Just watched the first episode, and I had literally zero expectations for this, or maybe even negative, as I expected not to like it after watching the trailer. Even at the start, when Damon Wayans Jr. Knocked in the first scene and the laughter track audience was laughing like crazy, I thought I would skip this one. But it surprised me. The story and comedy work well, and most of the characters are likable. I liked Tetona's work in Home Economics, and here too, she's good at playing Nina. Her chemistry with Damon feels natural. Their characters and performances are what I liked the most. They've made the Poppa character mostly behave in a crazy manner, like a drunk teen, looking like Will Smith in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, wearing a reverse cap, casual street clothes, and a gold chain. But sometimes he talks sensibly. His name is Poppa in the show. I thought by "Poppa," they meant father, and only his son would call him that. But since it's his name, everyone calls him Poppa, even if he gets a girlfriend in a future episode; she will call him Poppa too. For me, it's not as funny and doesn't have as many good characters as The Neighborhood, but it's still a decent time-pass family drama that you can try. 3/5.
Update: I've watched 6 episodes now, and the 6th episode is the best one so far. The show feels like a celebration of overly dramatic, overacting, and weird scenes, which I don't particularly like-especially what happened between Poppa and Junior at the start of the third episode. But I enjoy nonsense as long as it's entertaining, and this show delivers on that. They also try to convey meaningful messages about parenting, family matters, and more, and the comedy mostly works.
The best part is that all the actors seem to enjoy every scene. Some might be overacting on purpose, just aiming to entertain, and the behind-the-scenes footage is a fun watch too. My rating remains 3/5 - a time-pass comedy show.
Update: Just finished watching the 18th episode. I've been tuning in to watch every episode as it came out, and it was always a fun time-pass show. Sometimes it was a bit much, but mostly it was entertaining. Most of the jokes landed well. And the casting was strong too - the actors playing Poppa, Damon, Ivy, and Nina, along with the side characters, were all well cast.
They obviously didn't know it was their last episode, but it was still a good one with funny moments. It ended on a cliffhanger, like most season finales do, but even as a series finale, it wasn't a bad episode at all.
I'm calling it a series finale because CBS cancelled it after just one season, which is really sad. It's terrible how they keep cancelling comedy shows without giving them a proper chance. I think this show deserved more seasons.
My rating is still 3/5.
