I recently finished watching the Tim Allen sitcom. By which I mean the second big sitcom of his.
The setup of the show is all about Mike Baxter (played by Allen). He has a family of a wife and three daughters (they start in the range of teenagers, but this show takes place over 9 seasons and even more years!). He is also the man basically in charge of Outdoor Man, a hunting and fishing goods store.
Each episode more or less comes down to "someone has a problem, Mike gets involved, and Mike is right." Sometimes the problem is of Mike's causing, but he's still right even then.
I liked Home Improvement, and this is broadly the same style of comedy, with one big focus change. Mike Baxter is a Republican and hardly an episode goes by where he doesn't espouse an opinion either pro-Rep or anti-Dem. If you can ignore that (and it is really obnoxious), you'll enjoy this more. Interestingly, after 42 gets in, that aspect quietens down a lot (although Allen does like him), which suggests that the writers weren't as happy with a Rep in charge as the character would otherwise profess.
But a big part of this show is that everyone cares about everyone else. Yes, there is arguing, but ultimately everyone has everyone else's back, and that's a great foundation for all the comedy in the show. And that is, essentially, why I kept watching it.
There is also a lot of meta-humour. There are tons of references to Home Improvement, with the actors from there turning up here (including one episode in season 9 where the Tool Man from Binford turns up). Also the series changed network, and an actress changes is also referenced. (In fact there are two cast member changes where Kristen changes from season 1 to season 2, but this isn't addressed, but when Mandy changes from season 6 to 7, yep, that's in there.)
I liked it, but will you? It will depend a lot on how much you can stand Tim Allen, but I was able to enjoy the show while not diving too deeply into the politics of the star behind it.
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