THE PLOT THUS FAR
In the center of a storm is Ocean, a 27-year old highly-motivated mother who manages a neighborhood apartment building and all of the problems that come along with it. Managing the building is a dream come true for Ocean. Not only has she secured a job with a title, but also managed to escape her family’s problems and the closet-sized bedroom she and her two children used to share in her mother’s house. Now, Ocean is juggling a new job, a new home furnished with only cardboard boxes, a niece who hates everything, her own two children and the needs of all the other tenants. Diary of a Single Mom illuminates the challenges and triumphs of three women struggling to create lives that not only sustain them and their families, but also inspire others toward more action and compassion in their own lives.
WHAT WE THOUGHT
Is it a web series or is it an anthology? Did I just see Lando Calrissian? What did I just see? Robert Townsend should’ve stuck with directing comedies. There are put some of the thoughts I quickly jotted down on a napkin while I watched this DVD. Basically, it’s a show about ethnic women having a hard time with the absence of men and the presence of their punk kids. The acting’s terrible other than Lando, so it’s not like you’ve got a lot of material to pick from there.
I wish that there was more to say about the program than that. But, when you’re dealing with domestic drama in an urban setting, it’s hard to break past out of material that Jimmie Walker and Norman Lear covered in the 1970s. Certain urban men leave and they stick women with the work. It’s the basis of about a quarter of the shows on BET. Hell, it was the basis for every other Temptations song. What more can you say about it than Father’s Day is the loneliest day of the year in the Ghetto? I kid, but it’s true.
The DVD comes with no special features. The A/V Quality is ok with a standard definition transfer and a Dolby Surround track to support it. I wish they would’ve spread the episodes out, as the bitrate suffers a little. Also, I don’t know if it was a true 5.1 audio mix due to my receiver’s inability to pick up a clear reading. In the end, I’d recommend a rental.
RELEASE DATE: 01/10/2012
