History Series / TheUpshaws

* NiceGuy: Aaliyah's friend Savannah is a smidge kinder than she is, and even called her out when she said some harsh words to her own brother Kelvin.

** Regina to an even lesser extent than Bennie and Lucretia, as she is arguably even less selfish than they are (at least most of the time). At heart, Regina ''is'' a loving mother who has made countless sacrifices for her family, but she has also more than once lashed out at her family (including at her children), is a little unfair towards Kelvin for the simple crime of being a living reminder of Bennie's infidelity (something Kelvin and Tasha are not at fault for no less), and tends to take her very generous (and well-off) sister Lucretia for granted while at the same time, constantly forgiving and taking back her flaky, immature husband Bennie for just about everything he does no matter how much it's hurt her.

* NiceGuy: Of the Upshaws, there's Bernard, Kelvin and Maya, whom are arguably the least self-centered individuals in the family.
** Aaliyah's friend Savannah is also a smidge kinder than she is, and even called her out when she said some harsh words to her own brother Kelvin.

** Interestingly, all the females of the Upshaw family have a name ending in 'a', Regina, Aaliyah, Maya.

** Lucretia too, albeit to a lesser extent, being a much more responsibile and decent woman than her brother-in-law Bennie is. She's undoubtedly a stubborn, smart-alecky woman who isn't afraid to speak her mind (no matter how hurtful) to people, but she loves her family more than anything and does almost everything she can for them, even when it affects her own life. In fact, while her friends express concern that she does too much for her family, Lucretia still doesn't hesitate to do whatever she can for her family.

* InWithTheInCrowd: Aaliyah is obsessed with popularity, and becoming friends with Steph Greene. She looses her old best friend Savannah in the process.

* MaidenAunt: Regina got pregnant when she was in high school. Lucretia dropped out of college and broke up with her world-traveling boyfriend, Frank, to take care of her sister and new baby nephew. Lucretia has dated since then, but never seriously. She never married or had children of her own, and instead devoted herself to being the backstop keeping Regina's family safe. The resulting family dynamics can be messy. In a practical sense, this ''is'' Lucretia's family -- this is the family she's spent decades taking care of; she's their financial safety net; she practically raised her nephew Bernard. But it's not officially ''her family'', and this changes how her contributions are viewed. For example: money. If this were ''her family'', providing financially would just be providing for her family, not worth commenting on. Because it's not, providing financially is alternatingly seen as very charitable, or a controlling-the-purse-strings power move. In a fight between the sisters, this gets pulled out:

* MaidenAunt: Regina got pregnant when she was in high school. Lucretia dropped out of college and broke up with her world-traveling boyfriend, Frank, to take care of her sister and nephew. After that, while Lucretia dated, it was never seriously. She never married or had children of her own, and instead devoted herself to being the backstop keeping Regina's family safe. Deconstructed in that this ''is'' the family Lucretia has spent decades taking care of -- she's their financial safety net; she practically raised Bernard -- but because it's not officially ''her'' family, her contributions aren't viewed the same.

* HighSchoolSweethearts: Why Bennie and Regina are together is a perpetual question. The simple answer is that they're HighSchoolSweethearts who had a TeenPregnancy, and that tied them together. However, given how flaky Bennie is, and how ever Lucretia would be to help Regina leave Bennie, it's very easy to imagine a scenario where they didn't stay together, suggesting there might be something more.

* FakeHigh: In episode 1.09, 13-year-old Aaliyah steels a beer from the fridge to drink with her friend Savannah, not knowing that O'Doul's is nonalcoholic beer. They start speaking of the effects they're feeling after mere sips, and Savannah mixes up her drugs and says she's getting the munchies. When Regina catches them, she starts laughing hysterically. She uses it as a teachable moment, an opportunity to teach Aaliyah about the dangers of drinking, and doesn't tell her the truth. Aaliyah goes on to experience a psychosomatic hangover.

'''Regina:''' Cause you a mess too. And we the only people that we can be with.

* AnticsEnablingWife: Alongside Benny's BumblingDad, Regina's role as the long-suffering wife is also played with. She ''is'' definitely the more stable, responsible parent, who holds their household together, but she's no saint. The show is very blunt about how Regina is a major player in creating the difficult situations she finds herself in. Regina is not trapped in this marriage -- Lucretia would love to help her leave, and the relationship itself is a somewhat rocky one. There's blame aplenty for Bennie for being a poor husband and father, but there's also blame for Regina, who keeps ''keeps taking Bennie back'' even though she knows damn well what he is. She's made her own bed here.

* LastHetRomance: Bernard hooked up with a woman once: his high school girlfriend Monique on the night of graduation. He regards her very highly, even a decade later. Afterwards, [[spoiler:he didn't tell her he was gay, and she didn't tell him she was pregnant]].

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_upshaws.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[MaidenAunt Lucretia]], [[BumblingDad Bennie]], [[AnticsEnablingWife Regina]]\\

* Bernard Jr. (Creator/JermelleSimon): Regina and Bennie's adult son from a teen pregnancy

''The Upshaws'' is a Netflix DomCom about the Upshaws, a black working-class DysfunctionalFamily in Indiana.