Last Man Standing: High Expectations (PREVIEW)

The season 2 premiere episode for Last Man Standing was my first time watching the show that stars Tim Allen in the lead role as Mike Baxter. I didn't, and still don't really, know anything about the show going into it and with it being the season 2 premiere there wasn't much information given. Though it wasn't tough to follow along with the plot being that it's a typical half hour long sitcom based around a family, particularly the character Mike Baxter that Tim Allen plays. He's a father of 3 daughters, one of them a mother, still married, and works at a outdoor store as a marketing director. His life is basically ruled by what the women in his family does, so the sitcom is a comedy on how one man goes through his life with a lot of women around him.

This season opening episode has Mike dealing with new neighbors that move in next to him. Even though he don't want anything to do with them and is happier not knowing who lives around him, his wife Vanessa (played by Nancy Travis) is trying to get him to talk to them. Having to deal with his youngest daughter Eve (played by Kaitlyn Dever) wanting to quit her soccer team, Mike finds out that Vanessa has invited the new neighbors over for drinks.

Even though I didn't know anything about this show, who are the main characters, what makes them funny, or if the show was going to be like a real life family or the satire television family, it was pretty easy to follow. One thing about these types of sitcoms is that they are pretty much self-contained. Sure it can come in handy knowing the cast of characters but that is easily picked up in one episode and from that point on I just sit back to laugh. Which for the most of this episode I did laugh, at one point it was funnier than I expected it to be. Last Man Standing wasn't a must watch show but Tim Allen has his finger on what makes for a funny family sitcom. I did notice a similarity to this show and his previous show but it’s not fully the same thing. It’s close to it with being daughters instead of sons, the humor isn’t politically correct for most of the time but it’s neither soft or made for kids. Tim Allen knows how to play that father figure where it's entertaining for a wide scale of viewers, like me who is not married, have no children, but still laughed at the familiar style jokes. It wasn't one of the best sitcoms, most of the jokes where predictable, but it's funny enough that it just makes me want to watch the next episode to see what will happen and what's said.

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