Whether you think a show is worth watching or not is typically up to you, the viewer, but a few people have expressed an idea that Man With a Plan doesn’t really deserve to be on the air any longer. There are a lot of reasons why people might think this and while some of them are rooted in biased and very personal agendas that some people would only voice if given leave to, others would no doubt go over the idea that Matt LeBlanc is trolling the audience by unloading another show that depicts him as the guy that knows just what he’s talking about at any given time and is supposedly the one guy in the show that is capable of holding everything together while at the same time being accused of being sexist and even a little bit arrogant at times.
The premise of the show is that his wife is returning to the workforce and as a result Matt’s character has agreed to stay home to watch over and manage the family. When this happens however the transition is anything but smooth since he discovers that his kids, who he thought were perfect angels, are in fact kind of bratty and very manipulative in their own ways and have been keeping him in the dark since he’s never really had the chance to see what they’re really like. The narrative here is one that seems to be gaining in popularity and has been throughout the years. The man, who in the past has typically been the bread-winner and provider for the family, is now taking over more responsibility at home and as a result is finally seeing the truth of his family and his wife’s responsibilities for the first time. That invites the idea that men don’t pay enough attention to their homes and families, thereby stating that most men don’t contribute anything other than a paycheck to the household and a small amount of their free-time. While that narrative has been popular for a long time and has allowed many shows to run for season after season, it’s also something that is horribly outdated already since it’s been seen throughout the nation that the general attitude of men towards the homes and families has been one that sees the average man spending as much time at home as they can and caring for their families as much as possible. In other words, there’s not a lot of realism here until Adam does finally step into the role of the stay at home parent.
There’s a very sexist vibe as well if you look closely at parts of the show. This comes into play when Andi accuses Adam of being sexist for not hiring a female operations manager to his crew, which is something that is dealt with in the real world, but is also countered by a simple look at a person’s qualifications. However, when he does end up hiring a woman and it’s discovered that she’s a former stripper, his wife immediately wants him to fire her. Sexism, believe it or not, is a tool that’s used by women since in this day and age, no matter what you hear, women have a great deal of power and influence in our society as well, and while it’s meant to be positive in terms of equality and the empowerment of women in a male-dominated society, the very real issue here is that women attempt to utilize their own authority, and they do have authority, don’t let anyone kid you, to throw their weight around and get things to go their way when something untoward seems to happen. So in other words, Adam is chastised for not having a female in charge on his crew, but the moment he goes to fix that everything is okay. Yet the moment that someone figures out that this woman used to do something that’s less than agreeable to his wife, it’s not okay anymore and Andi wants the woman fired. Yeah, it might sound kind of cynical towards something that’s supposed to be comical, but in the long-term it’s the same issue that’s being tossed around in so many places these days, you don’t get to have your cake and eat it too.
If there are any other major issues that circulate around why Man With a Plan should be taken off the air they tend to be even more petty and less rooted in actual facts and tend to be the kind of concerns that tend to get ignored. All in all the reasons that are listed above aren’t bound to be listened to either, but they are arguments as to why the show doesn’t seem to inspire as many people as it’s supposed to. Like it or not the show is bound to stick around for a while though.
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