Last Man Standing

What have you been watching?

Last Man Standing

Postby cmsellers » Sat Aug 11, 2018 4:24 am

Tim Allen's sitcom Last Man Standing is a very mediocre sitcom which would not merit its own thread were it not for the shenanigans going on with the production. Despite good ratings it was cancelled by ABC after Tim Allen badmouthed the network claiming he was discriminated against for being conservative. Since then, Allen has gone around claiming that they canceled it because he was conservative, rather than because he bit the hand that fed him.

A few months ago, following on the success of the Roseanne revival, Fox decided to revive Last Man Standing. The middle daughter, formerly played by Molly Ephraim, declined to join the revival and will have to be recast, while the younger daughter, played by Kaitlyn Dever (who also Loretta McCready in Justified), is reportedly in negotiations to appear in a recurring role but will not be back full time.

The premise of the show is that Tim Allen is a conservative outdoorsy manly man whose job previously took him away from his family most of the time, but who now has to spend time at home with his wife and three daughters who include a liberal teen mom, a girly-girl, and a tomboy who he does not try to hide is his favorite.

While I like the show well enough, one thing that has always annoyed me is that the actress playing the oldest daughter was fired after the first season and her role recast. The original actress, Alexandra Krosney, did a great job portraying a struggling young single mother. The new actress, Amanda Fuller, came across as overconfident and obnoxious, and in five seasons I have not warmed up to her at all.

I have long wondered whether Tim Allen replaced Krosney because he wanted his liberal foil to be more annoying. What little character growth she has displayed on the show pretty much amounts to her coming around to her father's political views on some issues. I recently got to watch Fuller play a character in Orange is the New Black where she is supposed to be annoying and does a good job of it, but also supposed to be intimidating and falls flat. (She also has the worst fake Boston accent I have ever heard.) Several people have commented that she did a terrible job in the TV movie The Brittany Murphy Story. I have come to the conclusion that Fuller may not be acting when she plays annoying characters, she may be a bad actress who is genuinely annoying.

Despite the recasting of Kristin's role, I enjoyed some of the other interactions on the show enough to keep watching. With the exception of the relationship between Allen's boss on the show, Ed Alzate, and Allen's employee/son-in-law, Kyle, all of the dynamics that I enjoyed involved the other two daughters in some way. Since one is being recast (in this case it is Ephraim's choice) and one will be only a recurring character, I kind of suspect that the show will descend from annoying to awful.

Has anyone else watched Last Man Standing? What did you think of the recasting of Kristin, and what you you think about the coming revival?
  • 0

User avatar
cmsellers
Back-End Admin
Back-End Admin
 
Posts: 9316
Joined: Sun Apr 14, 2013 7:20 pm
Location: Not *that* Bay Area
Show rep
Title: Broken Record Player

Re: Last Man Standing

Postby JamishT » Sat Aug 11, 2018 7:13 am

I've only seen bits and clips of this show. My only thought is, why is there still a market for multi-cam with laugh tracks/live audiences. The only show like that I enjoy is Saturday Night Live, but that works because it's live and was written in a week. The rest are hot garbage in my opinion.
  • 3

JamishT was a heck of a guy,
With a devilish twinkle in his eye.
With his hand-picked flowers,
And his feel-good powers,
He made all the girls blush and sigh.
User avatar
JamishT
TCS ModerBlobber
TCS ModerBlobber
 
Posts: 5579
Joined: Tue Apr 16, 2013 4:31 pm
Location: KC, MO, AMERICA
Show rep
Title: The Wannabe Adult

Re: Last Man Standing

Postby Australia » Sat Aug 11, 2018 11:34 pm

I watched one episode while channel-surfing years ago, didn't laugh once and then forgot the show existed until I saw this thread. I'm pretty sure the plot was one of the characters being upset that she could no longer flirt her way out of a speeding ticket, which you may remember as an episode from every sitcom in the 90s.
Image
I do like the idea of the title taking on a whole new meaning when Tim Allen is the only remaining original character left on the show. I don't know if the character's name was literally Tim Allen but he's always playing himself. Outside of Galaxy Quest and maybe the first Toy Story, I can't think of anything I've enjoyed him in. But hey, if people like it, what do I care? If something good was in its timeslot, I'd have to watch that and I watch way too much stuff as it is.
  • 1

YamI JamesT Eyebrows Edgar Logan Eric Michael Tess Sunny Notch Kate Jamish Lao Carp Moo FaceCitizen Aquila Nisi Qinglong Chaise Nullbert NotCIAagent JackRoad Delta MURDA Bert Czar Ambi JulyJack Adric Marcuse SilverMaple Nudge 52xMax Damiana Doma Pumpkin Toy Fry Andro Carrie Snarky Royal RLG Pikajew Windy skooma Kleiner Java Sellers Piter Gisarmbards Grimstone Recluse Esteban Syrup Krashlia Twistappel MacReady Funkotron mcfooty Pseudoman Creepy Kivutar nerd Ladki Jim Youghurt satan GL Angler
Scari
User avatar
Australia
Resident Dickhead
Resident Dickhead
 
Posts: 4227
Joined: Sun Apr 21, 2013 6:15 pm
Location: Take a wild guess
Show rep
Title: Kentucky Fried Colonel

Re: Last Man Standing

Postby cmsellers » Sun Aug 12, 2018 3:07 am

JamishT wrote:My only thought is, why is there still a market for multi-cam with laugh tracks/live audiences.

Because they are cheaper to make than single-camera shows and people watch them, I assume.

I assume your next question is why people watch them: I watch them because when I am depressed I will watch pretty much any American sitcom that is less awful than Two Broke Girls, and I have been varying levels of depressed since 2011.
  • 2

User avatar
cmsellers
Back-End Admin
Back-End Admin
 
Posts: 9316
Joined: Sun Apr 14, 2013 7:20 pm
Location: Not *that* Bay Area
Show rep
Title: Broken Record Player


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 8 guests

cron