Interracial Love & Culture Clash in 'Bob ♥ Abishola'



Chuck Lorre, known for creating Dharma and Greg, Cybill,  Two and a Half Men and The Big Bang Theory has wasted no time creating yet another sitcom. Like the memorable Dharma and Greg where he paired the daughter of liberal hippies, Dharma (Jenna Elfman) and the son of a conservative wealthy couple, Greg (Thomas Gibson), who ended up getting married on their first date; Lorre's new couple is Bob (Billy Gardell) who winds up at the hospital following a heart attack and immediately falls in love with his  no-nonsense Nigerian nurse Abishola (Folake Olowofoyeku). This sitcom not only brings again the 'opposites attract'  theme of Dharma and Greg and The Big Bang Theory's Penny (Kaley Cuoco)  and Leonard (Johnny Galecki), for the first time a Nigerian character, played by an actual Nigerian actress is a main character in a CBS sitcom as well as Yoruba  culture being brought to focus. However, the sitcom also brings some level of realism- certain challenges immigrants face in a country different from theirs and what interracial couples have to put up with, along with the humour. The pilot aired on the 23rd and it's obviously going to be like Dharma and Greg and the classic BBC sitcom, Mixed Blessings. Altogether... groundbreaking!

Gardell starred in one of  Lorre's previous sitcoms- Mike and Molly and has appeared in You, Me and Dupree, Room 6, Yes Dear, Monk, The Practice and My Name Is Earl.  Olowofoyeku studied acting at the City College of New York and has appeared in several T.V shows; ColonyModern Family, 30 Rock, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Law & Order: SVU, West World and the films: The Child Within, When They Could Fly and Female Fight Club.




Many, many thanks to Chuck Lorre and the very best of luck to  Gardell and Olowofoyeku.



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