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Dad Stop Embarrassing Me! sees Jamie Foxx in a new 10-part Netflix sitcom as Brian, a very out-of-touch Dad, who couldn’t be less ‘down wiv da kids’ if he tried despite, in the opener, wearing trousers which are way too tight for him, even though he thinks it makes him cool.
Prior to that, he was trying to resolve relationship issues with his daughte, Sasha (Kyla-Drew Simmons), by going to a female therapist, who thinks they’re a couple and that “Daddy” is a term of affection, plus… that she can make them as great a couple as Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown… which might’ve been a workable joke ten years ago before Ms Houston actually died. Now, it feels really out of place.
Of course, there’ll be a huge age gap between Brian and Sash, but then again, he’s dating a young woman called Courtney (Zaria Simone) who doesn’t seem massively older, and in her late 20s at the most.
Along the way… various characters sometimes talk to the camera in exasperation, Brian also does impressions of Obama in a bid to give himself an air of authority, his Dad is seen trying to chat up women old enough to be his granddaughter and insulting South Korean patrons in a bar, and the only white character is a cop who brings weed round because he “found it in the evidence locker” – a bit like in Johnny Vegas’ Ideal.
Plus, it has a canned laughter audience, as if it’s like an ’80s and ’90s sitcom mixed together. Are those really still thing people want to see?
I’ve only seen the first two episodes at this point – the second one seeing Sasha drop a bombshell by saying she doesn’t believe in God. Well, how can you not believe in a mythical creation made up by mankind? And then it got worse anyway, since by the end, she was a bigger believer than Jesus(!)
I thought Dad Stop Embarrassing Me! might be ‘so bad it’s good, but it’s just a case of… how did this get made? Unless, there’s already many sitcoms out there in the US like this which are pulling in huge ratings, and so they’re right and I’m wrong. If not, then this is trying to hark back to those days, and this is like a car crash in slow motion where you’re still trying to work out when something will happen, but you can’t quite take your eyes off it.
However, for me, I’d put this occasionally sickly sweet nonsense alongside such heights as Fox’s short-lived sitcom, Shovin’ Buddies or BBC1’s When The Whistle Blows.
(Dom turns to camera and pulls face) If you did enjoy it, though, please comment below. Someone must do?
Dad Stop Embarrassing Me! is not available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD, but is on Netflix from today.
Episodes 1-2 Score: Watchable if you pretend it’s ironic
Series Directors: Ken Whittingham, Bentley Kyle Evans, Robin Strickland
Producers: Chris Arrington, Alex Avant
Writers: Camille Corbett, Bentley Kyle Evans
Music: Ainz Brainz Prasad
Cast:
Brian: Jamie Foxx
Sasha: Kyla-Drew Simmons
Courtney: Zaria Simone
Pops: David Alan Grier
Chelsea: Porscha Coleman
Manny: Valente Rodriguez
Matt Ross: Eugene Byrd
Stacy: Heather Hemmens
Church deacon announcer: Keith Jefferson
Marcus: Roy Williams Jr
Chloe: Polina Frantsena
Sheila: Luenell
Zia: Miracle Reigns
Lionel Simmons: Cleo Berry
Clarence McMillon: Harry Zinn
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.