what was up with the males in this show? - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

jamesanthony · 03-30-2004, 08:17 PM

With the exception of Col Taylor, the males in this show seemed to be much sillier and less appealing than the female roles. There seemed to be less care taken in developing their characters and truthfully, if I were a female I wouldn't want to be involved with any of them. Ron was a silly playboy. What did all of those women find so appealing about him anyway? That he could juggle all of those nice looking women made no sense to me. maybe it was explained in an episode that I missed.

Dwayne to me always had a dorky quality about him even up to the end. None of the male students were in the league of someone like Lena, who had attitude but wasn't silly and clearly had a brain in her head. Or Kim who was stable. Or even Freddie who was a bit spacey but still quite charming. Oreven Whitley who was to me more fleshed out than Dwayne.

What do you guys think about this?

marvin g · 03-30-2004, 10:39 PM

One of Freddie's boyfriends was like Lena. I think his name was Shazah? Bumper's character wasn't silly, he was just a good christian. Now that I think about the ratio is quite uneven. Do you supposed because the show was directed by a women that that could have played a part in it?

jamesanthony · 03-30-2004, 11:19 PM

Hey Marvin:

Bumper's character was virginal which is a nice change of pace, but they could have done a whole lot better in terms of casting someone who could act and had more chemistry with jada pinkett. As for Shaza he was in school for something like 7 years and was still an undergraduate. They definitely portrayed him in a way that was not too flattering. I think the fact that it was produced by a woman is why the portrayals were off balance.

HaskellGirl · 03-30-2004, 11:34 PM

I think Dwayne was pretty good by the end. He wasn't as dorky as he started out. I think Ron actually developed there by the end as well, although not as much. I don't know why they are sillier than the girls, but it helps with the comedy.

jamesanthony · 03-31-2004, 12:00 AM

Hey HaskellGirl:

The show is funny without a doubt. I was just observing that the female roles seem to have been developed more carefully and with less negative stereotypes than the male ones. By the way, does anyone know what became of Terrence in the show? Did they eliminate him for any particular reason? The actor's father was a famous ventrilioquist. one thing in his favor, he was actually about the age of his character (I believe a year younger even). The actor who played Ron was much older than the character.

marvin g · 03-31-2004, 10:02 PM

I don't know why terrence wasn't used more often but the last time i seen that guy he was on a Circuit City commercial. Maybe he should have took his father's dummy and used as his brother or something?!

Now that I think about it the show was mostly produced and directed my women.

jamesanthony · 03-31-2004, 11:05 PM

To me it's not such a travesty that the males were underdeveloped here because there are so many different black comedies on that show different perspectives on black life. The women who worked on this show wanted to stress the female perspective which is what they knew best. There could be a contemporary show about blacks in college in 2004, the only problem is that there are less blacks in college now than when this show was on the air.

vashti1999 · 04-04-2004, 10:48 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by jamesanthony
I was just observing that the female roles seem to have been developed more carefully and with less negative stereotypes than the male ones.

I don't think necessarily the male characters were any more negative or positive than the female characters. You could think of Col Taylor, Mr Gaines, Walter, Spencer as positive male characters just as easily as you could consider Gina, Charmaine, Whitley and her mother as silly female characters, not that I think any of them are negative. I appreciated everything that each character added to the show, I guess it just depends on how you're looking at it.

CCRYDER1968 · 04-18-2004, 04:28 PM

I agree that the behind the scenes women had lots to do with it...I gotta say,I guess the only one of them I would've gone out with was Dwayne...maybe around season 3 and after when he matured a little bit.

03-30-2004, 08:17 PM	#1
jamesanthony Member Senior Member Join Date: Mar 30, 2004 Posts: 2,180	what was up with the males in this show? With the exception of Col Taylor, the males in this show seemed to be much sillier and less appealing than the female roles. There seemed to be less care taken in developing their characters and truthfully, if I were a female I wouldn't want to be involved with any of them. Ron was a silly playboy. What did all of those women find so appealing about him anyway? That he could juggle all of those nice looking women made no sense to me. maybe it was explained in an episode that I missed. Dwayne to me always had a dorky quality about him even up to the end. None of the male students were in the league of someone like Lena, who had attitude but wasn't silly and clearly had a brain in her head. Or Kim who was stable. Or even Freddie who was a bit spacey but still quite charming. Oreven Whitley who was to me more fleshed out than Dwayne. What do you guys think about this?

03-30-2004, 10:39 PM	#2
marvin g Member Senior Member Join Date: Jul 30, 2003 Location: Chicago,IL Posts: 1,217	One of Freddie's boyfriends was like Lena. I think his name was Shazah? Bumper's character wasn't silly, he was just a good christian. Now that I think about the ratio is quite uneven. Do you supposed because the show was directed by a women that that could have played a part in it?

03-30-2004, 11:19 PM	#3
jamesanthony Member Senior Member Join Date: Mar 30, 2004 Posts: 2,180	Hey Marvin: Bumper's character was virginal which is a nice change of pace, but they could have done a whole lot better in terms of casting someone who could act and had more chemistry with jada pinkett. As for Shaza he was in school for something like 7 years and was still an undergraduate. They definitely portrayed him in a way that was not too flattering. I think the fact that it was produced by a woman is why the portrayals were off balance.

03-30-2004, 11:34 PM	#4
HaskellGirl Member Forum Regular Join Date: Jul 15, 2002 Posts: 590	I think Dwayne was pretty good by the end. He wasn't as dorky as he started out. I think Ron actually developed there by the end as well, although not as much. I don't know why they are sillier than the girls, but it helps with the comedy.

03-31-2004, 12:00 AM	#5
jamesanthony Member Senior Member Join Date: Mar 30, 2004 Posts: 2,180	Hey HaskellGirl: The show is funny without a doubt. I was just observing that the female roles seem to have been developed more carefully and with less negative stereotypes than the male ones. By the way, does anyone know what became of Terrence in the show? Did they eliminate him for any particular reason? The actor's father was a famous ventrilioquist. one thing in his favor, he was actually about the age of his character (I believe a year younger even). The actor who played Ron was much older than the character.

03-31-2004, 10:02 PM	#6
marvin g Member Senior Member Join Date: Jul 30, 2003 Location: Chicago,IL Posts: 1,217	I don't know why terrence wasn't used more often but the last time i seen that guy he was on a Circuit City commercial. Maybe he should have took his father's dummy and used as his brother or something?! Now that I think about it the show was mostly produced and directed my women.

03-31-2004, 11:05 PM	#7
jamesanthony Member Senior Member Join Date: Mar 30, 2004 Posts: 2,180	To me it's not such a travesty that the males were underdeveloped here because there are so many different black comedies on that show different perspectives on black life. The women who worked on this show wanted to stress the female perspective which is what they knew best. There could be a contemporary show about blacks in college in 2004, the only problem is that there are less blacks in college now than when this show was on the air.

04-18-2004, 04:28 PM	#9
CCRYDER1968 #1 Sitcom Fan Frequent Poster Join Date: Dec 15, 2000 Location: Chicago Posts: 438	I agree that the behind the scenes women had lots to do with it...I gotta say,I guess the only one of them I would've gone out with was Dwayne...maybe around season 3 and after when he matured a little bit.