The Cooke Family

[Maveno]

THE COOKE FAMILY



The Cooke family has made its home far from the hustle and bustle of the city. On a small farm in Greenville, GA, the Cookes have adopted a simpler way of life. James "Jay" Cooke works as a lathe operator during the day while wife Brandi tends to the farm with the help of sons Cole, 5, and Hudson, 9. They hunt, breed beagles, raise rabbits, stock their fishing pond and tend to their gardens.

Fresh air and the outdoor lifestyle have always appealed to the Cooke family. They have never been on an airplane, and have rarely been outside of Georgia. They enjoy the peace and serenity of rural Georgia. While not tending to or enjoying the farm, the Cookes enjoy home video games and watching movies at home. When money and time permit, the family will go to Calloway Gardens to swim at the man-made beach or play miniature golf.

The Cookes' son, Hudson, is 9 years old. *Inquisitive and curious, Hudson is anxious to know if *his "new daddy" will like animals. His brother Cole is an active, adventurous 5-year-old.

**Information found on FOX website, click HERE for information.

[queenb]

I hope they aren't going to do the usual and portray Georgia as a very backward place populated by hicks who don't have a clue as to what goes on in big cities and so forth, but I feel it coming on! Even if these people don't leave Georgia often, they aren't that far from Atlanta, Columbus or Macon, so the other Dad's New York attitude shouldn't be any big shock to them. We have a LOT of newcomers in this state, from all over. Still, I'm not going to be shocked if they portray the Cookes as a bunch of ignorant rednecks.

[Kao]

Jay: Sweetheart
Mrs Cooke: Clinically depressed or something. One of those type of women who wants a better life but wants SOMEONE ELSE to give it to her.

Brat Kid: Someone please whip this child. Or give him some therapy. Or Adderal. There's some problems there, and it's not just that the kid is ill-behaved either. His behaviour was much immature for a ten year old and violent as hell too. Someone (probably his dad, since mom just seems to have her ass glued to the couch) should take him in to a doctor to get evaluated.

Youngest Son: Seemed like he could be a sweet child, except for the constant bullying or older savage brother.

[canadian_bunny]

I think Jay was a sweet man and has a great head on his shoulder, the mother needs to discipline her children and needs some self esteem. She needs to be more open minded about going to new restaurants and things. Sure McDonalds is a nice place to eat every once in a while, but wouldnt hurt to go out and try new food and a new environment. You may not have the money to do it often, but treat yourself out every once in a while, just to say you did it. Not sure why she didnt pick the oldest son up in the store and spank him. His constant picking on his younger brother and screaming made me think of my nephew who has ADDS.. Wondering if Hudson had that problem too. The problem that bothered me about this family, was how they didnt even give hugs and love out to the daddy before and after his stay in New York.

[Cruella_DeVil]

Jay: Sweetheart
Mrs Cooke: Clinically depressed or something. One of those type of women who wants a better life but wants SOMEONE ELSE to give it to her.

Brat Kid: Someone please whip this child. Or give him some therapy. Or Adderal. There's some problems there, and it's not just that the kid is ill-behaved either. His behaviour was much immature for a ten year old and violent as hell too. Someone (probably his dad, since mom just seems to have her ass glued to the couch) should take him in to a doctor to get evaluated.

Youngest Son: Seemed like he could be a sweet child, except for the constant bullying or older savage brother.

!!!!

OMG that's almost what I was going to say!!!! Scary huh?

I did love the Levine kids. They were really well adjusted. Mrs. Snooty tooty Levine was waaaaaay too prententious. No wonder that Nice Mr. Cooke delegated the funds to the beach house as she was going on about its worth and the work that was being done on it. He probably thought it was their priority. :rolleyes

Mr. Levine was definitely out of his element but remained polite and kind. I would have choked the two little brats (the one younger brother probably could have been a sweet kid, but he was just too damn whiny for his age) and the comatose mother! Can't believe that those kids were 5 and 9?!?!? Looked big, but acted like babies! Jay probably goes to work, does his job and then comes home and roams the range to get away from those 3!!!!!

Likable people in this eppy: Jay Cooke, The Levine kids and Mr. Levine!

Can't wait until the next trade!!!!!

[Bof_Cof]

Jay: Sweetheart
Mrs Cooke: Clinically depressed or something. One of those type of women who wants a better life but wants SOMEONE ELSE to give it to her.

I'm glad someone else noticed that abour her.
She just kept staring off into to space,
I couldn't tell if she was on something, or if she was trying real hard to be somewhere else (at least in her mind)

[wendiness]

I agree that Justin was a saint to put up with those kids. And he was kind enough not to tell Jay the real truth about the week with them.

I think Cole's behavior is just a reaction to what appears to have been a lifetime of bullyiing from Hudson. Hudson, well, that's another matter. That boy needs to be evaluated immediately. He has some serious issues. Perhaps it's ADHD or maybe something more serious. I couldn't believe he went after his brother with the hammer -- and then the axe! Yikes! If those aren't warning signs ...

Maybe Mrs. Cooke is clinically depressed. Or something. Something is going on there, too, that needs to be addressed. She did say something about disciplinary measures not working on Hudson so she's basically thrown in the towel. I think she's just unable to cope and needs some parenting lessons.

Jay, what a sweetie. And I sure do feel sorry for him. No good-bye, no welcome home. Given his relationship with the Levine boy and watching him interact with the daughter, I think he'd be an excellent dad if those boys could just be controlled. (He probably needs some parenting lessons, too, however, when it comes to discipline because it can't all be his wife's burden.) Perhaps, being the low-key and gentle man he is, he avoids confrontation and, thus, doesn't participate in discipline, leaving it all up to his wife. Big mistake.

[roseskid]

Basically I'm just adding what's already been said here. Last night was the first time I've seen this show, and my God, those children were totally out of control. I have never spanked my daughter (she's 17 now and has always been well behaved; all 3 of us treat each other with respect in our household), and I only have one child so I'm probably not the best judge here, but this is one dysfunctional family. The older brother needs some serious counseling and/or parenting, the way he treats others is cruel and uncalled for. I have never been able to handle whining, either. In our house, whining got you no where, so when our daughter tried it a few times, and realized she wasn't going to get her desired outcome, she just stopped it. I couldn't believe how much control he has been given in that family, and watching the mother passively tolerating this was unbelievable. I say, "nip it in the bud"!! I have never seen anything like that in my life! I think there's some possible jail time in his future.

On the other hand, I thought the NY kids were very sweet. Their mother is extremely uptight and needs to relax a little -- seems to very much suck the fun out of any situation.......she's got great kids, and seems to me, needs to give them lots of deserved kudos and hugs. Didn't Pierce say something like, "Jay is the first adult to listen to me"? I thought that was a powerful statement about how that family functions.

I also thought it was incredibly sad to watch Jay come home to what? Nothing. His wife never got up off the damn couch to welcome him home, and the children appeared to be just as blase about him being gone/returning. Do these people even like each other? I think not. Maybe she is clinically depressed -- I was certainly depressed just watching them.

I thought it was alarming that the NY'ers made some comment about having some major debts that they could have applied the money to (sounded like aside from the bar mitvah). I was assuming with all the money they apparently make, they were living within their means, even with the second house and all. I guess what they say is true, if you have issues with money, it doesn't matter how much you make, you'll still be in debt.

I certainly hope after seeing themselves on tv, they all take a step back, and re-evaluate their lives.

Ok, I'm done ranting now!

[AIWANNABE]

I am convinced that Hudson is the devil and that is all I have to say. And they give the kids baseball bats and golf clubs. What were they thinking?

[did_it_again]

Ms Cooke would be a perfect choice for a print ad which reads: This Is Your Brain On Boredom....get a job, a hobby, a personality, a book...do something other then just breathe and eat!!