Intrigued with the possibility of Abishola marrying into money, her Uncle Tunde and Aunt Olu tail Bob as he drives about town. I’m curious how the series will go on to explore this, though I’m wary that by continuously highlighting the friction between these two groups, the series will by default become a platform for denigrating black Americans.Episodes Season 1 (2019–20) No.Ĭhuck Lorre & Eddie Gorodetsky & Al Higgins & Gina Yashereīob, a Detroit business owner, suffers a heart attack and is immediately smitten with Abishola, the Nigerian nurse who is treating him when he awakes from surgery. Interestingly, it’s not the first time the series alludes to cultural mistrust between black Americans and African immigrants, reminding the audience that people of African descent aren’t a monolithic group. Their other friend, a black woman named Gloria (Vernee Watson), takes offense to this, starting a hot-button debate between the two of them about anti-black propaganda. Then, other Africans (except Tunisians and Egyptians). Then, Nigerian man - different tribe (Igbo). As her spunky busybody friend Kemi (Gina Yashere) explains, “Top of the list, Nigerian man - same tribe (Yoruba). In one eye-opening lunchtime scene, they discuss the ethnic hierarchy of who Abishola would choose to marry. While Abishola’s instincts tell her to remain cautious of Bob’s interest, her girlfriends at the hospital are as tickled about the courtship as her aunt and uncle. His brother and sister immediately oppose Bob’s pursuit of Abishola, claiming they don’t believe their long-divorced sibling could successfully date someone so different from himself, which feels like a veiled way to avoid coloring the characters as outward racists. He’s dogged by his needy mom Dottie (66-year-old Christine Ebersole, who was clearly a teen bride when she had 50-year-old Bob) and his two pain-in-the-butt siblings (Matt Jones and Maribeth Monroe), who all help him run the family business. On the flip side, Bob’s sniping and stressful family is the weakest part of the show in the three episodes available to critics. Despite herself, the no-nonsense woman is somewhat charmed. By the end of the episode, he’s delivering her premium socks in a dorky bid at wooing. She snubs his tepid flirting - “Do people call you Abby?” “No! Go back and wash your hands” - but as soon as she sings to him in her native language to help calm his nerves, he’s a complete goner. (Ignore the twin fat and fart jokes in the first minute of the script it gets better.)Īfter waking up in a recovery room, he spies fresh-faced cardiac nurse Abishola (Folake Olowofoyeku) and immediately imprints on her. Does it feature characters conducting entire subtitled conversations in Yoruba, one of the many languages spoken in Nigeria? Excitingly, yes.īilly Gardell (former lead of Mike & Molly) stars as Bob, the lonely workaholic owner of a compression sock company who is rushed to the emergency room mid-heart attack in the opening moments of the pilot. Is the show perfect in every possible facet of cultural representation, including the complete avoidance of racism for laughs? Unfortunately, no. I’m happy to report my concerns were (mostly) unfounded due to the show’s surprising level of nuance, which renders Bob Hearts Abishola nothing short of groundbreaking.
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