What is Bob Hearts Abishola?
Well, it’s many things.
– a comedy.
– a love story.
– a look at society in a fun and safe way.
What is it about?
It’s about a 50 year man named Bob who runs his late fathers business, MaxDot, a company that sells compression socks with his mother, sister and brother.
One day, after having a near fatal heart attack, Bob falls for his nurse, Abishola.
Who is in it?
Billy Gardel plays Bob, an overweight middle-aged man who falls in love with his Nigerian nurse after having a heart attack.
Folake Olowofoyeku plays Abishola, a single mom and nurse from Nigeria who works at Woodward Memorial hospital.
Shola Adewusi plays Auntie Olu, Abishola’s Aunt.
Barry Shabaka Henley plays Uncle Tunde, Abishola’s uncle who is all for Abishola marrying Bob.
Christine Ebersole plays Dorothy “Dottie” Wheeler, Bob’s widowed mother. She is overbearing and sometimes comes off as naïve especially about her late husbands racist attitude.
Matt Jones plays Douglas Wheeler, Bob’s younger brother. He is the human services representative and is snoopy and a drunk.
Meribeth Monroe plays Christina Wheeler, Bob’s younger sister. She is the sales department representative of their company.
Vernee Watson plays Gloria, a fellow nurse at Woodward Memorial Hospital. She pushes Abishola to pursue Bob.
Gina Yashere plays Kemi, Abishola’s best friend who works in food services at the hospital. She also thinks Abishola should pursue Bob.
My thoughts
I usually don’t stick with comedies, but this one drew me in and kept me.
I like how we see two different cultures and the way they are living.
We see Bob’s family, a wealthy white family whose family sells compression socks – And when the family realizes their late father’s racism, Bob’s siblings try to fix it with a commercial just saying ”sorry”… It gave us a real concrete look at how easily some people try to gloss over racist things, especially in one’s family.
Then there’s Abishola’s family from Nigeria. She lives with her aunt and uncle as well as her son.
Learning Abishola’s husband just left her to start another family in Nigeria was really heart breaking, I think that’s part of why she is so reluctant to date. Her aunt and uncle pressuring her to get remarried to take care of them is sometimes where the best jokes come in. They’re a welcome part of the show.
Her son isn’t seen much so we don’t know much about him except that his mom is pressuring him to be a doctor and not run track like he wants to.
Positives
It’s a quirky show!
You have this compression salesman bringing socks to the woman he loves, and she actually enjoys the gifts as does her family.
It is not afraid to tackle racism head-on. They do it in a funny way, but it still shines a light on a problem that still very much exists in the world.
Between Bob’s family trying to hard to not be racist, and Abishola’s friends making lists of what guys they would date based on race, it’s a fun and interesting mix.
Negatives
It doesn’t seem like a show that could really go on for too many seasons – which is sad because it’s refreshing.
I also think that they repeat the same story too often over episodes, but honestly, most comedies do.
In Conclusion
All in all, this show is fun and entertaining. I am not sure what they would do with a second season.
If Bob and Abishola get together by the end, the premise of the show is pretty much over.
Though it would be interesting to see what they would go through if they did marry, especially with all the cultural differences that would come with it.
Bob Hearts Abishola plays Mondays on CBS. It will return from its winter break on Monday Jan.6.
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