"Everybody Hates Chris" is one of the most successful comedies out there, in terms of critical acclaim. The show is supposed to be a fictional retelling of the life of comedian Chris Rock. It won an NAACP award for "Outstanding Comedy Series" according to its Wikipedia article, so I guess watching it adds to your multicultural credibility.
However, I'm not much of a fan of "Everybody Hates Chris". Oh, I can watch it when Ruth turns it on and get some enjoyment out of it, but all in all, I'd be just as happy playing computerized baseball. I can explain my problems with the show using the newest episode as an example.
In this episode, Chris and his friend, Greg Wulliger, happen to come across a fight in an alley. The school bully of Buddy Cianci Junior High, a red-headed punk named Caruso, is getting his ass handed to him by some Asian kid. Caruso is pretty much thumped and has to come to school for a few days wearing sunglasses.
Meanwhile, Chris finds out that the Asian kid is a new student at Buddy Cianci, and as a consequence, Caruso has stopped his bullying ways -- he is no longer even a token figure of menace. Through the entire series, Caruso has picked on Chris, beaten him up, and taken his lunch money, so to Chris this turn of consequences is a breath of fresh air.
Unfortunately, the honeymoon doesn't last long as Chris finds himself set upon by even larger and deadlier school predators. Chris (through the voiceover by Chris Rock) states that Caruso was sort of the Godfather of bullies, the man at the top of the totem pole of fear. With his sudden retirement, several Caruso wanna-bes realize that the seat of honor is theirs for the taking. A sort of "white gang war" (Chris is the only black kid in school) breaks out and most of these hoodlums pick on Chris, because, hey, he's black and they're white.
For his own safety, Chris realizes that he has to return Caruso back to his seat. Better the bully you know than the bully you don't. Caruso, however, wants nothing to do with his old ways; the beating has really rattled him. Chris tries to pick on Caruso to jostle Caruso's need to terrorize, but Caruso turns over his lunch money passively -- he just wants to be left alone.
Therefore, Chris figures that the only way his peace -- and safety -- can be restored is to arrange a rematch between Chris and the new kid, one Caruso can win. Do I really need to go on any further beyond this point?
The "B-Plot" regards Chris's workaholic father, Julius. Julius has five days of vacation, but since he works 70 hours a week and gets paid for 40 during vacation, Julius figures he's losing money on the deal. His goal: to sneak out of the house while his wife, Rochelle, is working one of her inevitably-to-only-last-two-weeks-jobs. ("I don't have to put up with this! My man has two jobs!") But can he escape the perils of forced relaxation and work without anyone being the wiser?
I suppose my problem with all of this is that it's not as nearly as clever as it could be: this could be just any other sitcom out there. The entire "reset button" at the end leaves a particularly odious taste in my mouth. (What, you thought that Caruso would undergo a change of heart?) Julius's wacky antics aren't that much divorced from one of Rob's schemes on the old "Dick Van Dyke Show".
I mean, think about it! Chris is a groundbreaking comedian, and you wouldn't expect a show with his name on it to be completely...pedestrian. At least, it can raise a chuckle or two. There are the typical sequences of imagination which take place only in Chris's (and the other characters' minds) -- didn't they do that on "Ally McBeal", though? There is the occasional quick-cut to old movie reel footage to set a mood. At least, Chris Rock's voiceovers are honestly funny and original, but they are few and far between.
(Also: since this show takes place in real time, nerdy Greg Wulliger seems to be about two inches taller than last year and he looks like he's twenty-five. Very disturbing.)
Upon further thought, from the way Chris Rock tells stories about his life in Brooklyn, it was a lot tougher than this show makes it out to be. Rock, as the lone black student in white schools, was verbally abused in ways that you probably couldn't show on a sitcom. (I'm surprised that he turned out reasonably well-adjusted.) I also find it hard to enjoy the antics of Julius and his search for the almighty dollar when I remember that Mr. Rock's father died relatively young. I wonder if it was all that struggling to keep his family in shoes and food that killed him.
Did Chris Rock want to keep one foot firmly planted in the traditional sitcom? There's a reason that people don't watch traditional sitcoms; you can smell their tropes a mile away. I suggest that "Everybody Hates Chris" is the Microsoft of sitcoms -- a sitcom with the ethos, "well, this is good enough for the viewers". I think the show should have set its sights a little higher. Only Chris Rock's voiceover's save the show; without them, we could just as well watch "Ally McBeal" or some really old episodes of "Dobie Gillis", which are at least as funny as anything on "Everybody Hates Chris".
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