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| No Photo Credit, sorry Flying Monkeys |
Tyler Perry continues to rule TBS with his latest sitcom For Better or Worse which premiered tonight at 10 p.m. Michael Jai White who plays husband and father, Marcus Williams was seen fresh out of the shower wrapped in a towel within the first five minutes.Way to rope us in Tyler. Tasha Smith stars as Angela, Marcus’ second wife. If these roles sound familiar, that’s because the show is built around characters from Tyler Perry’s 2007 Movie, “Why Did I Get Married?”.
The first two episodes played back-to-back making it seem like an hour long show. Sort of. The first episode was pretty funny. Cocoa Brown is a scene stealer as Jennifer, Angela’s kooky friend who provides the best laughs in the show. The second episode takes a sharp right hand turn into The Land of Dramedy and more serious topics are covered. It’s a rather abrupt change as if it were two different shows with the same characters.
The show has two other couples, Keisha and Richard and Joseph and Leslie. Keisha is Marcus’ ex-wife and mother of his daughter. Keisha and Marcus may or may not have some unresolved issues. Joseph is rich and Leslie is a pageant queen. Well, okay, I don’t know if she is a pageant queen on the show, but she is played by a pageant queen and her acting abilities do seem as though casting her as anything other than a pageant queen would be beyond her abilities. I’m guessing this is her first acting job.
The show is set in Atlanta where, as Phaedra Parks would tell you, everybody knows there are only black folks. Black folks who, like Nene Leakes, are VERY RICH and of course have jobs related to professional sports and hair care. If I had written this show… I’d be called a racist for all the stereotypes. Tyler Perry makes his bank off stereotypes so I reckon that was to be expected. Don’t expect to see any white, Hispanic or Asian people showing up in series unless Kim Kardashian makes a cameo appearance at the sports network.
Some of the blocking in the show is weird. Lots of walking around in the “History Box” scene that seemed overly orchestrated for no real reason. I assume Tyler Perry is directing this and perhaps he is relying on the sort of blocking he would do on a stage so that everyone is not standing still in the scene. The paths of Angela and Richard cross awkwardly and you get the feeling they are exchanging places for some physical interaction that never takes place.
That said, with Friday Night Lights, off the air, there is not a lot to choose from and the show is sort of endearing in it’s awkwardness. I’ll watch it again and hope for more Cocoa Brown and half nekkid Michael Jai White and less pageant queen.
Did y’all watch this tonight? Tell me what you thought and follow me on twitter @tamaratattles .
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