• SumoMe

Photo: FACEBOOK/LAST MAN STANDING

For whatever reason, network television channels are churning out multiple new television shows premised on manliness (or lack thereof). Today I had a chance to watch the television veteran Tim Allen star in his new show, “Last Man Standing.”

In short, the premise is a man’s man who lives with his wife and three daughters. Frustrated with his over-exposure to estrogen, and paired with his job to increase his company’s web presence, he winds up vlogging about the loss of traditional manly values in modern society.

Overall, the show is a little facetious and the jokes are a little dry. But what do you expect on network television? I must say though, I liked this show a lot more than the CBS absurdity I wrote about last week. What I disliked in bad jokes, I liked in his semi-humorous rants about modern manhood. Albeit a minor part of the show, it was definitely the best part, and if the writers are able to work in more of his vlogs, I think it opens the door for Tim Allen to get some great one-liners out there.

While I try to not deconstruct pop culture sitcoms too much (because they aren’t designed as intellectual depictions of their subject matter, but more a parody of them), I find it hard to not be a little annoyed by some of Tim Allen’s homophobic statements. Some of them are a little bit borderline offensive, but then again his entire character is constantly borderline offensive–that’s the stereotypical man’s man attitude.

The show is worth watching at least once, then you can make up your own mind. It needs a couple season to develop and break free of the heavy criticism from the television critics. However, apparently the show was the highest 8 p.m. comedy debut in 7 years. There is obviously a demand for the show (or at least for Tim Allen), and given this viewer support and generally decent premise, I expect this show to stick around for at least a few seasons.