"Everybody Hates Chris" is a sitcom created by Chris Rock. It was launched in 2005 until 2006 during the merger between United Paramount Network and Warner Brothers to become The CW Network. However, it was one of the few shows to be saved during the merger due to its popularity. It was one of the shows that happened to be far more popular than the sitcom "All of Us" which was officially cancelled recently.
The title is basically the opposite of "Everybody Loves Raymond" a popular sitcom on CBS that starred Ray Romano. The concept behind this sitcom are the experience of Chris Rock’s life during his teenage years. It’s a sitcom but there’s no laugh track that’s use and it’s not filmed before a live audience. Overall, it seems to be an actual yet comedic depiction of Chris Rock’s life as a teenager it’s narrated by him throughout every episode.
The story revolves around Chris the main character of the story. He’s very ambitious and innocent. However, he’s the most vulnerable child of the family and tends to be the scapegoat of everything that goes wrong. Chris is the underdog throughout the series as he tries to rise up but gets smacked back down. In funny way, it tends to make people feel for Chris a lot as he tries to help out yet becomes the scapegoat. Which makes the title of Everybody Hates Chris very appropriate.
There is an interesting diversity of characters that make up Chris’ family though they’re not fully based on Chris Rock’s real life family. Tichina Arnold plays the strict and frantic mother Rochelle who can get quite intimidating even for Chris. She’s generally a good person. But whenever she tries to help, she just complicates things even further. She definitely has a smart mouth that goes along with it. Rochelle lacks discipline which results her in shooting her mouth off and getting in trouble as a result.
Julius the father played by Terry Crews seems to be someone of the hero in this story. He controls the money and keeps the the family together. Julius works two jobs delivering newspapers and something else. Asides from that, Julius is also the landlord of the building collecting rent from the tennants. He also serves as the resident handyman of the building. In a sense, he’s one of the true underdogs struggling to provide for his wife and kids. In short, he’s more level-headed than his wife and sees things more clearly except in the presence of his more successful brother Louis.
It mainly deals with the trials of life and school. Chris and his best friend Greg who is the white nerdy best friend are constantly bullied at school by Joey Caruso. Greg seems to be the typical white boy but it all plays out well since he compliments Chris’ character. At the same time, he tries to keep his siblings in line. His brother Drew is always up to no good while the younger sister is antagonistic and gets her way when asking the father.
Overall, it’s a fresh concept from the mind of Chris Rock. It’s basically a funny sitcom and I’m glad that this show wasn’t axed during the merger between UPN and the WB. However, it seems to be one of the few decent black sitcoms out there asides from Girlfriends and The Game. All of Us was given the axe this year and won’t be airing anymore episodes.
Due to the show’s popularity and the awards it has received, Everybody Hates Chris has signed on for another season. It’ll definitely be a show that’s going to run for years to come. Chris Rock has done a good job of turning a biography of his life into an award winning sitcom.
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