"Tokchawee" in The Goode Family

I'm glad to say the second and third episodes of The Goode Family were better than the first one. Mike Judge and company really toned down the liberalism. As I said they should, they integrated it into the characters' lives--made it more of an underlying value system than an in-your-face shtick.

Now the parallels with King of the Hill are becoming clear. Two middle-class families...a put-upon but sensible dad...an intense, approval-seeking mom...an ornery grandfather...a dog in its own world...etc. The focal points of these two episodes--football boosterism and pet adoption--could've happened to either family.

The Goode Family still isn't that funny. King of the Hill is still far superior because of its rich cast of characters: Bobby, Dale, Bill, Boomhauer, Luanne, Kahn and Minh, John Redcorn, Buck Strickland, et al. In The Goode Family, daughter Bliss is a typical eye-rolling girl and son Ubuntu is a typical oafish boy. The other characters are barely worth mentioning, so far.

The Native aspects

Episodes 2-3 didn't have any racial bits as lame as the "what to call blacks" bit in episode 1. They didn't joke about other minorities at all. But Judge and company must be interested in Indians, because they included more Native bits.

In Pleatherheads, Bliss is trying to get into a good college. She types on her computer in the kitchen while her mother Helen and her grandfather Charlie look on.BLISS:  I'm thinking..."Tokchawee."

HELEN:  Bliss, I will not let you change your name so you can pretend to be a Native American.

BLISS:  But, mom, colleges go crazy for them. Red is the new black.

CHARLIE:  Why do Indians need to go to college anyway? You need a degree to plant corn and deal blackjack?

HELEN:  Dad, that's horrible. You are a horrible, ignorant man. And clearly know nothing about Native American culture.

BLISS:  Actually, the preferred term is "American Indian."

HELEN:  When did that happen?Except for the silly idea that a name change is enough to get you into college as an Indian, this dialogue is fairly realistic. For once someone got the "American Indian" vs. "Native American" question right: Most Indians prefer "Indian."

Of course, Indians do get degrees to help them plant corn. It's called "agriculture." And they do get degrees to help them run casinos. It's called "business." Sometimes they even get advanced degrees to oversee the people who handle the agriculture or business. These people are called "managers" and their degrees are called "MBAs."

Finally, in Goodes Gone Wild, Ubuntu throws a dreamcatcher at the family's mangy new pet Gutterball. Gutterball promptly eats it.

For more on the subject, see Indians in The Goode Family and TV Shows Featuring Indians.