Raising Hope: A Show Where Every Episode Makes Me Cry

The Sitcom. It's technically a crappy genre. One that is full of low common denominator humor, contrived writing, and social values or acts that are either going to be socially unacceptable or are already socially unacceptable, and I love it! Yeah sitcoms sometimes have those things but they also sometimes have clever wordplay and great characters. They may also have additional elements that elevate it beyond the trappings of the sitcom, mainly such things like social commentary or an innovative presentation. 

These are the diamonds in the rough: Seinfeld, Roseanne, The Simpsons, Married with Children. These shows are not only some of the greatest sitcoms but some of the greatest television shows. It would be hard to talk about TV's greats without talking about Seinfeld, Roseanne, and the Simpsons. 

Anyway, Raising Hope is not one of those shows. But hey, it's pretty good or why else I would be talking about it. 

For the longest time, I consider Raising Hope one of my favorite sitcoms. I considered it Greg Garcia's masterpiece, and at one point considered it as "the Show Where Every Episode Makes Me Cry." I loved it so much I thought I rewatch it during election week because Raising Hope is also a great comfort show which is something sitcoms are great at. Yeah I'm not a fan of Friends, but I can't disagree that people genuinely find comfort in binging that show, and Raising Hope is that for me. However, I have come to learn that when I binge sitcoms I tend to discover their warts. I watched Raising Hope when it was a once a week affair. Every episode back-to-back doesn't do the show any favors. 

The same thing happened to another one of my favorite sitcoms and at one point my all-time favorite show, Malcolm in the Middle, until it was replaced by Avatar the Last Airbender. I thought Malcolm in the Middle was perfect throughout until I binged it one year. There I saw the show's quality split in half where it was a comedic masterpiece during the first half and a somewhat mediocre slog in the second half. There was less creative energy and more flanderization. 

Raising Hope thankfully doesn't flanderize its characters because all of their characters are already flanderized to begin with. It's a hallmark of a Greg Garcia sitcom. Its Beverly Hillbillies if it was PG-13. They're all dumb. One character is the pathetic loser. Another will be the creepy loser. You get the pattern. All the characters are more caricatures, and usually that will be a bad thing. However, I think what makes Raising Hope work is the acting is just damn good. Raising Hope has some really strong casting chops. I think a good example of this is Martha Plimpton who plays Virginia Chance, the mother of the main character who knocks up a serial killer on death row leaving the Chance family with a newborn daughter named Hope. (There, I explained a synopsis without having to dedicate a paragraph to it. You're welcome.)

For those familiar with Garcia's other show, My Name is Earl, you would think Virginia is the Raising Hope equivalent of Joy, and she is on paper. She is short-tempered and often wrong despite her unearned confidence. There is a sensitive side, but it is underneath a hard exterior. 

However, watching Plimpton, you see a subtle spin that is different to Jaime Pressly. There is an apparent sensitivity that makes the character far more empathetic than she has any right to be, and its emphasize by all the other characters displaying empathetic qualities. 

Ok, spoilers for Raising Hope from this point on. Although this is a sitcom not Game of Thrones. I don't know why I am bothering-ok, I'm going off topic-

I think my favorite episode that shows this is the Mother's Day episode. Virginia and Sabrina (Shannon Woodward) share a wonderful scene together. It has a great character moment for the two that's elegantly done. Sabrina, a daughter neglected by her rich parents, finds parental love in Virginia. While Virginia, who in this episode is struggling with the fact that she is not the only mother figure for Hope when Sabrina marries into the family, finds solace in being a mother figure for Sabrina. It's simple, but it is emotionally powerful because of it. It works in the same way as reading a news story of a soldier returning home. It is immediately relatable and caters to basic emotional needs of love and acceptance. Of course, if it were that simple then every sitcom would be emotionally satisfying. The acting is the key! I think the reason I cry every episode is because the acting turns every simple moment to gold. 

So if every episode makes me cry, why don't I hail it on the same level as the sitcom greats? After all, if a show is able to make me cry Iron Giant tears every episode, it has to be fucking masterful. I am not one to cry easy. 

Well it is because I am lying about how every episode makes me cry which in sitcom fashion is sort of the mid-episode twist to this review. Although I did preface that this show has problems. Also my overly positive introduction was also in past tense. If anything, it wasn't a lie but a poor use of a transitional device to segway to the narrative flaws of the show. 

Raising Hope's humor is a lot like that last paragraph. There is meta-commentary, references and parodies to other shows and movies including My Name is Earl, fourth wall humor, and a general self-awareness to the narrative. It's amusing but also repetitive. If you plan on binging a sitcom that was originally designed to be shown once a week, know that you might start noticing a pattern. 

Yeah, I get that is sort of the nature of sitcoms. They are repetitive which
is why they are so comfortable, but I think people underestimate how much variety is in a well made sitcom. Let's go back to My Name is Earl as an example. One of the brilliant aspects of My Name is Earl is the variety of the townsfolk. The problem of week is generally focused on a new townsfolk that offers a new backstory that feels unique to that episode. It's certainly an example of "same but different," but the different adds a much needed flavor to the rhythm of the narrative loop.   

My Name is Earl also throws in occasional overarching problems that break up the monotony. Season 3 alone has Earl in prison, dealing with a conflicting love interest, and in a coma within the span of 22 episodes. 

Raising Hope doesn't nearly have the minimal variety that My Name is Earl does. Yeah there are episodes that have the main characters interact with new townsfolk, but the show puts more attention on the main cast than the one offs, a complete opposite of My Name is Earl. This wouldn't typically be a problem, but a lot of the stories in Raising Hope devolve into:  A.) Virginia and Burt (Garret Dillahunt) made an awful parenting decision when they were younger. B.) And because of that, Jimmy (Lucas Neff) has some problem to deal with in the present. And C.) shenanigans and moral lessons ensue. A lot of Raising Hope episodes bleed together because of this repetition and none of the attempts at variety ever stick. Aside from the thrift store lady, I can't recall any other enjoyable one-off characters. 

It doesn't help that Raising Hope manages to break almost every sitcom cliché in the book. You can bet those aforementioned God awful tropes are present in Raising Hope. There is some cheap humor throughout the show such as predictable punchlines and slapstick. This is where the pattern has the biggest negative impact since the humorous writing feels a lot like filling in mad libs than anything with creative energy.

One character gets hit by a bus which quickly resolves an episode and fulfilling the plot contrivance. The titular Hope feels more like a plot device that will disappear for episodes at a time. After the first season, the show quickly quits being about "Raising Hope." 

And yes, it has a moment involving Burt admitting to poking a hole in a condom on purpose in order to get Virginia pregnant, and no one fucking bats an eye that Burt committed a form of sexual assault. Another episode involves Wyatt (Ryan Doom), Sabrina's boyfriend, threatening to kill himself, Sabrina, and Jimmy by driving into incoming traffic unless Sabrina and him talk out their relationship problem. I would add that to the socially unacceptable category. But considering we are suppose to kind of hate Wyatt by that point, I will give it a pass. And oh, don't even get me started on the "Dysfunction Junction" episode.

And yet, despite all of those problems, I still love it. 

This is the power of good acting. The generic jokes are awful, but they are saved somewhat by solid delivery. The repetition is obnoxious, but the acting is engaging enough for me to push that problem aside. If the characters existed in real life, I would hate all of them, but the Raising Hope cast makes them affable and wholesome. It's telling that I still enjoy Burt as a character despite doing the most heinous thing on the show. 

Is Raising Hope one of my favorite sitcoms now? No, not really. Is it Greg Garcia's masterpiece? Well not anymore. I think My Name is Earl, in retrospect, has better writing. And finally, does every episode make me cry? Well that was already just a click-baity tagline, but I won't hold the show against that. 

Raising Hope is a perfect example of a show that shouldn't be binged. Like a good comfort food, it is warm and makes you feel good. But if you eat too much of it, you will start to feel the negative effects of saturated sitcoms.

Additional Thoughts Too Unnoteworthy to Include in This Review But I'm Including Anyway

I said that the characters are already flanderized, but I would extend an exception to Sabrina. They really up the weirdness to her character as the show continues. Some it works. Some of it comes off really forced. That being said, Shannon Woodward does a great job with the character.

Season 2 seems to have the worst batch of episodes. Season 1 is great, Season 3 is solid, and Season 4 is sort of a mix bag.  

I hate the "Jimmy the Kid Episode." It has an annoying kid. I guess add annoying kid to the horrible sitcom tropes. 

To highlight a good episode, my favorite episodes aside from the Mother Day's episode is "Lord of the Ring" and "Dream Hoarders." The former because it has some of the best shenanigans. The latter because it has my favorite tender moment in the show.   

Ok one other funny one-off character is the defense lawyer. He got a few laughs out of me. Also what is with sitcoms have highly inaccurate portrayals of the legal system? If My Cousin Vinny can be both accurate and funny then so can sitcoms!

The episode where Jimmy and Sabrina get together felt really anticlimactic. Granted, I don't know how I would have done better, so I will also give this a pass as well. Speaking of which, I will say that unlike Jim and Pam from the Office, Jimmy and Sabrina doesn't get less interesting once they get together which is nice. In fact, one of my favorite moments of the show is a little scene where Jimmy and Sabrina dress up as goths. If you've seen the show, then you will know how much of a great payoff that was. It was done perfectly! Overall, the relationship was one of the few instances where it would offer a break from the routine. 

Like My Name is Earl, this show got canceled. However, it was probably for the best. I don't know if I could deal with the show's repetition for another season. Plus, unless they put more focus on Jimmy and Sabrina's relationship, as well as Hope herself, I don't see much ground left when it comes to Burt and especially Virginia. The last episode felt like a great end to Virginia's story. 

November 7, 2020

Well Biden won, and I feel…well a lot of things.

One of those feelings is fear. I am afraid what President Trump will do to try to delegitimize this victory. I am afraid of what Trump supporters will do. I’m afraid of any wild card that might take away this fleeting moment.

However, I am mainly afraid of being happy.

2020 has been punishing for the hopeful. Anytime I had a hint of optimism, 2020 would slap it away. This is easily the best news of this entire year for me, and I am afraid to cherish it.

You know, originally, I was going to write a blog about the election where I would write one portion before the results and one portion once the results were decided.

 I noticed two very different versions of me in that rough draft of that blog. Before the election, I was angry, scared, spiteful. Trump supporters destroyed any patience I had left. In fact, here is the excerpt from that rough draft:

“The line between Trump supporters and segregationists from the 1960s are starting to blur. I see some of my conservative Facebook friends sharing genuinely stomach-churning stuff, and I genuinely wondered if at any point did they look themselves in mirror and see history reflect poorly back at them. My grandparents were kick out of restaurants for being Hispanic. My migrant working ancestors were treated like animals. And yet here I am, watching my Facebook friends voting for a man who looks at that racist time with nostalgia. The line between Trump supporters and segregationists has been a blurred line for the longest time. But like a thunderstorm, it's scarier to see it at your front door.

 For the first time, I considered simply unfriending people on Facebook out of pure disappointment of what they have shown. I look at my friend's list, I am counting: One. Two. Three. Four. At least four people I hope to never see again because their Trump rhetoric breaks my heart. Trump supporters might consider me a snowflake for saying that. I just hope you realize that as a Hispanic, I am carrying ancestral scars that you can't even comprehend. And as a lover of history, I am also carrying the scars of fallen empires, dictatorships, and polarized civil wars all the while watching the country that I love walk closer and closer to repeating it.”

However now, as I try to write my thoughts after the election, those thoughts before the election now feel rather pointless. That anger I have for Trump supporters is pointless. Right now, all I can do is heal. Granted, I imagine my feelings would be very similar if Trump won the electoral vote, but we thankfully don’t live in that universe.

There is going to be a lot of angry people. Those people were protesting Obama, and they will do the same for Biden/Kamala. However, if there was one good thing that came out of society of the Obama administration it is that we tabooed the shit out of those people. We tabooed racial hatred and bigotry. We lost that in these last four years, and I hope this administration brings it back.

Trump and his supporters aren’t going to evaporate when Biden gets inaugurated (again assuming Trump doesn’t pull any dirty tricks). The best we can do is heal with them and start a conversation on why their actions have been so damaging to this society.

 Also, I don’t know if this is worth saying. Did you know this is the first election where my candidate won? Every election I have voted for ever since I turned 18 ended in defeat: Beto O Rourke. Sanders (twice). Clinton (despite winning popular vote). Just to name a few.

I think that is all I have to say. All I am thinking about is my family and friends. I have so many people I just want to hug right now.

Also, special shout out to Raising Hope for getting me through this week. In fact, the next blog post is going to be a review on that. I can’t wait to write that.

It’s strange I am not angry as I am. I could be mad at Trump. The fact that it wasn’t a landslide. The fact that Trump has yet to concede (and now has said he won’t concede). I could be mad that there was so much in the way to delegitimize the democratic process like blocking mail in ballots, and that there are still some hurdles between Biden and his inauguration. But I can’t. All I can think about is the people that mean the most to me.

And the fact that AOC is really attractive. Holy crap, so I watched I think a Vanity Fair interview of her, and oh my God. She is so cute. She has such an affable personality.   

But that is really it. I have spoken from the heart. I hope these next few months go by smoothly. After all, Trump is still president, and you know how anarchic he gets when he is angry.

I hope at the very least this serves a warm relief for Americans that love can still win, and compassion can still win even if it was a close win.

I also hope that serves as a lesson to conservatives. Maybe if you want someone representing you, you don’t elect a would-be tyrant.

I want to end this be reiterating that there is a lot of work to be done. The cliché adage of winning the battle but not the war is apparent today. I pray to God that the next few months are filled with continued failure from people who want to take this away from the American people. I pray that the next four years will have milestones as the one of Kamala Harris being the first POC woman to be elected vice president. I hope that isn’t too much to ask.

Now if you excuse me. I really got to pee.