In this episode we find that Joey has been cast as the leading role in a new action movie with a child co-star. The boy is roughly what every scared suburban white person imagines black children to be like; rude, loud, rowdy, and "gangsta", all with no parents in sight. After several incidents in which Joey was disrespected by the boy, he decides to give him a spanking. In real life one might imagine that everybody would be a bit unnerved, the child star would throw a tantrum, and perhaps charges would even be filed against Joey. But of course that's not what happened, as this is a corny sitcom with apparently regressive writers. Everybody praises Joey, most of all the child actor. "Thank you for disciplining me. I was out of line" That seems like something the boy would realistically say... after a couple decades of life experience and maybe having to deal with bratty kids of his own. But instead it happened within fifteen minutes or so. It's an unrealistic depiction of how to deal with a misbehaving child, especially in an increasingly liberal, law-focused society. Perhaps you think I'm taking a sitcom too seriously, and should simply enjoy the laughs. But there were no attempts made at comedic content. The laugh tracks were played only during the child's misbehavior and the spanking, as if that is supposed to amuse us. My best guess is that one of the writers is frustrated that his ex-wife won't let him beat his kid or something, so he crudely shoved a pro-spanking story into the show without regard for either realism or entertainment value.
The subplot was similarly dreadful. A woman attempts to find a rebound relationship so she can stop thinking about Joey, who was her long- term ex. This entire plot consists only of her meeting men and rejecting them for superficial or outright bigoted reasons. One man is too short, one is a bit chubby, and one of them is even *gasp* a bisexual! Emphasis is placed on the fact that she only likes blonde men. (As her ex is a black-haired Italian, I think it's fair to wager that "blonde" is here being used as a euphemism for white.) Again, no real attempts are made at humor, and laugh tracks are played only when the insufferable snot rejects the men. Apparently homophobia and intense judgment based on body figure are supposed to be a real hoot. Eventually she finds a perfectly vanilla man with no distinguishing features or personality besides his Germanic appearance, and that gives her a vague sort of temporary satisfaction. And that's it, roll the credits. To enjoy this episode, one would not only have to have a very peculiar sense of humor, but rather questionable moral sensibilities as well.
The subplot was similarly dreadful. A woman attempts to find a rebound relationship so she can stop thinking about Joey, who was her long- term ex. This entire plot consists only of her meeting men and rejecting them for superficial or outright bigoted reasons. One man is too short, one is a bit chubby, and one of them is even *gasp* a bisexual! Emphasis is placed on the fact that she only likes blonde men. (As her ex is a black-haired Italian, I think it's fair to wager that "blonde" is here being used as a euphemism for white.) Again, no real attempts are made at humor, and laugh tracks are played only when the insufferable snot rejects the men. Apparently homophobia and intense judgment based on body figure are supposed to be a real hoot. Eventually she finds a perfectly vanilla man with no distinguishing features or personality besides his Germanic appearance, and that gives her a vague sort of temporary satisfaction. And that's it, roll the credits. To enjoy this episode, one would not only have to have a very peculiar sense of humor, but rather questionable moral sensibilities as well.
