The Inside of My Brain

TV Review: Everybody Hates Chris - "Everybody Hates Playboy"

Julius (Terry Crews) had a Playboy magazine in his toolbox. No one, not even his family, knew of its existence. When Chris (Tyler James Williams) went to get a tool for his father, he discovered the magazine. What isn't a big deal these days was still a controversial item of choice during the time period of this show, which is what "Everybody Hates Playboy" focuses on.

I used to pay people to read my books. I thought it was an easy way to make money without working too hard. Little did I know that my stuff would be stolen, which is what also happened to Chris. As he and Greg (Vincent Martella) go about sharing the magazine with students for a $1, Joey Caruso (Travis T. Flory) steals it from him. Back at the house, Julius went on a frantic search for the Playboy and instead came upon $500 in one of Rochelle's (Tichina Arnold) shoeboxes.

The problem with being poor is that a dollar is gold. When it's found, it's cherished. This ideal caused a bit of mistrust between Rochelle and Julius as everything is meant to be shared between the two of them. I must admit that it's kind of hard to save everything you make - it's almost a sin to do so if you are in a family. Sometimes though, you need to have a little spending cash for the things you'd like to have. Chris well understands that as he tries to purchase another copy of the magazine at a newsstand - of course, the cashier takes the money, but doesn't give him the Playboy.

Chris managed to steal the Playboy back at one point, only to run into the vice principal - now he had to get it from her office. With Greg in tow as a lookout, Chris attempted to try and steal it once again. Not only did that fail, but now the vice principal knows who owns the magazine. Rochelle and Julius are called upon for a rather intense scene of "Who's on first?" with Julius signaling via facial expressions not to say that it was his. I would have loved to have seen what happened if Chris had said it was his.

At episode's end, Chris learns the value of never taking things that aren't his and Rochelle learns not to hide money from Julius. I don't exactly agree with either outcome, but families sometimes have to agree to disagree just to get along. This had to be the saddest ending yet with Julius taking the money Chris made from the magazine. If that had been me, I'd have blackmailed him into giving me the money back.

Posted by Matthew at May 3, 2006 01:51 AM | TrackBack