Matt LeBlanc will forever been etched into my memory as the guileless hunk Joey on Friends (1994-2004).
I never saw the spin-off series Joey (2004-2006). No one did. This was the era when networks shifted their schedules moment by moment, so you never knew when anything was airing: "Oh, you put Will and Grace at 8:30? Fine, we'll put That 70s Show on at 8:30. Moving it to 8:00? Ok, we'll just move That 70s Show to 8:00. Running scared, moving it to 9:00? Well, see how you like the competition of North Shore! And moving it to 9:30 won't help!"
But, 15 years after Friends ended, and with a more stable set of streaming services, I was curious about Matt's series Man with a Plan (2016-2020).
Matt is still a hunk, but he oddly looks like Joey with white hair rather than a real 53-year old.
The Wikipedia page is not promising. Not only is the critical reception horrible -- 21% approval on Rotten Tomatoes, 36% on Metacritic -- but the page comes with a geneological chart. Who has such a complicated family tree on a sitcom? But I'll try to summarize:
Adam (Matt) owns a blue-collar construction company with his brother Don (Kevin Nealon, whom I hated on Saturday Night Live back in the day).
Adam's family consists of wife Andi and kids Kate, Emme, and Teddy (Matthew McCann, aged 12-15).
Don's family consists of wife Marcy and grown son Mikey (often mentioned but never appearing, like Norm's wife on Cheers).
Adam and Don's Dad Joe ( 1970s action star Stacey Keach) lives in a trailer in Adam's driveway, along with his wife (Swozie Curts). He has a home nurse, Funchy (Ron Funches)
Adam's neighbors are Rudy (Tim Meadows) and his wife, a building inspector. Ok, I see the plot complications arising.
Lowell (Matt Cook), a math and science whiz, also works at the construction company. I can't imagine in what capacity.
Not much beefcake here except for Matt, and with all the husbands and wives hanging around, I can't imagine that there is any gay representation, either.
Apparently fans thought that Lowell was gay, so the writers quickly introduced a wife to quash that rumor. Can't have any of those pesky gay people in this blue-collar utopia!
Still, I've done so much research, I might as well watch the first episode, just to see.
Scene 1: The family at breakfast. Adam tells 12-year old Teddy to stop masturbating. He denies doing it, but Adam says: "You had both hands in your pants, moving around down there like you're making origami." Mom suggests a family motto: "No hands in pants at the breakfast table."
I'm out.