Review: Legends of Chamberlain Heights “Jamallies”

My dudes, I can dig it!

Spoilers Below

Put yourself back in high school for a moment. The world was at your disposal. Everyone else walking down the hallways were peasants and you were the king. You were young and full of vigor and nothing could stop you. Those were the best times of your life and you knew it. Now realistically put yourself back into high school. It sucked, but you survived.

The three leads of Legends are living the latter, while envisioning the former. There’s Milk, the white guy who desperately wants to be black. Jamal, the out of shape, fat guy with a secret sugar momma; and Grover, the most normal and least obnoxious of the trio. All three are on the school’s basketball team, as full time bench-warmers, for the “Black Holes.” Yes, ladies and gentlemen, that is a butthole joke.

We all knew guys just like the main three. I believe that that is where a lot of the comedy comes from. I knew very white guys, we tried to act very urban and it was just as ridiculous then as it is now. I knew fat guys who were ashamed to be seen with fat girls even though it makes no sense and is a hypocritical double standard. I also knew average, normal guys, who weren’t too smart, yet not too dumb, and had  pretty crushes who were slightly out of their league. They are stereotypes for a reason, and every high school has them.

The animation has a simple, jagged look that gets the point across. Bento Box animated the show, and they always produce the appropriate style of animation for the type of show that corresponds with it. The quick dialogue with juvenile phrases and actions, are a good match with the bright, bold, character outlines. It works; this isn’t anime so the simplicity is suitable.

That brings us to the style of humor. I’d be lying if I said that a lot of the jokes don’t emphasize race in one way or another. The school is an intercity school and that is reflected through the diction of the characters. Even Milk, the white guy, acts so black that he constantly gets hit around for tossing epithets around that he shouldn’t be using.

The pilot, as far as pilots go, was somewhere between good and pretty good. The characters were introduced; the setting and tone were introduced, but the actual plot lacked substance. A good pilot introduces the show, but a fantastic pilot introduces the show and sets itself apart from the crowd. “Jamallies” wasn’t fantastic, but was solid enough, and familiarized us with these quirky losers that can be entertaining, as well as occasionally cringy. Laughs were had, and at the end of the day, that’s more than sufficient