Grandfathered - General Discussion

[valdawn]

I like this show it makes me laugh and keeps me interested for the time allotted. My main complaint that bugs me every episode is that I wish Gerald had a job or they at least represented him having some kind of drive to find one. Living in his moms guest house with a daughter to support and no job makes me lose respect for the character more and more every week.

[Mrs OldManBalls]

Paget Brewster and John Stamos are a great team. 

[MaryMitch]

When Jimmy had to put on his reading glasses to read the text messages, I literally laughed out loud. Because that's what I have to do too!

[joanne3482]

I like this show it makes me laugh and keeps me interested for the time allotted. My main complaint that bugs me every episode is that I wish Gerald had a job or they at least represented him having some kind of drive to find one. Living in his moms guest house with a daughter to support and no job makes me lose respect for the character more and more every week.

It seems like they're setting him up to start becoming more successful. His app worked and I would imagine there's a market for it. The new girlfriend seems to be challenging him where his mother didn't. I kind of like that. 

 

I love how Annalise wanted to be a soul singer - which I thought seemed so stereotypical - and then she was so horrible at singing.  That really impressed me.

 

I love that she knew she couldn't sing but went up on stage anyway. I liked Annalise as the voice of "reason."  I think that there are a lot of people being told the "follow your dream/follow your passion" thing but in reality we can't all do that so we do our passion on the weekends. 

[l star]

I'm enjoying seeing Jimmy getting into his new dad role. I also appreciate how easily everyone has adjusted to these new roles. There are still some kinks in it all but everyone is rolling with it. I guess it helps that everyone else already knew and dealt with it all before the pilot so it was just Jimmy. And since Jimmy doesn't seem to be broken up over getting an extra 25 free years from Sarah's secret, he's getting along fine too. Still, it's nice to see him stretch his wings in the role.

 

Vanessa still grates on my last nerve but since it led to both Annalise's dressing down and her awful performance, I'm all good. Plus it came with that adorable 'peekaboo' moment with Edie. That child is precious! But really, what happened to Sarah taking pictures of Vanessa's butt for her social media business? That pairing was at least funny and not pulled out of left field. Plus while my Vanessa hating heart may have appreciated the trash talk, the girl is trying. She's young, she's raising her kid and figuring family out, and she's working at her dreams. A reality check was needed but help with direction would be more valuable to her.

 

The girlfriend is bad news. Maybe not for the reasons initially thought but any relationship that after only a week gets someone changing their diet/wardrobe/lifestyle, selling their things to pay for expensive gifts or trips, and has to be constantly defended against everyone else in your lives that think it is bad news is bad news. I give it another week before she tries to 'improve' how Edie is parented. Or gives a backhand compliment/suggestion to Sarah about anything.

 

Paget Brewster and John Stamos are a great team. 

They seriously are. They have this vibe where I sometimes think that while the character is supposed to be laughing, really it is just as much one of them being cracked up by the other. Or just totally charmed by the other. Somehow it makes me think that they could hook up anytime and it would seem perfectly logical but since I'm  not being hit over the head with tension and longing anvils, everything is fine as is for now.

 

When Jimmy had to put on his reading glasses to read the text messages, I literally laughed out loud. Because that's what I have to do too!

I did too! What made it for me was the rhythm of it- she gasps, he realizes he doesn't get it, puts the glasses on then gasps. It totally got me.

[iMonrey]

I about died when Annalise started singing and she turned out to be so horrible. That was easily the funniest moment of the whole series thus far. But I do like how Jimmy is being protective of Gerald, and in the end I think he's going to be right about the new girlfriend. She seems like bad news. In fact I expected Gerald to reveal she dumped him in that last scene but I guess she's going to be around for at least another episode.

[Julie23]

The gasp, reading glasses, delayed gasp was the highlight of the episode for me.

[slasherboy]

What made it for me was the rhythm of it- she gasps, he realizes he doesn't get it, puts the glasses on then gasps. It totally got me.

 

 

The gasp, reading glasses, delayed gasp was the highlight of the episode for me.

 

There can be fancy schmancy and complicated scripts from here to the ends of the Earth, but it's little moments like these that make a show shine.  And this moment truly did.  Good job guys.

[bichonblitz]

I want to love this show and The Grinder because of Stamos and Lowe (my two all time celeb crushes) but I find myself losing interest half way through each. I start doing other things around the house and never get to the finish of either show. 

[Bruinsfan]

I really liked that this time they dropped the reluctant irresponsible father bit for Jimmy. He was all-in on spending time with Gerald and helping him get over Vanessa from the word go, and the only way his Peter Pan syndrome showed up was in faux-dating a contemporary of his son's new girlfriend to mine her for info. (I also appreciated that he at no point had a genuine interest in Priya, but just made it abundantly clear that every interaction he had with her was for Gerald's benefit.)

[LVmom]

I find myself hoping this show will grow some serious legs now that the kinks are beginning to work out. The terrible singing, the gasp sequence, it all gelled. It gives me hope that people will wander into this show now that they've dropped Jimmy as an idiot father and made him just an amatuer but very enthusiastic father. It works much better this way.

[mansonlamps]

I don't really care for this show, but I felt the episode deserved a thread at least.

[Irlandesa]

I actually thought this was the best episode of the series.  I thought it was hilarious and touching at the same time. 

 

I also think this character is my favorite Andy Daly guest star role. 

[MaryMitch]

I liked seeing evidence that Jimmy can actually cook!

[tomatoflyer]

Meh, this email email episode returned to the "Jimmy acts like a jerk but learns a powerful lesson" thing.

[possibilities]

I liked Gerard calling Jimmy out on acting worse that G had acted as an 8 year old. It made me hopeful that the show might be turning a corner from "lesson of the week" for Jimmy, to something a little more like "what's next after the initial adjustment?" J is no longer the long lost daddy G idealizes, and G is acting like more of an adult in his presence. Maybe I'm too optimistic, but that's what I'm hoping for.

[JasmineFlower]

I didn't like Jimmy calling out Gerald, though I appreciated where he was coming from. Seemed like an opportunity for him to realize Jimmy isn't who he should be mad at. Those stories of him not having a father shouldn't be directed at Jimmy. I get that this is a comedy so it's not going to be dealt with, but his mom continuing to skate is kind of amazing. And she let someone else parent her son, but didn't give Jimmy the opportunity, something we only are now finding out about until just now when it seemed like it was just the two of them.

 

I enjoy this show as is, so I don't mind really that Sara has been able to act as if this is all on Jimmy. But I was a bit surprised she had no involvement in that storyline, like she wasn't solely responsible for how Gerald felt growing up and how she created a situation where Jimmy would feel jealous of another man being a father to his kid when he was never given the opportunity until a few months ago.

 

Still enjoyed the episode. Agree it was great to see evidence that Jimmy can actually cook. And as always, it was great to see Andy Daly, he continues to nail every role he plays.

[mansonlamps]

I didn't really appreciate Gerald calling out Jimmy either. I don't know, the show seems too preachy to me and everyone patronizes Jimmy all the time. Oh, hey dad, I was so much more grown up than you when I was eight you ass. Wait til Edie gets old enough to talk and be wiser and more mature than Jimmy too. No thanks.

[Mrs OldManBalls]

I'd forgotten about Jimmy's date until the walked in all sunburned. Guess she didn't get that job she needed a base tan for. 

[l star]

I think a huge part of the reason Sara skates is because Jimmy is still too hung up on her romantically to call her on what she made him miss out on as a father. Plus Jimmy may be jealous now that there is a man standing in front of him 'in his spot', but that's very different from wishing he had been there years ago instead. Would Jimmy have cared nearly as much if Bruce had been a picture sitting around the house instead of the man helping Gerald with Thanksgiving, playing with Edie and making out with Sara? I'm picturing a perturbed shrug at most. When the time comes that Jimmy honestly wishes he had been able to share a moment with Gerald as a kid and feels a loss, I think then the issues with Sara will come up. But I don't see that happening anytime soon. And I'm good with that. That needs a time.

 

Like many others that I know, I think Gerald holds Sara up for working her ass off to raise him happy and healthy and refuses to truly put blame on her for the situation. He respects her choice because of how he sees her rather than agreement with her. Finding out that he did have a father figure goes a really long way towards this making sense to me too.

 

Gerald going off on Jimmy didn't bother me. I think Jimmy took it fully as a father comparison to Bruce but I think it was more than that. Jimmy showed up with a half-naked date. Did he even mention her name when he was introducing her? A date whom he later forgot and let burn like a lobster in the front yard. He took over Edie's crafts to the point of not letting her help at all so that he could get out of there as fast as possible. He clearly and unapologetic-ally did not want to be there until he got jealous of Bruce. I think that did deserve Gerald going off on him. And the reality is that regardless of fault (which is clearly Sara's), Bruce was there when Jimmy wasn't. I was glad by the end that Jimmy stepped back and let that be.

 

Bruce was okay but Vanessa's boredom really made this episode for me. I loved her teasing and pushing with Sara. It was out of place but it just seemed so perfect for the character and the boredom that I have felt when sharing holidays with other people so many times. There's just no outlet for the boredom in those situations. I also loved her cooking the cranberry sauce and putting out the fire with champagne.

 

I was okay with Bruce except for two things- the awkward gobble train and the hand holding at the end. That came too fast for me. I admit that I'm pulling for Sara/Jimmy and that is biasing me here but I wasn't feeling it. They did have some chemistry though so I could get there. As long as Sara and Jimmy continue to give each other shit. Finding out that Bruce was jealous too also helped. That eased up a lot on the perfect father edit he was getting.

 

I still find the guy employee more cringe worthy than funny but I laughed out loud when it was revealed that Annalise was in a Black Friday line.

[possibilities]

The kid who plays Edie was doing some hilarious improv tonight. What was her commentary on horse pee? I like that the show left it in.

[alexa]

This episode was a little better for me due to the change in focus.... not about Jimmy screwing up... he actually did something smart--encouraging his son to you know, like actually have a job?  I think over time his joblessness and lack of motivation will make me appreciate Jimmy, which is sad really.  (that is if I am still watching!)  :-)

[LVmom]

I thought last night was cute, and gelled much better. I'm glad they're at least giving this show a shot, because it really has potential once the kinks are ironed out.

[iMonrey]

I thought it was cute but I'm a little concerned that Gerald is such a loser. Not to go all old fogey on everyone but he seems like he represents a typical problem with kids of his generation, this sense of entitlement and vague idea he doesn't need to really work a regular job, he can just come up with some "apps" and get rich off them. And his mother enables him by supporting him financially so he's not really motivated to do anything. You have to wonder what he'd do if he didn't have a free place to live and the mother was suddenly out of the picture. 

[tomatoflyer]

Meh. I'm so over Gerald. Way too much of a man child for my tastes.

[MaryMitch]

What kind of job does Sara have? Because for a single mom, she has a pretty nice place with a guesthouse in LA.

[mansonlamps]

What kind of job does Sara have? Because for a single mom, she has a pretty nice place with a guesthouse in LA.

Seriously what is with the guest house? What regular person has that, especially in California with real estate prices?

Edie is very cute, as is Stamos. That's pretty much all I've got.

[Irlandesa]

Not to go all old fogey on everyone but he seems like he represents a typical problem with kids of his generation, this sense of entitlement and vague idea he doesn't need to really work a regular job, he can just come up with some "apps" and get rich off them.

I think anytime we generalize a generation, especially with a "kids these days..." attitude, we get even older than we actually are.  I supervise people this age and they're no more entitled than any other generation I've worked with.

 

 And his mother enables him by supporting him financially so he's not really motivated to do anything. You have to wonder what he'd do if he didn't have a free place to live and the mother was suddenly out of the picture. 

Honestly?  I think he'd be fine and he'd make it work.  He's not unmotivated.  He just works a lot on things that don't pay him.  But he's smart and when he put himself into being a good host, he became a good host.  And he did end the episode with a job. 

[ae2]

Have we seen the actual guest house? I know they've called it that, but Sara can hear Gerald when he is showering and he can hear her in her bedroom. So I assumed it's really a mother in law style apartment that is part of the house itself, rather than a separate guest house. 

[xander874]

 

What kind of job does Sara have? Because for a single mom, she has a pretty nice place with a guesthouse in LA.

I think she's a social worker, which I can't imagine would pay for that swanky house. I chalk it up to the sitcom cliche of people living above their means.

 

Have we seen the actual guest house?

I don't think we have but it does have an outside entrance. It's probably more of an apartment attached to the house. But then again maybe mommy has really loud sex with the windows open.

[mtlchick]

To state the obvious: HAVE MERCY.  http://www.today.com/popculture/john-stamos-shows-his-derriere-magazine-shoot-photoshoot-t60266

[Bruinsfan]

What kind of job does Sara have? Because for a single mom, she has a pretty nice place with a guesthouse in LA.

I thought she was a psychiatrist? If I'm not mistaken, the peer she set Jimmy up with was a doctor as well. It made sense to me regarding the somewhat affluent lifestyle, she's two decades past being a clueless struggling single mother.

[juliet73]

Some people in Cal convert their garages into guest houses or pool houses, etc. I'm assuming that's where Gerald lives... In the coverted garage.

[Rae Spellman]

What kind of job does Sara have? Because for a single mom, she has a pretty nice place with a guesthouse in LA.

 

Maybe a therapist. An LCSW. Licensed Clinical Social Worker. 

 

I think she's a social worker, which I can't imagine would pay for that swanky house. I chalk it up to the sitcom cliche of people living above their means.

 

While plenty of social workers are underpaid and work with the poor, what we saw of Sara's workplace made me think she's working as a therapist in private practice. Her clients may be upper middle class people who are paying $85+/hour for therapy with her. Years into her career and with good marketing skills she could be making a pretty good living. 

 

That said, as someone who is employed as a social worker, I don't get Sara, a woman with an advanced degree in social work being okay with her son just hanging out unemployed in the guest house. My older colleagues' twenty-something children have jobs. And, while I know plenty of millennials (family, colleagues, neighbors) who live with their parents, they also tend to be employed. Especially, if their parents worked three jobs at some point in their childhood. 

Edited December 27, 2015 by RaeSpellman

[Bruinsfan]

Before "Gerald's Two Dads" I thought the angle they were playing was that Sarah was fine with infantilizing Gerald so she could keep him around all the time in creepy Oedipal fashion. But it seems she actually did have healthy outside relationships and interests while raising him, so I'm not sure why she's so chill about her mid 20s son being an unmotivated slacker that sponges off of her.

Edited December 30, 2015 by Bruinsfan

[SnarkySheep]

My personal take on this ep was that Gerald really needed a slap of reality, which it doesn't seem he's gotten from Sara. Yes, I get that she'd want to give him a place to live; she doesn't want him to suffer. But he's a father now, which means he needs to put his own whims aside in order to provide for Edie. He doesn't (or shouldn't) have the luxury of playing the kid role at this point, turning his nose up at jobs he thinks he won't like or are beneath him. As he well knows, his own mother worked her tail off to support him; yet Gerald seems content to let Mom still pay the bills while he works on apps. It's wonderful to have a dream, but at this point that's something Gerald should be doing in his spare time, not in place of gainful employment. 

[mansonlamps]

That's the problem with this show for me. Gerald acts so superior to Jimmy all the time while having few redeemable qualities himself. And, because it can't be said enough, Jimmy did not skate out on his fatherly duties, he wasn't given the opportunity to be a part of Gerald's life.

[frenchtoast]

After hearing that Jimmy hasn’t been to the doctor in more than 10 years, Sara and Gerald trick him into seeing their family doctor for a routine physical, which results in an unsettling discovery. Meanwhile, Gerald and Vanessa stress over Edie’s upcoming surgery, and Annelise and Ravi stumble upon Jimmy’s secret safe.

[Bruinsfan]

I get the feeling Jimmy not going to the doctor in forever might have been at his previous doctor's request.

 

Hilarious that the safe wasn't actually a big secret, he'd just overlooked telling Annelise and Ravi about it.

[Julie23]

I think my favorite part of this episode was the Annelise and Ravi B plot. Those two are comic gold together.

[MaryMitch]

I laughed out loud when Jimmy was leaving his apartment and turned off the "bonsai trimming music".

[iMonrey]

I also thought it was funny when Ravi suggested maybe Jimmy had sex tapes in the safe and Annelise said "No, he keeps those right here." And they're right on the shelf next to her out in the open. 

 

There's still a weird dynamic between Gerald and Vanessa I don't get. Her character feels out of place most of the time. I actually think the show would work better if Gerald was just a single dad and had only his mother (and Jimmy now) helping him raise Edie. Vanessa just feels like a fifth wheel.

[designing1]

Yes, Vanessa can leave anytime now, perhaps in a "very special episode". I don't care for Gerald, either, but I guess he's the glue that holds the otherwise interesting main characters together. Annelise and Ravi are golden second bananas, and I like the way the show uses the other restaurant employees for throwaway bits.

[ProudMary]

https://twitter.com/TVGrimReaper/status/684769994039689216

 

 

TV Grim Reaper ‏@TVGrimReaper  10h10 hours ago
#Grandfathered ratings (1.0) as bad as they were most of the Fall, but given Fox ratings collapse still could go either way.

 

[Ms Blue Jay]

People's Choice Awards 2016

 

Favorite Actor In A New TV Series

 

Chace Crawford
John Stamos, Winner
Josh Peck
Rob Lowe
Zachary Levi

[Ms Blue Jay]

All of these points are very interesting.  My mom thinks my brother is BEYOND the bee's knees but he certainly had to work as a teenager on up and my mother's highest fear/shame is if her kids do not have a job :)  (My older brother and I had our first jobs as children -- not teenagers.)

 

Irlandesa, I can't believe there is someone else out there who dislikes generalizations based on age as much as I do.

Edited January 7, 2016 by Ms Blue Jay

[mansonlamps]

More importantly, what show is Chace Crawford in? I must have missed that one.

[biakbiak]

More importantly, what show is Chace Crawford in? I must have missed that one.

The awful Blood and Oil.

[Bruinsfan]

I'm just thankful Lowe didn't win it.

[bichonblitz]

There must be as much pressure in Hollywood for the men to be thin as there is for women. John Stamos looks positively skeletal. If the camera adds 10 lbs, I can't imagine what he looks like in person.  Still hot as hell, though. Just an observation.