I know it’s Wednesday night, but I’m trying to get this to be a regular thing since most of these shows aren’t covered anywhere else. I’ve done it sporadically in the past and will keep it up if we get enough participation.
First things first: R.I.P. The Mayor; your charms and potential weren’t enough to build an audience in time before the hammer came down.
Second: Black-ish has a new spin-off, Grown-ish, about Zoey’s life in college, appearing on Freeform. I watched the pilot. It seems fine, although I feel like I’m too old for it so it’s hard to relate to it and to whether it’s accurate.
The comedies still on ABC on Tuesday nights:
The Middle, “Mommapalooza.” “Frankie decides to find a new passion to make her happy; Mike orders Sue and Brick to fix the giant hole between their bedroom walls; Lexie fools Axl into thinking he has a lucky streak.” (As I mentioned in previous editions, I don’t watch the show, so I don’t have further commentary beyond the summary.)
Fresh Off the Boat, “The Car Wash.” Louis worries that Jessica’s new novel is taking her priorities away from him and the family (egged on by Marvin). Evan and Emery can’t find a way to connect with a new teacher (Tig Notaro) until Eddie helps them understand the importance of making personal connections and not just sucking up all the time. A fairly slight episode of the show but enjoyable enough all the same. The biggest laugh was probably the policeman’s description of the incident leading to Jessica tasing Louis. “All right, I got her on ‘assault with a deadly weapon,’ and you on ‘false imprisonment.’ Those charges offset. So how about we say ‘marital misunderstanding’ and ‘attempted picnic’ and call it a day?”
Black-ish, “Bow Knows.” Unfortunately, the episode has nothing to do with Bo Jackson. Andre has a conversation with his colleagues about “The Talk” (which is even funnier when we hear the white versions of The Talk), while Bow gets on a mommy forum that quickly drives her insane, spurred on at first by their rejection of her decision, as a trained medical doctor, to vaccinate her baby. (30 Rock did this plot, although Black-ish does better by the actual experience of posting. I watched Bow at first like “Wow, she has lost it” and then like “That is exactly me.”) Not a groundbreaking episode, but not a bad episode, even if Charlie was at Freaknik. Bonus points for Ruby’s version of the talk to Andre: “America hates you,” delivered repeatedly.
Anyone else watch these? What did you think?