![LAST MAN STANDING Review: Fall TV 2011 [Worth Watching?]](http://fierceandnerdy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/LastManStanding-TimAllen.jpg)
LAST MAN STANDING Review: Fall TV 2011 [Worth Watching?]
So I never posted a review for HOW TO BE A GENTLEMAN, and that was because it sucked. I mean, sucked to the point that I was happy there were no people of color in it, b/c I didn’t want them involved in this pile-up. Which is too bad, because it had a few people I liked in it, including David Foley, Mary “What’s her name” from 24, and that one British guy from YES MAN, but it was just so awful. Let’s talk about LAST MAN STANDING, the new Tim Allen sitcom instead. Was it any better? Here are my thoughts:
Overview: Mike Baxter, a jet-setting, man’s man photographer for the “Outdoor’s Man” catalog is grounded and forced to not only run the company’s website, but also permanently live at home with his three daughters, wife, and baby grandson.
What I Liked: To my surprise, a whole lot. I’m a big fan of the current onscreen trend of non-traditional families, and this one is great. The middle daughter is a bit ridiculous, but the oldest daughter is a single mom, and the youngest is an aggressive soccer phenom. I also like that the mom (played by Nancy Travis) isn’t particularly nurturing and drinks a lot. In the second episode, there was a funny gag, involving over-the-top baby-proofing and the wine cabinet and a toddler potty that had me cracking up. Also, the jokes really land, and the ensemble as a whole has great timing.
What I Didn’t Like: I thoroughly disagree with most of Mike’s online tirades, and of course they threw in a few gay jokes — though to the show’s credit, his daughter challenges him on at least of one of them. At the end of the day, the whole affair feels a bit old-fashioned — like watching a really good 90s sitcom.
Diversity Report
People of Color? 1 Hector Elizondo plays the owner of the L.L. Bean-like store that Mike works for. Extra points for putting him in charge and giving him lots to do.
Report Card
Show B Diversity B
Worth Watching?
This really isn’t my cup of tea, so I won’t be watching. But if you liked HOME IMPROVEMENT and really do somehow feel that today’s men just aren’t as good as the emotionally distant, narrow-minded, and unevolved men of yesteryear, then you’ll love this show.
Yea…the gay jokes were soooo very narrow minded that I wondered who wrote them? And what were they trying to accomplish with them, especially since there was a laugh track response to the jokes. They turned me off, and showed that the show is really left to appeal to the conservative, old fashioned man…even though most of the cast is women, as a woman, I couldn’t relate to it…except for the mom’s drinking. :-)
Exactly! I wish writers would grow up already and realize what an instant turn off these jokes can be. They’re not very creative and I say why make them if they’re repugnant to a good percentage of your audience.
As I watched parks and Recreations last night I meant to add to my comment above. In parks, Ron Swanson is a mans man. The manliest one can get, but you don’t see his character making the same kind of jokes. He pulls of his manliness without making fun of other peoples’ sexual orientation. And that’s why his character is awesome.