Top 10 Hilarious Everybody Hates Chris Running Gags

“Lemme hold a dolla’” is the mantra of lovable rogue and petty thief Jerome. Making his first appearance in the show’s fifth episode, “Everybody Hates Fat Mike,” the 23-year-old neighbor is initially presented as an antagonist. Yet his warmer nature, coupled with his general dim-wittedness softened him enough to be let into the audience’s good books, and Kevontay Jackson’s character made recurring appearances. As is very quickly pointed out, whenever Jerome, who never remembers meeting Chris, is asking to let him hold something, it’s not to take a look—it’s to put it directly in his pocket. Well, with the exception of when he asks “lemme hold a bicycle…”

C’mon, admit it, we all had one growing up. Normally passed from the previous generation, everyone’s parent or guardian had a miracle cure of some description that was designed to fix all of a child’s health conditions. With the Rock family, it’s Robitussin. As is displayed via cutaway, Rochelle will give Tonya, Drew, or Chris a dose of it for anything ranging from stomach aches, to burns, to car accidents. The only thing that it probably isn’t used for is a tickly cough or sore throat—which is ironic, given that that’s exactly what it is meant for.

For “Everybody Hates Chris,” it is very quickly established that money—or lack thereof—tends to dominate his father Julius’ mind. If he isn’t thinking about it, he’s talking about it; and generally about ways to avoid spending it. As far back as the pilot episode, Julius is seen keeping the purse strings pulled so tight, that the only reason they don’t break is because he doesn’t want to buy new ones. His rule of “no named brands” means Rochelle saves grocery money by buying generic items, he regularly insists on finding a cheaper option for purchases, insists on food coupons, and was fired from his job as a store Santa for making kids consider the costs of their holiday gifts.

#7: Cutaways

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Cutaways aren’t a unique gag to “Everybody Hates Chris,” as most sitcoms will use them from time to time. However, the show could rival “Family Guy” for its reliance on flashbacks, flashforwards, and flash transitions. But believe us, we aren’t complaining. In fact, pretty much every single deviation from the main narrative is as funny as the last. During cutaways, we’ll sometimes see the alternative version of conversations, how they played out in a character’s head, or simply Terry Crews as Batman. They don’t follow any particular rules of exposition either, as characters will often interrupt and trespass in someone else’s imagined scene; meaning poor Julius never catches a break from Rochelle’s watchful eye.

As the only Black kid in Corleone Junior High (which is probably named after the infamous family of “The Godfather”) Chris is brought face to face with many different kinds of discrimination and prejudice. Moreover, he is often brought face-to-face (or rather, face-to-fist), with the resident school jerk Joey Caruso. Caruso’s modus operandi is quite straightforward, knock the books out of Chris’ hands, and then when he complains: punch him. Despite the years of tormenting, Caruso admits that it was all born out of a jealous admiration for Chris, and goes so far as to ask if they want to hang out after he leaves Corleone—before setting sights on new target Greg.

#5: “Tragic”

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If there is one supporting character who stands out from the crowd, it’s the overly friendly neighbor and undertaker: Mr. Omar. A man of many layers, he can often be heard describing almost absolutely any situation as “tragic… TRAGIC!” The unusual thing is that many of his topics are rarely tragic, or rather, really shouldn’t be. Except when he is referring to the death of a client’s husband, but even then his description is somewhat inaccurate. Usually, a funeral director tends not to be so happy when dealing with his client, but this one also has a tendency to date the new widows too. Mr. Omar deserved a spin-off, and the fact that he didn’t is “tragic…”

#4: “My Man Has Two Jobs!”

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We already know that Julius is a cheapskate, but thanks to Rochelle’s consistent reminders, we are well aware that he has two jobs. In fact, these are less reminders than bragging rights. Since the first season, Rochelle has made no secret that “she doesn’t need this” (which can be anything from a conversation, answering phones for an office manager, taking orders as a waitress, or directing traffic) as her “husband has two jobs…” It is both the beginning and the end of an argument for Rochelle and is also the reason why she has precisely zero jobs. Though, we have to ask, if he has two jobs and is so frugal, how come they never have any money?

#3: “Big Maaaaan!”

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Let’s face it, we’ve all got a relative that we love dearly, but seems to have no sense of how difficult they are. Usually, they are an uncle, and they wind up their brother-in-law something fierce. In “Everybody Hates Chris,” that role goes to Uncle Mike. When Rochelle’s brother is rendered without an abode and moves in with his sister and brother-in-law, Michael makes quick work of winding Julius up to no end. He wears his clothes, eats his food, and disturbs his peace by yelling a signature “big man” whenever he can. He appears on a number of occasions throughout the show’s run, but his initial appearances left his catchphrase stuck firmly in our minds.

Did we mention that Julius is a cheapskate? What about that he has two jobs? Well, if this wasn’t apparent already then it would be by the time you hear Julius listing the cost of everything. And by everything… we mean everything! Even things that he has never seen before. Watching “The Price is Right” was child’s play to Julius Rock, as he could tell the cost of a dishwasher to single digits. The reason why? Because they’re too expensive to invest in. Julius can go even further: according to the pilot, he knows how much a digital clock costs to run overnight, and can literally cry over the cost of spilled milk...

Similar to our penultimate entry, Julius is incredibly good at listing off examples as well. In fact, he is so good at it, that stating examples (however benign) makes up about 50% of Terry Crews’ script. As a character, it’s often a source of much humor, such as when he examples how he is going to be watching local robber Malvo wherever he goes. Towards the end of the show’s run, this turned out to be his best trait. During Season Four, Julius was able to give a reasonable set of examples as to why a man shouldn’t end his life, for which he was hailed as a hero. Not content with listing examples, Julius became one.