See that? As you’re probably a trained scientist, you probably know that’s a chart of the evolution of US TV sitcom man. Unfortunately, TV time is non-linear, so despite the fact we’re normally constantly evolving, lots of US sitcoms see men devolving into lower forms of life. Sometimes within a single show or even episode of a show.
Now, CBS TV sitcom man usually sits fourth on the chart. He has a stick for doing manual work, you’ll notice, but the ability to articulate complicated ideas and to avoid defecating in his own pants, assuming he’s wearing any, is still a good few years of natural selection away.
Of course, sometimes we see even lower forms of life, such as Kevin James in Kevin Can Wait, who would be that bloke with the knife in the middle were it not that carrying it’s a bit too much like hard work.
But for all of five minutes in Man With A Plan, Matt Leblanc’s new sitcom in which he takes over the childcare when his wife (Liza Snyder) returns to work after 13 years looking after the kids, it seemed like we’d spotted a fully evolved CBS TV sitcom man – number five on the chart. He seemed smart, he seemed willing to understand complex ideas and make intelligent life choices, he accepted his wife as an equal, he organised parties. He was almost a credit to his sex.
Unfortunately, rapid devolution soon occurred. Despite the fact that any sane parent – even a father! – knows that kids take a certain amount of maintenance, we’re back at the rudimentary tools stage for Leblanc as he’s demanding after just a day that his wife give up her job and that they resume their former roles. That makes sense, doesn’t it, men? You’d just quit, rather than ask your wife for some hints, while potentially wondering why you didn’t communicate better with your wife and get her parenting schedule off her before you took over, wouldn’t you?
By the end of the episode, of course, Leblanc has been outsmarted by his wife, knows he’s been outsmarted by his wife, but since he doesn’t have a fully formed cerebral cortex, can’t quite work out how. Still, at least he’s still smarter than his kids, whom he can just tranquillise by giving an iPad. Roll on Idiocracy, hey?
Compared to Kevin Can Wait and other less evolved sitcoms, Man With A Plan isn’t hugely toxic. Leblanc is amiable enough and can do most of this in his sleep, as you can tell from his recent sleep-walking performances on Top Gear. Snyder, who replaced The Office‘s Jenna Fischer after the pilot episode, dips into US TV sitcom woman’s never-ending jar of ‘long suffering’ to act as a foil to Leblanc’s ineptitude and occasional descents into neanderthalism. The kids could have been copied and pasted from any other family sitcom. There’s a little bit of interest at the kids school, with some parents and a teacher that aren’t totally cookie cutter. There’s even occasionally interesting lines, most of which are in the trailer below.
But given this is the pilot so they’re going to be hitting us with their best stuff, I’d firmly recommend not watching any of Man With A Plan, if only because I very much doubt they have a plan.
Here’s that trailer I just mentioned – it still has Jenna Fischer in it, but everything’s otherwise the same.
It was Wonder Woman’s birthday on Friday. She’s 75, but being a goddess, it probably doesn’t show. To celebrate, all manner of things have been happening, most notably our Diana being named by the United Nations as its new Honorary Ambassador for the Empowerment of Women and Girls. To celebrate, both Gal Gadot and Lynda Carter turned up to the UN headquarters for a special ceremony.
At the event, DC President Diane Nelson announced that not only would Wondy be available for use by UN agencies, there would also be a new comic in 2017 “to tell the story of empowerment, peace, justice and equality” and which would be available worldwide in multiple languages simultaneously – the first time in DC’s history.
However, not everyone was pleased, with some UN workers protesting that, “It is alarming that the United Nations would consider using a character with an overtly sexualized image at a time when the headline news in United States and the world is the objectification of women and girls.” Hmmm. Obviously they quit reading Wonder Woman when Brian Finch took over art.
Still, a whole bunch of people were pleased that she was 75 at least, at the New York Comic Con panel to celebrate her birthday; perhaps it was coincidence, but Entertainment Weeklyhas also named her the most powerful and influential superhero or heroine of all time.
Meanwhile, the movies are proceeding apace. Gal Gadot (and Amber Heard) were spotted in Iceland, filming scenes for Justice League, a new photo of our heroine in said movie also getting released.
And despite the fact Wonder Woman isn’t out until next year, Gadot, director Patty Jenkins and production designer Aline Bonetto have been giving interviews to Variety about the movie: Gadot talks about the character, her legacy and the news she’s bisexual (although the movie doesn’t go there); Jenkins promises a lighter film than Batman v Superman, one that’s closer to Superman in tone; and Bonetto discusses designing Themyscira.
Back in the world of comics, we also learned there’s going to be a prequel series next year called The Odyssey of the Amazons, which will see a plucky group of the female warriors encountering the Norse gods. And an interview with Andy Mangels gave us plenty of details about this year’s Bionic Woman/Wonder Woman crossover comic.
What a fortnight, hey? Happy birthday, Wondy.
After the jump, I’ll be looking at the past two week’s comics featuring the Amazon princess (apparently, it’s definitely princess now): Wonder Woman (Rebirth) #8, Dark Knight III #6, Trinity #2 and Justice League (Rebirth) #7. One of these doesn’t actually feature Wonder Woman for some reason.
Last month, I heralded the fact that a new BMW mini-movie with Clive Owen was on its way, directed by Neill Blomkamp (District 9, Chappie, Elysium), with Dakota Fanning, Jon Bernthal and Vera Farmiga along for the ride. Well, it’s here now and you can watch it below. It’s an odd little thing, being the usual Blomkamp combination of top action scenes combined with a bit of weird science fiction, as well as just a hint of The Transporter. It’s only 10 minutes, so why not give it a whirl – it might encourage BMW to make some more.
UPDATE: Now with the actual movie, rather than a trailer for Graves. Oops.
