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LPC
10-20-2002, 01:56 AM
I saw the final episode earlier today and there were a number of things that just didn't fit. At the risk of nitpicking, here are some of my observations about what I saw today and also throughout the latter stages of the program:

-Either the doctors who made the original diagnosis of Keith’s knee injury were incompetent, or his recovery was a medical miracle. A more feasible angle would have made the injury long-term with Keith rehabbing throughout rather than making it a career-ending one. This would have made his return to professional football much more believable.

-How could Keith have kept training with the Chicago Bears a secret? Surely at some point he would have let on that his knee was improving. And how can those who live with someone who’s practicing with a professional football players fail to notice since he would have been sore and certainly would have had the kinds of bumps and bruises that all NFL players tend to have? He also would have had difficulty explaining the frequency of his absences since pro teams practice pretty well every day. His return to the Bears also would have definitely been mentioned in the media so there’s NO WAY it could have been kept from the family.

-And why would Keith with his $60,000 contract (decent money at the time) insist that Florida move in with him and Thelma? Why not opt for privacy and have Florida either stay in her apartment or help her with the rent for an apartment in the new building? Florida could have even paid part of the rent while Michael could have moved in with Florida and chipped in the money he was going to spend living on campus. I also wasn’t certain where JJ was going to wind up living. Did he mention that he was moving into his own place?

-Was Willona’s salary increase so great that she could suddenly afford to live in a much higher-calibre building?

-In an earlier episode, Thelma was upset when Keith came home and said he had picked out an apartment (of was it a condo?) into which he insisted they were going to be moving. She felt she should have been consulted and she had a point. Keith did the exact same thing in the last episode but Thelma didn’t seem to mind. Why did it bother her the first time but not the second?

-What was Thelma doing when she married Keith? I don’t remember her having a job and I also don’t remember her studying. Did she ever graduate from college and if so why wasn’t there any kind of celebration when she did so? If she had to drop out why didn’t we see her looking for work the way JJ was? Was it because Keith didn’t want her to work?

-Everyone kept making a huge deal out of how Michael was well on his way to becoming a lawyer yet he never seemed to do a lot more studying in his younger years. If fact, I don’t remember him doing any studying in his later years which is when he should have been struggling to complete essays and prepare for mid-terms.

-In one episode I recall Thelma and Keith watching TV in their room. Why wasn’t the TV in the living room so everyone could watch it?


If any of you could makes sense out of some of these observations I would appreciate it!

ThomasE
10-20-2002, 02:01 AM
Picky Picky aren't we? LOL. Actually there were some things that are justifiable(like Florida moving in with Keith and Thelma) Keith was able to jog with his knee he just couldn't play football until the doctor said he could. Keith and Thelma did not want Florida still in the projects. That's all I can think right now.

BTW,

Welcome to the boards!

LPC
10-20-2002, 02:36 AM
Hello Thomas and thanks for the warm welcoming!

I realize that Keith was able to jog, but the injury was portrayed to the viewers as "career-ending." They should have instead made it "long-term" in order to make the possibility of a return most realistic. And keep in mind that jogging is a far cry from the rigours of playing running back in the NFL. In order to make such a return you also have to do so many more things besides running and certainly the family would noticed that Keith was bulking up and would have wondered what was going on. I'm definintely being too picky but the way it was done was too unrealistic. Keith also didn't look like a athlete, never mind a professinal one, so that didn't help the realism angle.

I also understand how Keith and Thelma didn't want Florida in the projects but that doesn't mean that she wouldn't have been able to get an apartment along with Michael instead of having hiim direct rental money towards a college dorm room. She probably could have made it had she continued driving a school bus along with getting a bit of help from Keith. However, maybe the idea was to get her to stop working as well so if that were the case it would have made some sense. However, I'm certain that Keith was dying to finally get some privacy with Thelma so I found it strange how he seemed to have no problem having Florida move in with them. To some extent I can understand the arrangement but it still struck me as odd.

I would also be interested to hear your take on some of the other things I raised.

Brian Damage
10-22-2002, 05:32 PM
There are definite loopholes with everything. I mean everything happened in the finale for crying out loud. I think the writers wanted to end the show on a happy note and in their haste created some loopholes. The fact is, I thnk you are looking a little too deep into things.

LPC
10-22-2002, 06:28 PM
briandamage,

I wouldn't argue that I've probed too deeply into the show's ending and that it's difficult for a program or movie to be entirely true to reality, but I still believe that the writers did a sloppy job in wrapping things up.

But never mind the ending, this morning they aired the original episode which was very interesting cosidering that only a few days earlier we were watching the show's conclusion. Here are a couple of observations:

-the acting skills of the chidren are considerably lower than the parents.

-it didnt' take very long at all for the racial issues to be raised.

Without getting too personal, I'm an old man of 37 who was all of 9 years old when the show started. I know this is strange, but watching it actually brings back some of the feelings I had back then. I also find it fascinating how when I was watching as a youngster my views about race were considerably different than they are now and how despite the nostolgia that my interpretations of the way some of these issues were handled has also radically changed.