REVIEW: FUGGET ABOUT IT “Hate Crime Legislation Is for PUSSIES”

Spoilers Below

Meet ex-New York mob capo Jimmy Falcone, who gives us an account of the events leading up to his current situation. After throwing his boss from a nineteen-storey window, every gangster in the Big Apple is gunning for him; as Jimmy reiterates his boss’s last words, “… I was fucked!”

From the first scene, the laughs take flight, as the “MacDougals” object Canada’s “ten states”(no mention of the three territories), currency and genteel.

The main angle of the show seems to play on Italian and Canadian stereotypes, but of all the Canadian jokes I’ve heard over the years, Fugget About It has taken a fresh approach. Not once was there an utter of maple syrup, lumberjacks or igloos.

The MacDougals pertain their fair share of stereotypes as well: Jimmy the patriarch, a bloated wise guy, who constantly smokes cigars (even in his sleep) and resorts to threats and violence in mundane altercations. He is loud and foul mouthed, but comically, he is the show stealer. The absent-minded Uncle Cheech, who is responsible for the Falcone’s current predicament, is an old-fashion kind of guy. He randomly appears in situations, either to hilariously put in his two-cents or be the punching bag for the slapstick humor. Jimmy’s wife Cookie is a cookie-cutter image of what a mobster’s wife would be.  Unfortunately, she doesn’t get much screen time for quips. Theresa, the adjusting couple’s eldest daughter is a materialistic and anorexic, yet buxom, ditz. She’s practically an incarnation of one of the girls of Jersey Shore. But her shtick works for laughs. Then there’s Petey, the left-leaning and social conscious son. His mannerisms are relatable to Steve Smith from American Dad. He is contradictory to the rest of the family’s beliefs, which adds subtle humor through conflict.

Lastly, Little Gina; a hood in the making. As she sleeps with a bundle of baseball bats beside her bed and posters on her wall of the Big Apple, Al Capone and yes, a horse’s head (Godfather shout-out), she dreams (or plots in the waking world) of ways to whack Uncle Cheech for setting off the cascade of events.  Although Gina doesn’t get much screen time, and her comic relief is very generic, there is a hope that her bottled up rage will eventually become a violent gimmick (think Stewey and Lois).

After a group of jocks bully Petey and the intervention from RCMP Special Agent Strait McCool (another supporting character, with the catchphrase “For Canada! And whatever she stands for!), old-fashion Uncle Cheech decides to introduce Petey to “the sweet science” – boxing.

During a bout, Petey cold cocks his opponent and Uncle Cheech realizes what his nephew’s trigger is – right-wing ideals. Jimmy then concocts a plan to challenge a brute boxer, who’s signature move is called the “Moose-Jaw Breaker” (Moosejaw is a city in Saskatchewan, for all international viewers), and Petey’s ‘father-of-the-year’ doesn’t mind because, if anything goes wrong, there’s healthcare.

Of course, everybody knows you can’t have a boxing story without a training montage, and this one unfolds with Petey insufficiently reaching his goals. At least until Jimmy and Uncle Cheech meddle with influences, such as FOX News broadcasts.

Overall, this episode has much to offer. And like the country it takes place in, the show and its characters have room to grow. Let’s hope this series doesn’t get Fugget About.