Uncle
Jesse Is Back And It's, Um, Well... #Grandfathered #PremiereWeek
#3WeekRoundup
All pictures courtesy of FOX
Note
to the readers, sadly this is not a review of the revived TV/Netflix
show Fuller House based off the lovely and star-making vehicle that
was Full House from the 90s. And yes, while I know how duped you feel
about me using Uncle Jesse to lure you in I will not apologize for
it... sort of. OK, I am sorry for dangling that tasty bit of Grecian
lure for you to bite into, but it had to been. Plus, the hype around
the show Fuller House is one of the things that I'm sure helped John
Stamos get his new role in Grandfathered (#Grandfathered) and remind
people that he and his career weren't dead outside of his years spent
posing as Bill Cosby of Jello to Oikos Greek yogurt. I'm sure he's
choked enough of that down in the last decade or so to realize that
hawking that product was not what he wanted to be doing for the rest
of his life. That is not to say that Oikos isn't good, because if
that's all he's been eating since his days of Full House 20 years
ago, then I definitely need to be eating a lot more of that stuff
myself.
Before
I go farther into this review/recap of the first three episodes, I
will point out that if you want my initial thoughts on this show
click the #Premiere Week link up top and scroll down to the Fox
section. For those not interested in doing that, I'll give a brief
refresher and say that I wasn't all that thrilled about this or its
brother show The Grinder with Rob Lowe (review of that coming
later). Both seemed destined to lose and didn't seem to have the full
support of FOX as far as advertising dollars went (I saw countless
Scream Queens ads during the summer's Wayward Pines but almost
nothing on these two shows). Hopes were not high.
In
John Stamos' triumphant comedic return to TV--and no, Galavant does
not count!--he plays a hot (as in popular) LA restaurateur (side
note: I keep spelling that word wrong even though I know it doesn't
have an 'n' in it). In his late 40s, early 50s he is having the
bachelor time of his life, seeing grand successes at his restaurant,
literally living the high life in what has got to be one of the only,
what, six high-rises in the downtown LA landscape (come on, I lived
in LA; it ain't New York or Chicago). Charming, charismatic and a
ladies' man he has told not only the patrons of his establishment but
himself and the occasional (read: plenteous) women he beds that all
he really wants in life is family as it is the only thing left for
him to achieve.
Ask
and ye shall receive (dear God, I want two international bestselling
books that will then propel my career to bigger, better things; yes,
I'm a little vain), a much younger handsome guy played by Josh
Peck--the fat kid from that Nickelodeon show Drake and Josh that
magically grew muscles and got attractive--shows up and announces
that he is Stamos' son. But even better, Peck has a daughter himself
making Stamos a, wait for it... grandfather. I know, right? Now the
whole title makes sense. Don't you hate it when creative types give
titles to things that are so on-the-head that it makes you roll your
eyes and say, "really? Gee, I wonder what this is gonna be
about. Stupid!" As an aside, my new comedy novel "Yep, I'm Totally Stalking, My Ex-Boyfriend" is out on Amazon Kindle now.
This
is what happens in the opening minutes of the first episode. A half
hour comedy at 8pm on FOX's Tuesday just before The Grinder, it
actually doesn't have much huge competition outside of The second
night of The Voice on NBC, The Muppets on ABC, The Flash on CW, and
whatever CBS is putting out. In fact, nothing quickly comes to mind
involving the cable channels of AMC, USA, HBO, and FX, meaning it has
all the potential to do well. I say that because it does have its
laugh-inducing moments.
After
Peck tells Stamos of his daughter, which I believe is great casting
as I can completely believe they are related, he explains who his mom
was and, well, you know. How his mom and Stamos... got along back in
the day. Naturally Stamos goes to the woman played by Paget Brewster
(Criminal Minds, anyone?) and asks if it's true. Surprisingly not
calling Maury, Bill Cunningham, Lauren Lake's Paternity Court or any
other of the thousand shows that do DNA testing, he takes her word
for it as they were in a relationship back in the day as young punks.
Why didn't she tell him? Eh! Basic stuff: he was immature, he wasn't
ready for such a big commitment, she thought it'd be easier for both
of them, etc. Tight-knit, she and her son still share in movie nights
under the blanket and know each other like the back of their hands as
evidenced by the third episode's opening game night. But she isn't
the only special woman in his life.
Peck
also has his non-girlfriend
oops-we-messed-up-that-one-time-and-had-sex-thusly-breaking-our-platonic-friendship-and-got-a-baby-out-of-it
best friend played by Christina Milian. Are you all getting how every
character on this show is played by a well-known enough actor that I
don't even bother to remember their character's names? Yeah, if this
show manages to survive and I keep watching it, I'll probably never
use the character names. Anyway, in her first regular role on a
scripted show from what I know, she is the hottie who has known Peck
for quite a few years and a night of inhibitions loss led to their
baby together which looks strangely completely white. I know about
genetics and all of that stuff but it would seem like they could have
gotten a darker baby but I digress. Anyway, as much as Peck wants
her, they never actually dated and she still only sees him as a
friend and her child's father, leaving him to long for her in
semi-silence even though he tries to tell her multiple times
including a fanciful and elaborate cartoon movie drone display on the
side of a house. He's got no game and this is the second main thrust
of the show.
Stamos
being the ladies' man he is has to teach his dorky 25-year-old son
not only how to be a real man as his mother babied and feminized him,
but he must also teach him how to gain favor with his crush/child's
mother before she commits herself to one of the many beefhead,
chauvinistic losers she's used to dating. Stamos, similar to Will
Smith in Hitch, must also learn the true meaning of family, love, and
being a father/grandfather as this new experience turns his life
around for the better. Where once he womanized without a care in the
world, now he dares ask his possible conquest who her mother was and
if he's slept with her as he could be his current potential sex
partner's father. His urge to bed hop has also been dampened by the
fact that Paget just happens to be the one that got away for him. He
still loves her but his infantile maturity will not allow him to
truly explore such deep emotions just yet. Like Amy Schumer in
Trainwreck, he has to learn how to be a good person and actually care
about something other than himself.
Sometimes
the two thrusts of the show will conflict or interact as judged by
the second episode when Stamos wishes to go to Diddy's West Coast
White Party--the first since 2009. While going there and taking his
son would expose Peck to a level of fun, sophistication and a
playground of beautiful women he can ply and tweak his game on, it
also means skipping a family beach day in which Paget and Christina
will attend to watch the baby take her first swim in the ocean. Not
only does he learn that family is filled with a ton of uncool duties
and responsibilities but Paget learns a little about why her son
loves Christina so much--she's a fiercely protective mother hen with
a plan to become an internet sensation to make money, which is
just... ridiculous, right? Anyway, as is custom with these shows, he
always chooses the family and goes for the family day. Just like in
the third episode when he realizes his lack of knowledge concerning
his new son and volunteers for a guy's night. During the night he gets
his son drunk, Peck makes a funny throwaway reference about being
husky as an adolescent, and Stamos loses his drunken son, feeling the
unwelcomed rush of a parent with a missing child for the first time
in his life. Everything solves itself at the end of the half hour and
life ticks on.
 |
| That lady is his restaurant manager and the head chef is in the back. |
What's
my grade? I give it a B+. You probably thought I'd rate it lower,
didn't you? Surprisingly, it's highly enjoyable. It has a decent
cast, Stamos is good in the role and Peck recalls his days on that
Nickelodeon show. The lesbian restaurant manager plays well off
Stamos and his head chef who I believe is Middle Eastern. The jokes
are light and fluffy while not straying away from the topic of sex,
but keeping it grounded in family sitcom territory. There is not only
tons of name-dropping but a few good guest stars too (Lil Wayne took
time from his busy schedule of trading exes with The Dream, and suing
Birdman to appear on the first episode). And maybe its nostalgia or
just plain fun, but it's funny to see Stamos dealing with babies
again after having the Olsens playing one child on Full House.
Should
you be watching? That depends highly on your humor as it is the most
subjective part of entertainment. You might not even think I'm funny
in a sarcastic hipster way. This isn't ground-breaking humor and
shades on the goofier, sillier side of funny rather than the you have
to think about it side. I'm a guy who still likes a laugh track (no,
this show doesn't have one) and finds it strange when people are so
against laugh tracks--up until 15 years ago, maybe sooner, every
sitcom had a laugh track and it didn't diminish the quality of humor.
If it did, people wouldn't still watch Seinfeld daily. I like goofy as much as I like intellectual. But I will say
that if you aren't committed to watching anything on Tuesdays and you
like a decent laugh every so often, at least check it out and give it
an episode or two. You might like it, you might not.
What
do you think? Are you happy to see that John Stamos is back on
national TV? Have you seen the show? If so, do you think Stamos and
Paget will rekindle their romance. Let me know in the comments below
(hint: click the no comments button if you see no comments).
If
you’re looking for Halloween scares check #AFuriousWind,
#DARKER,
#BrandNewHome
or
#ThePowerOfTen.
For those interested in something a little more dramatic, check
out #TheWriter.
The full first season is OUT NOW exclusively on Amazon. Join us on
Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to and follow my
blog with that Google+ button to the right side.
Until next time, “Have Mercy!"
P.S.
Uncle Jesse. Man, why didn't Fuller House get picked up on ABC as a
reunion miniseries. I really wanted to see that thing. Oh well. I'll
keep thinking of a good sign-off.
Goodreads Author Page
Goodreads Books Similar to TV Shows
Twitter@filmbooksbball
No comments:
Post a Comment