S02.E16: A Loaf of Bread and a Grand Old Flag

[Bort]

Things spiral out of control when Sheldon boycotts his favorite bread company. Also, Georgie offers Veronica a shoulder to cry on when she's dumped by her boyfriend.

Airdate: Thursday, February 21, 2019

[Katy M]

Tam's tone when he said "yes you do" after Sheldon said he usually did most of the talking. Perfect.

I liked that George tried to get Georgie to talk to him using Who's the Boss.

Once again, not enough Missy.  I think all she did was say that she traded her sandwich for a Ding Dong (or Twinkie, or Ho Ho, or something, I can't remember).

No, Tam, you can't sue your parents for violating child labor laws.  Parents are exempt.  Poor Tam.

This episode cracked me up.  Because I was in high school in 1989. I know that communism was bad.  But now "everybody" think it's good.  So, it just made the whole thing seem off to me somehow.

Otherwise, this was kind of a snooze.  I'm glad Georgie and Veronica are hanging out whether or not it goes any further.  I'm glad Mary hung up on Sheldon, but make him make his own sandwich if he's going to be so ridiculous about it.

[ams1001]

2 minutes ago, Katy M said:

Once again, not enough Missy.  I think all she did was say that she traded her sandwich for a Ding Dong (or Twinkie, or Ho Ho, or something, I can't remember).

It was a Ding Dong. 

She also told Sheldon he was gonna hate puberty when he said he didn't like change.

[Katy M]

10 minutes ago, ams1001 said:

It was a Ding Dong. 

She also told Sheldon he was gonna hate puberty when he said he didn't like change.

Hey I got it right the first time.  Who knew?  OK, she had a whopping two whole lines.  That is not enough Missy for me:)

[SnarkAttack]

I hate to say this, but I'm disliking Sheldon more and more.  So obnoxious.  When Georgie and Missy are on, the show feels so much sweeter.

[Spartan Girl]

I really don't know how to comment without making a snarky comment about Texas and politics. I guess let it be enough to say that while Sheldon overreacted about the bread, the townspeople overreacted way worse.

I did like all the Georgie and Veronica stuff though. Georgie being nice without being a Nice Guy...at least from what I saw.

[Chit Chat]

I was glad to see Georgie get a little more screen time.  I know that they don't have enough time in each episode to feature everybody, so I'm sure we'll have an upcoming episode in which Missy is featured.  They all get their turns!

I loved MeeMaw out on her lawn singing patriotic songs.  Annie Potts is perfect for this role.  I also love how Mary goes to bat for her family.  She gives it right back to her neighbor when she came over and said that she didn't want her son playing with Sheldon.  She holds nothing back when telling her how weird her own kid is!  

[rmontro]

38 minutes ago, Spartan Girl said:

I really don't know how to comment without making a snarky comment about Texas and politics. I guess let it be enough to say that while Sheldon overreacted about the bread, the townspeople overreacted way worse.

I'm not going to insult Texas, I thought this episode was poorly written.  I know it was Texas, and I know it was the 80s, but it wasn't the McCarthy era.

And I thought MeeMaw on her front lawn singing patriotic songs was ridiculous - and not in a good way.

[Guest]

This was a better use of Sheldon’s quirks than the last few episodes. It wasn’t mean or arrogant just clueless. 

Not enough Missy but a really good use of Tam. I loved him pondering starting a labor union with his sisters and completely ignoring Sheldon. 

“We can go on strike. Bring them to their knees.”

The entire episode was worth just to see Connie singing and waving the flag to prove she’s patriotic. I loved that they keep cutting back to her throughout the second half of the episode. 

Edited February 22, 2019 by Guest

[zillabreeze]

18 minutes ago, rmontro said:

And I thought MeeMaw on her front lawn singing patriotic songs was ridiculous - and not in a good way.

Thank you!  I hated it and thought it was almost cringe-worthy.

Overall this episode was a bust IMO.

[rmontro]

3 minutes ago, zillabreeze said:

Thank you!  I hated it and thought it was almost cringe-worthy.

Cringe-worthy!  You put it much better than I did.  Funny how some of us thought it was awful and other people liked it.

I forgot to say that Georgie and Veronica were cute together.

And I liked Missy saying she traded her lunch sandwich for Ding Dongs.

Edited February 22, 2019 by rmontro

[Chit Chat]

I thought it was a funny episode.  I wouldn't take it so seriously. 

Having grown up in the 60's, I completely understand the anti-communist sentiment.  Many of us witnessed a lot of history in that regard.   Even most movies well into the 80's featured the "commies" as the bad guys!  

Of course the news reporter didn't help either.  She cut the interview off as soon as he said they should become communists. She didn't stick around for Connie's explanation.  Another story of the media running off half-cocked with a "shocking" revelation.  Go figure.  😉 

[Bort]

18 minutes ago, ChitChat said:

Having grown up in the 60's, I completely understand the anti-communist sentiment.  Many of us witnessed a lot of history in that regard.   Even most movies well into the 80's featured the "commies" as the bad guys!  

Yeah, but it’s 1990. The wall had just come down. I realize it’s an exaggerated sitcom but I still can’t see an entire community getting so worked up about a clueless 10 year old shooting off his mouth on the local news.

[Magnumfangirl]

1 hour ago, Katy M said:

This episode cracked me up.  Because I was in high school in 1989. I know that communism was bad.  But now "everybody" think it's good. 

That's what made it funny for me.   

[BitterApple]

1 hour ago, zillabreeze said:

Thank you!  I hated it and thought it was almost cringe-worthy.

Overall this episode was a bust IMO.

I thought so as well. Granted, I was in junior high when the Berlin Wall came down and the Soviet Union disbanded, but I don't remember any mass hysteria over communism. I thought the episode was a little far-fetched. I actually liked the Georgie/Veronica storyline better than Sheldon's crusade against the bread company. 

I also agree there wasn't enough Missy. 

[3 is enough]

Meemaw and her flag waving made me laugh.  Yes, it was ridiculous and kinda cringe-worthy,  but it was still funny to me. Especially when she stopped singing and said "screw you!" to the guy driving by.

[SmithW6079]

8 hours ago, kariyaki said:

Yeah, but it’s 1990. The wall had just come down. I realize it’s an exaggerated sitcom but I still can’t see an entire community getting so worked up about a clueless 10 year old shooting off his mouth on the local news.

Thirty years later ... substitute "Islam" or "sharia law" for "communism" and there you go.

The only thing I found somewhat believable is that the taste of the bread changed after the company was bought out, probably because they changed the recipe or the ingredients. 

[Katy M]

21 minutes ago, SmithW6079 said:

The only thing I found somewhat believable is that the taste of the bread changed after the company was bought out, probably because they changed the recipe or the ingredients. 

That reminds me that I think the only part I really laughed at was when the corporate guy just said "because now we make it fast and cheap" and hung up on Sheldon.  Poor Sheldon got hung up on a lot this episode.

[Chit Chat]

9 hours ago, kariyaki said:

I realize it’s an exaggerated sitcom but I still can’t see an entire community getting so worked up about a clueless 10 year old shooting off his mouth on the local news.

Well, the local news took a benign story and ran with it.  MeeMaw tried to correct what Sheldon said, but they didn't have any interest in getting to the heart of the matter.  The media turned an innocent protest into something entirely different.  They didn't help the situation.  They made it sound worse than it was.  

21 minutes ago, Katy M said:

That reminds me that I think the only part I really laughed at was when the corporate guy just said "because now we make it fast and cheap" and hung up on Sheldon. 

It was funny when the corporate guy read his reply from his clipboard, but then summed it up with "because now we make it fast and cheap!"  Apparently they were getting a lot of calls about their bread and this guy got tired of spouting off the company's official response, so he told the truth.   I would've done the same thing!  

Edited February 22, 2019 by ChitChat

[hoodooznoodooz]

37 minutes ago, Katy M said:

That reminds me that I think the only part I really laughed at was when the corporate guy just said "because now we make it fast and cheap" and hung up on Sheldon.  Poor Sheldon got hung up on a lot this episode.

Poor Sheldon was obnoxious and condescending on the phone. His mother uses one knife to spread the PB and another knife to spread the J? Then another serrated-edge knife to cut the crust off?  Why does Mary indulge this guy? 

[Katy M]

1 hour ago, hoodooznoodooz said:

Poor Sheldon was obnoxious and condescending on the phone. His mother uses one knife to spread the PB and another knife to spread the J? Then another serrated-edge knife to cut the crust off?  Why does Mary indulge this guy? 

I use different knives for the PB & J, mostly because I don't want to get PB in my J jar and vice versa.  But, then again, I'm making my own sandwiches and not calling people at work to yell at them about it.

[Bort]

I don’t use separate knives but I do wipe the peanut butter off completely before I dip into the jelly jar. 

[Snow Apple]

A 10 year old is more than old enough to make a sandwich. Mary is too indulging. But I guess her straw is communism since even she was giving Sheldon the silent treatment at the end. 

[rmontro]

I lived through the 80s and grew up in the 60s, and IMO those reactions to Sheldon's "commie" remarks were way, way over the top.  Of course it's a comedy, so you'll find over the top reactions.  But this was to the point of absurdity, and I didn't think it sat well with the more realistic tone the rest of the series has set.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

15 hours ago, Katy M said:

Tam's tone when he said "yes you do" after Sheldon said he usually did most of the talking. Perfect.

Tam's family escaped communism, correct? I thought he might fill in Sheldon on what living under a communist regime was like.

Perhaps a small southern town would react differently to pro-communist remarks than a larger town, but it was surely exaggerated 

Georgie is the only one who doesn't share a bedroom.  No need to use the bathroom for private calls. (Hope he didn't initiate the call while also using the toilet.)

[ItCouldBeWorse]

Wouldn't Sheldon have compared the ingredients in the old and new loaves of bread?

[Katy M]

33 minutes ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

Georgie is the only one who doesn't share a bedroom.  No need to use the bathroom for private calls. (Hope he didn't initiate the call while also using the toilet.)

Maybe the phone cord didn't reach all the way to his bedroom, but it did reach to the bathroom.

19 minutes ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

Wouldn't Sheldon have compared the ingredients in the old and new loaves of bread?

Maybe the ingredients were the same, but the proportions were different.

[AnnaRose]

12 hours ago, 3 is enough said:

Meemaw and her flag waving made me laugh.  Yes, it was ridiculous and kinda cringe-worthy,  but it was still funny to me. Especially when she stopped singing and said "screw you!" to the guy driving by.

That made me laugh too!  And although I agree that the town's reaction was way over the top and unbelievable, and Meemaw's flag waving was also over the top... it still made me laugh when they kept cutting back to her, and her "Screw you!", without missing a beat, was hilarious.

1 hour ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

Georgie is the only one who doesn't share a bedroom.  No need to use the bathroom for private calls. (Hope he didn't initiate the call while also using the toilet.)

Katy M. beat me to it, but yep... I just assumed the cord didn't reach his bedroom.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Katy M said:

Maybe the phone cord didn't reach all the way to his bedroom, but it did reach to the bathroom.

Now that brings back memories. Our phone cord wasn’t long so if you wanted any privacy you ended up in the front hallway. 

[LoneHaranguer]

3 hours ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

Tam's family escaped communism, correct? I thought he might fill in Sheldon on what living under a communist regime was like.

Sheldon would just say that it was because it wasn't being run by somebody as smart as him.

[Katy M]

45 minutes ago, Dani said:

Now that brings back memories. Our phone cord wasn’t long so if you wanted any privacy you ended up in the front hallway. 

We always used to pull it down the hallway into a little nook between the closet, the bathroom and my sister's room.  We stretched that cord out so bad it wasn't even funny.  If it was just a little longer we could have gone in my sister's room (only work for her of course) or the bathroom.  But like the Coopers, we only had one bathroom. 

[Sarah 103]

20 hours ago, Katy M said:

I'm glad Georgie and Veronica are hanging out whether or not it goes any further. 

I think this episode showed that Vernoica may be smarter than we give her credit for. She understands communism and Georgie doesn't. 

20 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

I did like all the Georgie and Veronica stuff though. Georgie being nice without being a Nice Guy...at least from what I saw.

The sense that I got is Georgie isn't sure whether or not he can be just friends, and he was pretty open about it. Veronica laughed it off. I think she understands Georgie is a sweet, goofy teen and not a creepy weirdo. Veronica might be willing to give George a second chance, on her terms. 

19 hours ago, rmontro said:

And I thought MeeMaw on her front lawn singing patriotic songs was ridiculous - and not in a good way.

I think it was funny the first few times, but they did it too often. It just stopped being funny and became annoying. I also wish we had found out how Sheldon's comments impacted Missy at school. I understand they couldn't show it, but cut out a few of MeeMaw's songs and you now have a minute or two of show to give Missy a few lines about what happened to her at school. 

18 hours ago, kariyaki said:

Yeah, but it’s 1990. The wall had just come down. I realize it’s an exaggerated sitcom but I still can’t see an entire community getting so worked up about a clueless 10 year old shooting off his mouth on the local news.

My guess is the neighborhood thinks he's a genuis and doesn't understand his limits. They think he knows everything. Sheldon might think he knows everything, but he doesn't. We know that, but the character and the rest of the town does not. 

[Bort]

5 minutes ago, Sarah 103 said:

My guess is the neighborhood thinks he's a genuis and doesn't understand his limits. They think he knows everything. Sheldon might think he knows everything, but he doesn't. We know that, but the character and the rest of the town does not. 

I don't agree. The consensus of just about everybody who deals with Sheldon is reacting to him with a dutiful sigh and an eyeroll. They know he's smart but at the same time, they think he's ridiculous. Nobody's paid attention to his hot air before, why start now?

[Sarah 103]

17 minutes ago, kariyaki said:

I don't agree. The consensus of just about everybody who deals with Sheldon is reacting to him with a dutiful sigh and an eyeroll. They know he's smart but at the same time, they think he's ridiculous. Nobody's paid attention to his hot air before, why start now?

You know what? That's an excellent point. Especially based on what we've seen from the scenes of Sheldon in church.  

[LoneHaranguer]

56 minutes ago, kariyaki said:

I don't agree. The consensus of just about everybody who deals with Sheldon is reacting to him with a dutiful sigh and an eyeroll. They know he's smart but at the same time, they think he's ridiculous. Nobody's paid attention to his hot air before, why start now?

Because he was expressing a political opinion?

[Bort]

32 minutes ago, LoneHaranguer said:

Because he was expressing a political opinion?

Communism just wasn’t that big of a hot button issue anymore in 1990. I find it much more likely that Sheldon’s atheism stances in church would get the reaction we saw.

[Mystery]

On 2/21/2019 at 6:25 PM, SnarkAttack said:

I hate to say this, but I'm disliking Sheldon more and more.  So obnoxious.  When Georgie and Missy are on, the show feels so much sweeter.

Ditto. This episode had way too much Sheldon for me, which I know is a problem with me, not the show. It's not called "Young Missy," I know. 

[Yeah No]

I agree with the above that the whole town turning against Sheldon and his family over his comments was way OTT and not realistic even for Texas in 1990.  But I did also notice the episode making a criticism of the media by dramatizing the way it can make much more of throw away comments than was intended just to make drama.  And that I think was a little more realistic.

Mee Maw was OTT too, but I did find myself amused in spite of that.  She is just gold no matter what they give her to do.  Waving that flag the way she did reminded me of my July 4th Bitmoji!

This episode prompted a discussion between me and my husband of the lunch box items we used to get and trade as kids.  Being from NY, ours included Yodels and Ring Dings, not Ding Dongs, LOL.

[jewel21]

I'm surprised people didn't like this episode because I was laughing throughout. 

MeeMaw on the lawn waving the flag and singing was hilarious. I loved it. I also loved how they kept cutting back to her, heh. 

I also loved George in the Principal's office when the phone rang as he was leaving and he snatched it up and said he wasn't there and hung up, hee. 

Overall, I just thought it was fun.

[green]

On 2/21/2019 at 10:07 PM, rmontro said:

I'm not going to insult Texas, I thought this episode was poorly written.  I know it was Texas, and I know it was the 80s, but it wasn't the McCarthy era.

Doesn't matter there was a knee jerk reaction about "godless commies" for decades in America. 

I remember in high school in Florida the senior social studies course for years mandated by law was "Americanism Vs Communism" featuring a red-covered text book showing nothing on the cover but a set of shady, shifty looking eyes that made Charles Manson's look sweet by comparison.  I fortunately escaped that horror by qualifying for an advanced seminar class instead but when I made a comment once in history class that was anti-war the guy next to me got so furious he turned beet red and hissed at me that he wanted to beat the crap out of me after school.

On 2/21/2019 at 11:07 PM, kariyaki said:

Yeah, but it’s 1990. The wall had just come down. I realize it’s an exaggerated sitcom but I still can’t see an entire community getting so worked up about a clueless 10 year old shooting off his mouth on the local news.

In much of the south it was still the 1960's.  Still is except substitute Muslim for communist.  But one step of progress.  Men are allowed to have long hair there now as opposed to being made fun of or fired from a job or, in school, suspended for same back in the 60's.  Always thought it was hilarious when long hair finally went from being a "commie, weirdo, pervert" thing to being okay in the south.

And in this current era of social media a clueless ten year old can be attacked for almost anything these days.  Situation is worse, not better, now.

On 2/22/2019 at 8:43 AM, hoodooznoodooz said:

Why does Mary indulge this guy? 

It's just a fictional comedy.  If she didn't it wouldn't be funny.

Loved the episode btw, hah.

Edited February 25, 2019 by green

[HazelEyes4325]

While there were parts of this that made me laugh, and I'm interested to see where the Georgie and Veronica story is going, most of it left a sort of a bad taste in my mouth.  I agree that communism did not have the same taboo in 1990 that it did 30-40 years earlier, but to me the problem is that the whole story was built on a stereotype of Texas that I suspect was somewhere between overblown and fictional.  That sort of humor just doesn't work with me.

[MaryMitch]

Coincidently: last night The Daily Show had a segment on a kid who made a video about communism:

http://www.cc.com/video-clips/g7kval/the-daily-show-with-trevor-noah-preteen-punditry--how-young-is-too-young-for-politics-

Edited February 26, 2019 by MaryMitch

[TheLastKidPicked]

A little perspective for you from a Texas high schooler back in the day.

In the 80's, each year during Gym class we had to watch Red Dawn so we kids would know what to do if the Russians attacked.

I still remember the gym coach wheeling out that huge VCR player each year.

[Bort]

1 hour ago, TheLastKidPicked said:

A little perspective for you from a Texas high schooler back in the day.

In the 80's, each year during Gym class we had to watch Red Dawn so we kids would know what to do if the Russians attacked.

I still remember the gym coach wheeling out that huge VCR player each year.

High school in Texas in 1990 here, that never happened for me. The Middle East stuff was just kicking up. Once the wall came down and Operation Desert Shield started, "the commies" were just not the hot issue anymore.

[Browncoat]

There was a letter to the editor in my local (medium-town, Virginia) paper today that referred to "commie sympathizers" (in a bad way), so I can buy the fear of communists in small-town Texas in the 80s. 

[TheLastKidPicked]

1 hour ago, kariyaki said:

High school in Texas in 1990 here

Hook 'em horns!

[atlantaloves]

Oh yeah, I grew up in Houston, and I totally believed this.

[biakbiak]

My main takeaway is that small town local tv reporters must have been smarter and quicker in Texas that she was so quickly able to connect his words to communism. So many current ones can barely do more than repeat exactly what has been told to them.

[CherryAmes]

This is the first episode of YS that I didn't make it through to the end.  I don't know if it was the show or if it was me but I couldn't get into it at all.