If you enjoyed the show Full House, then have mercy, you’ll enjoy FOX’s new sitcom with John Stamos called Grandfathered. The two main characters are Jimmy Martino (Stamos) and Gerald, Jimmy’s son, who is played by Josh Peck from Nickelodeon’s Drake and Josh.
Grandfathered was created by Daniel Chun and first premiered on FOX on Sept. 29. The show, which was recently renewed for a second season, received reviews of 7.5/10 on IGN and 62% on Metacritic. USA Today stated that, “Stamos is best in scenes where he babysits his young granddaughter so Gerald can go on a date. Jimmy might play like he’s as edgy as Jesse Katsoplois but inside he’s a total softie” and, “Grandfathered definitely has room to grow, and a strong foundation to do so.” Similarly, New York Times said, “Grandfathered is as winningly cast as The Grinder– Mr. Stamos manages to be smarmy and charming at the same time.”
In the pilot we are introduced to Jimmy, who thinks of himself as the ultimate bachelor and owns a restaurant that he named after himself. His manager, Annelise (Kelly Jenrette), and his head chef, Ravi (Ravi Patel), know Jimmy better than he knows himself, and the three of them are very close. Their world of restaurant business and celebrities is suddenly altered when Jimmy, already 50, just learns that he is not only a father, but a grandfather. He spoke too soon when he said he loves his life and would give it all up for a family.
Grandfathered has aired five episodes so far. In the first episode, Jimmy is approached by Gerald, who he thinks is just a customer. He completely blows him off until he hears, “I’m your son.” Jimmy is a deer in headlights as Gerald then goes around the corner to grab the baby stroller and introduce Jimmy to his granddaughter, Edie.
Upon learning this shocking news, Jimmy recalls the one crazy night of unprotected sex he had with Gerald’s mom, Sara Kingsly, a therapist played by Criminal Mind’s Paget Brewster. He goes to confront Sara, but she is extremely hesitant about Jimmy entering Gerald and Edie’s life. She ultimately relents, but only on the pretense that Jimmy would never hurt either of them. Jimmy ensures he will never, and he instantly begins taking on the role of a father and grandfather.
His first order of business is to mentor Gerald about love and relationships. Gerald is in love with Edie’s mom, Vanessa (Christina Milian), and he fantasizes about being with her almost every second of every day. Vanessa, on the other hand, has her head in the clouds and doesn’t pay much attention to Gerald. Jimmy’s second order of business is to babysit Edie; he wants to prove that he is capable of being a parent, but he ends up making a slight mistake which results in him rushing Edie to the hospital.
In the second episode, “Dad Face,” Gerald plans a little family outing and Jimmy isn’t enthused because he had a prior engagement that was very important to him and going out with family was the last thing on his mind. However, he still wanted to prove himself as a father and grandfather so he spent a majority of the day going from place to place. At one point, he even brought Gerald along to the event that he was so caught up in. Unlike the pilot, this episode has an unexpected and happy ending.
In the third and fourth episodes, we really see Jimmy trying his hardest to be there for Gerald and Edie. In the third episode, “Guy’s Night,” Jimmy takes Gerald out for some quality father-son time and leaves Annelise in charge of the restaurant. Jimmy’s goal is to basically turn Gerald into a ladies’ man like himself because he notices how much Gerald wants to be with Vanessa. It is also in this episode that Jimmy realizes just how much he missed out on having a son.
In the most recent episode, “Deadbeat,” it is Edie’s second birthday and Jimmy embodies the episode’s title. He misses Edie’s birthday, which tremendously upsets Sara and Gerald. In order to make things up to everyone, he closes his restaurant for a night and throws a huge birthday bash for his granddaughter. The party takes a turn for the worse when Sara’s brother shows up and confronts Jimmy about abandoning her while she was pregnant. As it turns out, Sara had lied; Jimmy never knew she was pregnant in the first place. This episode had its fair share of drama but has an adorable ending.
If you’re looking for a new show to watch, I highly recommend Grandfathered; it is a very cute and comical show. Tune into FOX every Tuesday night at 8 p.m. and see how the rest of the season will unfold.
IMAGE TAKEN from soapoperanetwork.com
