Monday, September 30, 2013

NEW SHOW: Instant Mom: Stephanie Tries to be Cool

Take Trophy Wife but rather than two ex-wives with their own children, there's just one ex-wife with children. Then, change the husband from a lawyer to a doctor, swap out a BFF for a mother, and make everyone African-American. Instant Mom, otherwise, is very similar to the aforementioned comedy, with a twentysomething stepping in to help raise three kids - two sons and a daughter. Stephanie, like Kate, wants to be able to handle parenting, but starting with the 6-15-year-old crowd isn't easy. Both Kate and Stephanie try too hard to be a friend at first, and accidentally pass on ideas that young minds don't need to hear. Still, some major differences are there - Stephanie is going to have the kids on a much more regular basis than Kate, and Charlie's kids seem much more friendly to Stephanie than Pete's are to Kate. I also found the humor in this show a whole lot better, but time will tell on that one.
Bonnie Osborne/Nickelodeon©2013 Viacom, International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Instant Mom "Pilot" (S01E01): Stephanie is excited that she only has to parent kids on the weekends, but when their grandmother breaks her hip, the kids have to stay with them for the foreseeable future. Fortunately, she has her mother to turn to for help, especially as Stephanie can't really cook, despite being a food blogger. ["Grandma Maggie" prefers to go by "Lola" to sound younger, haha!] Still, Stephanie goes from having a girls' night at a Drake concert to staying home to give fashion advice and have marshmallow gun fights. [it could be worse!] However, Stephanie agrees to let Gabby (a freshman) wear one of her dresses to a party on a school night, but Lola disagrees with the outfit and Charlie doesn't agree with parties on school nights. [I wouldn't agree with that outfit, either! and I loved Charlie's point that "who has parties on a Tuesday night? someone whose parents don't know about it."] So, Stephanie has to be the bad guy and take back her agreement. That night, Aaron, the youngest, gets sick from eating too many marshmallows, and Stephanie has to clean him up when it turns out Charlie can't handle bodily fluids. [not really buying it. not only is he a doctor, but he's been a father for over a decade!] The next day, when Aaron isn't feeling well, Stephanie gets him to drink medicine by teaching the kids to play quarters. [she's lucky that she got away with only playing a single round AND that Aaron was chosen to drink!]

Gabby decides to sneak out, using the old "going to study with a friend" excuse, and Stephanie buys it. [flashback to DJ Tanner sneaking out on Full House!] Younger brother James agrees to cover for $10, but then he realizes he could get even more money by vaguely suggesting Gabby isn't where she says she is and demanding $10 from Stephanie to divulge where the party is. Stephanie drags the other kids along to get her, and has to spray down some teens with water to find out where she is.
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