TVSquad

(S02E07) I've said before that while Everybody Hates Chris doesn't stray too far from the sitcom template, it at least gives the genre its own funky twist, making it one of very few sitcoms I'll actually watch.

For example, have you ever noticed that when a person becomes class president on TV, they tend to wield more power than any class president in real life would have? Someone gets elected, and suddenly the whole school is changed. Chris actually believes he has this kind of power, but learns too late he can't keep all the promises he made while running (fall and winter vacations, book reports only for books based on movies, etc). Chris may be the first black president the school has ever had, but he's also the first president to be impeached.

Do not adjust your web browser. You are now entering the Retro Squad, where we are reviewing past episodes of your favorite shows, in order, every week.

(S01E02) Before we go any further, I just want to say those of you who would ask why am I reviewing this episode of The Prisoner (which was the fourth episode aired in the series) but appearing here as the second. First, in both the VCR and DVD compilations, this episode is listed second. (In addition, it was the second episode filmed.) Plus, I think this episode fits in better in the second slot anyway, because we get to see how Number 2 "by hook or by crook" tries to get Number 6 to tell why he resigned his post as a spy.

In this episode, Number 2 convinces Number 6 (Patrick McGoohan) to run for office as the new Number 2. Number 2 says that an election is held every 12 months, and so far there is no other candidate besides him that is running. Of course, being a new "resident" of the Village, Number 6 is quite skeptical over the whole thing. Plus, as he reiterates from the first episode, "I am not a number. I am a person."

Number 6 is then assigned an assistant, an attractive woman dressed as a French maid who offers to drive him everywhere and serve his needs, all while speaking in a foreign language. The episode is especially interesting as it "parodies" political campaigns where you have canned speeches and planned photo opportunities, ie, "rehearsed spontaniety."