BY MICHAEL GOODPASTER
(FOUR) UNCLE BERNIE
(“The Bernie Mac Show”) The Bernie Mac show is one of those recent hidden gems. It quietly racked up enough episodes for some good syndication deals and rightfully so. This is a good show. It’s pretty much Mac playing himself. He’s a successful stand up comedian, but the plot is that his nieces and nephew need someone to look over them so he does. He complains and gets into antics with the kids, but his heart is always in the right place. He is almost like the perfect blend of Red Fox and Bill Cosby. You can’t go wrong with that.
(THREE) UNCLE ANDY
(“Weeds”) It’s a half hour dramady, but don’t let the fact it’s on a premium channel fool you. This is a sitcom. There’s nothing wrong with that. There’s no laugh track and the show has a diehard fan base. I’m part of it. The one complaint I have about the show is consistency. The first few seasons were great and then the recent Mexico-related ones were lame sauce. I’m happy to say their most recent season rocked, but that’s not the point. In a show of ups and downs, there are two constants. The first one is Kevin Nealon’s “Doug”. He’s always entertaining. The second and biggest constant for the show is Andy Botwin. Played by Justin Kirk, “Uncle Andy” serves many roles. While the mother on the show is out making horrible decisions he sticks by the family, is often goofy as hell, kind hearted, and one of my favorite smart ass schemers in all of TV. If he wasn’t on the show I’d of abandoned it years ago.
(TWO) UNCLE PHIL
(“Fresh Prince of Bel Air”) He had his kids already, but still brought in her wife’s nephew from the mean streets to look after him. The whole scenario was the classic “fish out of water” tale of this “street kid” coming into a posh world of private schools, butlers, mansions, and snobs. Hilarity ensued. To me Uncle Phil’s over the top cartoony blow ups reminded me of Mr. Wilson from Dennis The Menace. The same way he’d shout “Dennnnnis!” and shake his fist is the same as Uncle Phil would scream “Wiiiiiill!” Good times.
(ONE) UNCLE JESSE
(“Full House”) Number one? You got it, dude! It has to be Uncle Jesse from Full House. The kids treated Jesse and Joey pretty much the same, but Joey was merely a friend of their dads. Jesse had a “blood bond”. He was rockstar, bought a night club, lived in the attic, married the hot Rebecca Donaldson, and was just the coolest. Mullets and leather vest-casual wear? Check.
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