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On Television |
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Everybody hates this kid,
except for TV critics
By DONNA J. PLESH
of TheColumnists.com
Just when I had
given up hope of ever seeing another really great comedy series
on network television, along comes “Everybody Hates Chris.”
With this half-hour show, based on comedian Chris Rock’s
experiences growing up in Brooklyn, N.Y., in the early 1980s,
UPN is moving ahead with establishing itself as a network on
the rise. The network’s change away from more urban-based
programming began last year with the well-received one-hour dramas
“Veronica Mars,” and to some extent, the one-hour “Kevin
Hill,” though it wasn't renewed. With “Veronica”
returning and now “Chris,” the network is putting together
shows that should be appointment viewing.
Standup Superstar Rock, who narrates the show’s voiceover
and is one of its creators
(obviously) and co-producers, takes us back to 1982, “The
year I turned 13.” Rock, his hard-working mom and dad, and
younger brother and sister have just made a step-up move from
the projects to an apartment. But the new neighborhood is home
to drug addicts, drug dealers and other unsavory elements.
Young Chris (wonderfully played by Tyler James Williams) is excited
because he is starting junior high at a school only a stone’s
throw away from the apartment. But, calling the junior high a
“hooligan factory,” Chris’ parents have decided
he needs to go to a junior high in Brooklyn Beach, in what they
feel is a good neighborhood. The school is a two-hour bus ride
away--and it’s in a poor, white, mostly Italian neighborhood.
The first day does not go well. Trying to be cool, Chris puts
on his new white tennis shoes, only to be ordered by his mom,
Rochelle (Tichina Arnold) to put on real shoes. Those black laceups--definitely
not cool--belong to his younger brother Drew (Tequan
Richmond), who is not only taller but is also a hit with the
pretty girl next door. Drew “got girls at 10 I couldn’t
get at 30,” Chris laments as he boards the school bus.
Things go from bad to worse on his first day at Corleone Junior
High School. The only black kid in a primarily white school,
Chris has a run-in with a tough young kid that later leads to
a schoolyard fight that Chris thinks he can win. Wrong.
Battered but not bowed, Chris survives the day and gets home
in time to take care of his younger siblings and keep them quiet
so their father, Julius (Terry Crews), can get some sleep between
his two jobs. The siblings are a problem, primarily young Tonya
(Imani Hakim), who has made it her mission in life to get Chris
into trouble as often as she can. And, since she is the apple
of her father’s eye, she gets away
with it, much to Chris’ chagrin.
What makes this show work is that it has heart. It’s really
just a story about two hard-working parents who are doing their
best to make a good life for their children and keep them safe.
Not an easy task, considering that neighborhood is not lined
with cozy houses, white picket fences, and well-tended lawns.
I don’t think the show would work without Rock’s narration--which
is both humorous and often self-deprecating. Rock may have struck
out with a lot of viewers when he hosted this year’s Academy
Awards, but he hits a home run with this series.
©2005 by Donna J.
Plesh. The photo is courtesy of UPN. This column first posted
Sept. 12, 2005.
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