TV Review - The Upshaws

This sitcom is produced like it's the 1990's. It's produced as if it were going to be broadcast on one of the traditional television networks like CBS or ABC. It's a multiple-camera setup. It's also clearly written for that setup with jokes that have those typical punchlines that one would hear from an insult comic. This one revolves around an African-American family. It also could be placed in the category of TV show about a blended family. This isn't quite The Brady Bunch (1969). It's not quite Modern Family (2009) either. It's not about a man or a woman marrying someone who was married before and had children with that previous marriage. It's more like the fifth season of Moesha (1996). That fifth season saw a middle-class Black family learn that the patriarch had a son by another woman.

I feel like there is a reality within families, especially in Black families where one parent will have children with people who aren't their partner or spouse. Sometimes, these other children or other child are the result of an affair or some kind of infidelity. Often, the family will stay together or patch things up. It's rare to see a Black family continue to deal with this situation years later when that child of an affair is now a teenager and how the family relates to that child and the child's parent. This isn't exactly a blended family or step-parent situation, but it's adjacent to it. The show refers to it as a "baby mama" situation. I can't think of any shows featuring a Black family that addresses this situation.

Mike Epps (Resident Evil: Apocalypse and Next Friday) stars as Bennie Upshaw, a Black man in his 50's who is married and has four children. Three of those children are from his wife. However, one is by another woman with whom he had an affair while he was still married. That woman is referred to as his "baby mama." What's strange is that Bennie had his affair while he was separated from his wife. Yet, the child that came from that affair is the same age as his eldest daughter, which would mean that he impregnated his wife and his mistress around the same time. Despite all this, Bennie works as a mechanic in a garage that he co-owns with his sister-in-law. He juggles being a good husband to his wife and being a good father to the child from his affair.

The show is set in Indiana, a nice Midwestern state, and Bennie's family lives in a nice suburban home, so money doesn't appear to be a problem for him at this point. The woman with whom he had the affair lives in the ghetto, so she does appear to have problems with money, so that's another consideration. Bennie feels obligated to help his baby mama more, which obviously causes issues with his wife who is trying to handle it in the best way she can but at the end of the day, she does get annoyed and jealous, especially because Bennie has a habit of hiding things about his baby mama from his wife. Watching his wife find out about those things and deal with it then become the highlights of the show.

Kim Fields (Living Single and The Facts of Life) stars as Regina Upshaw, the aforementioned wife to Bennie. She has three children with Bennie. Their eldest son is in his mid 20's. They have a daughter who is 13 and another daughter who is 6. Obviously, they've been together for a long time, decades at this point. She clearly loves him and her children, but his behavior when it comes to dealing with his baby mama causes her to get upset, particularly because he lies and hides stuff from her about his baby mama. It probably makes her feel that he's not fully invested in her. It feels like a legitimate issue and Fields is great in the role. Fields has been an icon in television and is now a legend that's been in TV for over 40 years. The fact that she doesn't have an Emmy or more recognition is criminal because she proves how fantastic she can be here.

A lot of the comedy comes from Wanda Sykes who co-created this series and co-stars as Lucretia Turner, the sister-in-law to Bennie, meaning she's Regina's actual sister. She's very protective of Regina and mainly is there to insult Bennie at every opportunity she gets. Her one-liners against him are funny. She has a plot line involving her hooking up with a married man that's fine. Bennie has a co-worker named Duck, played by Page Kennedy (Rush Hour and Blue Mountain State), who gets some funny bits, but the only other notable plot line involves what turns out to be a queer story.

Jermelle Simon co-stars as Bernard Upshaw, the eldest son to Bennie and Regina. He's probably in his early to mid 20's. He works as a UPS driver. He delivers packages all around town, especially those to his father's business. However, he doesn't like to do so because he's upset with his father. Bernard feels as though his father has been an absentee father and arguably he was. Yet, Bennie is trying to make it up to Bernard with the constant deliveries. Bernard is reluctant to get closer to his father because of a secret he's hiding. Bernard is gay and is nervous about telling his father.

It turns out by the end of the first season to be a nice coming-out story. I think in the year 2021, the series takes too long to get to the actual coming out, which doesn't actually happen until Episode 9, the penultimate episode. The final episode is then about Bernard going to see an ex-girlfriend and being nervous about coming out to her. Therefore, by the end of the first season, we never see Bernard actually be gay. It's all about the anxiety about coming out. This series handles that anxiety well, but it's still frustrating that the series didn't have the courage of its convictions to depict Bernard being gay, meaning we never see him kiss, hug or even touch a boy. Not depicting same-sex attraction or physical love is a cop-out in the year 2021.

Rated TV-14.

Running Time: 30 mins.

Available on Netflix.