A Man. And His Blog.

After last episode’s mediocrity, RAISING HOPE goes back to where it should be: hilarious, with a little message of the episode, and the feeling that this show wants to be something special. And definitely without Cloris Leachman. How happy was I, when she didn’t even appear in this episode, and how happy would I be, when she miraculously vanishes from the series…?

The episode began strong already. The writers should give me a little Jimmy/Shelley romance. Shelley (Kate Micucci) totally fits into the show, and she seriously needs more screentime. And with the little Jimmy/Shelley romance, the writers even can take a step back from Jimmy (Lucas Neff) having the hots for Sabrina (Shannon Woodward), and go a different way for a while – considering FOX wants to have the series on the air for a long time. And I don’t even have to say that I loved Shelley’s song. Please release an album with those works. But unfortunately it was the only scene with Shelley in the episode. I kinda missed her afterwards.

Hope being sick was a nice story; getting Maw Maw out of the story because of that was a nice move; letting Jimmy deal with getting insurance, so that he can take Hope to a doctor was nice too; and in connection with Burt (Garret Dillahunt) trying to get insurance, so that Jimmy can go with Hope to a doctor, was a good job of getting the moral into the story. Though the humor of it (Burt making deals with his “enemies”) got lost during the last third.

But finally the writers made Jimmy take a job in the grocery story. Letting him have some scope with the girl of his dreams was necessary, and I loved how stereotypical the work in this exact grocery store was (time runs one third slower – hilarious). I hope that’s going to stay for the next couple of episodes, or I would see it illogical, when Jimmy suddenly doesn’t work in the store anymore. Let him have two jobs.

Please let the upcoming episodes be that funny too! 7.5/10

It's the usual check of "Are you a meth user?"

Burt's slogan, not quite catchy at all

Now I understand why FOX decided to pull a back-to-back of RAISING HOPE, together with “Happy Halloween”: This episode wasn’t nearly good as the previous ones, and I even have to say that it was the weakest episode so far. Maybe it’s because the writers wanted to do some crazy shit in this episode, as seen in Lucy’s (Bijou Phillips) video, maybe it’s because the writers wanted to give the usual message of the episode, together with a crazy scene, as seen in the last scene, when Lucy’s video was edited. I just couldn’t like this episode as much as the last ones, though I have to say that the baby gets cuter with every episode.

The idea of Lucy leaving something behind for Hope was a nice idea, and a predictable one (it had to come in the series anytime soon), that Jimmy (Lucas Neff) and his parents would be troubled about Lucy’s belongings was predictable and a nice idea too, but I don’t like what the writers did with it. The video wanted to be funny with Lucy being the crazy one, but I couldn’t laugh for one single moment. Instead I found the nicer parts of the video to be more interesting than the “hilarious” ones – why the writers couldn’t have cut out the funny part of the series for these moments is inconceivable. Why not getting out of the genre for a few minutes and deliver something complete different? Why is a network series not that courageous anymore?

Burt’s (Garret Dillahunt) efforts to save Lucy’s belongings for Hope was nice though, despite the little makeup scene (rather ridiculous than hilarious, especially seeing a similar scene on a different show the day before). But I liked that Burt was interested in Jimmy’s girl’s life for a couple of minutes, because she looked to be so cooler than he was. The other side plot with the secrets Jimmy had to uncover was boring though. It didn’t bring much, and it kinda didn’t connect well with the Lucy/Hope story here. Furthermore, I still can’t get Maw Maw (Cloris Leachman), and she should keep a shirt on at all times. I’m about to vomit, when she jumps around in her underwear, and the camera is about to zoom in on her. Yuck!

There I am, about to dig this show once and for all, and then such a mediocre episode comes in my way. 5.5/10

Jimmy found fruits...

... and Hope an Al Roker voodoo doll

While trying to cath up on the current TV season, I re-discovered RAISING HOPE, as I do during every episode I watch: I still don’t count this show as a must-see for me, but when I’m finished with those 21 minutes, I want to have the next episode. Well then…

It was a nice and sweet episode, again with a grateful family message, again with some adorable baby moments, again with some cute Sabrina/Jimmy non-overload-moment, the already usual Maw Maw overload, and the reasons why I should love this show, but still don’t do.

Beginning with Jimmy (Lucas Neff) helping out Sabrina (Shannon Woodward) in stepping up for her and replacing Sabrina’s boyfriend Wyatt (Ryan Doom) for a Halloween party, this story was the most entertaining one. I just love their slow-burned relationship, and I found myself craving for every single moment between those two future love birds – how Jimmy did his own homemade Batman costume, just so he can get to a party with Sabrina, how he let friends watch over Hope, how he even saw Halloween this day, even though he hates Halloween… Everything was wonderful. I could have kicked Wyatt in his balls for leaving Sabrina behind drunk, and I could have hugged Jimmy for what he has done to Sabrina (it seemed like the overall message of the episode), and I was melting away like a girl, when Sabrina kissed Jimmy. Just to be disappointed afterwards, when she was drunk and thinking to have kissed Wyatt. A slow-burner of a relationship? Definitely! But totally romantic.

Burt’s (Garret Dillahunt) reason why he posed as Jimmy’s monster was a nice one too – he did it for the hugs. The message couldn’t be cuter, RAISING HOPE couldn’t be more of a family-themed TV show, and fathers couldn’t be more watching the show and learn how to look for your kid’s love. That Jimmy realized it at the end too, when he got a hug from Hope, couldn’t have been more adorable. Please make more TV shows with cute babies as the title character.

The only crazy thing about the episode was Maw Maw (Cloris Leachman). I sill don’t get her, I still don’t like Cloris Leachman, I still don’t find all of this funny. Seeing Maw Maw as a nine-year-old in a cat costume, which she put on backwards was just awkward and one of those usual eyesroll-moments.

If the writers would “kill off” Maw Maw, RAISING HOPE would be much better and more lovable. 7.5/10 for this episode.

Batman and Robin's wild dance

A hug means big love

Do not vomit, it is just a baby

Are there charming anarchic comedies out there? Nobody knows the answer, because American television never had such a series on any broadcaster. But FOX, as brave as they are, tried and still tries to get the audience with a bunch of interesting new shows, and the singlecam-sitcom Raising Hope can be one of the more interesting shows among the interesting-looking shows out there. And the 23-minute pilot episode even answered my question: Yes, they can be charming anarchic comedies out there. The next question is now, if the writers are staying on that course, or if they going the route, which was already taken by Malcolm in the Middle and Sons of Tucson. And even though the pilot was nice and charming, I am not hooked onto the series.Maybe it is because I am still not getting much from anarchic comedy shows, maybe because I already see that the story is completely horrendous, maybe I already see similarities to Scrubs, and I was one of those people, who was never won over by Scrubs. Furthermore, the pilot missed the funny part, and I don’t know if that was intended to be this way, or if the story is not funny for me. But hey, the baby is cute, and I found myself thinking, when I should have one of those. And I realized: I used “when”, and not “if”.

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