*Acclaimed TV producer Chuck Lorre is hoping Black folks will tune in to his new sitcom “Bob Hearts Abishola,” about a divorced socks salesman (Billy Gardell) who has a heart attack and falls for his Nigerian nurse (Folake Olowofoyeku).
“Of all the new faces on fall TV, Olowofoyeku may have the best opportunity to break out given her positioning as the female lead on a new series from comedy hitmaker Lorre,” THR writes.
“I walked in[to] this already created, already planned-out world. Now my job is to take this script and deliver a performance that’s accurate to the character and her region, which is specifically Yoruba, which is also my tribe,” Olowofoyeku told the publication when asked “How much of you is in Abishola?”
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She Olowofoyeku, “I grew up in Nigeria, and I’m also Yoruba. So it’s almost like I all I need to do is to draw from my memory, the memory of my mother, the memories of my aunties, the memories of all the women in my life growing up, and that’s what feeds the character. Abishola is based on on my mom and all the Yoruba women in my life.”
“Bob Hearts Abishola” premiered Monday night, and according to Variety.com:
“There are so many ways “Bob Hearts Abishola” could have gone wrong. It could have treated Bob’s crush on Abishola as a one-sided obsession, rendered her Nigerian family as wacky oddities, and spent all its time on basic (or flat out xenophobic) punchlines.”
It’s also frankly something of a shock to watch a CBS multi-cam comedy that can include scenes between multiple black women, each with a different point of view and experience, without making them the butt of the joke.
The publication also notes that “Abishola is wary of pursuing a romance for completely logical, understandable reasons.”
“Abishola’s relatives and friends don’t take kindly to Bob – and they certainly can’t see him married to Abishola,” writes SandraRose.com. The outlet adds:
One friend Kemi (Gina Yashere) explains, “Top of the list, Nigerian man — same tribe (Yoruba). Then, Nigerian man — different tribe (Igbo). Then, other Africans (except Tunisians and Egyptians). Obviously. Then Caribbean. Then white. Then African American.
Another friend named Gloria ( Vernee Watson) takes offense to the disrespect Africans show American Blacks.
CBS hopes Black Americans will tune in and support the series anyway. Will you?
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