Creators:
Chris Rock
Ali LeRoi
Cast:
Tyler James Williams ………. Chris Rock
Terry Crews ………. Julius Rock
Tichina Arnold ………. Rochelle Rock
Tequan Richmond ………. Drew Rock
Imani Hakim ………. Tanya Rock
Vincent Martella ………. Greg Wuliger
Chris Rock ………. Himself/Narrator
The Show
What happens when you mix together classic “family comedy” shows like The Cosby Show and The Wonder Years, and add in the childhood of a successful comedian as well. You get Everybody Hates Chris, a show that was inspired by the childhood of Chris Rock. A show that also ends up being just as funny as the two aforementioned TV shows.
Chris Rock grew up in Brooklyn, New York in the 1980’s. He had a younger sister and a younger brother, who was taller than him. He also had a loving mother and a hard-working father in the family as well. This show is based on his experiences growing up. Each episode of this show is narrated by Chris Rock himself in the style made famous by Fred Savage from The Wonder Years. Of course, not everything that happens on this show happened to Chris Rock. However, the growing pains he experienced after being “bused” to a predominantly Italian middle school were real. There is lots of comedy to be found in that. It just takes someone like Chris Rock to bring it to the screen.
The acting in this series is flawless. Chris’s entire family is likable. This is where the elements of The Cosby Show shine through. However, this show is not centered on the father of the family. Nor are the parents rich in this show. Everybody Hates Chris is centered on Chris, of course. Tyler James Williams does a fantastic job as a young Chris Rock. You can really imagine him as Chris Rock when he grows up. His family is a middle-class family at best. His father, played by Terry Crews, often has to work two jobs and his mother, played by Tichina Arnold, does what she can to support the family as well. That makes the family tighter as a result, though. You really couldn’t think of any better actors playing the role of Chris and his entire family.
The only downside to this show is that it debuted on UPN and is now on The CW. This is one show people probably aren’t watching and that’s a shame. Even in the competitive world of sitcoms on the major networks, where few survive, Everybody Hates Chris would have a great chance to survive and prosper. It’s that good. Too bad it probably won’t get that chance.
The young Chris Rock protrayed in this show is an awkward 13-year-old boy, who is like Charlie Brown in many ways. His family is close, crazy, and funny. Everybody Hates Chris is a “throwback” to classic 80’s “family sitcoms” like The Cosby Show and The Wonder Years. It’s probably also the show that you aren’t watching on The CW. Even if you don’t like Chris Rock at all, you will still probably like this show if you like to watch “family sitcoms”.
Episodes:
Disc One:
Episode 1 – Everybody Hates the Pilot
Chris Rock introduces the story of a teenager struggling to cope with being uprooted to a new neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York and a mostly white school, while trying to keep his younger siblings in line at home.
Episode 2 – Everybody Hates Keisha
When Rochelle hires their young neighbor Keisha to tutor Drew in math, Chris sees this as his chance to impress the girl next door, but his plans go awry when Keisha makes her own moves. Meanwhile, Chris’s dad Julius experiences an awkward moment at home when he mistakes Keisha’s mom for Rochelle. Later, after the principal warns the school bully to stay away from Chris at all times, Greg uses Chris as his own personal “bully repellent.”
Episode 3 – Everybody Hates Basketball
Assumed to be a great player just because he’s African-American, Chris gets recruited to the basketball team despite the fact that he really can’t play the game, and all of the attention he gets from the faculty and classmates puts a strain on his friendship with Greg. Meanwhile, to bring in some extra money, the family rents out their upstairs room, but Rochelle soon becomes suspicious of the new tenant, Mr. Tate.
Episode 4 – Everybody Hates Sausage
The fight between Chris and the school bully, Joey, escalates forcing the school principal to step in. Meanwhile when Rochelle quits her job and money becomes tight, Julius makes a deal on a crate of sausages so the family has meat on the table, but Tanya refuses to touch a link. Later, Drew is inspired to take up karate after watching a kung fu movie.
Episode 5 – Everybody Hates Fat Mike
When Chris befriends Fat Mike, one of the cool kids in the neighborhood, he gets some relief from the area thugs, but their bond is tested when Mike steals Chris’s bike. Rochelle is forced to get work when Julius’s truck union goes on strike. Julius causes friction with Rochelle when he appears to be a better homemaker.
Episode 6 – Everybody Hates Halloween
Chris’s plans to attend his neighbor Lisa’s Halloween party are threatened when his mother Rochelle makes him take his younger brother and sister trick-or-treating. Meanwhile, Chris and Greg attempt to dodge holiday pranksters armed with rotten eggs at school. Later, Rochelle objects when cost-conscious Julius wants to give trick-or-treaters the generic “M and N’s”, “Nickers”, and “Gravy Ways” that he bought.
Disc Two:
Episode 7 – Everybody Hates the Babysitter
When Julius and Rochelle decide to have a “date night”, they hire a babysitter to watch the kids, but when she keeps leaving to take care of personal business, Chris is forced to cover for her. Meanwhile, Julius and Rochelle’s romantic night out hits a few bumps when the restaurant doesn’t accept their coupon and the place gets robbed.
Episode 8 – Everybody Hates the Laundromat
Chris must endure a Saturday at the local laundromat with Drew and Tanya in tow and soon he finds his patience tested by the competitive patrons and his siblings uncooperative behavior. Meanwhile, after seeing ads for sale, Julius and Rochelle go shopping for a new color television.
Episode 9 – Everybody Hates Food Stamps
After Julius finds $200 in food stamps, Rochelle swallows her pride and goes to use them, but when a friend spots her at the grocery store, she panics and dips into the family’s spending money instead. Meanwhile, Chris and Greg team up for a school science project, but clash when they realize that they have very different ideas on what constitutes a winning project.
Episode 10 – Everybody Hates Greg
Tired of constantly being blames for Tanya’s mischief, Chris decides to hang out and play Atari at Greg’s house after school without their parents’ permission. But when Greg’s dad comes home, Chris ends up hiding out in the closet to avoid getting busted. Meanwhile, Tanya must find innovative ways to stay out trouble when she no longer has Chris at home to blame.
Episode 11 – Everybody Hates Christmas
When the water heater breaks in the house, Julius and Rochelle must tell Chris that they can’t afford to buy him the new Walkman cassette player he wants for Christmas. Meanwhile, Drew spills the beans on Santa Claus to Tanya, making her question other things her parents have told her.
Episode 12 – Everybody Hates a Part-Time Job
Tired of “hand-me-up” winter coats from Drew, Chris decides that a leather jacket will make him look “cool” but learns the value of a dollar when he goes to work with his dad to earn the money to buy one. Meanwhile, when their school gets shut down due to a rash of lead-paint poisoning cases, Tanya and Drew pass the time at home by engaging in a nasty game of “I Dare You.”
Disc Three:
Episode 13 – Everybody Hates Picture Day
With Rochelle’s help, Chris tries to find an outfit for his school picture so perfect that the other kids will finally think he’s cool. Meanwhile, Tanya refuses to apologize for breaking a toy, so Drew retaliates by swiping one of he school shoes. Later, Rochelle attempts to sell cosmetics to her neighbors.
Episode 14 – Everybody Hates Valentine’s Day
While all the other kids at school are exchanging Valentine’s Day cards, Chris receives a series of “I hate you” cards from the school bully, but love is in the air as he develops a “bus crush” on Tangee, a girl he sees regularly on his daily route. Meanwhile, Julius and Rochelle must deal with the unexpected romantic attention Drew and Tanya are getting.
Episode 15 – Everybody Hates the Lottery
At the neighborhood corner store, Chris claims to be the greatest “Asteroids” player in Bed-Stuy, until he meets his match and has to defend his title. Meanwhile, to pay the heating bill, Julius and Rochelle have to give up chocolate and lottery tickets, but deprivation of their guilty pleasures soon sends both of them out searching for a secret “fix”.
Episode 16 – Everybody Hates the Gout
When Chris gets a “F” on his report card, he resorts to desperate measures to hide the bad grade from his parents. Meanwhile, at home sick with the gout, Julius rediscovers his love of television soaps.
Episode 17 – Everybody Hates Funerals
When Rochelle’s father Gene dies unexpectedly while in town for a visit, Julius and the kids grow increasingly concerned when Rochelle acts as if nothing’s wrong. Meanwhile, with her family staying at their house, Rochelle finds herself under constant criticism from her mother, Maxine. When Rochelle won’t defend herself, Chris comes to her rescue, shocking the rest of the family.
Episode 18 – Everybody Hates Corleone
Fed up with getting a daily butt-kicking from his classmates, Chris asks Julius and Rochelle if he can attend the local middle school instead of Corleone Junior High, but when they say no Chris tries to get himself expelled. Meanwhile, Julius is stinking the family out of the house after starting a new job at a fish market.
Disc Four:
Episode 19 – Everybody Hates Drew
Hoping that he can finally excel at something and outperform his little brother Drew, Chris convinces his parents to enroll him in karate lessons. Meanwhile, Julius relents and gives Tanya money to go to the hair salon after Rochelle nearly gives her daughter third-degree burns with the hot comb, but the parents quickly regret the decision when Tanya gets a lesson in gossiping from Vanessa and the other ladies at the salon.
Episode 20 – Everybody Hates Playboy
After finding his father’s Playboy magazine, Chris decides to bring it to school where bully Joey Caruso steals it. When Chris and Greg attempt to get it back before Julius learns it’s missing, things get worse when the school principal gets his hands on it. Meanwhile, Julius finds out that Rochelle is hiding money from him.
Episode 21 – Everybody Hates Jail
When Chris’s teacher announces a school cookie-selling competition to raise money for a field trip to Washington, Chris panics and turns to the Bed-Stuy crooks for selling tips, which gets him in trouble with the law. Meanwhile, Julius surprises Rochelle with tickets to see Dreamgirls for their anniversary, but when Drew and Tanya get sick with the chicken pox, Julius reluctantly volunteers to stay home.
Episode 22 – Everybody Hates Father’s Day
When Julius decides that the best Father’s Day gift he can receive is spending the day alone, an upset Rochelle decides to take the kids to places Julius would never go. Meanwhile, Chris is determined to find the perfect gift for his father.
The Video:
The video is given in anamorphic widescreen color that is enhanced for 16:9 TVs. Transfer is good with minimal distortion.
The Audio:
The audio included is available in either English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround sound or English 2.0 Surround sound. No problems here either.
The Extras:
Cast and Crew Audio Commentaries –
There are commentaries from the cast and crew on select episodes of this season. Ali LeRoi (Co-Creator), Chris Rock (Co-Creator), and Reginald Hudlin (Director) comment on “Everybody Hates the Pilot”. Imani Hakim, Tequan Richmond, Tichina Arnold, Terry Crews, Tyler James Williams, and Vincent Martella comment on “Everybody Hates” and “Everybody Hates Food Stamps”. Imani Hakim, Tequan Richmond, Tichina Arnold, Terry Crews, and Tyler James Williams comment on “Everybody Hates the Babysitter”. All of these are great and funny to listen to. Well worth the time to watch these episodes again.
Deleted Scenes –
Just as it says. These are scenes that were cut out of certain episodes this season. These were cut for various reasons, but mainly because of time. There is some funny stuff in there, so worth checking out as well.
Everybody Hates the Making of Everybody Hates Chris –
These featurette is about how the show came to be and how the actors were selected for the certain parts. It’s really the “behind-the-scenes” featurette for this show. You’ll want to watch this first, if you have any questions about the show.
Everybody Hates Tichina’s Theme Song –
Tichina Arnold, who plays Rochelle Rock on the show, created and sung a theme song for the show. The entire thing didn’t make the final cut, though. Only the “hook” at the end made it to the final theme song. Still it’s interesting to hear the whole thing, even if it only lasted for a minute.
Everybody Hates the Music –
This featurette is all about the music used in the show. That’s all that really needs to be said about this.
Everybody Hates the Set –
This featurette is all about the sets used in the show. Tyler James Williams, who plays Chris, gives us a tour of the sets that are used in the show. That’s about it. There is some funny stuff in here.
Everybody Hates Video Cameras –
The kids on the show take a video camera around the set and capture crew members and other cast members on film. Pretty funny as well.
Everybody Hates Bloopers –
These are mistakes and blunders from the first season of the show. Usual funny stuff.
Everybody Hates Ali’s Photos –
These are pictures taken by co-creator Ali LeRoi. This is nothing special really.
Auditions –
These are the original audition tapes of the cast members. Pretty cool to see how they got the job, so to speak.
THE INSIDE PULSE
If you are Chris Rock fan, you’ll obviously want to run out and give this DVD set. If you have never seen the show, I still recommend you at least rent the first disc. You’ll probably like it enough to rent the rest and eventually buy the whole thing. The only people who probably won’t like this show are people who don’t like traditional “family sitcoms”. Still Chris Rock puts just enough spin on this show to make it seem unique and fresh. It’s definitely a kind of show we haven’t seen in over a decade.
