WELCOME MATT
LeBlanc back in prime time after 10 years
ATT LeBlanc, who’s back in the sitcom genre after 10 years, really does seem to be a “Man With a Plan.”
In his new CBS series — premiering Monday at 8:30 p.m. — LeBlanc plays Pittsburgharea contractor Adam Burns, who agrees to spend more at-home time with his three kids (two daughters and a son) when his wife Andi (Liza Snyder) returns to the workforce (she’s a nurse).
LeBlanc, 49, hasn’t exactly been idle since taking a five-year break following the 2006 cancellation (after two seasons) of his “Friends” spinoff, “Joey.” Since 2011, he’s played a fictionalized version of himself on the Showtime/BBC series “Episodes,” which airs its fifth and final season next year.
Last month, LeBlanc inked a two-year deal to host “Top Gear” after one season as a presenter on the long-running British series, shot in the UK and airing here on BBC America. (He replaced Chris Evans.)
LeBlanc talked to The Post about “Man With a Plan,” simultaneously shooting two different shows (on different continents) and about “Top Gear” and the end of “Episodes.”
What’s your schedule like?
It’s tricky. The sitcom is three weeks on, one week off, which is the general pace of a sitcom, to give the writers a chance to stay ahead of production. So in that one week off I travel. We shoot “Man With a Plan” on Friday night then I leave Saturday morning for “Top Gear.” I get to [London] late Saturday/early Sunday, work that whole week then come back [to LA] the following Monday for “Man With a Plan.” It’s doable. We’ll see how long it lasts.
Regarding “Man With a Plan,” did you have a hankering to get back into the network sitcom business?
We did nine “Episodes” every 18 months or so. That whet my whistle to go back to work [more regularly]. I’d taken a bunch of time off before “Episodes” and I wanted to work more, to be busier. I started looking at the idea of doing another network show, and this is where we ended up. I hope it works. It’s the first time ever I’m playing a dad and a guy in a relationship, let alone a married guy. So for me it’s new territory. I think there are some funny things that have happened in my life that are relative to this type of storytelling. I hope people like it.
Expectations for viewership are different now …
Yeah, it’s quite a bit different, isn’t it? Six or 7 million viewers back in the day, you’d be cancelled by lunch time.
When Chris Evans left “Top Gear,” there were reports of friction between you two.
There was no friction between he and I. None. I didn’t know he was leaving the show — I read it in the paper like everybody else. I did not know that was happening.
Evans praised you in his Mail on Sunday newspaper column after leaving the show.
He said some nice things about me and I thought that was very kind. I’d never said anything about him leaving because I didn’t know that was happening. He also has his radio show every day and his involvement in “Top Gear” was a lot different than mine. He had creative control over the show, so he was really stretched in all directions. I don’t know, maybe ... he had too much on his plate. I had a good time with him. I read all those things in the paper about me saying, “It’s him or me.” I never said any of that stuff. Even if I did feel that, that’s not my style. I wouldn’t have gone down that road.
Tell me what you can about the final season of “Episodes”
I don’t think there’s an official airdate; from what I’ve heard it may be next summer. We finished shooting right at the end of June, so we’ve been done for little while. It ends in a poignant way. That’s all I can really say. I think it’s one of our strongest seasons yet.
Are you sick of talking about “Friends” after all these years?
No. “Friends” is still on, how many times a day? Young people are discovering it for the first time every season. One of the funniest things happened to me a couple of years ago. This young kid, he must have been 13 or 14, came up to me and asked me if I was Joey’s dad. I thought, “Wow, I’m getting old.”
“Man With a Plan” 8:30 p.m. Monday on CBS