Man With A Plan - General Discussion

[Poohbear617]

Ok...first show of the new.season and it will probably be my last.  Why? Because I f#%king hate the same old BS vasectomy storylines that sitcoms use.  You know the ones where men act like ( I would like to call them pussies, but you know the saying..they lack the warmth and depth) little boys who constantly hold onto the own personal worry stone.

 

Why do men continue to act like a vasectomy means they are being asked to put their penis in a guillotine and they will never be able to get an erection ever again!  Compared to what pregnancy and childbirth does to a womans body, cesarean sections as well as birth control pills or having to have general anesthesia for tubal ligations... men get off easy.  1 quick injection then some soreness, ice pack on your groin and take it easy for a few days does not even come close...especially since this character has a wife who has given birth 3 times. To make matters worse the episode ended with the wife finding out she could stay on the pill!! How come no mention about the possible  health dangers of longterm use considering the younger child is around 8 and the mom is in her 40's. They had Adam say he would feel like less of a man. How about being a man who takes on the responsibility that his wife has been doing for years in addition to the pain, work and sacrifice it took to give you your 3 children. That is a man.

This show took the timeslot of the Unicorn which had vasectomy storyline of it's own that was handled  so much better. Yes the Unicorn episode made a few jokes, then the benefits were mentioned and the character got the vasectomy and was supported and congratulated by his friends. HOW REFRESHING !!!

Goodbye Man with a Plan. I'm gonna wait for the Unicorn to return.

 

 

[knitorpurl]

I was happy to see this show return and usually like it for being an easy comedy to watch with a few clever lines. This episode was not that. I agree with Poohbear617 that it hit all the same old jokes. The fact that Adam expressed all his ridiculous insecurities (re-populating the world, really?) but then they weren't refuted or resolved. And then Andi "gets" to go back on birth control pills with all the negative effects of long term use. 

And I hated the fact that they made Andi so dumb she doesn't even think of a vasectomy as a possible form of birth control. She is not a dumb character so that just irritated me. 

And on shallow note. Matt LaBlanc has gained a lot of weight in the hiatus. I actually thought he might have a fake belly on in the first scene and that the storyline was going to include him losing weight. Oops, no, that's real.

[MissLucas]

The vasectomy plot has been done so many times that I was hoping for a new twist *sigh* well, I guess Adam not being a real man and taking over contraceptive duties from his wife in order to give her body a break was a new twist - just not the kind I was looking for.

There was really a lot of weird stuff going on in this episode starting with them not having sex anymore despite having a viable if not perfect option for contraception at hand for the time being until they figured out what to do. 
Andi not thinking about a vasectomy was just dumb. And she goes off the pill for at least a couple of days and then wham! takes one pill again and off they go. I'm pretty sure that wasn't safe either.

[Katy M]

4 hours ago, MissLucas said:

here was really a lot of weird stuff going on in this episode starting with them not having sex anymore despite having a viable if not perfect option for contraception at hand for the time being until they figured out what to do.

Did I understand what happened right at the beginning?  Adam ran down to his box of stuff from when he was single and got a 20 year old condom?  Would that work?

And how old is Andi?  The actress is over 50.  The likelihood of her getting pregnant without really really trying are pretty low in the first place.

[MarthaEllisanne]

9 hours ago, Poohbear617 said:

Why do men continue to act like a vasectomy means they are being asked to put their penis in a guillotine and they will never be able to get an erection ever again!

I agree.  Wolowitz on BBT aside (and it wasn't part of a show, just a brief mention after), I don't remember seeing a sitcom "man" who actually went through with the vasectomy. Not a great message to be sending.  

[Katy M]

6 minutes ago, MarthaEllisanne said:

I agree.  Wolowitz on BBT aside (and it wasn't part of a show, just a brief mention after), I don't remember seeing a sitcom "man" who actually went through with the vasectomy. Not a great message to be sending.  

I think Tim got one on Home Improvement.  And the last epi of Mad About You, Paul got one and got it reversed and got another one.

[MissLucas]

1 hour ago, Katy M said:

Did I understand what happened right at the beginning?  Adam ran down to his box of stuff from when he was single and got a 20 year old condom?  Would that work?

And how old is Andi?  The actress is over 50.  The likelihood of her getting pregnant without really really trying are pretty low in the first place.

It's extremely risky to use a 20 year old condom. Just as it's risky to have sex without additional protection after you've discontinued taking it (and that one pill in your digestive system won't take care of things). The episode was full of idiotic behavior.

Not sure how old Andi is supposed to be - probably in her 40's and on her way to perimenopause. Or she's already there but has not noticed because she's on the pill. Perimenopausal women can get pregnant too - so still taking care of contraception at her age is the one sensible thing she did in this episode.

[Chewy101]

I am thinking back to the series Episodes, the one where the producers said they wanted "Hot Matt" not "fat Matt." 

I AGREE!  What the heck happened to LeBlanc? He now looks like he has been riding the couch eating pie. 

I never really liked this show, because I couldn't get it out of my head that this was the awful crap like Pucks, that he would be ashamed of doing. Now it appears he drowned his sorrows in food.

This particular episode was irritating. When he wants kids, he has no problem with what it puts her through, but he can't do a simple procedure for her? Barf.

And enough with the laugh track. Ugh.

Edited April 3, 2020 by Chewy101

[needschocolate]

23 hours ago, MissLucas said:

It's extremely risky to use a 20 year old condom. Just as it's risky to have sex without additional protection after you've discontinued taking it (and that one pill in your digestive system won't take care of things). The episode was full of idiotic behavior.

I think Andi said she took two pills, so they will be fine (/sarcasm).

So her headaches were caused by drinking too much coffee?  Wasn't she still drinking coffee after she stopped taking the pill? Then why did her headaches go away?  And how was her doctor able to tell her that it was the coffee when the doctor wasn't able to tell her than before?  What new info did the doctor get to make this diagnosis?

This is one of my "fluff" shows.  I don't expect it to be very intelligently written, but this episode was just plain stupid.  

[needschocolate]

Much better episode than last week, in my opinion. 

Swoosie Kurtz needs to spend less time at the plastic surgeon's office (also my opinion).  

Edited April 17, 2020 by needschocolate
spelling

[knitorpurl]

I'm done.

Watched the third episode of this new season and all the characters have become stupider, more sexist caricatures of how they were written previously. 

Tonight people deliberately ate rotten chicken salad to avoid spending time with children (which is women's work, with them having the breasts and everything, don't you know). Ugh. No laughs and no need to keep subjecting myself to this.

[Deskisamess]

This show is now too stoopid to watch. Let's recap:

The brother-in-law actually goes through his sister-in-laws trash. Opens the bag and roots through the trash bag. Would have served him right if there had been used sanitary products in there.

Same guy explains to his wife that women are built to watch the kids because she has body parts that make food. In 2020, not 1920.

Husband/grandpa doesn't want to spend time with his grandson, so he eats chicken salad he knows is spoiled and has already sickened his wife.

First guy then also eats spoiled chicken salad to avoid conflict with wife.

Who is writing this show?
And where is the youngest girl? Perhaps her parent's saw how horrible it is and have pulled her out of the show.

[needschocolate]

On 4/26/2020 at 4:38 PM, Deskisamess said:

This show is now too stoopid to watch. Let's recap:

The brother-in-law actually goes through his sister-in-laws trash. Opens the bag and roots through the trash bag. Would have served him right if there had been used sanitary products in there.

Same guy explains to his wife that women are built to watch the kids because she has body parts that make food. In 2020, not 1920.

Husband/grandpa doesn't want to spend time with his grandson, so he eats chicken salad he knows is spoiled and has already sickened his wife.

First guy then also eats spoiled chicken salad to avoid conflict with wife.

Who is writing this show?
And where is the youngest girl? Perhaps her parent's saw how horrible it is and have pulled her out of the show.

And don't forget - 

Guy can't throw out the bad chicken salad because that is wife's job.  His job is to takeout the trash.

[jumper sage]

On 4/3/2020 at 1:27 PM, Chewy101 said:

I am thinking back to the series Episodes, the one where the producers said they wanted "Hot Matt" not "fat Matt."

I just re-binged Episodes.  Still funny.

[PumpkinLumpkin]

Cancelled!

https://tvline.com/2020/05/06/man-with-a-plan-cancelled-cbs-season-5-matt-leblanc/#comments

[MarthaEllisanne]

This is another show where I like the actors, but the material they were given sucked.  Kinda sorry to see it canceled. 

[needschocolate]

I am not sorry to see it go.  The show had some promise in the very beginning. Not that it was great in the first season, but most shows start out a bit rough and get better.  This one just kept getting worse.  It began as a show about a guy who has to take over someone of the child raising because his wife went back to work (outdated premise, but workable).  It ended up a poor remake of I love Lucy, except Ricky (Adam) was the one who came up with all the crazy schemes.  All the gender stereotypes came straight out of the 1950's.  

[DanaK]

SpoilerTV.com says series finale is June 11

[Katy M]

I thought last night's episode was better than most this season, but it seemed ridiculously overcomplicated.  

First of all, if you can tell the kid to do chores and he does them (albeit not to the best of his ability), why wouldn't he do homework when you tell him.  What was the fear if he didn't do the chores?

Second of all, Teddy told Katy that he had gamer's hands.  If you're not going to do your homework, you don't need a computer, a phone with internet access, or any kind of gaming system.  That would probably have done the trick right there.

I did like the kids calling out their parents on their military school bluff, though.  I was dating someone once, and we were babysitting his niece, and he told her if she didn't do something, he was going to beat her butt.  I told him (out of her hearing) that she knew he was going to spank her and he should only threaten stuff he would (and in this case could) actually follow through with.   So, he then threatened to call her mom at work and that did the trick.

[MarthaEllisanne]

5 hours ago, Katy M said:

I thought last night's episode was better than most this season

I agree.  Complicated, true.  But thought it was funny.  Calling in Grandpa as the last resort was so funny when he told the kids their "relationship had changed." Also, the end when the daughter got busted was well-staged.  This show has a solid comic cast; I wish the network would give it another chance with better writing.

[needschocolate]

On 5/22/2020 at 11:19 AM, MarthaEllisanne said:

I agree.  Complicated, true.  But thought it was funny.  Calling in Grandpa as the last resort was so funny when he told the kids their "relationship had changed." Also, the end when the daughter got busted was well-staged.  This show has a solid comic cast; I wish the network would give it another chance with better writing.

The adult actors are pretty solid, and there are enough different characters and scenarios to have some decent plotlines, but the writing is horrible - not so much the jokes but the premises.  I have not seen the latest episode (showshow important this show is to me, huh?) but the week before, with Andi's mom visiting was stupid, in my opinion. 

They never explained what Adam had against Andi's mom other than she stresses Andi out, but that was supposedly solved after their night of bar-hopping.  Andi is so happy that they now have this open relationship but she can't tell her mother that talking about sex lives is too much information, instead Mom has to leave.  Adam keeps complaining about having Andi's mom around, while we see her do nothing offensive, and no one points out that Adam's mom, who has been painted as this bossy shrew that everyone so afraid of, is over their house all the time.  Andi is supposed to put up with all of his mom's crap, but Adam can't be around Andi's mom for more than a few minutes without telling her to her face how much he doesn't want her there.