Jennifer Griffin

***SPOILER ALERT*** I just started watching this show and just got to season 2. This is like a train wreck so it keeps my attention. This is a "modern" view of a black family sitcom based around married (?) couple Regina & Bennie they have an adult son, two daughters, and Bennie has a son out of wedlock who is commonly referred to as a "ghetto twin" or "b@$ta*d. The family is rounded out by Regina's older sister Lucretia and Calvin's "baby momma". Lucretia was the primary caretaker to her nephew since Regina & Bennie were so young, to do so she dropped out of college and ended a good relationship. Most of the plots are around Regina selfishly wanting to better herself at the expense of Lucretia. One of my biggest gripes about the show is how the kids are never disciplined or adequately interacted with. For example, "the ghetto twin" son Calvin skipped school, pulled a fire alarm and skipped school again, and stole and crashed a car that he didn't know was owned by a drug dealer. No repercussions. The daughter, Aaliyah took money and got her nails done instead of buying a birthday gift for her little sister. No repercussions. She left her little sister alone so she could hangout. No repercussions. The youngest daughter was being very needy and annoying. If they had asked her they would've found out Aaliyah didn't pay attention to her anymore.....which was because she started hanging out with a bad crowd. Of course, Calvin's mom is a hood chick who does typical hood things including throwing her son a birthday party with no kids present and booze. The sad thing is Calvin is actually book smart and has the most potential, even though he gets in trouble he is shown time and again being the most thoughtful and grateful out of the young kids. There are so many Calvin's that I've seen have potential but it was killed by ghetto parenting and low standards. Not to mention the rachet girls that were never put in their place as kids, like Aaliyah, and grow up to be bullies . Plus the women that attach themselves to questionable men. All of this I've witnessed professionally over and over but it's celebrated on this show. My favorite characters are Duck and Regina's coworkers. This show depicts a lot of generational resentfulness, hostility etc: --the oldest sister who made it and is absent because she's living a different lifestyle but belittles her sisters when she is around --the second oldest resentful for not getting appreciation for putting her life on hold to help the baby sister. Hostility towards the rich sister --the baby sister that is resentful for having her older sister in her business. Also resents the rich sister This depiction of a dysfunctional black family is complete with the adult son being pressured into bailing his dad out of jail. Unfortunately this show does depict many families, and I guess it's OK for everyone to see themselves represented. It would be nice to see them truly rise up and stop being stereotypes. Mike Epps is cute and funny and some of the background characters are funny but it's not lol funny if you work with this demographic. I expected a better quality show from Epps and Sykes..

On this show JJ is less aggressive and almost too nice. On this she allows letters and people take out their phones without even asking most of the time. It is crazy. She is a softer version of JJ to the point of having chats at the end of each case with Sarah - often reflecting back on her career or giggling about applicable family stories. Sometimes she almost seems senile. The set is also in warmer colors. They no longer show videos they watch or what they pull up on the tablet. In one case they watched a surveillance video but as the viewer you never see it. The way Byrd was excluded makes me dislike Judge Judy and I question her character. The new bailiff is pointless and the way he waves people to come forward is odd. He literally does less than Byrd ever did, of course I know this is not by his choice. The addition of Sarah Rose is the epitome of nepotism. If it was a real courtroom I have no clue what her role would be. In terms of the show Sarah has taken on Bryd's unofficial role of being a backup calculator and blue book info - otherwise she adds nothing to the show. She sits during the case with a blank stare on her face then regurgitates new things she learned in law school at the end. I really detest Sarah Rose being on the show. The show would improve greatly if she was removed. It is almost set up for her to take over the show when JJ retires. The addition of the stenographer is interesting, I am guessing she is a relative of JJ in someway. She shouldn't be sitting on the same level as JJ though. The one good thing about the show is the post interview of the litigants. The cases are longer but not interesting in the least. The maximum amount to sue has been increased to $10,000 why I have no idea.