Last Man Standing - General Discussion

[Katy M]

1 minute ago, readster said:

I know, and it's not like adults who end up being teachers or TA don't do foreign exchange students. I work with three who do that, but they have been doing this for years. They are basically saying that Vanessa is going to do this because she did it some 40 years ago (though she proves not to have the brain to do that or have a PhD). Plus, she is: "My kids are out of the house, I want another kid in the house who will be with us at least a year and go through high school again." Considering that they retro everything by having Mandy and Kyle still living at the house for another two years when Mike was on the verge of kicking them out because he wanted all the kids gone! When the writers are more: "We want to piss Mike off more because Ryan complaining about Trump and taking over Bud's pot shop isn't enough." "Let's have a clash of politics with a Chinese exchange student, that will be great comedy!" 

I said I was going to give it another chance because I thought they were going to tone down the politics, but with this new info I don't think I will.  I think it should have ended when it did anyway.  It was at a good stopping point with Eve going to the Air Force Academy, Mandy and Kyle moving out, and presumably Ryan and Kristen getting on with their adult lives.  

[readster]

3 minutes ago, Katy M said:

I said I was going to give it another chance because I thought they were going to tone down the politics, but with this new info I don't think I will.  I think it should have ended when it did anyway.  It was at a good stopping point with Eve going to the Air Force Academy, Mandy and Kyle moving out, and presumably Ryan and Kristen getting on with their adult lives.  

Right and something that both critics and even die hard fans said the show doesn't work when they have to push politics on the characters. When it's suttle, things are fine, but when they are purposely writing it that way, it becomes very cringe worthy. The show is falling into the trap again of: "plot over character." Which was very obvious the last few years when they did. The biggest one is when Ryan makes Boyd dress like coal and make Vanessa feel so bad about her job she out right quits and then remembers: "I wanted to be a teacher." Then she loses her job because they had to cut a teacher for the new salary, but her apparent friend and principals feels so bad about telling Vanessa she is out of a job. Yet, she was apparently still going to the school, teaching a set of students and yet not even the Superintendent was going: "Umm... you don't work here anymore and why do you even have a class? That would have been reassigned from day 1." Or let's not forget Ed not wanting the ODM restaurant to have a morning brunch because: "He hated fat people." Yet, everyone wanted told and showed him people wanted it and it was more money for the company and he is: "I don't care, I don't like FAT people!" Yet, the next episode: "We need to make more money, we need an idea." The writers don't pay attention with what they write or the episodes were about the previous day. 

[luvmylabs]

I have always enjoyed this show as my politics are closer to that of Mike than Ryan.  I liked their back and forth exchanges.  I can't get used to the new Mandy.  When I found out she was a blond I think the writers missed an opportunity for her to say something like, "Well, I decided to go blond because Kyle is blond and when we have kids, they'll be blond too!"  Much more in her character.  I liked her remark about the citizen application...very Mandy.  The new Boyd is good and I hope once they have gotten over the asides about moving to a new network, things might pick up...I'll wait and see.

[Neiman]

Great to see the show again!  Look forward to seeing how this season unfolds.

New Mandy was odd...strange how it seemed she had the same makeup artists as the previous Mandy.  Although it took some getting used to, I like her better than Eve who still comes across as a little brat.  Glad she's not a regular.

Glad that Kristen has moved on from braids, but I'm not a fan of the red dipped hair. I like the new Boyd--anybody is better than previous Boyd--and his "birdhouse" storyline.  Wouldn't have minded if his parents moved to Canada and somehow left him with the grandparents.  

Hope they can start new threads for each episode rather than placing all season 7 comments here in this thread.

[readster]

Last Man Standing ratings shockingly high.

 

‘Last Man Standing’ Review: Season 7 Is Not ‘Roseanne’ 2.0, Which Helps the Bland Fox Sitcom Feel Somewhat Soothing

 

Very impressive considering how LMS was down in ratings the past 2 years. Of course, considering all the media and talk on what lead to the series ending and now being brought back on another network. It's not surprise, but... will it continue with those ratings? 

[readheaded]

5 hours ago, readster said:

Yes, basically they just: "Tell it how it is." Which you can go: "yes, they are outspoken, but they are stating the facts." The problem is, it was really simple, ABC thought they could get more viewers on Friday nights, but looking at older crowds who don't go out and thought drama and news was the way to go. They saw that Dr. Ken had lost a lot of ratings and LMS, while still good for it's time slot was starting to decrease. One show knew it most likely wouldn't be back since it wasn't naive in knowing those kind of ratings spell cancellations. Another show, just didn't see or hear anything until the last minute. One handled it with: "Well, that's show biz" the other was: "How dare you!" "You just don't like my politics!" 

Right, it couldn't be because there wasn't a market for the show, but because it isn't faaaiirrr!!!  It kills me when conservatives "forget" how the free market they're so fond of actually works.

[Neiman]

Will be interesting to see how it does in the ratings.  We'll be watching here.  Interestingly, we never watched it during its run on ABC.  Saw the articles about its cancellation then streamed it on Hulu. I thought the last season was the worst aside from the Halloween episode.  Hopefully this season's writers will get them back on track.

[Katy M]

2 hours ago, readster said:

Last Man Standing ratings shockingly high.

 

‘Last Man Standing’ Review: Season 7 Is Not ‘Roseanne’ 2.0, Which Helps the Bland Fox Sitcom Feel Somewhat Soothing

 

Very impressive considering how LMS was down in ratings the past 2 years. Of course, considering all the media and talk on what lead to the series ending and now being brought back on another network. It's not surprise, but... will it continue with those ratings? 

I'm not really surprised the ratings were high the first week.  There was a lot of hype.  And, I think a fair amount of people will hang in for week 2 and 3.  But,if it continues in this vein, I don't know that it can hold on to any meaningful ratings.  But,we shall see.

[jumper sage]

8 hours ago, readster said:

The problem is, they said that the Baxters moved on and that the last year and a half did pass for them. Well, if that's true, then Kyle and Mandy's house would have been built. Eve back from the air force made sense timing. However, Ryan basically sitting at home doing nothing because; "Trump is president and I have to complain about that no matter what". The move of more politics is not a good move, sorry Fox you are not going to get more viewers that way. No matter how much you said you "saved the show". Plus, the cast is big enough and they want to bring in a foreign exchange student to do more political talk between Mike and her because you know, we don't have enough right wing issues between Mike and Ryan already. 

I will say this:  Vanessa has to be an idiot to stay with a man who only know life through politics.  His character is so flat and has no depth.

8 hours ago, Katy M said:

I said I was going to give it another chance because I thought they were going to tone down the politics, but with this new info I don't think I will.  I think it should have ended when it did anyway.  It was at a good stopping point with Eve going to the Air Force Academy, Mandy and Kyle moving out, and presumably Ryan and Kristen getting on with their adult lives.  

and then they didn't.

[Neiman]

I don't mind the politics, but I do get annoyed by the dingbat Vanessa.  Loved her in the first season but downhill from there.  Hope they give her some depth this go around.

[DucksFlyTogether]

I watched the whole series for the first time over the summer.  My only real thoughts about last night were I didn't like new Mandy, and Tim Allen looks old.

[CaptainCranky]

The new Mandy is not even close to the old Mandy and that sucks. The kid for me is a MEH.

I do like Kyle final getting a haircut.

The political BS is going to slow down or I won't watch it.

[Cherry Cola]

I don't mind the politics.  We, people that agree with Tim, have to hear the other side say what they want on other shows all the time.  So say what you want Tim, is my opinion on that. 

I missed old Mandy.  Old Mandy just did so good with playing stupid.  

Great to have the show back!! 

I like the snarky inside jokes. 

[tveyeonyou]

12 hours ago, Cherry Cola said:

I don't mind the politics.  We, people that agree with Tim, have to hear the other side say what they want on other shows all the time.  So say what you want Tim, is my opinion on that. 

I missed old Mandy.  Old Mandy just did so good with playing stupid.  

Great to have the show back!! 

I like the snarky inside jokes. 

I miss old Mandy too but I'll get used to New Mandy eventually so I'm not really all that bothered about a New Mandy, but I did really love OG Mandy a lot. I saw her on a few episodes of Halt And Catch Fire and I couldn't see her as anything other than Mandy so if I had my way I'd rather have OG Mandy back. New Mandy reminds me a lot of Vanessa's sister.

As far as the politics, I'm with you 100% but to be honest, I had to squint to see all these political jokes everyone seems to be complaining about. It was nice to not have to hear about the previous administration but it wasn't anywhere near a politically based episode IMO. A few lines here and there were fine as far as I'm concerned, and I've read someone that they weren't going to address politics that much anyway. 

I also loved the snarky inside jokes and wish there were more of them. 

I've never been a Ryan fan so it wouldn't bother me a bit if he moved back to Canada.

I'm just really happy the show is back, it's the only sitcom I watch now that Roseanne is gone and I certainly won't be watching the Connors, not even for the train wreck crash and burn I expect it to be.

I'm curious to see what they do with Ed's character. I read some rumors as to what they had planned before they abruptly cancelled the show

Spoiler

Allegedly they were going to have him deal with an Alzheimers storyline.

[seacliffsal]

I was surprised by the ratings.  But after thinking about it I wonder if there are new viewers due to reruns in syndication.  I never watched this on ABC for first run episodes.  However, after accidentally watching an episode on another channel I actually liked the show.  So, here I am watching it on FOX and maybe others are as well.

[seacliffsal]

It's not just conservatives who forget that...

[eel2178]

On ‎9‎/‎28‎/‎2018 at 9:35 PM, SayMyName said:

I was not a regular viewer of the show on ABC but have caught episodes in syndication. Something was different (and not just the replacement actors). Not a fan of the new Mandy.

 

And when they were talking about what shows have ever switched network...I knew of some right away but the list is even longer than I expected.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_television_series_that_changed_networks

They left out Fame.

[Mswldflwr]

Chill, people.  I think the first episode was "pack as much FU ABC in there as we can" just for the sake of we all know the reason why it was canceled.  Now that they've had their little fun, I'm sure it'll even out and become the LMS we all know and love.  At least I hope they do.  If they have Ryan play an even bigger crybaby wuss than ever, I will have to personally drive to their studio and kick his ass and every writer's ass who is subjecting me to that.

Edited September 30, 2018 by Mswldflwr

[Katy M]

4 hours ago, eel2178 said:

They left out Fame.

FAme didn't technically change Networks. It was on NBC for two seasons and then it was a syndicated show for 3 or 4 more seasons, I think.  IMO, the NBC episodes were much better.

[eel2178]

21 hours ago, Katy M said:

FAme didn't technically change Networks. It was on NBC for two seasons and then it was a syndicated show for 3 or 4 more seasons, I think.  IMO, the NBC episodes were much better.

Did you read the list from the other person's post? It included  other shows that went from network to syndication such as Baywatch  and Charles in Charge.  Use the link from SAYMYNAME's post.

[AnnaRose]

On 9/29/2018 at 3:35 PM, Neiman said:

Will be interesting to see how it does in the ratings.  We'll be watching here.  Interestingly, we never watched it during its run on ABC.  Saw the articles about its cancellation then streamed it on Hulu. I thought the last season was the worst aside from the Halloween episode.  Hopefully this season's writers will get them back on track.

I never watched it before but became curious when I read that its ratings far exceeded expectations for a Friday night... so I watched it online and enjoyed it.

On 9/29/2018 at 9:39 PM, Cherry Cola said:

I don't mind the politics.  We, people that agree with Tim, have to hear the other side say what they want on other shows all the time.  So say what you want Tim, is my opinion on that. 

I missed old Mandy.  Old Mandy just did so good with playing stupid.  

Great to have the show back!! 

I like the snarky inside jokes. 

Yes.  I'm extremely apolitical, but since Hollywood and mainstream media is so extremely left (and I think very manipulative and frankly generally quite arrogant) I am always happy to see the other side represented.  I liked that the political aspect was pretty sensitive and balanced.  I also really appreciate that the message of this episode was about behaving in a civilized and caring manner and respecting other people's right to have an opinion that differs from your own.  The world needs way more of that and less finger-pointing and name-calling.  That said, I expect they will dial back the politics as the season goes on, which is fine with me.

I knew that the show had been cancelled by ABC and picked up by Fox, so I enjoyed the meta jokes about that, and especially the shout out to their loyal fans, which is always nice.

I figured that the tall, blonde actress was a replacement when they were making jokes about her looking different and she mentioned getting lost upstairs.  Weird that they didn't have her hair the same color as the actress she replaced.  (I think that's what somebody said upthread and I googled the actress who I think was mentioned as the previous one and she has dark hair.)

Speaking of hair... I was completely distracted by what looked like a thick, fake looking 'hair hat'* on the guy who wanted to move back to Canada.  Man that looked weird... it was not a good look for him.  Is it new this season or was it always like that?

On the other hand, Nancy Travis looks great!  I remember watching her in Almost Perfect way back in the 90s.  Wow, time flies.

I thought Tim Allen looked pretty good too.  (Unlike somebody upthread, I didn't think he looked particularly old.)  I kind of hated Home Improvement back in the day, although too be fair I'm not sure I ever made it through an episode.  I didn't care for Tim Allen's shtick in that show (or the shenanigans with the three sons since I hadn't yet gotten over my own upbringing with two older brothers,) which is probably the main reason I never sampled this show before... but I liked him in this.

ETA: *by 'hair hat' I meant that his hair looked like he was wearing one of those hats made of fur - it looked like a dead animal on his head.

Edited October 6, 2018 by AnnaRose

[Brattinella]

The new Mandy will probably sour me on the whole show.  She is awful.

[msrachelj]

On 9/23/2018 at 9:37 PM, readster said:

Well, I have to say, the "new" Boyd is a much better actor than the previous one. However, I see both Ryan and Kristin have not changed. Sure, Ryan is like a lot of people and not happy with Trump, so what does he do? He quits his tutoring job with Vanessa and has to decide he needs to get a new job again, because Boyd runs away. The McCook as Mandy, doesn't feel right. I'm sorry, chemistry doesn't feel right with anyone, not even Kyle. I also see that Vanessa still apparently got her PhD through a mail in rebate. 

there's a new  boyd?! i noticed the new, not improved mandy but i thought boyd was the same actor! 

[Kirkydee]

I have to disagree with tveyeonyou. This episode was based on politics.  Ryan wants to leave the good old USA because Trump is POTUS.  I'll admit, I'm a Democrat and I started watching this show a year or two ago because I liked the back and forth between right winged Mike and... well everyone else (except his son Eve)   My 1st episode was the Obama Romney 2012 election. 

But I agree with others about the politics. I like it when its subtle. Like a little dig from Mike every once in a while.  But when it hits you like a sledgehammer it loses the wit that makes the show great

[paulvdb]

The show already went downhill when they recast Kristen and made her older. That ruined the relationship between the sisters which was my favorite part of the first season. Now they also recast Mandy, so I guess this is a good time for me to finally quit watching.

[Cherry Cola]

15 hours ago, AnnaRose said:

I never watched it before but became curious when I read that its ratings far exceeded expectations for a Friday night... so I watched it online and enjoyed it.

Yes.  I'm extremely apolitical, but since Hollywood and mainstream media is so extremely left (and I think very manipulative and frankly generally quite arrogant) I am always happy to see the other side represented.  I liked that the political aspect was pretty sensitive and balanced.  I also really appreciate that the message of this episode was about behaving in a civilized and caring manner and respecting other people's right to have an opinion that differs from your own.  The world needs way more of that and less finger-pointing and name-calling.  That said, I expect they will dial back the politics as the season goes on, which is fine with me.

I knew that the show had been cancelled by ABC and picked up by Fox, so I enjoyed the meta jokes about that, and especially the shout out to their loyal fans, which is always nice.

I figured that the tall, blonde actress was a replacement when they were making jokes about her looking different and she mentioned getting lost upstairs.  Weird that they didn't have her hair the same color as the actress she replaced.  (I think that's what somebody said upthread and I googled the actress who I think was mentioned as the previous one and she has dark hair.)

Speaking of hair... I was completely distracted by what looked like a thick, fake looking 'hat hair' on the guy who wanted to move back to Canada.  Man that looked weird... it was not a good look for him.  Is it new this season or was it always like that?

On the other hand, Nancy Travis looks great!  I remember watching her in Almost Perfect way back in the 90s.  Wow, time flies.

I thought Tim Allen looked pretty good too.  (Unlike somebody upthread, I didn't think he looked particularly old.)  I kind of hated Home Improvement back in the day, although too be fair I'm not sure I ever made it through an episode.  I didn't care for Tim Allen's shtick in that show (or the shenanigans with the three sons since I hadn't yet gotten over my own upbringing with two older brothers,) which is probably the main reason I never sampled this show before... but I liked him in this.

Ryan's hair always looks like that.  

Nancy Travis is definitely beautiful.  She has gotten even prettier as she has aged.  

[lark37]

Enjoyed it and glad to have it back, but agree that the new Mandy seemed to be trying too hard to be like the old Mandy especially the hair flip. And it just didn't work! Molly Ephraim truly made Mandy her own, ditsy but with a good heart. This new actress has big shoes to fill, but I'm gonna give her a chance.  I loved the original Kristen, but I've gotten used to the new one although I still think the first one was way better and fit better with the other sisters.  Don't get me started on the original Ryan (Nick Jonas).  As far as the politics, this has always been a political show going back to the first couple seasons. Tim Allen makes no apologies for being a conservative.  As one myself, it is great to get a conservative viewpoint since everything else in the media is so left leaning.  Like someone said up thread, however, I think some of the "jokes" that were deemed as political were designed as "digs" to ABC for cancelling it.  There was quite an uproar over it being cancelled because of its right wing politics and its parent company, Disney supposedly not liking that. I'm sure some of that type of stuff will be toned down once it settles into it's new home on FOX.    

[Subrookie]

On 9/29/2018 at 6:05 AM, Katy M said:

On 9/29/2018 at 6:03 AM, readster said:

student, that will be great comedy!" 

I said I was going to give it another chance because I thought they were going to tone down the politics, but with this new info I don't think I will. 

I'm totally fine with Tim's politics in the show. Hillary Clinton was just on Murphy Brown. Nobody complained about that. 

[Katy M]

5 hours ago, Subrookie said:

I'm totally fine with Tim's politics in the show. Hillary Clinton was just on Murphy Brown. Nobody complained about that. 

I do not now, nor have I ever, nor will I ever, watch Murphy Brown.  OK, I guess that's a bit of an exaggeration since I saw a few epis back in college, but you cant be a TV Nazi in the lounge.

[funky-rat]

On ‎10‎/‎2‎/‎2018 at 12:48 AM, Brattinella said:

The new Mandy will probably sour me on the whole show.  She is awful.

I don't care for the show - my husband likes it - and I just came here to see if anyone else thought the new Mandy was as awful as I did.  I know she's a different person, but she was trying WAY too hard, and just came out flat.  They should have put the original Kristin (who resembled Mandy) back on the show as Mandy.  I think she could have pulled it off.  I do like the new Boyd much better.

On ‎10‎/‎3‎/‎2018 at 1:22 AM, Subrookie said:

I'm totally fine with Tim's politics in the show. Hillary Clinton was just on Murphy Brown. Nobody complained about that. 

Yes, she was on Murphy (one of my all time favorite shows), but it's one of the show's most honored running gags that Murphy has a new secretary every week, so while I was NOT a fan of Hillary (Trump either - I hate all politicians pretty much equally), it made some sense to have her come in for a few minutes (she wasn't on long).  I did think her e-mail address was a bit over the top, though.  Plus that's a show about TV news, which thrives on politics, and that show was ALWAYS political.  Plus Murphy took on Republicans and Democrats equally, so it didn't bother me.  When everyone freaked out about the show being cancelled as purely political, I had to disagree.  I thought the show had gotten really stale in the last 2 seasons, and it seems to still be stagnating.  Like I said, not a big fan (wasn't a fan of Home Improvement either) but my husband enjoys it, and even he thought it was still stagnating.  Hopefully they pick up soon.

[readster]

8 hours ago, funky-rat said:

Plus that's a show about TV news, which thrives on politics, and that show was ALWAYS political.  Plus Murphy took on Republicans and Democrats equally, so it didn't bother me.  When everyone freaked out about the show being cancelled as purely political, I had to disagree.  I thought the show had gotten really stale in the last 2 seasons, and it seems to still be stagnating.  Like I said, not a big fan (wasn't a fan of Home Improvement either) but my husband enjoys it, and even he thought it was still stagnating.  Hopefully they pick up soon.

The problem was, the last two years of LMS on ABC, the show was the same spin back and forth. Mike was angry about something or felt that Vanessa's job wasn't important. Vanessa, Krisitin and Ryan got stupider every episode. Ed would complain about something and Mike and Chuck had some stupid fight about race and Mike and Ryan would argue. Eve bordered on stupid or just down right hateful. Mandy was one of the few bright spots, even with Kyle's stories. They wash rinse and repeated for two years. Yes, the show was slowly falling in ratings and ABC honestly through Friday night news or dramas would be a big hit with older people. Which backfired on them not even 3 months later after starting. Seriously, ABC should have just said: "Dr. Ken is low in ratings, hey Tim, LMS is still good, but you are getting to expensive and honestly, we will end next year and then try to go drama for a while." As a result, they would have just hyped as the end of LMS this past year and life would have moved on. Instead, everyone was; "You just don't like politics." and Fox was: "We love politics, but we cancelled two of our higher rated shows because you know... well we can." Then Neflix and NBC said: "Hey, come over to our networks we love you guys." Yet, no one went up in arms going: "They just don't like comedy, sci-fi and religion anymore at Fox." 

[Mu Shu]

I was pretty young when home improvement came out.  My future husband insisted on watching it, and Tim Allen was not funny then.  Now he’s back, and even less funny.  Why?  Who likes him?  Surely one guy isn’t enough of an audience. 

I really hate the 24/7 politics .  Nowhere to escape people fighting and being miserable. 

[readster]

Still feels like Ryan and Kristin are just trying to keep the Pot Shop going because Mike hated it so much. I have to say, dealing with Mike's problems with his father and even tying Chuck into too was great. However, everything with Mandy and Kyle. McCook is trying so hard to be "old Mandy" it shows. It just does. Though I have to say up to the boxer shorts moments, Kyle looked very good in his suit. They really made Mandy stupider didn't they?

[Runningwild]

I enjoyed tonight’s show. The stuff with Mike and his dad and Mandy was good. Love Kyle’s haircut. So glad this show is back. There needs to be more balance coming out of Hollywood. 

[AnnaRose]

I'm new to this show but I absolutely loved Kristin's conversation with her father about how she confided in her grandfather when she was 17 and found out she was pregnant, and how supportive he was assuring her that her dad would still love her (and even more) when he found out.  Such a sweet and perfect scene and so very well acted.

[jumper sage]

On 9/30/2018 at 2:38 PM, seacliffsal said:

I was surprised by the ratings.  But after thinking about it I wonder if there are new viewers due to reruns in syndication.  I never watched this on ABC for first run episodes.  However, after accidentally watching an episode on another channel I actually liked the show.  So, here I am watching it on FOX and maybe others are as well.

I think that ABC had not rolled out their fall lineup yet.  I did watch the 1st episode of LMS but this week switched over to ABC.  I am interested in seeing if this show has any staying power.

I was sorry to see that the character Eve has gone back to being the "boy dad never had" and was nasty again.  Her character matured a lot towards the end of the first run.  Disappointing.

[CaptainCranky]

I will quit watching this show for the same reason I quit the old show on ABC. Don't like Kristin or Ryan and Tim's macho BS gets old fast. And now with the new Mandy it's not worth wasting 15--20 minutes each week.

[readster]

1 hour ago, CaptainCranky said:

I will quit watching this show for the same reason I quit the old show on ABC. Don't like Kristin or Ryan and Tim's macho BS gets old fast. And now with the new Mandy it's not worth wasting 15--20 minutes each week.

Problem with I just noticed here in these two episodes. The first episode was like the season 2 and season 3 premiere. They had to throw out network jokes, political jokes, Eve being mean, ect. Then you have the second episode where it was very touching and well acted, but then you throw in the B plot with Ryan and Kristin and it gives out what many people have complain about the last 5 years. There NEEDS to be less Kristin and Ryan. I get that Kristin wants to just keep her grandfather's legacy going. For Ryan, for a guy who did not like Bud, because how dare he yell at Boyd to stop being a brat and even spanked him when he almost ran into a car even though he knew it was coming. He basically is in charge of the Pot Place because how can he be a teacher/tutor for Vanessa because Trump is president. Instead, it's about running the store, having to deal with all the repairs, legal issues and red tape to make the place work.  Instead of Mike making more of the arguments about how Kristin and Ryan will get buried in the legal and financial issues (he just mentions one). His real problem is he hated his dad and just wants the place to be gone. Similar to Chuck a couple of years ago when his dad died and he wanted to crush the classic car instead of having either Mike or Jay Leno's character have it. Because you know, let the thing just burn and end instead of going: "Well, Dad, I know you loved that thing, but you know what? I think money is better for your grandchild to go to college with or in Mike's case, Boyd have a college fund from the money. Of course, oh no, we have to keep it where Ryan and Mike still have to clash over stupid crap.

  Don't get me started on Mandy, even with McCook as Mandy, that would have been something she would have done with Kyle's office look. However, that's when Mandy comes off completely clueless and not funny. As for the cubical problems, no that's true to life, but here is my other question, where the hell are those Personal Offices at Outdoor Man suppose to be?

[CaptainCranky]

1 hour ago, readster said:

Problem with I just noticed here in these two episodes. The first episode was like the season 2 and season 3 premiere. They had to throw out network jokes, political jokes, Eve being mean, ect. Then you have the second episode where it was very touching and well acted, but then you throw in the B plot with Ryan and Kristin and it gives out what many people have complain about the last 5 years. There NEEDS to be less Kristin and Ryan. I get that Kristin wants to just keep her grandfather's legacy going. For Ryan, for a guy who did not like Bud, because how dare he yell at Boyd to stop being a brat and even spanked him when he almost ran into a car even though he knew it was coming. He basically is in charge of the Pot Place because how can he be a teacher/tutor for Vanessa because Trump is president. Instead, it's about running the store, having to deal with all the repairs, legal issues and red tape to make the place work.  Instead of Mike making more of the arguments about how Kristin and Ryan will get buried in the legal and financial issues (he just mentions one). His real problem is he hated his dad and just wants the place to be gone. Similar to Chuck a couple of years ago when his dad died and he wanted to crush the classic car instead of having either Mike or Jay Leno's character have it. Because you know, let the thing just burn and end instead of going: "Well, Dad, I know you loved that thing, but you know what? I think money is better for your grandchild to go to college with or in Mike's case, Boyd have a college fund from the money. Of course, oh no, we have to keep it where Ryan and Mike still have to clash over stupid crap.

  Don't get me started on Mandy, even with McCook as Mandy, that would have been something she would have done with Kyle's office look. However, that's when Mandy comes off completely clueless and not funny. As for the cubical problems, no that's true to life, but here is my other question, where the hell are those Personal Offices at Outdoor Man suppose to be?

All good points. The Kristin in the first year I loved (not sure why they replaced her) and have had no taste for the new Kristin and even less use for Ryan.

[readster]

9 hours ago, CaptainCranky said:

All good points. The Kristin in the first year I loved (not sure why they replaced her) and have had no taste for the new Kristin and even less use for Ryan.

Actually there were 2 reasons. The first was the original actress wanted to get more money as the show was doing well. The second was, the producers were tired of sharing the twins who played Baby Boyd with Dexter at the time. Seeing as they didn't like the situation with the twins' parents and they didn't like writing about a baby. They decided to age up both Kristin and Ryan (needing Ryan as Nick Jonas was too busy to be back on the show). So, they decided they would kill two birds with one stone. Get Amanda Fuller and James Masdon as the new Kristin and Ryan and get a child actor who was a bit older to play Boyd. However, they had to completely rewrite Ryan and Kristin's history (Ryan's history kept changing to what stuck on the walls). Then tada, we have the Ryan, Kristin and Boyd we all wish would leave the show. 

[NJRadioGuy]

The new Mandy is terrible. I'm glad the show's back, but I just can't stand McCook in the role. I get that Mandy had to be recast after Molly Ephraim chose not to return, but couldn't they at least have found someone the same physical size and shape? Ephraim's Mandy was funny. McCook's is just annoying, and the physical differences just take the oxygen out of the room every time she's on screen.

As for the politics, I like the balance. As a conservative myself, this was one of two network TV shows I could watch and not be nauseated by the anvils falling from the left—the other being Blue Bloods. No anvils here, just a few digs, and usually with a counterpunch from the other side. The show has heart and that's why I tuned in for 6 seasons (and will keep tuning in until it finally ends). Well, that and the fact I'm a ham radio operator and I like to see all that nice Icom and Heil audio gear. It's actually a working station that shows up on the air periodically!
73 de W2IRT

[Subrookie]

It took me a minute to realize this episode that new Mandy wasn't some random woman hitting on Kyle. 

[EVS]

To me it feels like the actress is an snl actor doing a parody of old Mandy. 

[CaptainCranky]

10 hours ago, readster said:

Actually there were 2 reasons. The first was the original actress wanted to get more money as the show was doing well. The second was, the producers were tired of sharing the twins who played Baby Boyd with Dexter at the time. Seeing as they didn't like the situation with the twins' parents and they didn't like writing about a baby. They decided to age up both Kristin and Ryan (needing Ryan as Nick Jonas was too busy to be back on the show). So, they decided they would kill two birds with one stone. Get Amanda Fuller and James Masdon as the new Kristin and Ryan and get a child actor who was a bit older to play Boyd. However, they had to completely rewrite Ryan and Kristin's history (Ryan's history kept changing to what stuck on the walls). Then tada, we have the Ryan, Kristin and Boyd we all wish would leave the show. 

Thanks for the info. I quit watching LMS when the new Kristin took over managing the dining room. As for this reincarnation of LMS I'm done as well.

[CaptainCranky]

6 hours ago, NJRadioGuy said:

The new Mandy is terrible. I'm glad the show's back, but I just can't stand McCook in the role. I get that Mandy had to be recast after Molly Ephraim chose not to return, but couldn't they at least have found someone the same physical size and shape? Ephraim's Mandy was funny. McCook's is just annoying, and the physical differences just take the oxygen out of the room every time she's on screen.

 

Rather than replacing Mandy with someone who leaves viewers like me having a great dislike for the replacement, I would have killed the character off, set up a divorce story line to keep Kyle and put him back in the office as the clueless gofer.

This new Mandy will not stand the test of time.

[readster]

13 minutes ago, CaptainCranky said:

Rather than replacing Mandy with someone who leaves viewers like me having a great dislike for the replacement, I would have killed the character off, set up a divorce story line to keep Kyle and put him back in the office as the clueless gofer.

This new Mandy will not stand the test of time.

Its like to find new stories for Ryan and Kristin they decided to kill off Bud so they could inherit the pot shop. Way to be original, I think they had better motivation with Ryan starting to finally take his whole: "I need to share my views with the world as a teacher" since it was established for years that's what he did. Instead they go: "Trump is president, I'm quitting my job and staying locked in my house and I'm thinking of going back to Canada to live with my mother who never talks to me." 

[CaptainCranky]

1 hour ago, readster said:

Its like to find new stories for Ryan and Kristin they decided to kill off Bud so they could inherit the pot shop. Way to be original, I think they had better motivation with Ryan starting to finally take his whole: "I need to share my views with the world as a teacher" since it was established for years that's what he did. Instead they go: "Trump is president, I'm quitting my job and staying locked in my house and I'm thinking of going back to Canada to live with my mother who never talks to me." 

Bud along with Ed and Chuck have been good characters. I never bought into the Jay Leno character as well. While I'm at it the relationship of Mandy and Kyle was never believable at least for me.

Oh well it's mindless TV so one should not expect reality. However even if the show is not realistic at least it should be entertaining and LMS is not.

Edited October 8, 2018 by CaptainCranky

[readster]

4 hours ago, CaptainCranky said:

Bud along with Ed and Chuck have been good characters. I never bought into the Jay Leno character as well. While I'm at it the relationship of Mandy and Kyle was never believable at least for me.

Oh well it's mindless TV so one should not expect reality. However even if the show is not realistic at least it should be entertaining and LMS is not.

Interesting was that a story they were intending to use with Ed was having him show early forms of Alzheimer's, but it has been dropped. Even interviews have said they will not continue with that story idea due to loving the character of Ed. The relationships between Mike, Ed, Chuck and Kyle are very believable. Ryan and Vanessa's is very forced, because outside of Boyd and Kristin, they basically have to say that SOMEONE has to like Ryan. While Kyle and Ryan's relationship does come off as believable, however after six years Amanda Fuller just doesn't gel with anyone outside of Ryan and Mike. Everyone else is kind of: "Oh, yes, we know each other, and we should act like we care about each other." Instead it comes off as: "So, what's new? I don't know, you?"

[CaptainCranky]

On 10/8/2018 at 12:24 PM, readster said:

Interesting was that a story they were intending to use with Ed was having him show early forms of Alzheimer's, but it has been dropped. Even interviews have said they will not continue with that story idea due to loving the character of Ed. The relationships between Mike, Ed, Chuck and Kyle are very believable. Ryan and Vanessa's is very forced, because outside of Boyd and Kristin, they basically have to say that SOMEONE has to like Ryan. While Kyle and Ryan's relationship does come off as believable, however after six years Amanda Fuller just doesn't gel with anyone outside of Ryan and Mike. Everyone else is kind of: "Oh, yes, we know each other, and we should act like we care about each other." Instead it comes off as: "So, what's new? I don't know, you?"

You have a profound knowledge of this show. I'm in awe.

[ae2]

Let's go for the hat trick and replace Eve, next!