‘Man With a Plan’ unapologetic about all-too-familiar storyline
Matt LeBlanc returns to broadcast series TV in a show that takes square aim at the middle of the road, and that’s probably just fine with CBS.
LeBlanc stars as Adam Burns in “Man With a Plan,” premiering at 7:30 p.m. today as part of the network’s effort to stake a new claim on Monday nights with a sitcom lineup.
Adam is a contractor who agrees to work from home and take care of his three kids so that his wife, Andi (Liza Snyder), can return to her old job. How hard can it be, taking care of three kids, he thinks.
Plenty hard, he finds out.
The setup is pure “Mr. Mom” with roots that stretch back to “I Love
Lucy” when Ricky and Fred tried to be house husbands for a week and Ricky found out you can’t put starch in women’s stockings. In fact, the show’s second episode revisits another familiar setup: Adam gets prime tickets for a Steelers game (the show is set in Pittsburgh), invites his brother (Kevin Nealon) to go with him, but then Andi thinks she’s Adam’s plus-one.
The kids are typical sitcom progeny: The wise-beyond-her-years youngest (Hala Finley), a preadolescent son who can’t keep his hands out of his pants (Matthew McCann) and a teenage daughter (Grace Kaufman) exhibiting predictable adolescent desire to put as much distance between herself and her folks as possible.
It’s a very traditional and very safe sitcom, and will pair well with the equally traditional ratings winner, “Kevin Can Wait” which moves to a new time slot Monday as the lead-in for “Man With a Plan.”
CBS is the network with a plan for Monday nights, and it may not be hilarious, edgy or brilliant, but it is smart.