Everybody Hates Chris - The Second Season DVD Review

It really is remarkable how many sitcoms have been created by or star comedians. Everybody Hates Chris doesn’t star Chris Rock, who inspired the show with his childhood, but it much more effective in using Rock as the narrator alone. A great cast acts out what are essentially routines from Rock’s material. This is not much different than the set-up for many other sitcoms, but the one-camera element adds some freshness to the usual coming of age tale.

Each episode takes us into a specific life-altering moment of Chris’s early years growing up in Brooklyn. Season one brought us into Jr. High stage of the famed comedian’s childhood, which brought girl problems into an already difficult life as an awkward pre-teen to teen transitions. Season two of the show continues 1984 with more of the same problems and issues, whether dealing with the rough neighborhood of Brooklyn, the struggles his family had making ends meet, or the constant troubles he encounters at school. Although nobody seems to like Chris at his school he manages to make one friend, one that is just as much an outcast. This along with his likable nature and good sense pounded into him by his threatening mother and passive father, Chris is able to accurately handle nearly all of the problems that arise in his life. Even the ones he makes the wrong choice on serve as a proper lesson, a classic format for family shows which is adapted wonderfully into the humorous stories of Rock’s actual childhood. Rock lends his voice for the narration of his own childhood, making the effectiveness of imagining the truth behind each episode enormous.

As a show grows in popularity it becomes a feeding ground for guest spots, which often go to the biggest celebrity willing these days, but the guests are so perfectly cast in Everybody Hates Chris that it doesn’t matter if they are a celebrity or not. Whoopi Goldberg’s arrival as a new busybody neighbor with an attractive young love interest in tow for Chris adds all sorts of situations for him to get in trouble. Just as effective is Jason Alexander as the new Principal at Chris’ school and Wayne Brady as Chris’s uncle who comes to visit for Thanksgiving.

The special features include a great gag reel with the cast having fun with their mistakes. There are several of other special features, all listed in the same clever and quickly unoriginal way. “Everybody Hates a Day in the Life of Tyler James Williams” may not have a name that makes sense, but it shows some behind-the-scenes footage with the actor who stars as Chris. There are other “Everybody Hates…” featurettes about the costumes, stand-ins, a tour of the school, and the cast and crew.