It takes a minute to adjust to the reality of "The Upshaws." At first glance, the new Netflix sitcom seems to look and sound like a host of other multi-camera sitcoms about families telling cheesy jokes and loving each other. There's a lot of the same dotted around Netflix, from "Fuller House" to Jamie Foxx's latest slapstick entry, "Dad, Stop Embarrassing Me!" But "The Upshaws," created by Regina Hicks and Wanda Sykes, finds a way to twist even a little of the formula perfected by network television. Like the belated "One Day at a Time" reboot before it, "The Upshaws" takes the opportunity to showcase a different kind of family than the usual sitcom family, though it should resonate with a lot of people who may not have been able to say the same before.
The family at the heart of "The Upshaws" depends on Bennie (executive producer Mike Epps), but not because he's so reliable. In deliberate contrast, Bennie is a slacker auto mechanic who had his first child, Bernard Jr. (Jermelle Simon), in high school and his second, Kelvin (Diamond Lyons), with another woman (Gabrielle Dennis) when he thought ( or at least he insists) that he and his wife Regina (Kim Fields) were "on a break." Bennie and Regina's daughters, Aaliyah (Khali Spraggins) and Maya (Journey Christine), take it all in stride, considering the tangled branches of their family tree just another nuisance.
Creators: Regina Y. Hicks, Wanda Sykes
Stars: Mike Epps, Kim Fields, Diamond Lyons
Having such a particular blended family immediately gives "The Upshaws" a specificity that really works, especially when the scripts lean all the way by allowing characters to react individually as well. Bernard Jr. is reluctant to forgive his father for being absent during his childhood; Kelvin wants to bond with his half-siblings, but he's not sure how. And while Aaliyah is reluctant to make friends with Kelvin, who is around the same age as her, the two kids are inevitably bonded over what all siblings are inevitably bonded over: their extreme mutual embarrassment over their cheesy parents.
As far as the cutesy parents themselves go, Bennie is a realistic character, but an undeniably frustrating one to have at the center of a family show like this. He never had to fully grow up, so when he tries or admits that he's wrong, his apology tends to be self-centered and completely assumes Regina's forgiveness. To the show's credit, he doesn't shy away from that, especially if Regina's sarcastic sister Lucretia can help it. She never stops letting Bennie hear the end of his many shortcomings, and neither does the show.
With Sykes and Hicks in the lead, the women of "The Upshaws" resist the usual clichés, well, with the exception of Dennis' Tasha, who is your basic "other woman" nightmare. Otherwise, Sykes cashes in on every layup joke he gets, while Fields, playing a very different "Regina" than she did in "Living Single," is reluctant to let Regina fall into the all-too-common trap of sitcoms become one with no sense of humor. empty of a comedy wife. Bennie may be the one common thread everyone in the family shares, but Regina is the resourceful glue that holds them together.
And no, the conceit of "mommy getting things done while daddy gets into trouble" isn't exactly new territory for a sitcom. But when a show is so willing to find new ways to make those tropes more grounded and relatable, it's worth checking out.
"The Upshaws" is now streaming on Netflix.
Watch The Upshaws Tv Series Trailer
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