Sister, Sister (1994–1999)
7/10
Outdated, But Enjoyable Enough
4 December 2021
There are two things that I hate to admit about this show. One being that there is a lot of things wrong with it, the other is that I enjoyed it despite its glaring flaws.

This show started in the early 90s, so take that as you will. The first thing I'd like to talk about, & the thing that I think is the biggest "no-no" for me in any form of media, is that this show depicts a LOT of toxic situations & relationships in the name of humor, as described below:

1) Roger's behavior, especially in the first couple of seasons, is WILDLY inappropriate. He constantly & brazenly makes overly sexual jokes & comments towards literally any young woman who has the misfortune of being onscreen with him, HE SNEAKS INTO THE TWINS' ROOM WITHOUT THEIR CONSENT, harasses the twins about going out with him in nearly every episode from seasons 1-2, & is always walking into the Campbell house without being invited, often inserting himself in things that have nothing to do with him, unwanted, (which apparently is meant to be a running gag, but I've never found it funny). His purpose is solely to be annoying, & he's not truly accepted into the plot until much later in the show, where he mellows out & not only becomes tolerable, but actually turns into any okay character.

2) The girls lie to their parents & act deceitful countless times throughout the entire series; it's like they're incapable of learning from their mistakes, despite having very caring parents who are fully willing to listen & teach them about right & wrong & the reasons why you shouldn't do certain things. They often find themselves in very dangerous situations because of this, but because the plot says so, they always turn out just fine.

3) (An extension of #2) The girls take a hella long time to start growing up. They go through a lot of life lessons throughout the series, but don't seem to retain what they've learned from any of them, & they literally whine & cry like small children when things don't go their way, even as they're older & supposed to be becoming more mature.

4) As much as I originally loved Lisa, (mainly because Jackie Harry is so dang funny), she also suffers from the character flaw of perpetual deceitfulness, forever manipulating Ray to give her money & basicly fund her entire life, because she's incapable of getting her dream fashion business off of the ground. She literally mooches off of him from day one, & only has a job for a very short while for a very specific plot point. Spoiler alert: it doesn't end with any character growth of her realising she should figure out how to take care of herself monetarily. & I know that it can be hard to find a good job, but Lisa doesn't even try, because she knows that Ray will continue to support her. This causes her jokes to start falling flat for me as the show goes on, because at least half of them are money-based.

5) The writers of this show love to throw in characters left & right, then act like they never existed in future episodes. The girls go through love interests like crazy, because apparently "teenagers aren't capable of keeping relationships"??? There have literally been entire episodes based off the scenario of: there's a guy that one sister or the other really likes, comedic happenings ensue, but even if they end up together in the end, it usually doesn't even last into the next episode. They do the exact same thing with friends. Near the beginning of the show, there were two girls that the twins hung out with all the time, but they disappeared without explanation. Then, the show went a looooong time without showing that the twins had any friends at all, & suddenly in season four, three girls show up out of nowhere, acting like they've been the twins' BFFs the entire time. It's honestly so wild & weird, & confusing af.

All of these things make it seem as if I really didn't like watching Sister Sister. But, even though these are pretty big issues, imo, I still find myself going back to it. I'm currently on season four, & I plan to finish. Something about the show still draws me in; Tia & Tamera Mowry are decent enough actresses & it overall can get a laugh out of me, plus it's something that I can just put on & not worry too much about paying close attention. &, although I'm white, there's something about it being a nearly all-black cast that hits differently for me. I can't speak much on the culture & if it's being represented properly, but it's nice to see a talented cast in a decent show that isn't whitewashed to all heck.
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