Stream It Or Skip It: ‘The Upshaws’ Part 3 On Netflix, Where Bennie And Regina Rebuild Their Careers And Relationships

When The Upshaws first came out in 2021, we thought that the series had the “bones” of a good sitcom, but was weighed down by old-fashioned gags. Now that the show is entering its third season, though, it’s in a position where the show’s writers have figured out its characters and the actors who play them. Has it improved?

THE UPSHAWS PART 3: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: Bennie (Mike Epps) and Lucretia (Wanda Sykes) are in holding cells after being arrested for buying stolen auto parts.

The Gist: Yes, we ended Part 2 of The Upshaws with the in-laws, business partners, and sworn enemies getting hauled in for those stolen parts. Lucretia, of course, is fuming that Bennie got her in this situation, where Bennie is trying to keep his head up, knowing that he’ll be bailed out before long.

Lucretia is able to bail herself out, but refuses to spring Bennie, because she’s tired of his screw-ups. Bennie’s wife Regina (Kim Fields) thinks she can scrape together the !0% of the bail money she needs to get a bail bondsman involved, but when he tells her she needs proof of employment, she curses the fact that she quit her hospital billing department job that day. Also, she tries to keep Bennie’s predicament away from her daughters, 15-year-old Aaliyah (Khali Spraggins) and 8-year-old Maya (Journey Christine).

She tries to get her oldest son Bernard (Jermelle Simon) to help, but he refuses; his relationship with Bennie is better than it’s been, but still isn’t great, and he’s tried of getting in the middle of Bennie’s messes. Regina’s relationship with her sister Lucretia hasn’t been good lately, either, mainly because of the continued sniping between Lucretia and Bennie.

In the meantime, Kelvin (Diamond Lyons), the son Bennie had with a woman named Tasha (Gabrielle Dennis) when he and Regina were on a break, is still uncomfortable after his kiss with Aaliyah’s bestie Savannah (Daria Johns). And Aaliyah can’t get out of her friend’s doghouse, even when she brings Savannah a great birthday present.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? As we said when we reviewed the first set of episodes in 2021, The Upshaws feels like a ’90s sitcom in a lot of ways, a cross between Martin and My Wife And Kids.

Our Take: Our review of the premiere of The Upshaws two years ago thought that a classic character-driven sitcom was dragged down by a lot of retro gags and sitcom tropes. Now that the show’s into its third season (called “Part 3”, but you get the idea), a lot of those gags have fallen away, leaving a more confident character-focused sitcom in its place.

It’s the natural evolution of most sitcoms of this type; once showrunners Regina Y. Hicks and Sykes, along with veteran writers like Annie Levine and Jon Emerson, got the hang of the characters and the actors who play them, they were able to concentrate on getting the characters and their personalities to drive the humor.

Some of it is still over the top; it feels like Spraggins, for instance, is in a Disney Channel teen sitcom that encourages mugging and arm-waving while everyone else is in something more akin to a network family sitcom (albeit one that uses the word “shit” very liberally). Epps, Fields and Sykes, all decades-long sitcom veterans, know what they’re doing in front of a studio audience, which makes some of the stuff the teens do stand out more, and not in a good way.

Simon is now a full cast member, which will add some dimension to the show. Not only will Bernard be trying to figure out if his dad can be in his life, but we’ll see him dealing with being a dad as well as getting comfortable being publicly out. In the second episode, for instance, he tells a guy he’s dating to not be so “extra” in front of his daughter, and that leads the boyfriend to break up with him because Bernard needs to go on the journey of being queer and comfortable in his own skin.

Also in the second episode, we find out how much Bennie and Lucretia need each other when it comes to running an auto repair business; yes, it feels like a fast way to get things back to the norm, but it does feel like the story that leads to their détente is an organic way to get to that point.

While The Upshaws is definitely better than how it started, it still feels uneven. But we do get why the show is one of Netflix’s most popular comedies. It’s got veterans in front of and behind the camera, the family is relatable, and the character moments are (mostly) authentic.

Sex and Skin: None.

Parting Shot: After Bernard finally bails his dad out, Bennie goes to the garage and apologizes to Lucretia about the stolen goods, even though he maintains he had no idea they were stolen. She goes ahead and fires him.

Sleeper Star: Simon is a good addition to the main cast as Bernard; we want Bernard and Bennie to somehow get closer, but we also know Bernard as other things he needs to deal with. And Simon can handle Bernard’s complexities.

Most Pilot-y Line: Regina tries the George Costanza move of going back to work the day after quitting and pretending that nothing ever happened. When she’s called on it and security guards are called in, she looks at the guards and goes, “This is some bullshit.” Ballsy reaction from someone who tried to pretend she never quit.

Our Call: STREAM IT. We told people to skip the first season of The Upshaws, and we admit that we made the wrong call there. It’s not the funniest sitcom out there, but there’s a lot of warmth and a lot of character-driven stories and humor.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.