Bob Hearts Abishola

I won't spend too long comparing this show to others in Chuck Lorre's repertoire. I will say I think this is his weakest instalment yet.

While the show starts on a cute premise with the whole patient/nurse romantic dynamic, and the inclusion of Nigerian culture for novelty's sake, the show offers little else to keep you invested. The characters feel bland and one dimensional, conversations often feel painfully tedious and repetitive. Any development made with a character can and will be completely scrapped in the next season, which only serves to prolong an already boring narrative. There is little to no ongoing plot for us to feel invested in, which leaves it up to the shorter episodic storylines. And with the quality of writing for this show, this presents a problem. We generally see very predictable stories resolved in a very predictable fashion by very predictable characters. A show does not feel particularly good when it feels like you could have written it yourself, especially when you think you could have done it better. The acting is also rather hit and miss from the cast. While some have incredible comedic chops, like Uncle Tunde or Kemi, there are no performances that I would consider standout. But this is a conflated problem from poor writing, and repetitive character tropes and storylines. So it doesn't feel fair to pin this entirely on the cast.

With the 5th season approaching, I can only imagine all these aforementioned gripes getting worse with time, as they have been. Which is a shame, because behind all of the critisism is a story about love, family, and the trials and tribulations that come with both. And when Bob Hearts Abishola gets to the heart of it, with originality and eloquence, without the terrible attempt at comedic fluff, it can be magical. It can go from a 5 to an 8 or 9. Unfortunately as these moments in the show are so far and few between, it just serves as a reminder of what this show could be, but isn't.

I don't know how much this show has left to give. I just hope I have the patience to see it through.

I like this new series. I've been a fan of Billy Gardell for awhile now. M & M just cemented his line timing and sense of humor for me. It's got some good lines, some good jokes and very good timing on delivery of those jokes. I'm undecided on the aunt and uncle yet but I like Abishola and her son both. I even like her co-workers that she talks to about some of the Bob/husband/life things. Vernee Watson-Johnson is one of her co-workers and I've liked her since I saw her in Welcome Back Kotter. There are some strong actors in this show with good scripting and funny, endearing lines. The characters have a real quality about them and the actors are good enough to get you involved in the show.

I love Chuck Lorre, but as a Nigerian I feel like this show tries too hard. There are several laugh out loud moments and yet there are nod-off moments too. Basically, you don't produce a show about Nigeria with only 2% actual Nigerian cast. Even without checking their names, I can tell that most of these characters aren't Nigerian. Their accent is nothing close to what Nigerians sound like. The one person who has a proper Nigerian accent (Abishola) isn't quite a stellar actress. I cringe sometimes watching her. Like the scene when her ex-husband holds back her son in Nigeria; her anger was laughable. Kofo and Goodwin are the only other people who actually sound Nigerian (to some extent). Also, how do you have 'Nigerian' characters who can't even sy Nigerian names? Bad. Just bad. I can understand if it's coming from Dottie or Bob, not Abishola's aunt and uncle, or the new girl.

I feel like the bad acting in this show is mainly from the Nigerian cast. Maybe a Nigerian director would have helped. Also some things are either exaggerated or not well-thought-out. Like the wedding scene where the lights go out. Yes, Nigerians say UP NEPA every time power is restored, but not well-off Nigerians, and especially not at weddings or high class functions. Typical Nigerians would comport themselves in that situation, and if by some one-in-a-million chance they decide to forgo their pride, they most certainly wouldn't chorus UP NEPA in unison like it's an anthem.

For a show about Nigeria, it's funny I prefer the Americans to the Nigerians, with Uncle Tunde being the only exception. I love this show but for it to work: improve acting, tone down exaggeration, research Nigeria, teach characters to pronounce with the right accent when they say a Nigerian name or speak Yoruba. And finally, not every Nigerian mother or aunt on the show has to be obnoxious.

Bob Hearts Abishola shows promise and may just be worth watching so long as the characters remain somewhat authentic and it doesn't collapse into the usual tired cliches.

There is the beginning of a hopefully long story here.

I came from Nigeria to Europe and this is so much representing of how hard Nigerians work to make a life life for them selfs and their families. It show the core of a Nigeria mother in great way but sometime seems very stereotypical but i am not mad at it. It is very funny and very representative, i hope y'all give a at least three episodes before you decide to quite.