking the answers. As a kid, my Mom went to the teacher supply stores and bought workbooks for us to do in the summer. She would buy the teachers guide for her to use to check the answers. Most of the kids I knew did something similar to this, and we were just middle class white kids; but of the variety where it was expected we go to college, but nothing amazing. I guess I though that was normal. It certainly wasn't excessive like 3 hours of CLC on a school night though. Link to comment
solotrek February 6, 2015 Share February 6, 2015 Isn't that what "Mom tutoring us" is about? Presumably she was checking the answers. I mean I guess I'm asking if there's a step by step answering process. Like if you get the answer wrong, does it tell you how to get the right answers? I remember having some awful books back in the day that did just tell the answer or have some convoluted explanation of how to derive the answer which confused me more than anything. My dad was able to figure out what went wrong or what concept I had misunderstood, yelled at me, and then corrected me. I was wondering if those type of books have that step by step process. So even if it's someone not a math prodigy like my dad watching over the studying, would they be able to do the same thing. Otherwise, it's the most counter productive thing ever. One thing that really amused me during the CLC scenes. When the younger brother was writing up the infractions, the actor was clearly not writing what he was saying. He was either scribbling or drawing a line. Kind of made me laugh, because you might as well look like you're pretending to write what you're saying. Link to comment
galax-arena February 6, 2015 Share February 6, 2015 (edited) Do the CLC books have answers in the back? Otherwise with all the extra work they're doing, would they know if they're getting the right answers? Might be hard to learn if you're not sure you're leaning the right thing. My mom would buy the math books with answers in the back. Just the answers, I don't think it showed the work or anything. One book she got was of subpar quality and a lot of the answers turned out to be wrong.... which we found out when Mom marked all of my brother's answers right and mine wrong, and I protested indignantly, so Mom did the math herself and found out that I was right. And then my brother got in trouble for copying all of his answers from the back of the book. I don't think my bro was too happy with me for that, lmao. If we were FOtB characters, I'd definitely have been one of the pesky younger siblings... probably the youngest one that's a pain in the ass; I didn't have as much swag as Emery. (That's the one who made friends without trying and had a girlfriend who brought him soda, right?) Edited February 6, 2015 by galax-arena 2 Link to comment
JellyFishQueen February 7, 2015 Share February 7, 2015 (edited) Some random thoughts.. I liked that the main boy isn't a dork. He reminds me of old school Zach Morris or Mike Seaver or will smith from Fresh Prince. I mean I am a dork; I would fit in the big bang theory. But there allot those characters on shows nowaday so it would nice to see cool guy instead of dorky one. All thinking there cool; though I do wonder if the Goldbergs would do a crossover? The main character from that show as adult in the 90's visiting? Does Orlando have asian community? I grew up near Boston and Maine so I'm having trouble context. Isn't Orlando metro city? So it isn't really red neck in the area I mean the family from DC. How different is DC from Orlando? Can't be much difference? Also the narrator not really workin for me, he is really funny and I like his voice but they don't really use him enough. Edited February 7, 2015 by JellyFishQueen Link to comment
arc February 7, 2015 Share February 7, 2015 I keep forgetting that this show is set in the past. For instance, when the principal informed the parents about the guy handing out drug stickers, I thought that was weird. Then I read a review where the guy said this really resonated with him because he remembered the scare about LSD stickers. But the fashions are so 90s, Eddie's constantly name-checking Shaq -- who was big nationwide in 1995, but I have to imagine he basically owned Orlando back then --, and the music is so very 90s hip hop. Also the narrator not really workin for me, he is really funny and I like his voice but they don't really use him enough. Half-agreed. I don't even think he's that funny, but he's mostly unnecessary, and he's silent for long stretches so when he pops back in to wrap up the episode I'm genuinely surprised each time. I never had this problem with Everybody Hates Chris or Arrested Development, both of which had very chatty narrators. Hmm, despite that Vulture piece that went up before FOTB aired, I guess the real Eddie Huang is the narrator. Go figure. I love the brothers. The middle one has pretty great deliveries. Hudson Yang (Eddie) has a much larger acting burden than the two kids playing Emery and Evan, of course. I suspect that esp with Hollywood rules limiting child actor time, that might have accounted for a couple of weird edits - hard to get the right takes otherwise? And the parents panicking that Eddie got straight As because it was a sign the school wasn't hard enough -- brilliant. I don't think I've ever seen that particular spin on the joke about hardass Asian parents before. I never had to go to Kumon or anything like it, because I was extremely good at math and science with a bare minimum of effort. *buffs nails* I'm really enjoying the little details too. Colorlines wrote about Jessica cutting fruit and eating it right off the knife, but it also tickles me that the family rice bowls are clearly plastic. Dunno if that was just for production's sake or if it's an intended detail, but probably the latter -- they totally sound like plastic, which could easily have been faked if they'd wanted. Link to comment
TigerLily20 February 7, 2015 Share February 7, 2015 My husband found out about this show a few months ago and was able to preview the pilot online and was instantly hooked. He is first generation and a good bit of this rings true with him growing up. I love the mother and think she does a great job delivering the lines, also loved the one son (youngest?) writing up the infractions. Looking forward to this season. Link to comment
Ms Blue Jay February 8, 2015 Share February 8, 2015 (edited) I'm totally obsessed and in love with the show, it makes me very happy. Right and given the depression and suicide rates in many of these high-achievment at all costs cultures, I don't think it should be glamorized. I think balance is great and I like that the mom let the kids play outside in this episode. My mom is Asian, so if the show was based on my mom, the glimpses of heart and niceness that the mom shows would be rather unrealistic :) But this is a sitcom, so it definitely makes sense and helps to have a balance. Edited February 8, 2015 by Ms Blue Jay 1 Link to comment
Camera One February 9, 2015 Share February 9, 2015 I thought this second episode was definitely funnier. I found the main two actors' accents very distracting in the first episode, but I didn't notice it as much in this one. In the pilot, it sounded like they were both talking in weird monotone. Of course, it's unrealistic for them to have perfect American accents, but I'd prefer that to weird fake new-immigrant accents. I do find the little brothers, and the mom funniest, though she was way overboard at the restaurant. Not giving people a single napkin was not good business, though handing them out when people didn't need them was bad too. I think she's supposed to be smart, so she should have realized that. Was hitting people with the car in the autobiography? That was hard to buy. I'm not a huge fan of sitcoms without laugh tracks, so I was surprisingly engaged by this show. It reminded me a lot of "Everybody Hates Chris" with the narrator... Link to comment
Hanahope February 9, 2015 Share February 9, 2015 I had to chuckle at the two younger boys with report cards filled with stickers and it reminded me of a time when schools went a little overboard with the whole self-confidence, A for effort bit and did away with grades. The wife overly micro-managing the restaurant was funny. Hopefully she'll dial it down a notch or two too. Raise the price of a song on the juke box! 1 Link to comment
Skittl1321 February 9, 2015 Share February 9, 2015 (edited) I had to chuckle at the two younger boys with report cards filled with stickers and it reminded me of a time when schools went a little overboard with the whole self-confidence, A for effort bit and did away with grades. I worked in graduate admissions at a major university. I once came across transcripts from a regionally accredited university that didn't give grades to their students. I had to give it to my supervisor, because I had NO idea how to code the transcripts from the person's Bachelor's degree. There was just a summary sentence of their performance in each course Better than a rainbow and a unicorn, but not by much. Edited February 9, 2015 by Skittl1321 Link to comment
PRgal February 9, 2015 Share February 9, 2015 I had to chuckle at the two younger boys with report cards filled with stickers and it reminded me of a time when schools went a little overboard with the whole self-confidence, A for effort bit and did away with grades. The wife overly micro-managing the restaurant was funny. Hopefully she'll dial it down a notch or two too. Raise the price of a song on the juke box! Glad I was in high school by then. My elementary school (in the 80s) had letter grades, followed by a number for effort. A 1 meant excellent effort, a 2 meant very good, etc... Link to comment
Dagny February 10, 2015 Share February 10, 2015 I found the main two actors' accents very distracting in the first episode, but I didn't notice it as much in this one. In the pilot, it sounded like they were both talking in weird monotone. Of course, it's unrealistic for them to have perfect American accents, but I'd prefer that to weird fake new-immigrant accents. I read an article where the actress met the real mom. She actually toned her down for the show. Link to comment
Ghost Bear February 11, 2015 Share February 11, 2015 How different is DC from Orlando? Can't be much difference? HUGELY different. Orlando's a wannabe-metropolitan city with a larger older-white-snowbird population. It's struggled for years to create some sort of identity for itself that isn't "Disney" or "theme park." Whenever I go back there to visit family, I'm constantly in awe of just how white-middle class-blase the place still is. And have a sore neck from the constant "smh" moments when encountering locals. (Or my family.) I currently live in DC but grew up in Orlando (through my teen years), so the cultural disparity totally rings true for me. Link to comment
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