I Thought Sexy Angel's Were Victoria Secret Models #Grandfathered #FOX #Comedy

I Thought Sexy Angel's Were Victoria Secret Models #Grandfathered #FOX #Comedy

All pictures courtesy of FOX 

That's right, this show is still on, John Stamos is still on TV and unlike Rob Lowe, he has yet to say something stupid about the terrorists attacks in France. Not to mention this show was picked up for an entire season by Fox because, you know, it's funny and stuff.

Last night on Grandfathered (#Grandfathered) after spending weeks seeing his son Josh Peck strike out with Christina Milian--baby mama, love of his life, doesn't know a good guy when she sees one, the usual stuff--he decides to step in and help the boy land a real woman who will not think that a Netflix and chill night will be a mistake. His plan: fix the boy up with some nice clothes (really a toned-down version of his own California laid back businessman-style), teach him a few techniques to land the ladies and take him out to a nightclub to pick up women.

Meanwhile, Christina Milian started another new job/hustle selling energy drinks to businesses, mainly Stamos' restaurant as he's been the only buyer. He, naturally, tells her he'll buy a few cases after hearing her terrible pitch because she's family but when she turns around to not only try getting him to become a distributor of the beverage himself (because that's where the real money is) but also to get into another hustle she's working, he realizes she is the perfect candidate for a mentorship.

Being the stand up guy he is, he orders his restaurant manager to do the job and take Christina under her wing. But this ditzy, empty-headed girl thinks she will be the mentor not the lesbian manager. Afros almost get pulled and ass whooped when Christina is offended by her new mentor's take on her life: it's crap! Who saves the day but the cute little baby.

Back with loving, open and caring Josh Peck, he and his dad go to a bar together where his father tries coaching him into the skirts of a few different fine ladies. Actually having fun, he ends the night with a young woman off of whom he does a few body shots. Things are a little crazy to say the least but everything turns out OK as he has met a girl. Not so fortunate, Stamos ends up with a rambler chick who has a "talent" for making any word shorter or hipper. A mouth that runs nonstop, he does leave with her and is happy so long as his son is. But he has his doubts.

Turning into the overbearing, worrywart parent he thought Paget Brewster would be when it came to their son, he makes a visit to the two girls' office (his and his son's girl work at the same place). Under the guise of bringing flowers, he learns the office gossip that Peck's new lady is supposedly sleeping with the boss on a long business lunch. Though it's only been a week, Peck's smittenness has reached critical mass and he needs to know that his new girlfriend is already cheating on him. No one stops to think at this point why she would have even given him the time of day when he supplies her with absolutely nothing that her boss probably doesn't already give her. He's broke, has a so-so job, is a single dad, doesn't have game and doesn't seem to make good sex as Christina hasn't gone back for seconds.

Both story lines collide when Peck brings his girlfriend and his mom to his dad's restaurant. Milian apologizing for exploding about the offence, she admits that maybe her dreams are a little out there. The manager levels with her, telling her how she once wanted to be a soul singer. Thinking she can teach the older lady something, she pushes her onstage to sing, I mean kill cats with her horrid, banshee-like screeches. She enjoys it though.

Ready to blow the whole secret wide open, Stamos sits down with Brewster as they listen to Peck's new girlfriend chastise him for eating, then being clumsy, and I'm sure for breathing too, though I might be wrong on that. When they get up and leave to clean the spilled oil from his shirt, Stamos and Brewster check her phone, finding texts from some name under "Big Daddy."

In the oldest, sitcom trick we all still know, love and fall for, it turns out they incorrectly identified big daddy as the girl's boss, as opposed to their son. He defends her, lesbian manager feels good that she made the right choice to give up on her singing career, Stamos learns both how to and how not to be a worried parent and Peck gets to keep his new girlfriend. The only casualty: Peck's 3-D printer which he sells to take his lady out on a snazzy date.

What did you think? Are you still watching and loving this family comedy? Do you think Peck's new girlfriend will stay for long? If so, will she make good competition for Milian? And what about the relationship with Stamos and Brewster? What do you think will happen there? Let me know in the comments below (hint: click the no comments button if you see no comments).

Check out my new 5-star comedy novel, Yep, I'm Totally Stalking My Ex-Boyfriend. #AhStalking

If you’re looking for a scare, 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 NOW exclusively on Amazon. If you like fast action crime check out #ADangerousLow. The sequel A New Low will be out in a few months. Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to and follow my blog with that Google+ button to the right.

Until next time, "I'm not about to get knocked-out because of my stellar, always workable armbar technique. Oh, you said they're allowing kicks now? Oh."

P.S. Not everyone can take a foot to the side of their face like Rousey can. Does one loss a fake make? No. Like Donnie said, we fall down, but we get up! I'll think of a better sign-off next time.

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Uncle Jesse Is Back And It's, Um, Well... #Grandfathered #PremiereWeek #3WeekRoundup

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).

Check out my new comedy novel Yep, I'm Totally Stalking, My Ex-Boyfriend. #AhStalking

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.

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