chr1sberg

We watched the first 2 episodes of "Fresh Off the Boat" tonight. We quite enjoyed it. Based on a true story/memoir of an Asian American immigrant family in the mid 90s that opens a restaurant in Florida.

What's really interesting me is the subtext of a narrative from the perspective of an 11 year old boy, done most famously in The Wonder Years but with a lot of visual subtlety. The writer, as an adult, is our guide an agency and remembering all of these events through child glasses: His mother is witty, with a sharp tongue, always tired and has all of the best lines; his father is away most of the time (for the previous 6 months prior to the pilot), and is portrayed as the straight (but absent) man. He is optimistic but distant, not wanting to ever upset his family. The narrator/author is dismissive of his younger brothers. He spends about a minute narratively introducing his mother and father, his obvious role models, and spends less than a second glossing over his brothers and grandmother, punctuated with the wonderful "whatever" after their introductions.

Outside of the sharp writing from the mother, the background subtlety and humor is very reminiscent of the best of the single-camera dramadies (Arrested Development, The Office). For example, the narrator is forced to do extra homework because he happened to get straight As at his new school and his mother felt that meant the school wasn't teaching him enough. He looks outside at a friend playing basketball. This is a normal trope, seen many times before: the longing of lost childhood due to responsibility. It's even directly pointed out, as a trope, by the narrator. What makes it brilliant is a few scenes later when he his outside in that same basketball court, *everything* is trashed: The hoop is missing most of the net, the trampoline is on its side and has a hole in it.. it's a child's version of forbidden fun with no responsibility that he was unable to participate in. And it's *never* pointed out to the viewer. It's just there in the background. The show is full of moments like this.

This is definitely on our "To Watch" list now each week. I'm excited to see where the show goes.

I Tivo'd this cause it had a cool title, and I heard it was a reality show, but knew nothing else about it. Hoped it would be something about rich people gambling and blowing lots of money.. when I realized it was about a couple of .COMers starting up a casino.. I wondered where it could go. I had good cause to wonder. It didn't go anywhere.

First off, why should I care about a couple of guys worth $100M+ between them buying a casino in downtown vegas? I mean, they spend 15 mins of the show watching them apply in front of the NGC for their license. It's obvious they're going to get it, or else, no series. And they're like "we have $50M on the line, we need to get a license." Sure, like they were stupid enough to pony up the money before even knowing if they had a gaming license.

There are a couple of sub-plots. Some of their college buddies throw a party for their shy friend. With hookers. Exciting, especially on non-Premium TV. There's another subplot about this 6'8" professional gamer guy.. they're like "we're throwing up the alert, he's a card counter!" and following his every move on the security cameras, watching to see if he'll go to the blackjack tables. LIKE THE STUPID REALITY TV CAMERA TWO FEET AWAY FROM HIM WATCHING HIS EVERY MOVE ISN'T A HINT! ..obviously staged. The three chicks from the party above, you see again, at supposedly the same time, hitting on the rich professional gamer guy. It's obvious the whole thing was staged.. it's stupid, boring, and not at all interesting.

Shame on you, Mark Burnett. To come up with this turkey.

0/10, nothing at all redeemable about this series. Hope it gets canceled soon so something not-as-dreadful comes out of the FOX network.