By Manseen Logan, contributor
On Sunday, Feb. 7, as most people prepared for the big Super Bowl game, I attended the final day of SCAD’s 2016 aTVfest. During the finale, SCADshow screened the first episode of ABC network’s soon-to-be sitcom “Uncle Buck.” Since I’d watched the original 1989 “Uncle Buck,” which starred John Candy and Macaulay Culkin, I thought I knew what to expect. I was wrong. Here is why.
The original “Uncle Buck” centers on an irresponsible deadbeat uncle who has to babysit his brother and sister-in-law’s three misbehaved children while they are out of town. ABC’s “Uncle Buck” follows the same plot, but with a black cast starring comedian and actor Mike Epps (“Next Friday”) as the unconventional Uncle Buck. The black cast did not confuse me, but the execution did.
When I sat down to watch the screening with my triple-threat, caramel-butter-cheddar popcorn (one of the highlights of aTVfest), I wanted to see a black Uncle Buck from the inner city because I feel like people from the inner city keep it real. The original Uncle Buck was an urban white guy, so I expected the black Uncle Buck to be a little “hood” — I expected him to react to certain situations the way my hood uncle would (if I had one). I can’t give away any scenes from the pilot episode, but I can share scenes from the trailer that made me question my hood Uncle Buck.
Just based on the trailer, my biggest shock was in the first sixty seconds where young Miles Russell (Sayeed Shahidi) says, “Who the hell are you?” and his dad (James Lesure) responds, “It’s your Uncle Buck.” At first, I thought, “What parent lets their kid talk like that?” Then I thought, “What black parent lets their kid talk like that?” The situation did not feel realistic.
In the trailer, the new Uncle Buck sprays a boy with a water hose, sips a cocktail in a pink robe and makes the classic giant pancake from the original film. I can spot a lot of scenes that emulate the original movie, but I wonder if my hood Uncle Buck would spray a teenage boy with a water hose, or would he pretend to pop the trunk on that fool? Would he stroll down the hall in a pink robe, sipping a cocktail, or would he walk with a lean, wearing plaid pajama pants and a white tank while smoking a black and mild? Would he make giant celebratory pancakes, or would he take the family to Denny’s for all-you-can-eat ones? It seems like the writers have not changed the character much and the switch to a black cast is just superficial.
After the episode ended, the panel came on stage to answer questions (another highlight of aTVfest). Executive producers Will Packer (“Ride Along”), Brian Bradley and Steven Craig (both “MADtv”) joined Epps on the panel. They gave great advice about the industry and kept the audience laughing. Even the moderator, SCAD dramatic writing professor Chris Auer, got a few laughs from the crowd. Before I could raise my hand to ask, “Why is my black Uncle Buck not ‘hood’ enough?” one of the panelists casually stated that everybody has an Uncle Buck in their family. Then I had a revelation: Uncle Buck is not a hood black guy and maybe he is not supposed to be.
Nothing in the show’s trailer reveals much about Uncle Buck’s background. Maybe he is a middle-class black Uncle Buck, because not every black family is from the hood. It’s too soon to tell. Right now, I don’t know who any of these characters are. And to be fair, what do I expect from a two-and-a-half-minute trailer. But the trailer does give me a “Bernie Mac Show” meets “Black-ish” vibe and actress Nia Long (“The Best Man”) plays Buck’s sister-in-law Cindy, so I’ll stick around to find out.
ABC has not announced when the show will air in 2016.