Grade: C
“Man with a Plan,” CBS’s newest TV show, insulted me more than it actually entertained me. It is really easy to see after watching this showthat Matt LeBlanc is struggling with life in show business after “Friends” and “Episodes.”
Before it even premiered, the show already presented some bad signs with the switch from Jenna Fischer — Pam from “The Office” — to Liza Snyder from “Yes, Dear” in the role of the female lead, Andi Burns, between the first and second pilot, which aired Oct. 24. Maybe Fischer predicted a flop and left the boat before it sank with her name on it.
Let’s talk about the plot. “Man with a Plan” tells the story of Adam Burns, portayed by LeBlanc, a construction worker and his own boss. He is married to Andi, who has worked in a hospital laboratory before stopping for 13 years to raise their threee kids. rg
Now that the youngest one is going to school for the first time, she decides it’s time for her to go back to work. Adam will now be in charge of drop-off and pick-up duties, school events and similar activities.
What really bothered me at first was in the primary half of the pilot, no one in the family actually understood the joy the mom feels at work and how much she had to give up for 13 years of being a stay-at-home mom. No one appreciated her sacrifices.
Then, after one commercial break, Adam has an epiphany and decides his wife shouldn’t have to take the kids to school, cook, attend the kindergarten social events and also work.
How nice and sensitive of a man he is.
Another criticism I have is the show’s foundation is constructed — see what I did there? — around two single running jokes.
Firstly, we have the stay-at-home dad’s masculinity situation. It is presented through a conflict between Adam and the only other father in the kindergarten meet-and-greet, Lowell. He doesn’t get much contact with other guys, so he says he’s “glad to have an interaction with an alpha man.”
Then we also have the joke about the excessive usage of internet by the kids.
In one scene, Adam is driving the kids back from school and the older child, 13-year-old Kate, said her iPad only has one percent of battery and she needs something to get by until getting home. After that, Adam realizes that’s the way he’ll control the kids. From then on he changes the Wi-Fi password every day.
One thing I actually enjoyed, and I couldn’t say if is was on purpose, was the mirror scene. After a discussion with the kids, Adam goes to close the door, and there is a mirror right beside him. He then gives the classic Joey “How you doin’?” look toward it as he gets distracted. That really made me laugh and gave me a bit of nostalgia, but that is it.
The show is extremely predictable, and the main jokes are weak. Also, the whole we’re-going-to-have-to-find-a-way-to-share-the-school-activities motif annoyed me. The fact that the father couldn’t do for a single day doing something that his wife had been doing for the last 13 years — and then ends up needing to split the work — is sexist and beyond offensive.
LeBlanc is trying hard to do new things and find success, but “Man with a Plan” doesn’t do much to help him.
“Man with a Plan” airs every Monday at 8:30 p.m. on CBS.
