Tim Allen plays Mike Baxter as a man who thinks men are going extinct. That is the whole idea of Last Man Standing and it never gets any more clever than that. The show ran for nine seasons, 194 episodes, and two networks, but its premise is so thin that even the full run could not fix it. It is a sitcom that never bothers to make its point with wit, instead leaning on a single joke about Mike being surrounded by women and the idea that he is somehow endangered.
Trailer, via TV Promos.
Mike Baxter and the Outdoor Man Store
Mike Baxter works for Outdoor Man, a sporting goods store chain headquartered in Denver, Colorado. He is a father of three daughters and a grandfather to his eldest daughter’s son. The show is built around his fear that the world is becoming a place where men are not important anymore. He is married to Vanessa Baxter, played by Nancy Travis, with daughters played by Amanda Fuller, Jordan Masterson and Molly McCook. Héctor Elizondo appears as Ed Alzate and Christoph Sanders appears as Kyle Anderson.
The premise is simple. Mike is a married father of three daughters and a grandfather to his eldest daughter’s son. His life later extends to the young men who are married to or dating his daughters. That is it. The title Last Man Standing comes from the fact that he lives with his wife and three daughters, which makes him the last man in his home. The show does not complicate this. It repeats it.
The show is a joint production by 21 Laps-Adelstein Productions, NestEgg Productions, and 20th Television. It originally ran on ABC from 2011 to 2017 for six seasons, then entered syndication in 2015, before Fox picked it up again in 2018 for a seventh season, which premiered September 28, 2018. Fox renewed it for a ninth and final season, which premiered January 3, 2021, and ran through May 20, 2021.
ABC’s Six Seasons
ABC aired the show from October 11, 2011, to March 31, 2017. Fox picked it up in 2018 and aired it from September 28, 2018, to May 20, 2021. ABC did not renew the show for a seventh season in May 2017, amid controversy.
The controversy over ABC’s decision not to renew the show is worth noting. Fox’s acquisition of the series allowed it to continue. ABC’s refusal to renew the show came in May 2017. The show was renewed for a ninth season by Fox in May 2020, which premiered on January 3, 2021, and ran through May 20, 2021.
The Premise That Never Evolves
The show is about a man who is scared of being replaced by women. That is the whole idea. Mike Baxter is a senior executive and director of marketing for Outdoor Man, and the show follows him as he tries to maintain his manliness in a world increasingly dominated by women. His home life is filled with his wife and three daughters, along with his grandson.
The show never questions its own premise. It does not ask whether Mike’s fear is reasonable or whether the world is actually hostile to men. It just repeats the joke that Mike is the last man standing. The show is a joint production by 21 Laps-Adelstein Productions, NestEgg Productions, and 20th Television. It premiered on ABC on October 11, 2011.
That is the official synopsis. It is a fair summary of the show. It is also the whole show. Everything that follows is an attempt to dress up that one idea with jokes about hunting, sports and the other things Mike Baxter associates with being a man. The show is not interested in exploring what it means to be a man in the modern world. It is just interested in Mike being scared that he will be replaced by women. That is not a premise that can sustain a long run of episodes.
The Cast and the Problem
Tim Allen plays Mike Baxter. Nancy Travis plays Vanessa Baxter. Amanda Fuller, Jordan Masterson and Molly McCook play Mike’s three daughters. Héctor Elizondo appears as Ed Alzate and Christoph Sanders appears as Kyle Anderson. The cast is fine. They are all doing what the show asks of them, which is to react to Mike’s jokes about being the last man standing.
The show’s problem is not the cast. It is the writing. The show is a sitcom that never bothers to make its point with wit. It just repeats the idea that Mike is scared of being replaced by women. The jokes are not clever. They are not funny. They are just the same joke about Mike being the last man standing, told over and over again.
The show is a joint production by 21 Laps-Adelstein Productions, NestEgg Productions, and 20th Television. It premiered on ABC on October 11, 2011, and ran through March 31, 2017. It entered syndication in 2015, then Fox picked it up in 2018 for a seventh season, which premiered September 28, 2018. Fox renewed it for a ninth and final season, which premiered January 3, 2021, and ran through May 20, 2021.
Why the Show Never Got Better
There is a reason the show never evolved. The premise is too simple to sustain a long run of episodes. Mike is scared of being replaced by women. That is the whole show. There is no room for growth. Mike can never stop being the last man standing, because the show is built around that idea. It is a sitcom that never bothers to make its point with wit. It just repeats the idea that Mike is scared of being replaced by women.
The show is a joint production by 21 Laps-Adelstein Productions, NestEgg Productions, and 20th Television. It premiered on ABC on October 11, 2011, and ran through March 31, 2017. It entered syndication in 2015, then Fox picked it up in 2018 for a seventh season, which premiered September 28, 2018. Fox renewed it for a ninth and final season, which premiered January 3, 2021, and ran through May 20, 2021.
The Verdict
Last Man Standing is a sitcom that never bothered to make its point with wit. It is a show about a man who is scared of being replaced by women, and it repeats that joke over and over again. The show is a joint production by 21 Laps-Adelstein Productions, NestEgg Productions, and 20th Television. It premiered on ABC on October 11, 2011, and ran through March 31, 2017. It entered syndication in 2015, then Fox picked it up in 2018 for a seventh season, which premiered September 28, 2018. Fox renewed it for a ninth and final season, which premiered January 3, 2021, and ran through May 20, 2021.
The show is a sitcom that never bothered to make its point with wit. It is a show about a man who is scared of being replaced by women, and it repeats that joke over and over again.
Mike Baxter is a senior executive and director of marketing for Outdoor Man.
That is the official summary of the show. It is a fair description of the premise, but it is also the whole premise, and the show never does anything with it beyond repeating the joke. The show is not interested in exploring what it means to be a man in the modern world. It is just interested in Mike being scared that he will be replaced by women.
| Network | Years | Premiere Date |
|---|---|---|
| ABC | 2011–2017 | October 11, 2011 |
| Fox | 2018–2021 | September 28, 2018 |
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