Catching up on Raising Hope 

Now while I don’t usually advocate marathoning five episodes at once, that’s exactly what I did last night. I mean, I know I’m not the only one who was excited by an entire hour of Raising Hope last night. Well, it was really two half hours but the end result is the same. As I left my notes at home (you’ve heard that before), I’ll just highlight the bits I remember. Dead Tooth: Jimmy needs to put Hope in daycare after he gets the police called on him for taking her to work. When he discovers that a former hook-up, Kate Micucci’s Michelle, will care for Hope for free he thinks he’s scored a jackpot. The only problem is that she wants to date him and Jimmy’s just not ready to give up on Sabrina yet. And perhaps he’s not able or willing to mack on a girl with a dead tooth. Kinda gross. So Victoria agrees to give up her cigarette money after Michelle decides to start charging him.

Dream Hoarders: I didn’t realize Victoria is a hoarder but I love that she guards her precious possessions like a woman possessed. Of course it becomes a problem when Hope escapes from the house (damn that Jimmy for teaching her how to crawl!) and get’s into Victoria’s stuff. Leave it to Maw Maw to use her jenga skills to help the family get to the baby. Grrr. I wish I could remember the names they came up with for their imaginary boat. I loved all of them.

Say Cheese: What is it about horrific family pictures? I do remember my family taking a few good photos but lately it seems like all family portraits end in disappointment and/or horror. The whole Jimmy eating his hair thing? Disturbing and funny. It’s kinda fitting that the best family portrait they take happens to be a red-light camera photo.

Happy Halloween: Finally, Jimmy’s getting some action. Too bad Sabrina thinks he’s her boyfriend Wyatt. Even though Jimmy’s not a big fan of Halloween – all thanks to his dad scaring the bejesus out of him every year – he decides to accompany Sabrina to a costume party when her boyfriend bails. In other news, Jimmy’s dad concocts a plan to get Jimmy to hug him (which was why he scared the bejesus out of Jimmy every year on Halloween). Do I love that he pretends Hope was safe dropped to rescue her? Not so much but it was kinda funny.

Family Secrets: Who is the missing link in the Chance family tree? Jimmy comes face to face (face to butt?) with his grandmother in an embarrassingly uncomfortable scene). Now Jimmy realizes why there are so many secrets in his family and he’s more than happy to keep this one. And I guess that lesson makes him want to make sure Hope has some record of his mother’s existence but I’m so glad he edited that raunchy video down. Wow. Watching Jimmy’s dad enjoy the tape in private or put makeup on the baby? Hilarious.

Up until last night I had only watched the pilot which I found very promising. Now I’m ready to say how much I enjoy this show. I think all the players are perfectly cast and there is something so charming about watching Lucas Neff’s 24 year-old slacker try to do the right thing by his baby girl. Martha Plimpton and Garett Dillahunt are cast perfectly as his parents and I’m a fan of Shannon Woodward’s Sabrina. And, of course, I have to mention Cloris Leachman’s Maw Maw. She’s simply amazing. I think she balances the crazy perfectly with the moments of clarity. And I don’t think this show would be the same without the inappropriate bordering on tasteless vibe. It hasn’t gone too far for me yet. It just works.