Season 2 Discussion

[peeayebee]

I didn't pick up on that, and I don't think that was intended. Ramadad!

 

The opening was gold, as so many of the show's openings are. Dre's lame Father's Day was hilarious. Walking into the kitchen and finding this note:

happy F-day
went to movie
egg in pan.
Regards,
kids

 

just cracked me up. The old fried egg in the pan, the same #1 Dad cup he's gotten for umpteen years. Loved it. And then there's the contrast with Bo's Mother's Day. Caviar omelettes, dozens of roses. Fantastic. Loved the kids climbing into bed with her and then causing Dre to roll out of bed.

 

Bo saying that Jr's not a dog and then patting the couch, kiss-kissing, and saying, Come here, boy, was great.

 

Jr: You're standing in a field of corn, 'cause I'm all ears.

 

I was sure that Jr had an ulterior motive for going overboard with being nice to Bo, but I like it more that he simply went overboard.

 

The way Ruby strolls out of the room cracks me up.

 

Ruby: I remember the first time Dre cooked car meat I let him stay in the bath with me an extra 2 hours. -- Two punchlines in one line!

 

Pops: A son is just a disappointing photocopy of yourself.

 

Pops: CeleDRE good times, Come on! It's a CeleDREshun.

 

Did anyone else FF past the fake commercial and then have to go back, because I did. It was a pretty good commercial.

 

Zoe's Daddy's Day party was pretty sweet. Daddy's pearls of wisdom was clever.

Edited October 15, 2015 by peeayebee

[Dee]

I thought it was a nice touch that Resheida's father wasn't an absentee dad or an abusive monster.

He just wasn't as attentive as she would've liked.

[meep.meep]

"On to the liquor store!"

 

Jr. did a perfect Andre impersonation in the kitchen with the twins.

[Duke2801]

Oh wow, I totally did not realize that was Zendaya playing Zoey’s friend.  The hair “switcharoo” is genius!

 

Soooo did I miss an episode where they explained that Ruby lives there now too?  Or lives really close by? Because she is there all.the.time now.  I like her much better in smaller doses.  Maybe once every 4 or 5 episodes.  OTOH, there can never be too much Pops for my liking!

 

When Dre's mom made him eat that giant bowl of Cream of Wheat, well, I had flashbacks. My grandpa made my cousin and I eat two huge bowls of oatmeal because we cooked way too much. It was my least favorite day of my childhood. (We never finished it, our moms got us out of it halfway through.) But usually, at his house we enjoyed Cream of Wheat.

 

 

My 2 'traumatic' food events were Sugar Smacks and eggs!  LOL.  Isn’t it funny how we remember those. 
And my grandma had a bowl of Cream of Wheat EVERY single morning.  For real.

 

Pops: A son is just a disappointing photocopy of yourself.

 

 

And Dre's follow up line - "that’s what he wrote in my 10th birthday card  - killed me.

[DearEvette]

Did they get Morgan Freeman to voice the Daddy's Day commercial?

 

They Morgan Freeman'd us.  LOL.  Just like Pops did with Zoey.

 

My 2 'traumatic' food events were Sugar Smacks and eggs!  LOL.  Isn’t it funny how we remember those. 

And my grandma had a bowl of Cream of Wheat EVERY single morning.  For real.

 

My traumatic food event was less an event and more like a childhood reality -- Frosted Flakes.  This was the only cereal we were allowed to have as kids because it was the only cereal my dad liked.  Once in awhile we snuck in some Captain Crunch... oh how heavenly.  To this day I can't do Frosted Flakes.  Sorry Tony.

 

 

Anyway, This show is on fire this season so far!

I loved the cold open, and the graphics of Father's Day cowering in the shadow of Mother's Day.

 - Also Bow's expression at Dre when he mentions Daddy's Day.  Actually Bow had so many awesome expressions.

- I also really liked the Bow-Junior subplot.  Especially her suspicion he was only being nice to her because he wanted a new Wizard hat.  The actor who plays Junior sells the hell out of sweet, smart-clueless Junior.

- Finally a really strong Zoey episode and she delivered as well.

Edited October 15, 2015 by DearEvette

[luckyroll3]

Pops: A son is just a disappointing photocopy of yourself.

 

Followed by Dre's: "That's exactly what he wrote on my 10th birthday card."  Lol!

[funkopop]

My mom would tell us the story about her father lining up her and her siblings and giving them a spoon of castor oil and an RC as some sort of medicinal magic before school started back each year.  She won't drink RC to this day because of it.  

[Winston Wolfe]

Special kudos to anyone who recognizes my childhood traumatic food event: Beef Tripe.  Almost five decades later, I still have nightmares.

[Joimiaroxeu]

I didn't pick up on that, and I don't think that was intended. Ramadad!

You're probably right. "The first two stations of the daddy!" is what made me wonder. But I guess there are other holidays that have multiple stages of celebration too.

 

childhood traumatic food event

Mine was boiled cabbage and neck bones. I don't eat pork anymore so whatever but the smell of boiled cabbage still makes me want to vomit.

[Happytobehere]

I continue to love this show. I'm enjoying Season 2 so much, perhaps even more than Season 1.

I can see myself buying this series when the complete series dvd comes out because I can see myself wanting to rewatch so many of these episodes.

[Bronzedog]

Special kudos to anyone who recognizes my childhood traumatic food event: Beef Tripe.  Almost five decades later, I still have nightmares.

You win!

[BoogieBurns]

You win!

 

Right? I just had to eat some cold oatmeal. "Beef Tripe" is so much worse. Stomach should not be eaten. (And yes, I had to Google it!) 

[SnarkKitty]

It was a swipe at all holidays - they're all made up!

[red12]

I am in the minority here because I didn't like a lot of this. Charlie calling that girl a bastard to her face and talking about how she seemed clean and loved in spite of what was going to happen to her was OTT. I understand that OTT is Charlie's wheelhouse, but having him look a kid in the face and say that sucked. I understand Zendeya is over 18, but the character was not and there wasn't even an eye roll from anyone else in the room as a response.

I also thought it would have been more effective to have the team trying to rebrand Father's Day for cool, modern, involved dad's as a way to generate revenue from what was previously a clunker of a holiday instead of trying to create a whole new holiday. Depict old school Father's day as a boring, unfulfilling thing for old guys who came home from work and sat in a chair while Daddy's Day is for New Jack dads. Some illusion to Cosby sweaters could have worked too since this storyline was a callback to Cosby's complaints about Mother's Day vs. Father's Day.

[luckyroll3]

Special kudos to anyone who recognizes my childhood traumatic food event: Beef Tripe.  Almost five decades later, I still have nightmares.

Mine is Ensure, because my Caribbean grandmother thought I was too skinny and needed to be fattened up.  So I had to choke down endless cans of Ensure daily.

[peeayebee]

I am in the minority here because I didn't like a lot of this. Charlie calling that girl a bastard to her face and talking about how she seemed clean and loved in spite of what was going to happen to her was OTT. I understand that OTT is Charlie's wheelhouse, but having him look a kid in the face and say that sucked. I understand Zendeya is over 18, but the character was not and there wasn't even an eye roll from anyone else in the room as a response.

The thing is, she wasn't a bastard. Presumedly her parents were married when she was born, and still are. It's like, say, if her parents were vacationing in Europe and Charlie called her an poor orphan. It's not true, so we can laugh at it. Now, if her mother was never married, and Charlie called Resheida a bastard, then that wouldn't have been funny.

[tennisgurl]

I love this show so damn much!

 

Daddys day is not anywhere as near as awesome of a name as Ramadad. 

 

This was like the opposite of that episode of The Middle where Frankie (the mom) complains about how Mothers day sucks, and Fathers day is awesome, but in reverse! 

 

On to the liquor store!

[shura]

put a screeching halt to Bow and Junior snuggling in front of Before Sunrise, which is a good thing.

 

Could have been worse. At least he didn't pick a Helen Mirren movie.

 

Did anyone else FF past the fake commercial and then have to go back, because I did. It was a pretty good commercial.

 

I did! Or at least started to fastforward, but then realized it was part of the episode. Well done, it really was a good commercial that looked like a commercial. 

 

It cracked me up how the suits at Dre's presentation explained their walking out when he started saying cringey things about Zoe's friend. They didn't exactly object to what it sounded like, they just coudln't "be associated with that." 

 

Charlie: "I'm gonna go get focused."

Edited October 17, 2015 by shura

[red12]

The thing is, she wasn't a bastard. Presumedly her parents were married when she was born, and still are. It's like, say, if her parents were vacationing in Europe and Charlie called her an poor orphan. It's not true, so we can laugh at it. Now, if her mother was never married, and Charlie called Resheida a bastard, then that wouldn't have been funny.

Understand your point I just disagree that referring to a child as a bastard is funny if they come from a traditional, nuclear family.

[BoogieBurns]

At least he didn't pick a Helen Mirren movie

 

Good thing!

[ari333]

My mom would tell us the story about her father lining up her and her siblings and giving them a spoon of castor oil and an RC as some sort of medicinal magic before school started back each year.  She won't drink RC to this day because of it.  

 

WHAT? Oh dear god. And I thought MY family was cray. :)

[Athena]

The commercial killed me. I laughed out loud at the "Whose your Daddy?" ending.

 

I liked Zendaya on this show. I haven't seen her in anything else really or listened to her music, but I've liked her style for awhile.

[Joimiaroxeu]

a Helen Mirren movie

I'm not familiar enough with Helen Mirren's work to get this reference. Would it be Shadowboxer, the one she where she played Cuba Gooding Jr.'s lover? Or even worse, The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover?

[Rinaldo]

I'm not familiar enough with Helen Mirren's work to get this reference. 

It's Season 1 of Black-ish you need to be familiar with. Specifically, "The Talk."

[BoogieBurns]

In season one, Junior says he sometimes pictures Helen Mirren when he... well... touches himself. 

 

ETA: Tie, Rinaldo!

Edited October 17, 2015 by BoogieBurns

[DearEvette]

Oh, my yes.  it would have been great if it were a Helen Mirren reference.  Wonder how many people would have caught it?

 

Junior: "You know who really gets me there?  Helen Mirren."

 

LOL.

[mtlchick]

Shoutout to those who also had to eat Cream of Wheat.  I didn't eat it all the time but when I saw my mom cooking it in the mornings where I had to go to skating, it took all my willpower not to choke while eating it.  

 

I never thought THIS would be the show that would bring up memories for me.  But when it's this kooky and well written, I'm all for it.

 

The downside?  Zoe really struggling to talk.  Poor girl had a bad cold going on.  

[romantic idiot]

And I think ban against the C-word is mostly an American thing. Or maybe not. Honestly i'm with the camp that refuses to let words have a lot of power, while also acknowledging that some words are not worth the hassle of using. 

[luckyroll3]

We had cod liver oil.  Ugh!

[Rinaldo]

I agree with you, and here's an interesting (to me) bit of cultural info from last night's "Live from Lincoln Center" telecast of a concert (with dialogue and staging) of Show Boat. (A show that comes up early in a course I teach, History of Musicals.) The show famously used the N-word extensively as part of its picture of life along the Mississippi in the late 19th century, was criticized for this rather soon, and since 1946 the word has been edited out of dialogue and lyrics in various ways. (When I started teaching the course in 1999 I felt able to say the word, carefully and in quotation marks so to speak, as part of the history of the work; in the last 15 years the climate has changed such that, as romantic idiot said, it's not worth testing the principle, and I use a paraphrase or bypass that topic entirely.)

 

Anyway, I was interested to see that this performance restored perhaps a dozen utterances of the word -- not in the opening lyrics of the show (and I'm not advocating for its restoration there), but in dialogue as spoken viciously by the bigots in early scenes of the story, or by others angrily echoing them. It's dramatically effective, but I hadn't expected to see this choice made in 2015. I rather wish there had been a short segment afterwards, as PBS sometimes airs, in which the director or adapter explained the reasoning behind the decision.

[romantic idiot]

What is an RC?

[fishcakes]

RC Cola. I still see it in stores occasionally next to the Coke and Pepsi and wonder who buys it.

 

I don't remember having to eat or drink anything disgusting for medicinal reasons, but when I was a kid pretty much everyone I knew had a bottle of mercurochrome in the medicine cabinet. It was basically liquid mercury that you'd paint on a cut or scrape. The FDA eventually banned it, but not until long after everyone moved on to Neosporin.

Edited October 17, 2015 by fishcakes

[twoods]

Zoe is such a bratty teen. At least she was better at the end but I still don't like the way she treats her parents (and how they let her talk to them without getting upset). Junior continues to crack me up, and Zendaya was pretty awesome.

Edited October 17, 2015 by twoods

[jhlipton]

I FFed over the "Daddy's Day" ad, too, and only picked it up when I rewound. That was awesome!!!

Charlie: "I'm gonna go get focused."

With the "focus powder" he keeps in his desk!

[jumper sage]

I'm out!  This show just doesn't work for me.

[OnceSane]

Dre's nieces and nephews who have a tendency to roughhouse join the family for Halloween, and Dre thinks they could help his kids learn to be tougher. Meanwhile, Dre's cousin who used to torment him makes a surprise visit.

[Granny58]

Love this show, but extra loved this episode.  

[mtlchick]

That moment where Jenifer Lewis spits out "I've never been dramatic" and gets angry and I say "OMG, that is my mother." 

[Rinaldo]

One incidental bit I loved was pointing out how some people seem to think that "Jew" is a horrible objectionable word. (And so they sent her off to HR, after the truly unconscionable things that had otherwise been said during that meeting. Like so many of their meetings.)

 

Also: It's not an original perception, but they really got hold of magic with Marcus Scribner. He's going to be a household name a decade from now.

Edited October 22, 2015 by Rinaldo

[Dee]

Diane spending her Sundays in court mandated therapy had me howling.

[Mama No Life]

This episode really resonated with me because I too am a no person.  I didn't find it to have as many LOL moments....no Pops and little Zoey....but i still found it amusing. 

[luckyroll3]

This episode had me howling because it rang so true.  When we first moved to Miami from the islands, we found a local Methodist church.  This was a "white" church, and the services were never longer than 45 minutes, followed by 15-20 minutes of food and conversation.  Then everyone promptly left.  Very unlike the 3+ hours of service followed by the 2+ hours of whatever else the adults were doing afterwards that we were used to.  I couldn't stop laughing when they were at the black church and after an hour and half, they were just getting the actual services started.  Lol!

 

Oh my god, and Junior on stage in his too short Easter suit tambourine jamming along with the band.  His ass would have gotten left. 

[Empress1]

I was raised in a black Episcopal church and the service was 90 minutes. My grandmother was Baptist and sang in the choir, and she was in church from sunrise to sunset (two services). We hated going to her church. Loved Ruby's outfit though!

Bow's face at the end when Junior was on stage had me cracking up.

[ChromaKelly]

Diane spending her Sundays in court mandated therapy had me howling.

"It's not working!"

"At ALL!"

That was the best. I love TER's line delivery and the reaction faces she makes.

"Culturally speaking" had me cracking up too. I need to use that as a way to get out of something. Also the Jew part was funny as hell.

Edited October 22, 2015 by OnceSane

[hendersonrocks]

SO GOOD.

 

Is this the first time Bow and Dre have really talked about Diane being legit crazy, though? It seemed like the court-mandated therapy, mentioned twice, kind of came out of left field. It's funny to us as viewers because we see her machinations but I don't recall there being anything like this brought up before.

 

Junior in his too short suit, up on the stage rocking out, almost made me cry.

 

And this episode was Ruby at her best.

[Boofish]

Dre - "Is anyone at this Church ok?" I laughed a good 10 minutes. Oh I remember so well the Church announcements.

 

I also loved "I co-signed for my pastors Bentley. My son can't get a hot lunch but I'm going to Heaven" Charlie

 

This episode was absolute GOLD and Junior is that too small Easter suit, the too big "black church" Steve Harvey collection suit and the Christmas suit at the end was my favorite part. It showed just how CEO they were that all his special suits were too small

[Lila82]

Maybe as a practicing member of the tribe, the "Jew" jokes went right over my head, but this was the most I've enjoyed Ruby since her first appearance.  Her Stellaesque trip to Jamaica, and resulting photo evidence, was hilarious.

 

I appreciate how the writers handled religion in more  general terms.  When done right, there's a real sense of community that's hard to find anywhere else. 

[Shermie]

Man, I would love a church that mashed up the enthusiasm of the "black church" with the brevity of the "white church". The white church is much like mine, except we do know more than one song. Not sure what that references. It is hard to get WASPy types to look like they're enjoying the music, though.

The Jew thing was hilarious.

jumpersage, out of curiosity, why did this episode send you "out"?

[Empress1]

Junior is that too small Easter suit, the too big "black church" Steve Harvey collection suit and the Christmas suit at the end was my favorite part.

"Steve Harvey collection suit ..." you know you wrong for that! Ha!

[ari333]

"How sweet it *IS* to be LOVED by YOU"

OK I just ear-worm, rick-rolled you guys. :)

 

I'm an ass.