MY WIFE AND KIDS: MOM'S AWAY {PARTS 1 AND 2} {SEASON TWO PREMIERE} (TV)
Summary
One in this comedy series starring Damon Wayans as an old-fashioned husband and father who struggles to adapt to the modern ways of his wife and three kids.
Janet is away visiting her mother, and Michael takes the opportunity to run the house his way, starting with making the children do calisthenics in the morning. Kady deeply misses her mother, and Junior and Claire chafe under his various restrictions. Claire asks if her friend Charmaine can stay over, and Michael approves, although he notes that he has never met her parents. Later Michael walks in on an impromptu rap session featuring Junior and members of his school’s basketball team. Junior announces to his father that he made the basketball team, and Michael is proud of him, although he is annoyed that he and the team rearranged the house’s furniture and that some of them are wearing his clothes. The rest of the team ditches Junior, forcing him to clean up by himself.
Kady continues to mope about her mother’s absence, and Michael decides to tell her a story from when Janet was pregnant with her. He claims that he “carried” the unborn baby for Janet, and that a then ten-year old Junior drove him to the hospital when his water broke. Kady is unimpressed and still proves to be resistant to Michael. Michael believes that Junior’s new friends on the basketball team are taking advantage of him in order to get free food and other sundries, but Junior does not believe him. Claire helps Charmaine conduct a pregnancy test, and they discover that she is pregnant. They scramble to prevent Michael from finding out about it, although he is suspicious about their behavior. After they leave he discovers the discarded pregnancy test kit in the garbage. Later Claire returns and Michael confronts her over his discovery, stating that he feels compelled to tell Charmaine’s parents despite Claire’s objections. However, he wishes to give Charmaine the chance to tell them first; Claire says that this is not his business, but he still feels as though he should tell them. He permits Claire to speak to Charmaine before he calls her parents.
Junior’s new “friends” begin stealing things from his house under the guise of playing a game. Michael intervenes and emulates their behavior by swiping their possessions and throwing them out of his house. Junior feels as though the other guys were merely playing around, but Michael is angry that Junior has allowed them to disrespect him and trash his house. Michael continues his story with Kady, claiming that he was the one who gave birth to her. He also explains that she did not like him as an infant and resisted his many attempts to get her to laugh. He goes on to claim that the hospital gave them the wrong baby, a boy, and that he searched until he found where she had been sent. He claims that she ended up at the residence of Shaquille O’Neal, who had apparently received her, and that they exchanged babies. Michael stages a party in Junior’s room and intentionally makes a mess of things in order to teach him a lesson about standing up for himself. It seems to work and Junior throws everyone out of his room, although he still thinks that Michael is wrong about his new “friends.”
Charmain confides in Claire that she is intending to run away from home, afraid of telling her parents about her pregnancy. She feels that her parents would be furious and that Claire is the only person she can talk to about it. Claire advises her to speak to Michael about the matter, reluctantly admitting that he would be understanding and sympathetic. Kady accuses Michael of lying about the circumstances of her birth and he admits that he was merely trying to take her mind off of her mother’s absence. He tells her the truth about her birth: that it was “really quick and really easy,” and that he wasn’t lying when he said she didn’t take to him at first. Michael admits that he feels Kady has never fully embraced him the way she did for her mother, and that he feels somewhat hurt by this behavior. Kady seems to appreciate Michael’s honesty and attempts to garner her affection.
Claire and Charmaine talk to Michael about Charmain’s pregnancy and he proves to be remarkably calm and understanding, believing that her parents will not react as violently as she believes they will. He also advises her to speak to her boyfriend and his parents, hoping that their families can have a rational discussion about the matter. Charmain is relieved that Michael is helpful to her, and he says that he speaks from experience: he and Janet had Junior when they were teenagers and despite the difficulty and responsibility in raising him, he views each of his children as a “gift.” Junior becomes enraged when one of the team members hits on Claire and finally stands up for himself, kicking them out of the house. Later Michael expresses his approval of Junior looking out for Claire. Includes commercials.
Details
- NETWORK: ABC
- DATE: September 26, 2001 8:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:59:43
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:67770
- GENRE: Comedy
- SUBJECT HEADING: African-American Collection - Comedy; TV - Comedy
- SERIES RUN: ABC - TV series, 2001-2005
- COMMERCIALS:
- TV – Commercials – Aveeno skin lotion
- TV – Commercials – Claritin antihistamine
- TV – Commercials – Clorox toilet cleaner
- TV – Commercials – Ford automobiles
- TV – Commercials – Gain laundry detergent
- TV – Commercials – Homestyle Bakes prepared meals
- TV – Commercials – I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter butter substitute
- TV – Commercials – JCPenney department stores
- TV – Commercials – K-Mart department stores
- TV – Commercials – Kleenex tissues
- TV – Commercials – L’Oreal hair coloring
- TV – Commercials – MasterCard credit cards
- TV – Commercials – Mazda automobiles
- TV – Commercials – Mitsubishi automobiles
- TV – Commercials – Motrin IB pain relief
- TV – Commercials – Quaker oatmeal
- TV – Commercials – Scott paper towels
- TV – Commercials – Sears department stores
- TV – Commercials – Toyota automobiles
- TV – Commercials – Verizon phone service
- TV – Commercials – Yoplait yogurt
- TV – Commercials – “Max Keeble’s Big Move” motion picture
- TV – Promos – “20/20”
- TV – Promos – “A Bug’s Life”
- TV – Promos – “According to Jim”
- TV – Promos – “Alias”
- TV – Promos – “Bob Patterson”
- TV – Promos – “Mole 2”
- TV – Promos – “Once and Again”
- TV – Promos – “The Drew Carey Show”
- TV – Promos – “Thieves”
CREDITS
- David Himelfarb … Executive Producer
- Don Reo … Executive Producer, Created by, Writer
- Damon Wayans … Executive Producer, Created by, Writer
- Eric. L. Gold … Co-Executive Producer
- Janis Hirsch … Co-Executive Producer
- Dean Lorey … Co-Executive Producer
- Jim Vallely … Co-Executive Producer
- Buddy Johnson … Producer
- James Hannah … Producer
- Julie Tsutsui … Producer
- Mark Nasser … Co-Producer
- James Widdoes … Director
- Derryck "Big Tank" Thornton … Music by
- Damon Wayans … Cast, Michael Kyle
- Tisha Campbell-Martin … Cast, Janet Marie Kyle
- George O. Gore II … Cast, Michael Kyle, Jr.
- Jennifer Nicole Freeman … Cast, Claire Kyle
- Parker McKenna Posey … Cast, Kady Kyle
- Shaquille O'Neal … Cast, Himself
- Phil Reeves … Cast, Doctor
- Raven-Symone … Cast, Charmaine
- Gary Coleman … Cast, Himself
- Damon Wayans Jr. … Cast, John
- Michael Wayans … Cast, Mike
- Michael James Johnson … Cast, James
- Tanner Scott Richards … Cast, 10 Year-Old Jr.
- Buddy Johnson … Cast, Buddy
- James Widdoes … Cast, Man