Posts Tagged ‘ABC’

WRS TV Review: ‘Black-ish (The Pilot Episode)

Friday, September 26th, 2014

by Monica Pierce

Monica Blog

 

 

 

 

black-ish-promo-image

I watched the first episode of Black-ish and I like it. This is coming from a person who isn’t a fan of sitcoms. However, I’ve heard some criticisms of the show that I’m confused about.

(1) “It’s too much black this and white that”…So what. Isn’t that the point of the show? He’s talking about preserving what he feels it means to be black while providing your family with things that will often have them in a situations where they are truly the minority.

(2) “I don’t know where the show will go from here”…Huh? It’s a sitcom…SITUATION COMEDY. This means where it will go from here is onto another situation and add comedy to it.

(3) “Anthony Anderson is over the top”…Again, it’s a sitcom. Sitcoms are over the top. Remember when Cliff took everything out of Theo’s room and sold it back to him? Or when Gina got her head stuck in the bed frame on an episode of Martin? How about the time when Fonzie was water skiing and literally jumped a shark? These things are all over the top and the shows I mentioned had very successful runs.

(4) “I hate the name of the show”…Ok, fine, I don’t like the name of the show either, but how is that an opinion of the quality of the comedy or the actors’ ability to make you laugh?

(5) “Laurence Fishburne and Anthony Anderson had a moment at the end that seemed forced”…That’s just ridiculous. Sitcoms, especially family sitcoms always have a movement in the end where there is a message or a teaching moment. And that’s what that moment was between Anthony Anderson and Laurence Fishburne.

I’ve heard some other criticisms but some of them are so ridiculous I don’t want to discuss them. I like this show. It has the formula that we see on family shows like Modern Family and The Goldbergs. It seems that people, black people in particular, are overly critical of this show while they praise the aforementioned shows. And for the non-black people, mainly white people who say Anderson’s character focuses too much on race, you may not relate to it but trust me as black people, we focus on race.

Sometimes shows need time to develop. Remember at one time the Cosbys had four kids until one day they had five.  Theo was called Teddy in the pilot of the Cosby Show and then was never referred to as Teddy again. Some shows get better with time. I will continue to watch the show. I thought it was funny and I related to some the things Anderson’s character was saying and going through in his work place. I hope people give this show a chance to flourish. I’m partially biased because there are few shows with full back casts on TV, but I’m not completely blind to the quality of the show just because the faces are brown. And for the people who won’t watch because of the so-called bad reviews, ask yourself who wrote the review? What’s the reviewer’s perspective?

 

Monica Pierce, for War Room Sports

For The Love of the Game

Friday, October 14th, 2011

By Monica Pierce

There are some things going on in sports these days that have me feeling bad for young athletes.  Some of the things that have me feeling sympathetic are:

  • The increasing amount of stories I read about kids being scouted by college and professional sports teams as young as the seventh grade

 

  • The fact that my nephew and I sit and watch the Little League World series games on the family of ESPN networks, with the championship game being aired on ABC.

 

  • Turning to ESPN and seeing a high school basketball game between two high schools that aren’t even in the same state

 

  • An article I recently read discussing the growing popularity of athletic trainers for kids

 

  • Lastly, a website I stumbled onto that says they specialize in training young athletes http://kidssportstraining.com/

 

It seems like as soon as a kid shows any promise or potential, the predators come running.  There is no room for the average kid to play sports, and the kid that is the standout feels the pressure early.  My nephew is 12.  He’s short for his age and just started playing basketball a year ago.  I heard someone tell him that he’s going be short and he started playing too late, so he might as well stop playing.   What’s wrong with him playing just for fun or exercise?  When I think about how children with or without athletic abilities are treated, it makes me wonder…when do kids have the chance to play their favorites sports, simply for the love of the game?

Monica Pierce, for War Room Sports

Thoughts on Tony Parker and Eva Longoria

Wednesday, December 1st, 2010