Thoughts on "Whoopi" and "Happy Family"

[benjamoon]

For those of you that saw the premieres of NBC's newest comedies, post your thoughts

Here's my review:

WHOOPI
Grade: D

What a disaster. I figured it would be after seeing commercials but it was even worse than I expected. Whoopi was the best part of the entire show because the rest of the cast must have been dozing off in acting class. Whoopi at least had some funny reactions and decent timing. I don't want to use stereotypes, but since this show was ridiculously heavy in them, I will to talk about the other characters. Everyone was too much of what they were, the Arab guy had lame jokes about Iraq and the Middle East while being continuously unfunny. The "fly" white girl and her boyfriend were obnoxious. I swear the boyfriend (who previously worked for Enron, another dumb plot line) was merely reading cuecards. Very poor writing, very poor acting. This will be gone by November sweeps

HAPPY FAMILY
Grade: B-

I actually see potential in this. Christine Baranski and John Laroquette are quite funny in their own right. The chemistry could improve between them though. Christine is such a talent, with great delivery and comedic timing and Laroquette had some moments of his own. The rest of the cast needs to step it up. The youngest son (Tim) is a little funny but just dumb-funny and it doesn't work all that well. The daughter is obnoxious and I can see her being a little too much of the same week to week and the oldest son doesn't act enough. He needs to have a little more feeling into his role. The parts are well written for the most part, the script was a little over the top, but it had flashes of brightness and unless it gets clobbered by "Whoopi" receiving poor ratings, it has a chance

[Stuck In The '70's]

I didn't watch Whoppi but I thought Happy Family was very good. If NBC would give it a better timeslot it might be a keeper.

[*Pleasant Tomorrow*]

Whoopi:C
It wasn't the greatest, but I got a few laughs out of it. It might improve, you never know.

Happy Family:A-
I really liked it, and am looking forward to the rest of the season. It wasn't lmao funny, but hey it's only the first episode...

[Small Wonderian]

My grades:

Whoopi: haven't seen it so no grade as of yet

Happy Family: seen only a little of it, but from what I saw, I give it a B+

[musicradio77]

"Whoopi" had such poor ratings since 1987 when "Full House" debut, the reviews went bad for its first season and the show almost cancelled and came back the following year. Whoopi Goldberg is not quite the same after she left "Hollywood Squares" as the center square. I haven't seen it in reruns on GSN since Friday mornings from 9:00 until noon, three hours of Whoopi on the new "Hollywood Squares".

[Madness]

Whoopi I knew would be bad but it wasn't as bad as I thought. I laughed with the laugh track. Happy Family was actually very funny. I am a big fan of John Larroquette and him and Christine Baranski were quite funny, as well as all the kids. I was really chuckling throughout the whole episode. Their timing was perfect and I hope NBC doesn't drop the ball with Happy Family but I'm sure they will. I think Whoopi should be and will be given a chance.

Whoopi-C
Happy Family-B+

[*GoodMorningCalgary*]

Originally posted by benjamoon
the Arab guy had lame jokes about Iraq and the Middle East while being continuously unfunny.


Ummm he's Persian. He didn't like it when people called him Arab. I didn't even see the show and I even knew this

[*GoodMorningCalgary*]

By the way...How did each of the shows do last night in Ratings??

[Christopher]

'Whoopi' was okay. I hope more of the episodes are funnier. I give it a B+

I can't stand John Larroquette, so I didn't bother watching 'Happy Family'

[Stuck In The '70's]

Originally posted by *GoodMorningCalgary*
By the way...How did each of the shows do last night in Ratings?? According to zap2it.com both shows did well winning their timelots but they did air against reruns.

[felicitylen]

Whoopi: C-
(I laughed a few times but I quickly got bored and changed the channel)

Happy Family: didn't watch but the previews to me looked stupid.

[Toukee]

I thought "Happy Family" was awful...Christine Baranski and John Laroquette are both very talented and could carry a series, but they'd need scripts that don't come across like they were written by a junior high school creative writing class.

well...that's pretty much my opinion about "Whoopi" too, but for some reason, I saw more potential in "Whoopi" then I saw in "Happy Family" (which doesn't seem to be the same as everybody else's opinions, I guess) - I just think that the hotel setting could lend itself to more creativity and comic possibilities in future episodes. I'm thinking it has the potential to become another "Newhart" with the hotel setting lending itself to funny guest stars and situations...they'd also need to find people who can actually write humor, though.

[Central Perk]

Both shows were pretty bad imo. I just hope they improve because I have a feeling that both could be cancelled by the end of the season.

Whoopi: D-
Happy Family: C+

[GoldenFamilyTies]

From Futon Critic:

1. "Whoopi" (NBC) - 12.5/20
2. "Happy Family" (NBC) - 12.1/18
3. "Law & Order: S.V.U." (R, NBC) - 8.9/14
4. "Frasier" (R, NBC) - 7.9/12
5. "The O.C." (FOX) - 7.2/11
6. "Big Brother 4" (CBS) - 6.6/10
7. "Good Morning, Miami" (R, NBC) - 5.5/8
8. "According to Jim" (R, ABC, 9:00) - 5.4/8
9. "Cupid" (CBS) - 5.2/8
10. "Less Than Perfect" (R, ABC) - 5.0/7
11. "Judging Amy" (R, CBS) - 4.9/8
12. "Eight Simple Rules..." (R, ABC) - 4.8/8
13. "According to Jim" (SR, ABC, 8:30) - 4.3/7
14. "N.Y.P.D. Blue" (R, ABC) - 4.1/6
15. "Performing As..." (FOX) - 3.9/6

[SBTB Geek]

"Whoopi" tried too hard to be controversial, but I did find the Persian guy funny. He's the star of the show. "Happy Family" in the other hand is VERY good, and I can't wait to watch another episode. The cast had very good chemistry.

[Toukee]

Originally posted by *GoodMorningCalgary*
Ummm he's Persian. He didn't like it when people called him Arab. I didn't even see the show and I even knew this


Well, Persia is Iran...or rather, Iran used to be called Persia.


Refering to himself as "Persian" was an anti-Iranian statement in itself, and then getting angy because he was called "Arab" was another statement against the Middle East in general - so it was sort of strange that the character kept making "subtle" pro-terrorism references. I got the feeling that the writers were just trying to be sooooo "cutting edge" with the Middle Eastern Character that they didn't even bother worrying about his sentiments making any sense.

[*GoodMorningCalgary*]

Originally posted by Toukee
Well, Persia is Iran...or rather, Iran used to be called Persia.


Refering to himself as "Persian" was an anti-Iranian statement in itself, and then getting angy because he was called "Arab" was another statement against the Middle East in general - so it was sort of strange that the character kept making "subtle" pro-terrorism references. I got the feeling that the writers were just trying to be sooooo "cutting edge" with the Middle Eastern Character that they didn't even bother worrying about his sentiments making any sense.

I'm Persian. this is the first time I've ever heard anyone say its an Anti-Iranian statement:confused: how is it anti-iranian? I actually don't see the point your trying to make here either.

[bb25]

Blechh!! I thought both of these shows sucked! Especially Happy Family, I mean, how ridiculous...the only thing I laughed at was watching these 2 shows limp through their time slots and then watching the superior "Frasier" and "Good Morning, Miami"...:lol:

[Toukee]

Originally posted by *GoodMorningCalgary*
I'm Persian. this is the first time I've ever heard anyone say its an Anti-Iranian statement:confused: how is it anti-iranian? I actually don't see the point your trying to make here either.


it's like if I refer to myself as a "Wisconsinite" (or maybe Wisconsinarian or something) instead of calling myself an American....it's a way of identifying your heritage/ethnicity/nationality or whatever - while not associating yourself with the government of your country.

ummmm...the most common example of this in America is the way many "Native Americans" will refer to themselves by their tribal affiliation, such as Hopi, Onondaga, Mohawk, or Cherokee (but not refer to themselves as "Americans" because they don't want to be associated with the average middle class, white, boarish American stereotype) - you also see the same sentiments displayed by Asians who refer to themselves as "Hmong" because they don't want any association to Viet Nam.

I mean absolutely no disrespect, Calgary - but there really is no such thing a "Persian" because Persia no longer exists. So calling yourself "Persian" is a way of connecting yourself to the past history of your ethnicity while not acknowledging the current government and political views of your country.

Now....the whole point I was trying to make is that the producers of "WHOOPI" didn't really know what they wanted to do with the "Persian" character - his lines went back and forth between being very politically correct to being damn racist at times. I think they just wanted the character to come across as "shocking" (or whatever) instead of actaully bothering to create a real character with a single point of view and logical deminsions to his personality.

[BLT]

Whoopi--I never really cared for her, so I didn't bother watching it.

Happy Family--The writing wasn't great, but seldom is any sitcom writing these days. I've been a big John Larroquette fan since Night Court and I loved his last show, "Payne". I was pleasantly pleased with his chemistry with Christine Baranski. Although I started to have my doubts in the first minute or two, they were quickly put to rest. The debut episode was pretty good, I just hope the ratings keep up and it doesn't end up like "Payne."

[OcelotGirl]

I have not seen Whoopi yet but liking Happy Family

[barwars]

Havent seen either.
Ive heard mixed reactions.
And Ill be sure to check them both out tomorrow night.

Whoopi doesnt look all that great, but Ill give it a try.
Same goes for Happy Family.