Rob
I’m going to be completely honest before writing this review and say that I originally had absolutely no intention in watching this show. A few weeks before the debut of Rob Schneider’s new self-titled show Rob, I saw him do a promotional interview with the main cast and became instantly intrigued. The idea for the show came from Schneider’s wife, a Mexican telenovela producer named Patricia Azarcoya Schneider. Rob Schneider took the idea to his friend Lewis Morton and ran with it.
Storyline 2.5/5
During the interview, Schneider made it seem like the idea for the show was absolutely genius but from what I see it’s far from original but the dynamics are somewhat fresh. Rob focuses on a newly eloped couple (Schneider and Claudia Bassols) that have only known one another for a very short time. Schneider’s character Rob has a father who is too busy getting married and divorced over and over again while little is known about his mother. Bassols’ character Maggie, on the other hand, comes from a close-knit Mexican family that knows everything about one another and meddle in everything ala Everybody Loves Raymond. Upon marrying, Maggie takes Rob to meet her family which consists of her parents, her uncle, and her grandmother who all live in the same house. Her family is absolutely furious that they weren’t present at the wedding and know absolutely nothing about Rob. Thus, begins the journey from strangers to family which I don’t consider new on any level. I do give the storyline credit because there hasn’t been a mixed culture show in a while. What Rob does do well is that it gives a new light to the Latino community showing how traditional and family oriented Latinos really are.
Writing 2.5/5
I’m rather disappointed by the writing especially since the head writers are Rob Schneider and Lewis Morton. For those of you unfamiliar with Morton’s name, he has written for other television series such as Futurama, SNL, NewsRadio, and Big Lake. I expected laugh out loud nonstop comedy but instead I got gentle chuckle one liners. The writers do give the episodes a touch of originality but in the end fall back on Latino stereotypes that either fall flat or leave me feeling a touch offended. I can’t think of anything redeeming to say about this except that it could be a lot worse. Well, there is one thing about the writing that is good and it’s the lines delivered by Eugenio Derbez who plays Uncle Hector. It’s either his acting or the writers simply favor his character and save the real laughs for him. I’ll get more into Derbez in the Casting section of this review.
Casting 4/5
I am absolutely awestruck by the names that made it onto this sitcoms casting list. There are so many comedic greats that it actually makes me angry to see their talents not being used to their fullest potential. Let’s start out with the names you are all most familiar with. There’s Rob Schneider, Cheech Marin, Lupe Ontiveros, and Diana Maria Riva. All of them are acting greats in the Latino community with incredible range and outstanding comedic performances. This is why I blame the lack of laugh out loud moments on Rob on the writing. These actors were born to be funny but it the words they are being told to read aren’t neither are they. It’s like trying to turn iron into gold. You can’t make the unfunny funny no matter who you are. Then there’s Eugenio Derbez who is the funniest man in Latin America. I grew up watching him on the Latin American sketch comedy shows that would air during primetime. He is a Latin American treasure and this is his first taste of LA and American television. Before seeing him on the promotional interview, I had no idea the man even knew English. The fact that he manages to be funny in a language that he has only recently learned absolutely astounds me. He is the saving grace of this show because as the screw up uncle who is always asking for money but still knows how to have a good time, he truly shines. The one serious gripe that I have about the casting is the role Diana Maria Riva has been given. She plays Rob’s mother in law which I cannot wrap my head around. She is only ten years older than Claudia Bassols who plays her daughter and 6 years younger than Rob Schneider. How they could cast an obviously very youthful looking woman as the mother of a middle aged daughter is beyond me.
OVERALL 2.5/5
I don’t love this show but I don’t hate it either. I wouldn’t choose to watch it even though I did stick with it for 3 episodes. I have a feeling that I mainly watched it out of convenience since there was nothing else I wanted to watch. It was, as I stated, conveniently and obviously strategically scheduled to air right after the vastly successful Big Bang Theory which would obviously draw in rolled over viewers. I say skip it unless you don’t have anything else to watch.
You may enjoy Rob if you watch any of the following…
George Lopez
Everybody Loves Raymond
King of Queens
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