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(S02E14) I don't think this episode had as many laugh-out-loud moments as other episodes, but what really struck me was how tenacious Chris is when it comes to his social situation. Clearly, no one at his school likes him, but Chris still makes an effort to be respected and fit in.

Most of the students want nothing to do with Chris because he's black, but it's also because Chris has no interest in going along with the group-think that's prevalent in most schools. There are essentially two ways to go for any adolescent: you can take the path of least resistance and do what everyone else does, or you can forge your own path and earn the respect of your peers that way. The famous adult Chris is obviously a product of the latter, but what Everybody Hates Chris shows is how difficult it can be to constantly swim against the current.

I said there weren't as many laugh-out-loud moments, but the montage showing Chris giving a beat down to anyone who disrespected his role as hall monitor almost had me on the floor. Chris eventually learns that "fear" and "respect" aren't the same thing, but even he would have to admit that giving his antagonists a taste of justice felt pretty damn good.

When I first typed that headline I accidentally typed "Everybody HITS Chris." Then I couldn't help but imagine a sitcom where every episode revolved around the main character being slapped around by everyone else. Sorry, I'm just really amused by my mistakes.

So anyway, Vincent Martella, who plays Chris' best friend Greg on the series, is also a musician. You can listen to one of his original songs on his MySpace page. The song, "Closest Thing to Heaven," probably won't blow the lid off popular music as we know it, but I sure as hell wasn't writing songs like that when I was his age, and the fact that he's performing his own music and not just singing some other person's songs is pretty cool. If you want to hear more of Vin Man's singing, click here for his rendition of some popular tunes. If his music doesn't quite do it for you, step outside, find the nearest junior high girl, and have her listen to it, because this music is really for them and not for you.

The album is available on iTunes.

(S02E02) I still love this show, so let me get one minor negative thing out of the way right now: is it just me, or did the character of Rochelle, Chris' mom, seem like a real bitch in this episode? I understand she's a high-spirited "ghetto snob" with a tendency to overreact, but this is the first time watching the show when I actually started to dislike the character. When Julius comes home from the doctor and tells her he has high blood pressure and needs to find ways to reduce stress, she goes off on him about the fact that she's the one who's stressed, not him. Julius, as always, just goes along with it, not wanting to exacerbate the situation. Typically, this dynamic is hilarious, but in this episode it just didn't work for me, and Rochelle just came across as cruel while Julius seemed like more of a milquetoast than usual. Of course, another way to look at it is that I'm becoming more involved with the characters, which could be seen as a good thing. Like everything else, it's all in how you frame it.

The Brady Bunch (and The Partridge Family) were weekly rituals in my house when I was a kid. My sister and I would get a huge bag of candy down at the corner store and come home and watch both shows on Friday night.

So it was interesting to see what Cousin Oliver, aka Robbie Rist, is up to these days. As fans of The Brady Bunch know, he was brought on to the show later in its run to add something to the show. I don't know, maybe a cute factor or just shake things up a bit. But all he did was annoy fans, and many people see this as a big "Jump the Shark" moment. Even Rist himself says he has that web site to thank for renewed interest in his career.

Check out what Rist looks like now. Quite a change.

[via TV Tattle]