Meghan McNamara

Assignment 3: Unknown Television Shows

9/25/02

Making Time for Bernie Mac

            I sat there, gazing at the television, eagerly awaiting the start of the show that would occupy the next thirty minutes of my life, and wondering to myself, would I become willing to give up thirty minutes of my time for this same cause every week, or would this show turn out as unsatisfactory as the many others that crowd our channels.  After viewing and deliberating, the decision has been made: I am not satisfied.  The target of my disappointment, The Bernie Mac Show, is a sitcom based on the life of a husband and wife who take custody of their adolescent nieces and nephew.  I felt my attention wandering and patience growing short as this shallow sitcom progressed.  Not only was I dissatisfied with the uninteresting plot line, unidimensional characters, and lack of talent among cast members, I also found that the show tried to appeal to such a large audience that it did not provide enough enjoyable material for any one age group.

            An under developed plot line and flat characters played by equally unappealing and unconvincing actresses and actors are not qualities I usually look for in a television show.  However, the television show I watched tonight had all of these, as well as many other unappealing features.  For the entire length of the show, the plot did not get more advanced then Bernie trying to make his younger niece, affectionately called Baby Girl, give up her favorite doll.  Aside from a few lessons to be learned, such as do not spoil your children or they will misbehave, there was nothing more within the episode to keep the audience’s attention.  Although the show was only thirty minutes in length, minus commercials of course, I feel there could have been more side conflicts which would produce a more thrilling climax.  Very predictable most of the time (who would not guess that Baby Girl will begin to disrespect her aunt and uncle once Bernie starts giving her all she wants), and just plan tedious at other times (how many times does an audience want to see a little girl crying over her lost doll), the plot of this show did nothing to persuade me to tune in for more next week.

            Characters and character advancement are also pertinent to a plot’s development, however, the characters of The Bernie Mac Show did little to help improve, and possibly even further damaged, this pathetic attempt at a story line.  The wife, the older niece, and the younger niece all have very stereotypical and unoriginal personalities.  The few scenes involving Bernie’s wife do nothing to complicate or add dimension to her character; she is the conventional image of a wife shown in a variety of scenes to be doing things to please her husband such as cooking, undressing, and being constantly dressed in sexy, stylish, unpractical clothing around

the house.  The older niece is the typical teenager.  She is shown watching MTV in one scene, and at the close of the show she is supposedly passing on to her younger sister all the things which make teenage girls teenage girls.  They are both engrossed in a giant box of makeup and jewelry.  Also, the actress playing this girl is not very talented which greatly takes away any chance of reality the show once had.  Baby Girl’s character also is made up entirely of stereotypes, she is the whiney crybaby who loves her dolls and ruining her older siblings fun.  Bernie’s personality is the only one which seems to actually be developed, although he is still just a predictable as the plot of the show.

            The show also, in trying to appeal to a wide variety of ages, mixes immature humor with inappropriate subject matter.  If I were to offer a piece of advice to the writers of the show it would be this: pick one age group and stick with it.  The infantile humor throughout the episode, such as the doll getting doused in gasoline, about to be set on fire and then tossed into a tree chipper, as well as a scene of Bernie stamping through a sand castle, or Baby Girl being chased around the house by her aunt, suggest that the show is for a younger audience.  However, footage of Bernie and guest star Ice Cube drinking “40’s”, and of Bernie’s wife disrobing are not appropriate for younger viewers.  If the show were to replace the childish jokes with mature ones, and limit the audience to older viewers, I think the show would be much more successful.

            So, the show did not have a great cast, the characters where not realistic, and the plot was far from exciting, but did I at least enjoy the show as a piece of comedy written for the purpose of entertainment?  No.  I did not laugh at the jokes and I never once said to myself, “I can not wait to see what is going to happen next.”  I can safely say I am not going to go out of my way to make time for The Bernie Mac Show in my weekly, monthly or even yearly schedule.  Maybe if the women in the show become a little more assertive, or a little less stereotypical, or maybe if the show stops trying to appeal to young kids I could see myself not cringing if the show were to appear on my television.  For now, however, I can assure you, I am not a fan.