Everybody Hates Chris

September 26, 2005 2:55 PM

Everybody Hates Chris : Everybody Hates the Pilot (Google Video: 21:03) is the funniest thing this Nebraska slice of white bread has seen in a while. (Show's home page here.) Let's just say it isn't exactly The Cosby Show. (Anybody notice that Google Video is using Flash™ now?)
posted by spock (44 comments total)

Man, I was a test audience member for this, and I hope it's better now than it was when I saw it. Too much cliche "I's po' an' black, yet we all loved each other!"
If you know early Bill Cosby, he would have been ashamed of the show.
posted by klangklangston at 3:06 PM on September 26, 2005

Using Flash means it "just works" on my Mac (yay!) but also that it redlines the CPU and skips frames (boo!).
posted by smackfu at 3:10 PM on September 26, 2005

I predict that as this thread develops, some people will express favorable opinions about this show, while others will not.
posted by found missing at 3:10 PM on September 26, 2005

That first link redirects me to video.google.com...is it just me? Even when I search for everybody hates chris, I find the 'everbody hates the pilot' clip, but upon clicking, I get the home page...
posted by jikel_morten at 3:11 PM on September 26, 2005

Aren't most television shows cliched though?

I watched it and can't say it was the best but I didn't hate it. It was touching in it's own way and it's nice to see a black television show like this finally.

I may not watch it religiously but it's better than a lot of the other crap out there, and most especially better, in my opinion, than the current and late black situation comedies.
posted by freudianslipper at 3:13 PM on September 26, 2005

You're not the only one, jikel_morten... does the same for me in both Safari and Firefox.
posted by Robot Johnny at 3:14 PM on September 26, 2005

Personally I prefer the refreshing taste of Pepsi Blue.
posted by gyc at 3:20 PM on September 26, 2005

I don't watch TV and haven't gotten into d/ling stuff off BitTorrent and all else. The pilot made me laugh out loud--the first half especially--and I was impressed with some of the handling of issues of race. For example, when Chris gets knocked into the principal by Joey Caruso, the principal clearly expects Chris to continue sticking up for himself, rather than sheltering him from Joey's partly-racist-mostly-bully behavior.

The second half wasn't as good, but I'm curious how the show will develop.

How does video.google make its money, btw? I'm surprised it even exists.

Thanks for the link, spock.
posted by mistersquid at 3:25 PM on September 26, 2005

Brilliant show. Love the characters. Thanks for the link.
posted by alteredcarbon at 3:26 PM on September 26, 2005

The show was OK, but the real news for me is that google has switched from VLC to Flash to deliver video! Talk about an endorsement.
posted by gwint at 3:27 PM on September 26, 2005

I predict that as this thread develops, some people will express favorable opinions about Google Video and Flash, while others will not.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 3:30 PM on September 26, 2005

I predict that people predicting thread direction will become annoying.

Hey, I was right!
posted by freudianslipper at 3:31 PM on September 26, 2005

Yes, you were.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 3:36 PM on September 26, 2005

I thought this was surprising because the white kid actually said "nigger" on the air, unbleeped and all...
posted by SirOmega at 3:37 PM on September 26, 2005

Is this different than the actual first episode that aired last week? I also couldn't get google video to work.
posted by jeffmik at 3:47 PM on September 26, 2005

"That's $2.00 on fire. That's a $1.09 in the trash."

That's my dad.
posted by Colloquial Collision at 3:50 PM on September 26, 2005

How does video.google make its money, btw? I'm surprised it even exists.

On the Internets, it's usually safe to say "How does x.searchengine make its money, btw? I'm surprised it even exists" unless there's ads all over it. FWIW, they make their money by getting you to think "hey, that video.google site has great videos!" to increase the traffic to the site, then they start dropping ads on it. You know, standard Internets operating procedure.

I thought this was surprising because the white kid actually said "nigger" on the air, unbleeped and all...

If by "on the air" you mean "being streamed in (your) browser", I think it's interesting that you expected it to be censored. Genuine curiosity: is this because you expect the "corporate" version of the Internet to be censored, or because you're just so used to it on (broadcast) television that it shocked you?

If by "on the air" you mean "on television" -- and you watched the pilot there instead of through video.google -- disregard my question.
posted by davejay at 4:07 PM on September 26, 2005

I liked it but could definitely do with more real emotion and less sitcom emotion, i.e., anger=visceral anger#sugarcoated irritation.

That said, I couldn't be happier that "Joey" got its hacky ass handed to it.
posted by the sobsister at 4:12 PM on September 26, 2005

davejay

it was on air as in "on television". I have to admit my ears perked at that word. But it didn't take away from the story or anything and it seemed to make sense. not like they were trying to be bold, just honest.
posted by freudianslipper at 4:19 PM on September 26, 2005

I think it's interesting that you expected it to be censored.
I just wouldn't expect them to make changes for the Internet. I imagine the producer's involvement in this was "here's that copy of the broadcast tape you asked for".
posted by smackfu at 4:22 PM on September 26, 2005

I'm guessing that some people's problems with the link has to do with the Flash detector used by Google (or you have an old-ass version of the Flash plug-in or sumpin').


Regarding the "n-word", I imagine that viewers will be shocked by the revelation that when a bully is attempting to offend someone they will use words and phrases intended to be offensive to the target audience. Chris Rock has been using it openly in his comedy, so seeing it here should surprise no one. Whether it leads to an increase or decline of the words' usage in everyday life remains to be measured.
posted by spock at 4:49 PM on September 26, 2005

they didn't make changes. they aired the word on TV as well.
posted by freudianslipper at 4:49 PM on September 26, 2005

The link doesn't work for me either, so here is a direct link to the swf. Keep it real y'all.

Credit to Azhruwi for link.
posted by Pretty_Generic at 4:50 PM on September 26, 2005

Not bad. I wouldn't tape it or go out of my way to watch it, but if conveniently coming across it on my travels through the internet (like a link on Metafilter), I'll watch it.
posted by Mach3avelli at 4:51 PM on September 26, 2005

It was crap. Which is saying something, as I'll watch almost anything.
posted by nightchrome at 4:53 PM on September 26, 2005

Man, I never thought they'd get so many jokes out of a biopic of Chris Tucker!

lol jews did wtc
posted by Pretty_Generic at 4:56 PM on September 26, 2005

eh. S'ok. Basically a well done ripoff. Slightly better than average.

Let's call it "Malcome in the Mulatto."
posted by tkchrist at 5:04 PM on September 26, 2005

Wow wow let's see a couple more episodes shell we ? Even if the model is always the same (and what would one expect, networks to actually accept some real innovation ? Yeah right sure) oooold family sitcom , there's a different point of view and Chris is a rather entertaining comedian.
posted by elpapacito at 5:24 PM on September 26, 2005

Framerates were a little too slow for me. Damn, I was looking forward to it too.
posted by fenriq at 5:28 PM on September 26, 2005

I predict that as this thread develops, some people will express favorable opinions about this show, while others will not.
posted by found missing at 3:10 PM PST on September 26 [!]


Um.... isn't that why we're all here?

It was cute, by the way. I predict two seasons. But Chris Rock really rocks, so I wish him success!
posted by WaterSprite at 5:58 PM on September 26, 2005

I torrented the pilot months ago. It was painfully unfunny.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 6:09 PM on September 26, 2005

I thought it was great, and not totally tired because there was a smart edge to it. Reminded me of Spike Lee's Crooklyn.
posted by mathowie at 6:09 PM on September 26, 2005

I had never heard someone say "n-word" in my life until the OJ trial. Once someone started saying it, suddenly everyone was afraid to say "nigger" on the air. Up until that point, "nigger" was a perfectly acceptable word to use if one was quoting someone else or discussing the word itself. But once the OJ trial started, it suddenly became a word that was not even allowed to be uttered when quoting someone. Hearing people like Brokaw and Rather saying "the n-word" was just surreal to me.
posted by flarbuse at 6:42 PM on September 26, 2005

The audio got choppy on me. DSL = teh suck.

I shall render no opinion on the television show.
posted by delmoi at 6:43 PM on September 26, 2005

"Malcolm in the Mulatto."

damn you tkchrist!

after i saw this the other day I was telling my gf that it was like the black malcom in the middle...if only i thought of that first!
posted by freudianslipper at 6:56 PM on September 26, 2005

It's nice to see the networks trying out the internet as a distribution method. Adult swim is going to start streaming some of their content, as well...
posted by ph00dz at 7:01 PM on September 26, 2005

Was I the only one who had trouble with the buffering? It didn't seem to want to pause when the playing caught up to the downloaded file. It would just try to continue playing and turn into crappy/choppy shit. Of course my connection is crap which is half the problem.
posted by aburd at 7:17 PM on September 26, 2005

Damn, what a shit method of showing video. It dropped a few frames even on my dual 2GHz G5. This flash-based player is pretty sucky, especially compared to Google's other creations.
posted by ryanrs at 9:03 PM on September 26, 2005

It ain't workin' for me.
posted by zardoz at 9:04 PM on September 26, 2005

BTW, I get about 7 Mbits/s from video.google.com so it's not the network.
posted by ryanrs at 9:13 PM on September 26, 2005

The sucky flash-based player ran fine on my years old Windows XP machine, and the audio & video ran fine - without rebuffering - all the way under the pacific and down my gently welcoming DSL.

I thought the show was okay, I probably didn't get some references. I laughed out loud a couple of times.

Is there some trick to finding good stuff in google video? Does someone keep a list of 'real' shows that you can get there? Most of what I can see is of the same or lesser quality from what you get from ebaums, or whatever.
posted by The Monkey at 10:19 PM on September 26, 2005

For those mac users with flash speed complaints, version 8 supposedly improves matters by finally using Open GL.
posted by Treeline at 12:57 AM on September 27, 2005

Thanks Treeline, that would be super if it works.
posted by smackfu at 6:50 AM on September 27, 2005

Fullscreen it
posted by Edible Energy at 8:14 PM on September 27, 2005