587: "Bringing Up Dads"

Evil Chick · Post by **Evil Chick** » Thu Feb 23, 2006 2:45 pm

Get ready to post your reviews on Saturday! $\:D/$

AIOfan11 · Post by **AIOfan11** » Sat Feb 25, 2006 8:34 am

I voted 3 stars. Kind of low, and lower than last weeks. Tamika seemed really bratty, or something. Her dad was REALLY sweet and she was embarrassed.

Am I the only one who had these thoughts?

Broadcast · Post by **Broadcast** » Sat Feb 25, 2006 9:03 am

AIOFan11 wrote:I voted 3 stars. Kind of low, and lower than last weeks. Tamika seemed really bratty, or something. Her dad was REALLY sweet and she was embarrassed. Am I the only one who had these thoughts?

I didn't find Tamika that bratty actually.

My review is up! Here!

One I Froggy · Post by **One I Froggy** » Sat Feb 25, 2006 10:28 am

AIOFan11 wrote:I voted 3 stars. Kind of low, and lower than last weeks. Tamika seemed really bratty, or something. Her dad was REALLY sweet and she was embarrassed. Am I the only one who had these thoughts?

I agree with you. And this theme is totally overdone. I gave it 2 stars

Dr. Watson · Post by **Dr. Watson** » Sat Feb 25, 2006 10:50 am

AIOFan11 wrote:I voted 3 stars. Kind of low, and lower than last weeks. Tamika seemed really bratty, or something. Her dad was REALLY sweet and she was embarrassed. Am I the only one who had these thoughts?

Absolutely! Tamika was terrible in this episode! I gave this show only one star, mainly because of the focus of the episode. Why must we endure 20 minutes of parent--in this case, father--denigration in order to get a 5 minute apology and feel goodness at the end? This has been done before, and I don't like it. I mean, the lesson on honoring your parents was lost amidst Tamika calling her dad "crazy," "wierd," and "a loser"!

If AIO really wants to get the fifth commandment across to the listeners, they can be far more effective by providing clear-cut *positive* examples every episode. FOF needs to start living up to their name...

I'm glad at least Tamika apologized at the end.

/rant

Anyone else think that the the twins were a bit, um, annoying?

Arwen · Post by **Arwen** » Sat Feb 25, 2006 11:08 am

Yeah, and I think that's one thing that I REALLY disliked. I know some twins who are eleven (actually, they'll be eleven on Tuesday), and they are two different people, even though they're identical. Twins don't usually act like that, and it was kind of a demeaning portrayal.

J-man · Post by **J-man** » Sat Feb 25, 2006 11:53 am

I didn't like this episode really either. Everyone above me pretty much posted what I thought, so I'll not post anything much.. I gave it three stars, although I would have rated 2 1/2..

Me · Post by Me » Sat Feb 25, 2006 2:09 pm

I'm going to have to disagree with most people here. I actually liked this one. Sure, the twins were a little annoying, but I don't think they were supposed to be too serious. So why did I like it? Because I can totally relate. I went through a stage of "parent embarrassment." Although it's really not a problem for me anymore, it was interesting to see someone else in the same situation, and how the problem was eventually resolved, and the reasons behind it.

Another thing that I think is being glossed over is the "B plot." The episode was about far more than embarassment. It was about a kid growing up, and the changes both they and the parents are going through. This was a theme that really hasn't been covered in this way before by AIO.

The weakest element, in my opinion, was the sound design. It may just be due to the compression on the stream, but I felt the design was really weak in this ep.

Also it was nice to finally get an exact age on Tamika.

Four stars.

JesusFreak777 · Post by **JesusFreak777** » Sat Feb 25, 2006 2:09 pm

Actually, I didn't have that much of a problem with the episode. Yes Tamika was bratty, but you know what, a LOT of girls are like that at her age. I took this to be more of a leson for those girls who are at that stage in life to remind them that, "Hey, you really DO have an awesome Dad, and he really ISN'T out to get you or embarrass you." Yes she was a bit disrespectful, but I really do see this as an important lesson to be taught, and I have seen that attitude manifested in so many teen and preteen girls, that I really do think Focus did a good job of handling it.

Jonathan · Post by **Jonathan** » Sat Feb 25, 2006 2:21 pm

I'm going to go with Me and JF. Having less-then-perfect characters helps the show keep it's realism.

An overdone theme? I can only think of one other ep that focused on this (the Barclay ski trip one), and the two were different enough that they could stand on their own.

Evil Chick · Post by **Evil Chick** » Sat Feb 25, 2006 2:54 pm

Yeah, the twins were a little too annoying, but I still thought that this was a cute episode. I never really went through a "parent embarrassment stage," because my parents are really cool. Of course, there have been things they've done that I found slightly humiliating, but nothing too bad. I can totally understand why Tamika was embarrassed, though! I don't blame her...

Argyle Ninja · Post by **Argyle Ninja** » Sat Feb 25, 2006 3:16 pm

I think that Tamika needed to be bratty to make the story make sense. If she wasn't, then Ed wouldn't have noticed as much of a problem.

AIOaddict1988 · Post by **AIOaddict1988** » Sat Feb 25, 2006 3:43 pm

Dr. Watson wrote:
Absolutely! Tamika was terrible in this episode! I gave this show only one star, mainly because of the focus of the episode. Why must we endure 20 minutes of parent--in this case, father--denigration in order to get a 5 minute apology and feel goodness at the end? This has been done before, and I don't like it. I mean, the lesson on honoring your parents was lost amidst Tamika calling her dad "crazy," "wierd," and "a loser"! If AIO really wants to get the fifth commandment across to the listeners, they can be far more effective by providing clear-cut *positive* examples every episode. FOF needs to start living up to their name... I'm glad at least Tamika apologized at the end.

/rant

Anyone else think that the the twins were a bit, um, annoying?

I didn't think the episode was all that bad. Whether you want to admit it or not, it's a lot easier to teach kids 8-12 (which is AiO's target audiance) ways not to do things...
I gave it 4 stars...

Frank · Post by **Frank** » Sat Feb 25, 2006 3:50 pm

Perhaps a little on the sappy side, but it 'twas okay.

I get really touchy over shows about relationships with fathers and daughters.

Ferder · Post by **Ferder** » Sat Feb 25, 2006 4:13 pm

One of the worst things about this ep was its complete lack of originality. Just take "Ski Vacation" and replace the "laughing so hard milk is coming out the nose" with a giant hot-dog-shaped car and there you go.
How are the writers going to avoid Barkely comparisons if they write stories like this?

Aslan · Post by **Aslan** » Sat Feb 25, 2006 6:30 pm

2 Stars

dancer02248 · Post by **dancer02248** » Sat Feb 25, 2006 6:45 pm

okay, so I gave this episode 5 stars!

Mostly because, I can totally relate. I know I have great parents, and even though i'm 5 years older than Tamika is supposed to be, I get really annoyed by them a lot of times. And Tamika's dad completely reminds me of my dad.

So I thought this was a great show, and will deffinitely help me in real life. And I think this show accuratley portrayed how the pre-teen, and the dad feels, and allowed me to see both views.

Great Episode!

Mandy Straussberg · Post by **Mandy Straussberg** » Sat Feb 25, 2006 6:50 pm

I think it was just an average episode... I disagree with a lot of the negatives mentioned above, but I also don't have the glowing opinion that others have.

I think that this episode wasn't terribly original and I think certain points should have been made that weren't. I don't get embarrassed by my parents. I realized a long time ago that what they did didn't reflect on me and if people stopped liking me or changed their opinions of me because of something my parents did, then they weren't good friends to begin with. That's the only thing that changed my view.

Three stars.

Mandy

Kris Doyle · Post by **Kris Doyle** » Sun Feb 26, 2006 6:32 pm

Mandy Straussberg wrote:I think that this episode wasn't terribly original and I think certain points should have been made that weren't. I don't get embarrassed by my parents. I realized a long time ago that what they did didn't reflect on me and if people stopped liking me or changed their opinions of me because of something my parents did, then they weren't good friends to begin with. That's the only thing that changed my view.

Well said, Miss Strausberg. I gave this ep a four. BTW, does anyone agree that Ed Washington (with his fun and uninhibited demeanor) is a lot like a smarter version of Wooton (just not as eccentric)?

Although the Andrews twins really weren't realistic, I thought they were funny...and Odyssey has included pairs of twins that were as different as night and day (like Edwin and Regis)! I liked the joke about the Andrews Sisters--didn't the singing group do that song about "The Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy"?

Post by **Catspaw** » Sun Feb 26, 2006 9:30 pm

As soon as I heard the episode, I knew two things - that I really liked it, and that some people would be slamming it at their earlier convenience.

It was a well-done episode that I could relate to - I have a great dad, and I love him, and we have a good relationship, but that doesn't mean that I've never considered him embarassing, or that I still don't sometimes wish that he would act a bit differently. Especially for an 11-year-old girl, Tamika's feelings seemed both realistic and fit in well with her character.

Personally, Gwen's dad (a.k.a. the roast beef guy

) was a highlight - he was just over-the-top enough to be very funny! I thoroughly enjoyed his scene!

Gwen's reaction to her dad fit with the little that we know about her from "Lost By a Nose." One thing I found a bit odd was that Gwen and Tamika were friends, since I thought that Gwen became friends with Liz and Mandy, and I therefore thought that she was more like 13 or 14. However, I didn't let that stop me from enjoying the episode both times that I listened! $\:D/$

The Town of Odyssey

587: "Bringing Up Dads"

What did you think of "Bringing Up Dads"?

587: "Bringing Up Dads"