After despairing at last week’s episodes with their poor parent/Uncle Buck mix (and slapping two episodes together as well as being out of order which is still the case this week) the show has turned things around with “Going to Jail Party” and “I Got This.” Episode four is all about Will and Alexis worrying about Miles’ impulsiveness and where it comes from. It is also about pranking a neighbor and providing a comedic highlight. Perhaps the best in the series thus far.
“Going To Jail Party” focuses on parent teacher meetings for all three children and this shifts the parents to a smaller portion of the storyline. This move does not hurt the characters but serves to let their humor come out smart and snappy.
Miles is in trouble at school for staging a race between the biology class’s white rat and the first grade class’ hamster Sprinkles. The race goes badly and Maizy is upset that her brother’s actions caused the school pet to be injured. Alexis learns of the stunt and when his teacher explains that Miles acts without thinking of consequences, she first blames their Uncle Buck.
At the house, the kids and their uncle party down with loud music and are having fun till “Mr. Creepy Neighbor” calls the police. They retaliate with a hysterical prank. Without giving too much away, it involves the family dog, a spider suit and a giant web.
(The revenge prank by the neighbor was equally funny since it made Buck scream like a girl.)
This was easily the best episode in the series so far.
The mix was perfect with less time given to the grown ups and more on the Uncle Buck/children interaction. It had more of a “John Candy” feel to it. The storyline was focussed more on the kids and Alexis’s realization that Miles gets his impulsiveness from her was also funny.
“I Got This” did run parallel storylines with the parents attempting to “sex up” their relationship and once again featured more of Uncle Buck bonding with the children. From helping Miles with his first crush to sorting out Tia’s social life Buck’s hands are full. On top of his “manny” responsibilities he also has to support his team the Chicago Bulls with his lucky ball.
Uncle Buck is also about the kids’ manny turning over a new leaf. There was, perhaps, a bit too much time spent on the parents with their anniversary celebration but the main storyline was spot on.
Miles’ first crush is a little girl with more piercings in her face than Carter has little pills and Buck is horrified. He can see that this young lady is years ahead of Miles and not a good match at all. He manages to keep it together, interfering only when needed until the pierced girl breaks out the beer.
Tia has issues with her friends after she lies about going out on Twitter. Maizy watches Uncle Buck’s zombie movie and freaks out. Buck makes Tia’s problem worse and makes Miles angry.
The Bulls lose and Buck ends up ready to quit his manny job.
If the series can continue on this vein, more along the lines of “Going to Jail Party” which was very funny, although “I Got This” was almost as good. More comedy like the spider gag would not go amiss and would help the “JC” quotient.
This tendency to slap two episodes together does not bode well for Uncle Buck however. Whether this has been done to facilitate the upcoming holiday or an effort to get things over with in a hurry is not known.
Uncle Buck airs Tuesdays on ABC. Hang in there, the show is getting better. Tune in and see what you think.
CAST:
- Mike Epps – Uncle Buck
- Sayeed Shahidi – Miles
- Iman Benson – Tia
- Aalyrah Caldwell – Maizy
- Nia Long – Alexis
- James Lesure – Will
