Everybody Hates Chris: "Everybody Hates Easter"

Premiered March 23, 2008
"Growing up in Bed-Stuy, one holiday I looked forward to was Easter.  You were dressed up, girls were dressed up and it was a good day to pretend you were on a date." -Chris Rock's opening narration

It's 1986 in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.  Easter is approaching and Chris (Tyler James Williams) is bemoaning the fact that Tasha (Paige Hurd), the girl he likes, is dating someone else.

After Tasha has a fight with her boyfriend Robert (Lee Davis), she has no one to escort her at the church Easter pageant.  When she asks Chris if he'll be her escort, he jumps at the chance.

Meanwhile, Chris's mother Rochelle (Tichina Arnold) is shopping for a new Easter hat.

She visits a new hat shop in the area run by a woman named Hattie (Anna Maria Horsford).  Rochelle mentions that she's won her church's annual Easter Hat contest several years in a row and plans to win again this year.  Hattie tells Rochelle that won't happen because SHE intends to win the competition herself!

Chris' plans to escort Tasha are complicated when she tells him the pageant will be held at her grandmother's church in Queens.

Rochelle says she wants him cheering her on at the hat contest at her church, which means Chris needs to be in two places at once.

Plus, Chris's siblings Tonya (Imani Hakim) and Drew (Tequan Richmond) plot to win the church Easter Egg hunt by cheating.  And their father Julius (Terry Crews) pretends he has to work so he can sneak home and watch baseball. 

Will Chris be able to pull of his scheme?   Will Rochelle be able to defeat Hattie in the bonnet contest? 

RigbyMel says: 

"Everybody Hates Easter" is an entertaining holiday-themed episode.  The Everybody Hates Chris series did a pretty good job in general of applying sitcom tropes to 1980-something Brooklyn and it's always nice to find mainstream shows that feature people of color.    

The series featured funny narration by comedian Chris Rock, who also worked as an executive producer and writer for the series, as it was semi-autobiographical.  Rock's narration strikes me a somewhat more sarcastic take on adults looking back on their childhoods in the vein of series like The Wonder Years and helps the series to have its own unique flavor. 

Chris daydreams about terrible things happening to Tasha's boyfriend (note the sneakers sticking out from under the meteor)

There's also a touch of influence from A Christmas Story in this Easter episode not only because of nostalgic voice over narration, but because of the protagonists' imaginative vignettes (like Chris's meteor strike fantasy).  

"Everybody Hates Easter" has a lot of heart and has fun with Easter traditions like egg hunts,  going to church, and showing off your Easter bonnet.  

The Easter bonnet originated in Europe when it was customary for people to wear new clothes and hats on Easter.  This tradition came over to the Americas with various waves of immigrants.  In the late 19th century, seeing and being seen at the New York Easter parade where the became a tradition of its own, as did increasingly elaborate headgear.  This in turn, inspired the popular Irving Berlin song "Easter Parade" from the 1930s, which reinforces the notion.    

The Easter bonnet tradition was enthusiastically embraced by African Americans and provides a great source of conflict and comedy in this episode. 

The "trying to be in two places at once" plot is one of the biggest TV sitcom tropes of all time, but it's well used here. Chris's pursuit of Tasha parallels Julius's pursuit of watching baseball in peace.  

The younger siblings' pursuit of ALL THE EASTER CANDY by any means necessary is also amusing and has predictable stomachache-y results,  but again, the comedy is well deployed.   

"Everybody Hates Easter" is a delightful and festive spring episode from a fun sitcom and definitely holds up to repeated viewings.  It's well worth taking the time to watch (or re-watch) as part of your Easter viewing. 

RigbyMel's rating: 

4 Easter eggs!

J.A. Morris says:

"Everybody Hates Easter" is a fun and entertaining episode that touches on most of the religious and secular traditions that surround Easter.  It's also always nice to find an Easter episode, since there aren't many.  

I was a regular viewer of Everybody Hates Chris (until the network started moving it around the schedule) and this is a good Easter episode. As my co-blogger says, it hits all the major Easter tropes.  

Chris wasn’t perfect, but he was usually a sympathetic protagonist.  Tyler James Williams carries most of the episode and he’s great as Chris.  The scenario Chris find himself in, committing to be in two places at once in order to please everyone, is old as comedy itself.  However, it's executed well in "Everybody Hates Easter."  

Tichina Arnold also does a great job in the “Easter Hat” storyline.  In fact, the whole cast is excellent and all the regulars gets at least one moment to shine.  During the hat contest, the church's choir performs a catchy and hilarious gospel-style song about Easter Hats that adds to the fun of the episode.    

Some notes about the supporting cast:

Two well-known actors play small roles in “Everybody Hates Easter.”  Rochelle’s friend Vanessa is played by Jackee’ Harry, who has dozens of film and TV credits and is best known for her roles on 227 (which Harry an Emmy) and Sister, Sister.  

Chris’ boss Doc is portrayed by Antonio Fargas, who played a very memorable role as Huggy Bear on Starsky & Hutch and also appeared in films that include Putney Swope and Foxy Brown.  

"Everybody Hates Easter" features great storylines and humorous moments.  It's good enough to get my highest rating.

J.A. Morris' rating:

4 Easter Eggs!

Everybody Hates Chris: "Everybody Hates Valentine's Day"

Premiered February 9, 2006.

"I wish somebody would give me a Valentine's Day card that says something besides 'I hate you.'"
-Chris

The time is February 1983 in Brooklyn and Valentine's Day is rapidly approaching.  The holiday is a big deal for everyone at school...except for Chris (Tyler James Williams) and his friend Greg (Vincent Martella).  

The only Valentines Chris gets are from racist school bully Joey Caruso (Travis T. Flory).

This is in stark contrast to Chris' younger siblings.  His brother Drew (Tequan Richmond) has multiple girls giving him Valentines and calling him at home. This annoys their mother Rochelle (Tichina Arnold).  She says Drew needs to tell the "fast little girls" to stop calling their house. 

Chris’s sister Tonya has a boyfriend (Imani Hakim).  This enrages their father Julius (Terry Crews), because he’s overprotective about his daughter. 

He walks Tonya to school, meets her boyfriend and puts the fear of God in him to stay away from Tonya. This makes the poor little boy cry. 

Chris' romantic prospects improve when he develops a crush on a girl named Tangee Brown (Raven Goodwin), who rides the same bus.  Unfortunately, Tangee has a boyfriend named Clyde (Daniel E. Smith) who treats her badly. When Clyde manhandles Tangee, Chris intervenes and offers Tangee his seat. 

Since no one has ever looked out for her like that before, Tangee gives Chris a Valentine. Chris doesn't mind that it was originally intended for Clyde.

Will Chris finally have a happy Valentine's Day?  

J.A. Morris says:

I was a fan of Everybody Hates Chris during its run and this is an enjoyable holiday episode.  It wouldn’t be a stretch to call it an anti-Valentine’s Day episode since very few of the principal characters actually get to celebrate the occasion with their “Valentine.”  This episode sort of reminds me of the ending of Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown.  

At the same time, Caruso keeps leaving hateful Valentine cards in Chris’ locker (one tells Chris to "Please go back to Africa and take your mother with you”).  I’m sure Chris Rock got similar notes slipped in his locker in real life.  Rock, in his narration says "even though I didn't like Caruso, I didn't think he deserved to be cursed out by my mother."  This viewer thinks Caruso deserved much worse than that.  

“Everybody Hates Valentine’s Day” features a good critique of the double-standards that boys and girls face in relationships.  Julius is furious when he learns Tanya has a “boyfriend,” but joyous when he hears that Drew has lots of girls chasing him. 

Rochelle feels exactly the opposite about her children’s “romances” and does everything she can to keep girls away from Drew.  I’m hoping that kids who watched this took the episode’s message to heart.  

If you’re not familiar with Everybody Hates Chris, you can still enjoy this episode.  I recommend "Everybody Hates Valentine’s Day" to everyone who’s had a less-than-perfect experience on February 14.  

J.A. Morris’ rating:

3 and a half hearts.

RigbyMel says: 

This is a solid holiday episode from the first season of Everybody Hates Chris. 

The comedy of dealing with crushes around Valentine’s Day is relatable, as is parental consternation at their progeny showing evidence of growing up.    

Julius and Rochelle’s respective concern about other people’s Valentine interest in Tonya and Drew is both touching and ironic.  As J.A. Morris says above, there is a fair amount of room for satire regarding the double standards facing boys and girls in relationships and “Everybody Hates Valentine’s Day” mines this rich vein of comedy adeptly.   It is interesting to note that 11 year old Drew has grown women inappropriately chasing after him for the holiday, while 10 year old Tonya has her overprotective dad inappropriately intervening with her little “boyfriend”. 

I really wish Caruso had gotten more of a comeuppance for his racist bullying of Chris in this episode.  It was nice that a teacher noticed and tried (unsuccessfully) to give Chris a card, but I wish we'd seen a more forceful intervention.  (Perhaps that’s not a realistic expectation for a show set in the early 1980s though?)  

As with quite a few other Valentine’s Day TV episodes, hardly anyone actually gets what they really want for the holiday (with perhaps the exception of Julius and Rochelle enjoying the extra candy).   

“Everybody Hates Valentines Day” is an enjoyable comedic take on the holiday and is recommended. 

RigbyMel’s rating:

3 and a half hearts