I watched the final episode of ‘According to Jim’ yesterday. I had to rush through the last few episodes since Amazon informed me a few days ago that they were soon to leave the platform. This has happened to me before. I was in the middle of binge-watching ‘The Twilight Zone’ when, with little notice, Amazon pulled it from its streaming service. This gets frustrating. I’ll decide I want to watch a show, watch a single episode each day, and then the dreaded notice appears saying that ‘xxx is leaving in x days. Amazon claims that their policy is a 14-day notice, but I’m not sure I believe them. Often, it seems like shows leave with just a few days’ notice. Even if it is 14 days, though, when you’re in season three of a six-season show, there’s little chance you’re going to be able to watch the whole series before it goes away. Just another one of the joys of modern technology.
My wife and I started watching ‘According to Jim’ a little over a year ago. She bailed out after about ten episodes because she found the title character so repulsive. She had a point. Jim, the lead character, is an obnoxious, spoiled brat who’s loud, overbearing, egotistical, and always needs to get his way. However, he’s also very funny, which is why I stuck with the show to the end.
The show revolves around Jim, his wife Cheryl, their two, three, five kids (depending on which season you’re watching), and his brother-in-law Andy and sister-in-law Dana.
Cheryl, the wife who is out of his league, puts up with just about everything Jim does because, even though he’s obnoxious, she loves him dearly. Dana, the sister-in-law, is not a big fan and is constantly trading barbs with Jim, although in one very funny episode, we find out she’s having sex dreams about Jim. Finally, Andy, Jim’s brother-in-law, is his sidekick and best friend throughout all his antics.
Every episode pretty much has the same plot: Jim, with Andy’s assistance, does something selfish, stupid or crazy, Cheryl gets angry with him about it, but eventually she realizes she loves him even though he’s a horse’s ass. It sounds boring and repetitive, but because of the great scripts and comedic talents of the actors it isn’t.
While the whole cast does a great job, Jim Belushi and Larry Joe Campbell are standouts. They’re funny and will do anything for a laugh. A lot of the episodes involved physical stunts, and both men, although very large, do a great job pulling them off.
I really recommend this show, but like the ‘Three Stooges’, it’s probably more for men than for women. It’s also not a good show to binge-watch. The characters are funny but can be grating, and watching them one after another, for a lot of people, could be stressful. So watch it, enjoy it, but take your time with it.
