There was a part in Part 2 of this story that really cracked me up....

Lowell, Antonio, Roy and Fay lined up singing and dancing that production number from "Phantom of the Oprah"....

Those four characters made up the WEIRDEST-looking chorus line that I have ever seen!

"The Gift" was an interesting story....Joe and Brian reminded me of these parents who shell out all kinds of money for their kids' activities and lessons, and push their kids to take part in them....whether the kids really want to or not!

Another thought on "The Gift"....It gave us a VERY interesting twist on the usual "Joe-Brian" relationship.

Usually Brian is the self-centered, immature "bad" brother, while Joe is the caring, adult-acting "good" brother...

However, in "The Gift" (especially Part 1), it is BRIAN who is the truly caring brother, and the one who is readily willing to sacrifice to help Helen.
Joe does it eventually, but he's keeping one eye on the dollar amount and isn't as easily ready to sacrifice for Helen as Brian is.

Yes, "The Gift" may not be the series' FUNNIEST story, but it's certainly one of the most interesting from a "character" point of view.

it was a very good episode, I taped both parts ... :D






Originally posted by pilotguy
Another thought on "The Gift"....It gave us a VERY interesting twist on the usual "Joe-Brian" relationship.

Usually Brian is the self-centered, immature "bad" brother, while Joe is the caring, adult-acting "good" brother...

However, in "The Gift" (especially Part 1), it is BRIAN who is the truly caring brother, and the one who is readily willing to sacrifice to help Helen.
Joe does it eventually, but he's keeping one eye on the dollar amount and isn't as easily ready to sacrifice for Helen as Brian is.

Yes, "The Gift" may not be the series' FUNNIEST story, but it's certainly one of the most interesting from a "character" point of view.

I totally agree. Brian is supposedly more irresponsible and less concerned with people's feelings. He's more likely to lie.

But it seems like Brian is also able to be very sympathetic to people who are hurting... whereas Joe is more likely to be kind of "above it all."

I loved the Gift 1 & 2. The only thing that didn't seem to really fit was Lowell and Roy wanting to be in a play. They just never seemed that type before.

I loved the line about the fish all having the same story: "I'm swimmin, I'm dead, I'm dinnah."

And when Joe & Brian cried. "You cryin, Joe?" "Only if you are."

hee hee.

Love,

Wing<><

yeah, I loved both episodes!

I loved the Joe/Brian/Helen interaction in these episodes.

That was so cute when Helen finally decided to accept the cello, and then she walked away, and Joe blew his nose, and Brian was like, "you crying Joe?" and he was like, "only if you are." and Brian's like, "I'm not crying!" and Joe's like, "me either!" and they both stomped away in different directions. hehehehe.