Students should give ‘Hope’ show a chance

By Aymie Telinski

“Raising Hope” is a show you probably haven’t seen. And with the series’ last episode airing Friday, this four-season show was ended way too early.

The show is about Jimmy Chance, played by Lucas Neff, a 20-something-year-old who impregnates serial killer Lucy Carlyle (Bijou Phillips) after a one-night stand. Lucy is sent to prison and given the death sentence nine months later, and she introduces Jimmy to his daughter, Princess Beyoncé.

Once I saw the first episode I was in love. The pilot is full of odd humor and events that would never happen, but somehow it makes sense.

If the story hadn’t gotten me hooked the cast would have. “The Goonies” star Martha Plimpton who plays Virginia Chance, Jimmy’s mother, is one of the silliest moms. She is a maid who never finished high school but might be the smartest character on the show.

What I love most about Jimmy is how clueless he really is and just how irresponsible his high school dropout parents were. While Jimmy was in high school he decided to become goth and demanded everyone call him Drakkar Noir because it means “black dragon ship” — not because it’s the name of a men’s perfume brand.

The absolute best thing Jimmy does is a Gollum from “The Lord of the Rings” impression. I live for those moments.

Cloris Leachman, Maw Maw, is head of the house, but she has dementia and often walks around the house wearing nothing but an apron, forcing someone from the family to eat the cookies she just made. The cookies are usually dirt, but it’s the thought that counts, right?

The Chance family isn’t a normal family, but they care about each other and will help one another. They all go back to night school to get their GEDs. They know they can’t pass the test, but if they each take a section of one test at least one person will pass.

Not only is the Chance family great to watch, but the supporting characters are sometimes better than the family. One of Jimmy’s coworkers, Frank, played by Todd Giebenhain, is the right amount of creepy. He looks like every guy who works at your local store and just has a face that makes you want to run away. He also happens to have an exact replica of the show’s town in his basement and he uses it to make movies with everyone from the town.

It will be sad to not see them every week, but I hope FOX sees what a bad decision it has made and decides to make more episodes.