Tuesday night marked the premiere of ABC’s new comedy Uncle Buck. Pretty much the only even remotely interesting part of this very non-funny comedy is that Uncle Buck, instead of being a delinquent ne'er-do-well white guy (John Candy) like in the original movie, is instead a ne'er-do-well black guy (Mike Epps).
Until the last few minutes of the second episode, when something truly awful that I did not know existed, and now cannot unsee, appeared on my screen:
First of all, I hope the Obama Administration cut a check for the artist at Fathead, for giving POTUS the appearance of having human ears. Had the decal been produced to scale, such a thing would not have been possible.
Secondly, the whole thing is just gross. I’m far too aware of the level of bias and narrative advancing on the part of the entertainment industry to be shocked that a predominantly black sitcom would devote a portion of their series premiere to Dear Leader.
But the very idea that black sitcoms, whether it be Uncle Buck, or Blackish, or whomever, feel the need to pay homage to Obama is just an affront on multiple levels. Which is another reason why The Carmichael Show stands out as a great show. Especially since it is a black sitcom which pays homage to nothing (except comedy) and rips all people of all political stripes.
That’s the right way to write a sitcom. Uncle Buck does the other thing.
