'Last Man Standing': Unfrozen caveman sporting goods exec
What did everybody think of Tim Allen's new ABC sitcom?
Tim Allen in "Last Man Standing."
Credit: ABC
Okay, I posted my review of "Last Man Standing" this morning. Now it's your turn. I'm guessing not very many of you tuned in to watch Tim Allen ask about what the hell happened to men, but for those who did, what did you think? Are you going to watch more than these first two episodes? (For that matter, did anyone make it through both?)
Have at it.
Alan Sepinwall has been reviewing television since the mid-'90s, first for Tony Soprano's hometown paper, The Star-Ledger, and now for HitFix. His new book, "The Revolution Was Televised," about the last 15 years of TV drama, is for sale at Amazon. He can be reached at sepinwall@hitfix.com
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October 11, 2011 at 9:10PM EST Reply to CommentSend this crap back into the early 90s. I'm guessing huge ratings for this tomorrow. =/
Al Borland
October 11, 2011 at 9:27PM EST Reply to CommentI don't think so Tim
Crow3711 awesome.
October 11, 2011 at 11:23PM ESTchuchundra
October 11, 2011 at 9:30PM EST Reply to CommentYou don't seriously think we're going to watch this, do you?
I certainly won't and I watched every episode of Outsourced.
Sean Richardson
October 11, 2011 at 9:33PM EST Reply to CommentThe greatest work of fiction ever produced by man or supernatural being. Indeed, the quality is of such staggering immensity, I confess that I am skeptical any human being possesses the necessary talent...I have to wonder, in all seriousness, if some sort of supernatural godly entity had a hand in the creation of this Tim Allen sitcom.
Plato believed that everything had an ideal form. I have to believe that I have just seen the Platonic Ideal of Sitcoms. Perfection. True perfection.
If you extracted the absolute best moments from Seinfeld, I Love Lucy, The Office, and Arrested Development, and condensed them into one high density compact mass of hilarity, it would not even come close to the comedic extravaganza that is "Last Man Standing."
I don't know how I can ever view another sitcom again, for they all pale in comparison to such a ridiculous extent that I fear I will no longer be able to derive enjoyment from my old favorites. It's as if a blind person who spent his entire life only hearing sounds were to suddenly be bestowed with the gift of sight, and the very first thing he saw was the most beautiful imagery ever seen in the history of the Universe.
I now know what the astronaut in 2001: A Space Odyssey experienced when the monolith opened up space and time for him.
My god...it's full of stars.
Historians of sitcom will mark the history of television into two distinct eras: Before Last Man Standing, and After Last Man Standing.
nasdaq101 Reply to comment...
October 11, 2011 at 9:57PM ESTnasdaq101 I see what you did there...
October 11, 2011 at 9:58PM ESTed w
October 11, 2011 at 10:07PM EST Reply to CommentIt's unfortunate that Nancy Travis has to do this show and give up Hart of Dixie, where she's being recast. in HoD she finally found a role that suited her perfectly.
SC
October 11, 2011 at 10:21PM EST Reply to CommentI wonder if Loretta still has Raylan's number, so he can come rescue her from this garbage.
mrbilliam I suppose it's a moderately better environment to be raised than by Mags Bennet.
October 11, 2011 at 11:11PM ESTCol Bat Guano Maybe she can change her name to Escapade and try and make it big in Hollywood.
October 12, 2011 at 2:06AM EST71dude
October 11, 2011 at 11:27PM EST Reply to CommentAwful. Nancy Travis should be carrying her own show instead of being wasted in this one.
pamelajaye she had a romantic comedy on CBS in 96 till the suits decided to get rid of the male lead. The writers "got to" fire him at Christmas time.
October 13, 2011 at 3:25PM ESTToo bad. It was Almost Perfect.
xman
October 12, 2011 at 12:35AM EST Reply to CommentI hate to paraphrase Glengarry Glen Ross, but the jokes were weak.
Yeesh
October 12, 2011 at 1:24AM EST Reply to CommentWhat a horrible waste of the great Paul F. Tompkins.
Marco
October 12, 2011 at 10:22AM EST Reply to CommentWhy do so many of these guys, who had a successful show in the past, think that coming back to TV as Grouchy Old Man is a breakthrough?
I probably would not have minded this so much, had Allen's character not been such a complete jerk. But like "Becker" and "Cosby" and "Hank", somehow the guy who played a more lovably tolerant doofus 20 years ago is now railing about Obamacare?
Nancy Travis deserves much better than to keep playing the marginalized wife, shuttled off to the side while the Man in the show's title runs roughshod.
gaspacha
October 12, 2011 at 2:11PM EST Reply to Comment2 very interesting subplots missed by everyone
1. nancy travis' drinking problem--she always has a glass of wine in her hands, is alluding to drinking more wine, putting rum in her coffee, etc. obviously she is miserable and it's the only way she can get by.
2. parent on daughter pedophilia--tim allen tells the idiot from work, who is 20 or something, to take his 17 year old daugther, who is in high school, out on date. ummmm what. how did everyone miss this?
Marco I caught them both, but they weren't major to me.
October 12, 2011 at 4:29PM ESTGiving the mom a "drinking problem" is probably the one source of humor that she will get - similar to how Kitty Forman was played in the last couple of seasons of "That 70s Show".
I wonder if the middle child's boyfriend will ever be seen, or if he will remain an off-screen presence - for the audience to imagine the Ultimate Anti-Man.
Dwayne Mendoza
October 12, 2011 at 2:25PM EST Reply to CommentAlan, ABC addressed at least one of your concerns: they sweetened the laughter.
I watched both episodes, just to see if they were really as bad as all the reviews. The low point for me is where Nancy Travis finds herself forced to use the kiddy potty-- and then doesn't have the sense to empty it.
One thing nobody mentioned was that the writing and acting was so poor that I couldn't tell the difference between the single mom and the girly-girl any better than the guy Allen brings home to date one of them. (Plus, how old was that kid supposed to be? If he was old enough to be in the workforce full time, isn't it weird to fix him up with your daughter in high school?)
Because it's hard for me to turn my brain off, I actually thought about to fix it. Two things struck me. First, Allen has no idea how to act manly. The way he dressed, the way he carried the fish or held the crossbow-- the guy's a (insert hokey parade float gestures). If he'd gone into my uncle's favorite bar (Shooter's Tavern, in Gaylord, Minnesota) he'd have gotten the same looks Billy Crystal got from Jack Palance in CITY SLICKERS.
I didn't watch HOME IMPROVEMENT more than twice, but I at least figured Allen fit the part. Bad local TV shows usually hire a Ted Baxter. Bu to be the hunting and fishing expert for a major retailer, you have to have some skill.
Having hired a star who drips as much testosterone as David Hornsby meant they couldn't get anyone stronger to play either the flunky kid or Allen's boss. (Who should, by the way, be an internet geek who bought the company, or a bean counter or even Hornsby's boss on CBS's version of this. If you have an old guy who pretends to be manly, there's no conflict.)
Second, a number of the jokes could have been funnier if anyone with talent (or at least a better eye) had worked on them. If the daughter who'd grounded for not being able to change a tire had pointed out that most cars don't come with spare tires any longer-- you have to take them to the garage ASAP-- you have conflict. Or if the baby-proofer had been an oily con-man, there's something.
These idiots should have been required to watch the first two seasons of ALL IN THE FAMILY. to understand how to set up a show like this. I wouldn't mind seeing a good one of these... but this makes HOME IMPROVEMENT look like HE AND SHE.
Marco I'll spot you the Ted Baxter reference, but how old are you, to pull out a "He and She" reference? Props.
October 12, 2011 at 4:38PM ESTTwo things I didn't get: 1) How does someone get grounded for not knowing how to fix a flat? Does it cost money to have AAA fix a flat, when you are a member? Did Dad even bother to ever show his daughter how to fix a flat tire, or am I to believe she just figured it out (without knowing what to call a "jack")?
2) This guy is a photographer for a sporting goods store catalog. Am I to believe that he has had nothing to do with the website? None of his pictures from exotic locales have been placed there? This whole plot point is at least 10 years too late to be anything but laughable.
Dwayne Mendoza I wasn't old enough for the first-runs, but CBS ran reruns in 1970 (in the timeslot they gave to Mary Tyler Moore's show) and I saw those. Also, USA ran episodes in the 1980's. Scads of people have posted episodes on YouTube.
October 13, 2011 at 10:10AM ESTI am pretty sure we are the only people in the universe to have watched both HE AND SHE and LAST MAN STANDING. That pretty much maps out both ends of the sitcom spectrum.
pamelajaye wait, did you guys go to The Sitcom Room?
October 13, 2011 at 3:29PM ESTDwayne Mendoza No, but I've seen every Gallagher TV special.
October 14, 2011 at 4:16PM ESTChaesonian
October 12, 2011 at 4:20PM EST Reply to CommentSaw both the episodes on Hulu just now, at times, I think Alan's review was unfair after having seen the pilot. I thought it was definitely a modernized version of home improvement, but having instead, all daughters (which I used to always watch). But after the second episode, I definitely was with the crowd in ask, "so, why are they married again?"
pamelajaye
October 13, 2011 at 3:33PM EST Reply to Commentsince i set it up to record by title before it was on the sched, then hit a movie with the same title and said Don't! I think I overrode the rule. It didn't record. Sounds like that is just as well. By ep 2 of Paul Reiser's series I was doing email and not even looking up. (nor feeling the need to to rewind later to figure out what i missed, like with Pan Am and Parentood (the internet is eating my life!))