Season 2 Discussion

[SmithW6079]

Was the actor playing Charlie unhappy? Why leave a successful show for another, untried one? Is he a lead in that one, versus a supporting player in "blackish"?

[peeayebee]

It looks like it's a bigger role, but I'm just guessing. Also, it has some good creative people behind it.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

It looks like he is one of the four leads on Angie Tribeca which means job security (which means more air time than he gets on black-ish, as well as more money).

His costars are Jere Burn (awesome on Justified), Rashida Jones (Parks & Rec), and Hayes MacArthur (Wyatt on Go On but since only ten of us actually watched that show, he may be more recognizable as Curt the Ironman on How I Met Your Mother). Steve Carrell is one of the creators.

Hilariously, his character on the new show is named DJ Tanner! I expect one Full House joke per episode.

[jhlipton]

It looks like he is one of the four leads on Angie Tribeca which means job security (which means more air time than he gets on black-ish, as well as more money).

 

He may also feel that Charlie is a bit played out and wants to get out before everyone hates the character.

 

 But almost assuredly, mostly because Angie Tribeca is a high-profile show with awesome cast and crew (and probably mo' money!)

[ChelleGame]

 

I still laugh when I remember Charlie saying to Dre in an earlier episode, "Is the girl twin still stayin' with y'all?" When Dre said "yes", Charlie said, 

 

That line still kills me. Every time I see it.  I actually got choked up when he left. Google immediately. Sooooo bummed his departure is real.

[Boilergal]

Grew up with Fire & Brimstone services - an hour usually, except on Communion Sunday those always went at least an extra half hour and those were the two worst Sundays of the year.  Can't imagine 2 + hours

 

Junior totally fit in to the white church, I can see him going regularly alone.

 

I want to see one of Diane's court mandated sessions -

[vmcd88]

Charlie please come back.  I cant stand Wanda Sykes so I hope she is not there for long.

[mansonlamps]

Charlie please come back.  I cant stand Wanda Sykes so I hope she is not there for long.

Weird, I used to like her, not anymore. Not even really sure why.

[Shermie]

Dang, the kids were awful. Unpleasantly so. Amusing, but unpleasant.

[hula-la]

Can't remember how it started, but my family's Christmas Eve tradition is to eat KFC. It's the one time of year I eat it, but unlike Pops, we're fancy and don't eat it "out of the box".

[Good Queen Jane]

I am so going to sing "For He's A Jolly Good Savior" at my next Christmas party. Ruby was on fire in this episode.

[Cementhead]

My least favourite episode of my new favourite sit-com.   Not as bad as The Middle was, but just blah. 

[whatsatool]

The grandparents stole the show.

[Athena]

I miss Charlie. Wanda Sykes is not meshing with this cast at all.

[Duke2801]

Cementhead, on 10 Dec 2015 - 10:31 AM, said:Cementhead, on 10 Dec 2015 - 10:31 AM, said:

My least favourite episode of my new favourite sit-com.   Not as bad as The Middle was, but just blah. 

 

This. 

 

After such a fantastic Halloween episode, it's amazing how bad this one was. Just all around unfunny, awkward, and dumb. (and yes - same goes for the Middle)

 

And I officially want to throat punch Ruby. 

 

I miss Charlie. Wanda Sykes is not meshing with this cast at all.

 

 

This too!  I love WS and I adored her on The New Adventures of Old Christine.  But the office dynamic last night was NOT the same without Charlie - and Josh too. 

Edited December 10, 2015 by Duke2801

[teebax]

I love Wanda and like her on this show.Her reactions to Ruby's singing had me howling.  I also liked that Pops was back.

 

My mom told me she used to get an orange for Christmas, so Pops' giving Dre pickles rang true for me.

[tennisgurl]

I am glad that Pops is back, but I miss Charlie. I just kept imagining his reactions to everything going on. 

 

Not my favorite episode. Everyone came off as kind of bad, even if they did all learn a lesson at the end. 

 

I did like the running commentary on Dre and his love of pickles. At least that got a few laughs. 

[peeayebee]

I liked this ep. Yes, the kids were monsters, but you knew they'd change by the end. Well, Diane would try, but no promises.

 

I love when Jack kept trying to get clarity on the gift limit, and his siblings would shout, "SHUT UP, JACK!" I also loved when he said, "It's Christmas! We gotta play to wiiiiiin."

 

The pickles for Christmas, or whatever food was in the refrigerator, was funny, but when Pops explained it, I teared up. Lovely scene.

 

I want to find an opportunity to say, "Stay in your lane," to someone, but I'm not sure they would get it.

[Cementhead]

Echoing those of you who already miss Charlie.  I am a big Wanda Sykes fan and usually love her in anything I see but here, not so much.  I am sure it is because her presence is solely due to Charlie's absence.  So her being there just reminds me that Charlie isn't and he was a really important member of this ensemble.  :(

[DearEvette]

I like Wanda Sykes as a stand up and as just herself.  She is great on talk shows and has great one liners.  But she makes a terrible character actress because it is all 'her' that you see regardless of who the character is. 

[peeayebee]

I liked her a little more here than last week. It's a strange character though. Her out-and-out lying about Dre inviting her was as weird as when she acted last week like she came up with the binder on Charlie.

[angelamh66]

I am hoping after some time Wanda meshes a little better but count me among those who just missed Charlie. Favorite line for me... "Stay in your lane Rainbow." 

[ExplainItAgain]

Eh. Not the best episode. Certainly nothing compared to the church episode, which has been my favorite this year. If we're speaking culturally, that is.

[charmed1]

I feel like a traitor, because I support all the comedians out of D.C., but Wanda Sykes is just so unfunny to me and I hate that she's on this show. Whew. Now that I've gotten that off my chest, the only times I laughed during this episode were Happy Birthday Black Jesus and Dre's boss saying that Bow trolls the homeless shelters looking for organ donors. Please come back, Charlie.

[buttersister]

Oy, I know. I love Wanda but this isn't working. Unless she's going for the outsider vibe, in which case, maybe it'll work out over time. The anti-Charlie (do we know why he left?). The kids' zig zag wasn't so cute (but so predictable). Somehow Laurence Fishburne turns a pickle story into a "hey, something musta got in my eye" moment. So I guess I'd like that half hour back.

[SmithW6079]

Is Wanda Sykes going to be a regular? If so, I'm out. I can't stand her.

[Noirprncess]

I just found out that Deon Cole (Charlie) will be on another show on TBS starting in January. That show was already renewed for a second season before premiering. I wonder if that's the reason he's off the show for a bit.

[Dee]

Pops and Ruby make a fantastic team.

The Bow volunteering story was so half done it was embarrassing. The writers should have dropped it and devoted its time to the A story.

Still missing Charlie and Curtis.

Miles Brown's comic timing is getting better and better. Soon he'll be stealing scenes as frequently as Marsai does.

Love Wanda but she is an unnecessary addition, and with Tyra featured in the upcoming promos, it's clear black-ish's parade of unnecessary cameos won't be ending any time soon.

[tenativelyyours]

I  really like Wanda.  The problem for me is the grandparents.  I find them annoying.  So Wanda actually makes me want to ditch the home life and just have the show revoled around the office.  I always thought Charlie was written played too much to the one side and gave the show a weird unrealistic slant.  He could be funny at times.  But often it was too extreme for the level of comedy i felt the show was trying to deliver overall.  But then Ruby also does that for me.  I get some of the funny.  but she seems a sudden off note in the extremity her role delivers. 

 

I was kind of annoyed at this episode because I felt it tried to have it both ways.  Greed is bad but stuff is good as long as you are grateful.  Eh.  I hate how shows try to have a message though and that is pretty much all sitcoms.  Two Broke girls spends seventeen minutes telling bad dick jokes but manages to get a warm hug and this is what friendship is all about plug before going to the credits.  Modern family has a bunch of people ilustrate how to have a family that doesn't really mean much or matter if it gets in the way of your personal and often delusional happiness but then makes sure to actually tell you over and over again how it is really family that matters.  They tell you dammit.  How can you miss that with all your selfish antics for the last seventeen minutes?  the heavy handed and blatant family 'tie' that brings this home has Stevie wonder saying I saw that miles away.

 

This is a little better.  But I was kind of hoping it would embrace materialism fully.  I wanted something that I enjoy when it doesn't pull the punches to, well, hit Christmas and Stuff right in the mouth.  Instead it slapped it and then hugged it out.

[Mrs OldManBalls]

I miss Charlie. Wanda Sykes is not meshing with this cast at all.

I would have loved to see how Charlies does Christmas with his son. He and Pops probably would have had some things in common. 

 

I love Wanda and like her on this show.Her reactions to Ruby's singing had me howling.  I also liked that Pops was back.

 

My mom told me she used to get an orange for Christmas, so Pops' giving Dre pickles rang true for me.

 

I want to sing Happy Birthday, Black Jesus on Christmas morning. 

 

I used to get an orange in my stocking every Christmas. Never thought anything of it beyond how easy/hard it was to peel. 

[fishcakes]

It's traditional to put oranges in Christmas stockings. They represent the gold that St. Nicholas would leave as a gift. Pickles ... I may need to research that.

 

One thing I've been noticing in recent weeks is that you should always keep your eye on the actors who aren't speaking in a scene because their reactions and facial expressions add so much to what's happening. The way Pops was staring down Dre when Ruby was explaining that Black Baby Jesus gets gold, frankincense, and myrrh and Dre doesn't get "stuff" because Dre didn't die for our sins and then get resurrected -- Laurence Fishburne deserves an Emmy for that face alone. Junior and Jack are also really great in this regard.

[teebax]

Sorry, I should have been more specific. My mom told me that's all they would get for Christmas. They were very poor, living in rural NC during the 30s and 40s.

 

My mom always overdid Christmas for us, and she said it was because she never got anything besides an orange and wanted her kids to have better.

[TiffanyNichelle]

 

The Bow volunteering story was so half done it was embarrassing. The writers should have dropped it and devoted its time to the A story.

 

That's a big problem with the way the show tackles anything to do with Bow lately. Has she had a real storyline of her own since last season that wasn't about her looking like a fool to her family?

[Rockstar99435]

Plus, Bow is a doctor. If she were going to make an effort to volunteer more, wouldn't she donate her time/experience to a free clinic? Handing out food is something anyone can do. But helping people with their medical problems is something very few people can do.

 

In my family, we probably got more stuff than we needed, but we opened presents in a very organized way. We'd hand out one present to everyone and then they would each open that present in turn. Then we would hand out one more present, and repeat until all the presents are open. It stresses me out in movies/tv shows when the kids just rush in and rip everything open at once. How do you know if you missed any presents? Or if you're opening your own presents and not someone else's? How do you even notice the look of joy on the person's face when they've already moved on to the next four gifts?

[Driad]

I don't recall why Bow was expected to volunteer and Dre wasn't, but they could both join the local branch of the Medical Reserve Corps https://www.medicalreservecorps.gov which needs both medical and non-medical people. The volunteers help in emergencies and also organize non-emergency events such as flu vaccine clinics. (And yes, it requires a background check. Take that, Ruby!)

[teebax]

Plus, Bow is a doctor. If she were going to make an effort to volunteer more, wouldn't she donate her time/experience to a free clinic? Handing out food is something anyone can do. But helping people with their medical problems is something very few people can do.

 

In my family, we probably got more stuff than we needed, but we opened presents in a very organized way. We'd hand out one present to everyone and then they would each open that present in turn. Then we would hand out one more present, and repeat until all the presents are open. It stresses me out in movies/tv shows when the kids just rush in and rip everything open at once. How do you know if you missed any presents? Or if you're opening your own presents and not someone else's? How do you even notice the look of joy on the person's face when they've already moved on to the next four gifts?

We do ours by age, youngest to oldest. We used to have everyone open simultaneously, but then you miss what gifts were received and the reactions to them. My family is huge, so it takes forever!

 

Watching the kids just tear open their gifts like that was amusing to me, but not the way I'd like to do it.

[DarkRaichu]

Can't remember how it started, but my family's Christmas Eve tradition is to eat KFC. It's the one time of year I eat it, but unlike Pops, we're fancy and don't eat it "out of the box".

Did you go to KFC buffet ? :D  All you can eat fried chicken ;)

 

Wanda Sykes is only good in small doses.  This was already 1 episode too many.

[whatsatool]

For he's a jolly good Saviour.

[mansonlamps]

I really hated the kids in the beginning of the episode. Yeah yeah, Chistmas is commercial, blah, blah, blah, but their all encompassing self-centeredness was irritating.

And while kids got nothing but an orange or whatever in the 20's, '30's (my mom would get her old doll wrapped with a new homemade dress), that was depression era and hardly unusual. When was Dre a kid, in the 70', Christmas was as commercial as technology of the time would allow and kids got as much as their parents could afford for the most part. If Dre got pickles, it was a reflection of their finances and Pops hardass personality and was played for laughs, very well I thought.

My friend gets depressed every year because she gets her kids more stuff than the Kardashian's probably get, yet they don't bother to get up early or act excited the night before and she just doesn't get it. Hmmm, maybe because a week or two before Christmas, they just got a new game console or something similar just because they were sad or some other BS. It's not Christmas that's changed that much. IMO, it's the fact that new, expensive "stuff" happens all year long, when it used to be Christmas and Birthdays only, making those days seem special/[hops off soapbox.]

Anyhoo, really hate the Wanda Sykes casting, hope it's short lived. And my UO of Diane being my least favorite kid stands. Agree that Pops and Ruby stole the show and Bow's storyline was unnecessary and kind of made her look bad, rather than generous, not sure what they were going for.

[SmithW6079]

Plus, Bow is a doctor. If she were going to make an effort to volunteer more, wouldn't she donate her time/experience to a free clinic? Handing out food is something anyone can do. But helping people with their medical problems is something very few people can do.

Not necessarily. Sometimes people want to volunteer at something completely unrelated to their day jobs.

[needschocolate]

I have seen glass ornaments of pickles, and looked into why someone would put a pickle on a Christmas tree.  According to Wiki, there is a tradition (probably started in Germany) of hiding a pickle in a Christmas tree and whoever finds it gets a prize.  I don't think that had anything to do with Dre getting a half empty jar of pickles on Christmas morning though.  

 

I would think that Jack would still believe in Santa.  Not surprised that Diane wouldn't, but she should be savvy enough to realize that if she acted like she did, she would get more presents.   

 

Echoing those of you who already miss Charlie.  I am a big Wanda Sykes fan and usually love her in anything I see but here, not so much.  I am sure it is because her presence is solely due to Charlie's absence.  So her being there just reminds me that Charlie isn't and he was a really important member of this ensemble.  :(

 

I like Wanda Sykes, but it is a general "like" - I am not a big fan.  I haven't been a viewer of any show she was a regular on, but that has nothing to do with her. However, I don't like her on this show and I don't think it is because it means Charlie is gone.  I do miss Charlie, but they could have had both characters, so I don't think of her as a replacement Charlie (although, from a casting standpoint, they probably wouldn't have added her character if Deon was still on the show). But I don't like the character she plays here.  She adds no laughs, she is just annoying.  The "humor" in her character seems to be largely placed on her acting like she didn't hear Dre.  Not funny to me - similar stuff has been done on sitcoms for years and I expect more from this show.  

 

I liked her a little more here than last week. It's a strange character though. Her out-and-out lying about Dre inviting her was as weird as when she acted last week like she came up with the binder on Charlie.

 

My only hope is that her "not hearing" or lying ends up being a sign of some sort of early onset dementia and she won't be able to continue working at the office.  If that is the case, and Ireally doubt that it is, I will let the show have a few weeks of Dre trying to convince everyone that she is losing her mind, then they need to get rid of her.  If she is a regular, then I predict that I will eventually fast forward through the office scenes and just watch the home life stuff.  

 

I just found out that Deon Cole (Charlie) will be on another show on TBS starting in January. That show was already renewed for a second season before premiering. I wonder if that's the reason he's off the show for a bit.

 

I hope he is just doing a cameo on that show or that, despite being renewed for a second season, the show gets cancelled.  

 

It's traditional to put oranges in Christmas stockings. They represent the gold that St. Nicholas would leave as a gift. Pickles ... I may need to research that.

 

I heard that oranges became a tradition because there were such a rare thing decades ago.  If you lived somewhere besides California, Florida and neighboring states, you wouldn't get many oranges and they were relatively expensive.  I vaguely remember the kids being thrilled with their Christmas stocking oranges on Little House on the Prairie (the books, not the show).  So, not only did they represent gold in color, they represented gold in their rarity.

 

In my family, we probably got more stuff than we needed, but we opened presents in a very organized way. We'd hand out one present to everyone and then they would each open that present in turn. Then we would hand out one more present, and repeat until all the presents are open. It stresses me out in movies/tv shows when the kids just rush in and rip everything open at once. How do you know if you missed any presents? Or if you're opening your own presents and not someone else's? How do you even notice the look of joy on the person's face when they've already moved on to the next four gifts?

[LadyintheLoop]

Her out-and-out lying about Dre inviting her was as weird as when she acted last week like she came up with the binder on Charlie.

 

 

I think this is more sinister than just being a liar; she deliberately wrong-foots people so that she can control them by making them doubt themselves. Time will tell. . . . 

[Noirprncess]

I hope he is just doing a cameo on that show or that, despite being renewed for a second season, the show gets cancelled.  

He's listed as a cast member. Given the flexibility blackish has given his character, my guess is he will come back occasionally as time or the script calls for.

[Inquisitionist]

Charlie was a victim of a homonym because he misunderstood PETA as pita.

 

The animal people really should pronounce it PET-ah, as in pet ya dog.  ;-)

Edited December 13, 2015 by Inquisitionist

[needschocolate]

The animal people really should pronounce it PET-ah, as in pet ya dog.  ;-)

 

Plus, the "E" stands for "Ethical" which starts with short e not a long e.  

[Cementhead]

He's listed as a cast member. Given the flexibility blackish has given his character, my guess is he will come back occasionally as time or the script calls for.

That would be wonderful.  Fingers crossed.  It worked for Laurence Fishburne while he was doing both this show & Hannibal, so..

[jhlipton]

I hope he is just doing a cameo on that show or that, despite being renewed for a second season, the show gets cancelled.  

 

Probably not how you meant it, but this seems a little mean to me.  What this says is "I don't care who gets thrown out of work" or even "I don't care how much Cole makes" as long as you get your Charlie fix.  They dropped a line on his last episode to indicate he'll be a back from time to time, so I wish him and the new show all my best wishes.

[needschocolate]

Probably not how you meant it, but this seems a little mean to me.  What this says is "I don't care who gets thrown out of work" or even "I don't care how much Cole makes" as long as you get your Charlie fix.  They dropped a line on his last episode to indicate he'll be a back from time to time, so I wish him and the new show all my best wishes.

 

Yeah, I didn't really mean that I want the show to be cancelled and a bunch of people to be out of work. Failed attempt at humor. I just want Charlie back on this show.  I should check out the show he is on, I might like it as much as Black-ish.   

[jhlipton]

I should check out the show he is on, I might like it as much as Black-ish.   

 

It looks promising.  Rashida Jones (with her real parents doing cameos as her character's parents) and master-minded by Steve Carrell.  Should be fun!

[sinkwriter]

Laurence Fishburne is the best. I loved that final conversation between Pops and Dre.