Hey, Dad.
Boy.
Hey, Pop,
I need a favor.
Son, can I at least get a sip of tea
before you start asking me for favors?
Yeah.
Hey, yeah. You do your thing, man.
Sip it up.
(cartoonish voice): Can you hear this? (slurps)
Can you pick the kids up from school today?
I have a meeting with an ad agency
to direct some spots.
I thought you told Nina
that you were gonna stop chasing that directing dream.
I said I was going to.
I didn't put a hard clock on it.
Oh, so you lied to your wife?
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. (chuckles) Never.
Our entire relationship is built on complete trust.
I'm merely protecting her in case I don't get the job,
that way I don't have to see
that disappointed look in her eyes.
Oh, your mom had that look.
It was her only look.
So, what does the foam roller king
think about you taking meetings on a work day?
Well, you know, I just tell J.J. I'm on a sales run,
I go in and crush my meetings, back to work, no harm, no foul.
Well, there is a foul.
You're stealing time from your boss.
Look, Dad.
I know you guys go way--
(high-pitched moaning)
(moaning)
You good?
Yeah, I'm good, I'm good.
Look, I know you guys go way back,
but I can't stand working for that dude.
It's like having a human hemorrhoid
for a father-in-law.
This is true, but J.J. loaned you money
to buy that house next door.
And he gave you a job so you can pay him back.
That's a contract.
Well, I could pay him back a lot quicker
if you bought a couple hundred of these bad b-- Nope.
They don't nothing for me.
Look, I paid for your film school, son.
That's it. Now I support you emotionally.
Dad, you know that George Clooney once gave
15 of his best friends a million dollars each?
(blows raspberry) That's nothing.
I once gave an enemy five million dollars.
Really? Who?
Your mother. In the divorce.
She told me it was three.
That's 'cause she didn't want to pay for film school.
(scoffs) She's the worst.
(laughs) That's my mother.
♪ Poppa's ♪
♪ House ♪
♪ Yeah. ♪
NINA: Kids, get in the car.
Seatbelts on, I'll be there in a minute.
TREY: Bye, Dad. Bye-bye.
Damon, I've been thinking.
Uh-oh.
If you took that management position Daddy's offering
and I planned a few more events,
we could afford to send our kids to private school.
Private school is overrated and overpriced.
Babe, if you took that promotion,
we could afford Buckingham.
Yeah, but that promotion would leave me no time
for doing what I love.
Directing short films?
No. Kissing my short wife.
(chuckles) Don't call me short.
My sweetie petite-y? Mm, no.
My little Halfrican American?
How about Tiny Bit?
'Cause that's all you're gonna get
if you keep joking about my height.
Mm. (horn honks)
Oh, right, we have kids. Yes. Oh. Right.
Hey. Don't forget to pick them up from school.
Have I ever forgotten?
They were fine.
("Across 110th Street" by Bobby Womack playing)
♪ Across 110th Street ♪
♪ A woman trying to catch a trick... ♪
All right, New York City,
we're gonna bring it on home with a few phone calls.
Poppa's house, what's poppin'?
MALE CALLER: Yo, man,
why you only play that old-school Civil Rights music?
How come you don't rock with none of that new school rap?
Because I don't know who any of these new school rappers are.
They're all named "baby."
You got Lil Baby, Da Baby,
Yung Baby, NewBorn Baby.
These men need to grow up and get some real names.
Till then, I plays what I play, playa, ya dig?
You don't like it, kick rocks.
Poppa's house, holla at ya boy.
FEMALE CALLER: Is this the Poppa?
The one and only, never lonely.
Right. Why do you reduce
every conversation you have with a woman to sex?
Oh, it's not me.
It's my dang-a-lang.
(chuckles) There you go again.
Another reflexively asinine comment.
First of all, my ass ain't a nine, it's a ten.
And secondly, I thought we wasn't
talking about sex, honey dip.
It's "Doctor."
(gasps) Oh... Doctor? Like doctor-doctor?
So, if someone's having a heart attack on a plane,
you raise your hand?
No, not that kind of doctor.
Then not really a doctor, nah-mean?
I have a PhD in psychology
and I know men like you.
Really? Could you put one of them on the phone?
'Cause I'm bored talking with you.
You're probably sitting there with your goofy baseball cap
cocked to the side, in your manopause cardigan,
thinking that your scruffy beard makes you look cool,
but it really just makes you look like a ghetto Poppa Smurf.
Ha. You couldn't be more wrong about me.
New York, that's my time, I'm Audi.
♪ Oh, oh... ♪
There he is, Big Poppa Fulton!
Allen. What's our system?
I need to knock. And then what do I say?
Go away. And then what do you do?
I go away.
So why are you in my studio?
Corporate has some ideas.
(groans)
Mm, mm, mm.
Why are they messing with my number one show?
Number two show.
We've taken a hit with our female demographic.
So corporate thinks it might be cool
to add a female presence in studio.
Sorry, but a woman would change the entire culture.
Entire?
It's just you. That's right. I'm the culture.
And you guys keep trying to change that.
See, I like sitting in my studio,
playing my kind of music,
eating boiled eggs, drinking coffee
while I fart it up in there.
That's my happy place, Allen.
Hello.
Dr. Ivy Reed.
Nice hat.
So, the call was coming from inside the house?
You've probably heard
Dr. Reed's podcast, Just Like a Woman.
Or maybe not.
I don't do podcasts.
Here's the hierarchy: you got movies,
TV, recording artists,
radio personality,
mime,
organ grinder monkey,
podcasts.
Listen, I'm here to bring the fun
to get us back to number one
'cause if I don't, son, you're done.
Your rhyme is wack, that's a fact.
Me and you together, I ain't having that.
So don't get comfortable and try to unpack,
'cause Ray Charles said it best, "Hit the road, Jack."
Make that go away.
♪ ♪
Man, I hope your day went better than mine.
You know, they tried to jam me with a female cohost?
What? Who comes to "Poppa's House"
for the female perspective? Right?
I mean, I don't pick up Cosmo to see if the Knicks won.
They didn't, by the way.
Yeah, they never do.
Oh, hey, uh, Dad...
Uh...
Uh, that ad agency loved my ideas.
Awesome. Yeah.
There was one, um, slight problem, though.
What's that?
Well, the meeting, it went long,
and I-I kind of missed
a very important sales pitch to a top foam roller client.
Ooh, J.J. must have went cray-cray
when he heard about your day-day.
Cray-cray like Kanye-ye.
He fired me.
Are you serious?
And what did Nina say?
Well, I haven't told her yet.
Junior, I'm gonna kill you.
♪ ♪
So I say we need money for private school,
and you get fired.
Well, context missing, but correct.
Babe, I had a meeting with a top ad agency.
Why didn't you tell me?
We don't lie in this relationship.
We're supposed to tell each other everything.
This job could pay for private school.
Daddy gave you a job offer
that would have paid for private school,
and you threw it away.
He said that's the third meeting you've missed in two months.
Those are just the ones he knows about.
Babe, this is my calling. I know it. I'm so close.
But you have been "so close" for so long, Damon.
You're 35, babe. With a family.
Babe, I need you to believe in me.
I do believe in you.
But I also want the best for our kids.
Maybe now's not the time for dreaming.
Well, then you shouldn't be so damn dreamy.
Sorry, it was cuter when you had a job.
Thank God you're still alive.
I thought I'd come back to a chalk outline.
She's like a reverse Hulk.
She gets angry, she gets smaller.
Why can't she understand how much directing means to me?
Son, don't put this all on her. Sit down.
Let me tell you a story.
When I first started out in radio,
I was working at the station mailroom.
Okay? My big break came when the night DJ got sick.
I sat in for a month. I got rave reviews.
'Cause you're the man.
Yeah, I thought I was.
I quit my mailroom job.
And then the DJ recovered and came back to work.
And I was out of two jobs.
I mean, things got bad, son.
So bad that we were eating rice and beans every day.
You had to wear my T-shirts as diapers.
You owe me a Public Enemy one.
And I felt like a complete failure.
Because I let my dream become my family's nightmare.
So I ended up taking a job on a sanitation truck
in the middle of winter just to provide for us.
And that's why your fingers smelled like that?
I never knew that, D.
Yeah, well, here's what I learned.
A man's got to do what a man's got to do
until he can do what he wants to do.
You're right, Pop.
So how do I get my job back?
I don't know, I guess we'll invite
the human hemorrhoid over here,
we'll, um, open up a nice, expensive bottle of wine,
couple of glasses, he'll say yes to anything.
He's just like his daughter.
♪ ♪
Allen, when I said,
"Make this go away," you heard,
"Get her a chair and a microphone."
I couldn't sell it upstairs. Corporate.
What's with the candle?
Oh, had to light it.
It smelled like someone had sex with a boiled egg in here.
Where is my lava lamp?
Oh, had to make room for the monitors.
Monitors? For what?
And why are these cameras in here?
For the streaming video.
Corporate loves how they do it on Dr. Reed's pod.
Yeah, well, we're not doing cameras.
Do they intimidate you?
Me? Intimidated? (laughs)
Hey, is my head really that small?
Like a baby pigeon.
I'm not doing cameras, I'm sorry.
You have to. You've got a contract.
Contracts were made to be broken. I quit.
Poppa. Poppa, come back.
Listen, I refuse to let them change my show.
I'd rather retire, kick back, relax,
spend up all that inheritance money
you think you gonna get.
Hey, what happened with your ad agency?
Uh, haven't heard anything yet.
And no news is bad news in show business.
(doorbell rings) Well, here's some good news:
we gonna try and get you that job that you hate back.
Remember, don't make this about your stupid rivalry with Daddy.
Hey, if he don't start none, there won't be none.
How about, even if he does start some,
there'll still be none?
J.J. What up?
My portfolio.
That's "what up," Mr. DJ. And you?
Oh, it's all good in my hood.
I wouldn't complain even if I should.
Oh.
You're still rhyming?
At your age?
How quaint.
Nice coat. Yeah, it's cashmere.
Don't let it rub up against any of your stuff.
You'd better pick that up before I drop you like I did in '78.
Oh, why you bring up '78?
Huh? What about the beatdown
in summer '82? No.
That don't count, you had a growth spurt.
Yeah, you should try one.
All right, all right, all right,
daddies, daddies, daddies.
All right, Golden Girls, we get it, you have history.
Why don't we all sit?
Yes, let's all-- all right.
Let's all sit down.
Oh, right, yes. Ooh, you sit over there.
Still mad at me. All right. Yeah.
Well,
here we are.
NINA: So,
Junior, what's on your mind?
I'll just have a glass of red.
Yeah, not that.
Right, no, yes.
Um...
Dad? Can I call you "Dad"?
No. Okay.
Mr. Jackson, there is no denying how much the world
has benefitted from your brilliant invention.
You started selling
your foam rollers out of your trunk
and you grew it into...
My empire.
I was gonna say "business," but sure.
And I would like to apologize for missing that meeting.
If you give me my job back,
I promise you,
this will never, ever happen again.
Yeah, look, Junior, I-I know it may not seem like it,
but I don't like you.
I-I mean,
you're a very creative people person
and a great communicator
and, uh...
Oh, man, my daughter is making me say all this stuff.
Daddy. No, I'm sorry, princess,
but I told you I couldn't fake it.
Now, listen, Junior, you're just wasting your time
with that silly directing dream.
Now, if you want to work for my company,
I'm gonna need you on the management track,
12 hours a day, shoulder-to-shoulder with me.
So,
are you all in or are you all out?
Hey, foam is where the heart is.
"Foam is where the heart..."
(chuckles) See what I did there?
It's like "home," but it's like, "nah, foam."
That's my next catalogue title right there.
Well done, son. I think... Thank you.
...you're finally growing up. POPPA: Mm.
Growing up. Ain't it great?
Yeah, you should try it sometime.
See? Why'd you...
Guys, guys... Give it to me.
So, now that I got the job that I hate back,
what are we gonna do about the job that you love?
You know, I'm not sure I love it anymore.
What? Look, Dad, forget about
corporate and the cameras and Dr. Reed.
What made you fall in love with radio in the first place?
It was about community.
I'd play a song by Bill Withers or Al Green
and then I'd talk about the memories
it brought up for me growing up in New York.
Mm. And then the listeners would call in
and they'd share their memories.
And that's what it became, like, this beautiful
shared experience.
Couldn't it still be that?
No, because it's not about
the listener anymore.
Corporate is chasing data and demographics,
and in the process,
they're killing everything that's good and real.
I can't do the cameras, son.
They make me nervous and insecure.
'Cause of your little head?
Is it really that small?
Look, Dad, if you want to relax on camera,
I tell my actors these three things, all right?
Quiet hands, always smile
and never look in the camera.
That's it? Nothing else? That's it.
Well, let Dr. Reed know whose house she's in.
What do you mean?
Whose house is Dr. Reed in?
(softly): My house?
Get up. Say it. Poppa's house. Say it.
She in Poppa house.
Whose house is Dr. Reed in?
She in my house.
She in your house
and she's trespassing. That's right.
The living legend.
Six-time Marconi Radio Award winner.
Seven-time. Seven-time
Marconi Radio Award winner.
The Master of the Mic.
The King of the Commute.
The Adonis of Audio.
The MJ of the Airwaves.
Ooh! I like that. Yeah.
Give me that LeBron.
(rhythmic grunting)
Hairline. Hairline.
Okay.
It's love action time.
Right here in the living room?
Therapist said we got to when there's unresolved anger.
Okay, let's do it.
(grunts)
I'm sorry I didn't tell you about the meeting.
I'm sorry if I made you feel
you couldn't share everything with me.
You know,
it's so painful when they say no.
I didn't want you to feel that again.
That's why I'm here, silly.
For better or for worse.
I love you, and I believe in you.
I know, it's just...
my dream can't be my family's nightmare.
Well, my dream is that my children
grow up with a happy father.
I know you're a great director,
and everyone else is gonna know it soon, too.
So we need to make time for your dream.
Happy spouse, happy house.
I love you, sweetie petite-y.
(laughs) Give me a kiss.
Give me-- mm, mm, mwah.
You ready for that Tiny Bit, Mr. Love Action?
Ooh, I'll give you some love action.
Mm. About two-and-a-half minute.
♪ ♪
♪ Come here, sister ♪
♪ Papa's in the swing ♪
♪ He ain't too hip ♪
♪ About that new breed, babe ♪
♪ He ain't no drag ♪
♪ Papa's got a brand-new bag... ♪
So, you're here to honor your contract?
Allen, what's our system?
Have a great show.
(whistling)
Did you dye your beard?
No.
I woke up like this.
And we're on.
Hey, New York City, what's crack-a-lackin'?
It's your boy Big Poppa,
still a little crowded up in here
with, uh, Dr. Ivy Reed overstaying her welcome
to the party she was not invited to.
You're right, I wasn't invited.
I was begged. "Please come save this show."
And yet, you were available.
Because I had just finished writing my best-selling book.
What's it called, No, Not that Kind of Doctor?
It's called Tiny Head, Tiny Mind.
You're such a hater.
Yeah, and you know what I hate most?
That my idol has become a cantankerous cynic.
Idol? Me?
That's all you heard?
I used to listen to you every morning in college,
and back then, you were always so uplifting, positive and fun.
You got me through some really tough times and then,
you got a divorce and you changed into this curmudgeon.
And I refuse to let you go out like that.
So, I'm here to give back some of what you gave me.
What's that?
Motivation. To fight for what you love.
(sniffles, exhales)
Okay, New York, let's take a call.
Poppa's house, what's good in your hood?
CALLER: Hey, if I wanted to listen
to an old married couple bicker,
I'd talk to my wife.
Play some damn music.
You got it, my man.
Can I choose the song? No.
("Respect" by Aretha Franklin playing)
♪ Your rhymes is wack, though you're cute in the front ♪
♪ And you might be stacked ♪
♪ But check this out ♪
♪ You ain't working with me. ♪
(laughter)
They do nothing for me.
You just orgasmed.
Yeah, I finished and I'm done.
I don't want to see it anymore.
Ah. Ah...
(laughing)
Captioning sponsored by CBS
and TOYOTA.
Captioned by Media Access Group at WGBH access.wgbh.org