Although the competition is keen, this entry had me laughing louder and harder than any episode I've seen yet. It's a slow burn with a wild payoff at the end.
Everyone is in top form: Mama, Naomi, Vince, Iola and of course, Bubba. Things start off with a bang as Bubba begins taping the family at dinner for his project. Although he wants an unrehearsed, "natural" feel, the family is hilariously self-conscious, as they stare into the camera and treat each other with more kindness and respect than the Brady Bunch. But while on their good behavior for the camera, the phone rings and Mama is pressured into taking on a major project for the church.
Having struck out trying to film the family at dinner, Bubba decides to interview each relative and Iola individually with much less stilted results. Naomi tells a tender story about a puppy named "Marlon" she cuddled as a teen; Vince recalls Mama's thriftiness leading to a nasty accident with a wagon and the handymen she hired thereafter; Iola tells of wayward daughter Eunice's neglect and mistreatment of her dolls; and Mama confesses how proud she is of her family despite their fights and how she blames TV for the bad behavior of young people.
At last, Bubba's video is accepted and aired on public access TV for all of Raytown to see. Everyone huddles around the tube to watch and Bubba warns them, his camcorder had a short, causing it to stop and start at random. What follows are some of the biggest laughs of the series as each family member's interview is "edited" into the most incriminating, brutally unflattering "confessions" of lust, drunkenness, infidelity, child neglect and lastly, Mama's "admission" that she was a bad parent!! Inter-cut with the family's horrified reactions (and rage at Bubba) this show-stopping finale alone was worth the price of admission. A final punch is delivered when the family consoles themselves with the thought that probably nobody in Raytown watches public access TV...just as the phone starts ringing and Mama is fired from the church project! Priceless. Don't miss this one!!
Everyone is in top form: Mama, Naomi, Vince, Iola and of course, Bubba. Things start off with a bang as Bubba begins taping the family at dinner for his project. Although he wants an unrehearsed, "natural" feel, the family is hilariously self-conscious, as they stare into the camera and treat each other with more kindness and respect than the Brady Bunch. But while on their good behavior for the camera, the phone rings and Mama is pressured into taking on a major project for the church.
Having struck out trying to film the family at dinner, Bubba decides to interview each relative and Iola individually with much less stilted results. Naomi tells a tender story about a puppy named "Marlon" she cuddled as a teen; Vince recalls Mama's thriftiness leading to a nasty accident with a wagon and the handymen she hired thereafter; Iola tells of wayward daughter Eunice's neglect and mistreatment of her dolls; and Mama confesses how proud she is of her family despite their fights and how she blames TV for the bad behavior of young people.
At last, Bubba's video is accepted and aired on public access TV for all of Raytown to see. Everyone huddles around the tube to watch and Bubba warns them, his camcorder had a short, causing it to stop and start at random. What follows are some of the biggest laughs of the series as each family member's interview is "edited" into the most incriminating, brutally unflattering "confessions" of lust, drunkenness, infidelity, child neglect and lastly, Mama's "admission" that she was a bad parent!! Inter-cut with the family's horrified reactions (and rage at Bubba) this show-stopping finale alone was worth the price of admission. A final punch is delivered when the family consoles themselves with the thought that probably nobody in Raytown watches public access TV...just as the phone starts ringing and Mama is fired from the church project! Priceless. Don't miss this one!!
