S01.E05: Boxing

[Whimsy]

Frank announces that he has decided to compete in the church boxing tournament, making it obvious that he's playing for Mike's affections. When Frank can't cut it, Timmy steps in and takes up boxing in order to bond with his dad and get his approval. Ultimately, he has to choose between his dad's dreams for him and his own dreams of showbiz glory. Elsewhere, feeling rusty after being at the seminary for so long, Lawrence asks Eddie to help prepare him for a date.

[SoMuchTV]

What the heck season is it here?  Lawrence seems to be wearing his fleece-lined jacket in just about every scene, meanwhile most of the others are in short sleeves (or a towel) and the dad is complaining about air conditioning the neighborhood (even though they don't have a/c :) )  It seems like it's been summer so far, right?  The boys don't seem to be in school.  Is that jacket just Lawrence's "thing"?  Did they say something about that before?  (I had one a lot like that later in the 70's, but I only wore it when it was cold!)

[hoodooznoodooz]

It must be summer because Lawrence is home from college. Maybe it’s May, so it’s still kind of cool?

So many good lines. Dad’s only hobby was turning off lights. 

Edited November 21, 2018 by hoodooznoodooz

[Snow Apple]

Timmy (the narrator) says "in the summer of 1972........" at the beginning of the episode. I didn't notice Lawrence's outfits but I'm going to look from now on.

[hoodooznoodooz]

I am starting to like that the Mom seems constantly POed, but it’s obvious that she dearly loves her sons and spouse.  

“Is this your card?”

Annoyed pause. “They’re all my cards. I bought them.”

[leighdear]

Mary McCormick has always been my idol as a snark queen.  She's so perfect in this role, I love her every action & reaction.  

(I loved her so much in "In Plain Sight", I still have the whole show on DVD.  *LOL*)

The smack on the back of her kid's head with the mashed potato-covered spoon was hilarious to me.  

[Angeltoes]

I laughed at the adult Timmy's comment that he and his dad wouldn't use the word love with each other for another 40 years, and then only at the insistence of a judgemental hospice worker. 

[Rebky]

I loved the part at the boxing ring when the phone rang:

Priest: "It's Peggy. She says nobody's dead, but she still wants to talk to you".

Dad: "Theater just called - guess some kid named Bobby got sick? They want you to go on tonight".

Timmy: "REALLY??? As Don Quixote??"

Dad: "They didn't say which donkey".

[MaryMitch]

I thought this was a great episode. I'm so glad that the dad accepted that Timmy wanted to go on stage versus boxing (although he was surprisingly good!).

[Ilovepie]

My favorite part was Joey using all the neighbors stuff when they were out of town. That kid is hilarious.

I don’t think Lawrence really needs Eddy’s help with girls, but I did like them together. Wendy continues to be the best.

I love this show!

[Yeah No]

A good episode, but Lawrence really needs to wear something other than that jacket all the time.  I thought it was funny when that older woman in the diner thought he was a woman.  They certainly made him look feminine in that scene!

I didn't understand the need for an apology by adult Timmy about kids slapping each other, like this is something that doesn't happen now.  Have kids really changed all THAT much?  Maybe I'm just out of the loop on that.

Joey getting into the neighbors' houses when they were away reminded me of some of the mischief my best friend and I used to get into back in '72.  We didn't sneak into people's houses, but we did sneak into the occasional church kitchen for snacks when no one was there, or apartment building basement exercise room, LOL.  We even snuck into an Ike and Tina Turner concert, and an Osmond Concert at Madison Square Garden!  We were stealth!

[SmithW6079]

I have to admit, I laughed (and rewound), laughed (and rewound) the scene where Peggy raises the wood spoon and Timmy flinches (and then she hits him with it anyway). I remember that flinch so well. 

On 11/22/2018 at 11:32 AM, Ilovepie said:

My favorite part was Joey using all the neighbors stuff when they were out of town. That kid is hilarious.

I don’t think Lawrence really needs Eddy’s help with girls, but I did like them together. Wendy continues to be the best.

I love this show!

 

On 11/23/2018 at 2:09 AM, Yeah No said:

A good episode, but Lawrence really needs to wear something other than that jacket all the time.  I thought it was funny when that older woman in the diner thought he was a woman.  They certainly made him look feminine in that scene!

I didn't understand the need for an apology by adult Timmy about kids slapping each other, like this is something that doesn't happen now.  Have kids really changed all THAT much?  Maybe I'm just out of the loop on that.

Joey getting into the neighbors' houses when they were away reminded me of some of the mischief my best friend and I used to get into back in '72.  We didn't sneak into people's houses, but we did sneak into the occasional church kitchen for snacks when no one was there, or apartment building basement exercise room, LOL.  We even snuck into an Ike and Tina Turner concert, and an Osmond Concert at Madison Square Garden!  We were stealth!

I didn't care for Joey's story line. To me, it took him from "he's a mischievous hustler" to "he's a criminal." He was basically breaking and entering, and stealing someone's car (even if he did put it back), right?

Someone pointed out that it's summer, but Lawrence is wearing a fleece jacket. So was Eddie in the opening scene. I really liked the scenes between the two of them; I hope we get to see the brothers interacting in different pairings. I thought the conversation Eddie and Lawrence had in the bedroom was hilarious, especially Eddie's comment that if Lawrence was going to "work with this again tonight" to wait until he was asleep.  

That old lady must not have been paying very good attention, especially since Eddie stormed out after saying, loudly, that he had a girlfriend. At first I thought she was going to remark on the homosexual couple, but no, she mistook Lawrence for a girl. He did look very feminine in that scene.

I felt sorry for Frank in this episode. Yes, he's a snitch and a weasel, and he's probably more of a mama's boy anyway (not that there's anything wrong with that), but he just wanted to try and get close to his father; he wasn't very good at it. Mike seemed to have a handle on Frank's underlying issues, but it was kind of sad to see him (and Peggy) dismiss Frank's attempts.

Is it me, or does the young actor who plays Timmy have really long arms? He's actually my least favorite of the brothers at the moment.

Peggy has to be tough; she's dealing with nine fairly strong-willed men and boys. I think Mike was perceptive in saying that she's the strongest one in the house.

Also, Caleb Foote is a hottie. His IMDB profile says he was in "Assassination of Gianni Versace," as "Eli." I don't remember him in that (although he was in two episodes only).

Edited November 24, 2018 by SmithW6079

[TomGirl]

I liked the dialogue where Timmy tells his dad he’s good at choreography, and dad winces and tells him to say “footwork.”

[mojito]

Quote

 I thought it was funny when that older woman in the diner thought he was a woman.  

Back in those days, people were just getting exposed to long hair, and it was a constant thing, hearing older people saying that all the boys were looking like girls these days. I mean constant. Both sexes were wearing blue jeans all the time, and they wore army fatigues, etc., and you'd also hear, "I can't tell the difference between the boys and the girls!" All. The. Time.

[Johnny Dollar]

I heard the creator in an interview say that the entire season, except for a Christmas episode, takes place in the summer because they wanted all of the kids to be at home and not have to bring in any school-themed storylines. 

[biakbiak]

1 hour ago, Johnny Dollar said:

I heard the creator in an interview say that the entire season, except for a Christmas episode, takes place in the summer because they wanted all of the kids to be at home and not have to bring in any school-themed storylines. 

They most likely didn’t do it because of similarities to The Goldberg’s but they probably just should have left it at “in the 1970s” of the opening credits and not mention it was the summer of 1972 every episode.

[Yeah No]

On 11/25/2018 at 1:02 PM, mojito said:

Back in those days, people were just getting exposed to long hair, and it was a constant thing, hearing older people saying that all the boys were looking like girls these days. I mean constant. Both sexes were wearing blue jeans all the time, and they wore army fatigues, etc., and you'd also hear, "I can't tell the difference between the boys and the girls!" All. The. Time.

LOL, I remember that too.  My mother used to say that all the guys looked like Jesus Christ.  She'd see one and say to my father, "Look, Russell, we're saved!"

[lucindabelle]

In Northern California, it's cold at night all year round. Not sure if that's as true in Southern California, but it's a desert climate and NOT humid, so could be. Here in the east you don't wear a fleece except indoors all summer. In California where I went to school you had most of your wardrobe active all year.

TV also makes the mistake ALL THE TIME of putting people in East Coast cities wearing t-shirts and tank tops during the day in December, because it's sunny.

You'd do that in California. NOT back East.

[Cowgirl]

I also laughed when Peggy elbows Mike at the end of the play and he wakes up and says, "Did I miss the donkey?"