Tim Allen's new show. Why now?

A lot of shows nowadays try to show changes in masculinity and femininity or try to bring to light some things that used to be controversial. Shows like Queer Eye for the Straight guy attempted to skew what we think of as acceptably feminine for heterosexual males.   Sex in the City helped show a different view on women's sexuality. Homosexuality is a more prominent theme in many shows.  With all these shows portraying a change in how people view what's acceptable or normal, why bring back Tim Allen's stereotype of masculinity now?

Tim Allen's previous show, Home Improvement, was about a man with a wife and four sons who tries to be masculine and use power tools and be a "real man."  Being a comedy show, Tim acted like the idiot husband that was common in sitcoms at the time.  For a decade it was a very popular show with high ratings and quite a few award nominations.

This new show, Last Man Standing, is much the same as Home Improvement but with 3 daughters instead of sons.  Instead trying to be a handy man, Tim's character is a man who has to switch from working on a catalog for the outdoor sports company he works at, to their website.  In the show, Tim complains about things like blogging not being manly and clashing with his wife and daughters because he wants to be masculine.  His wife is the type of smart wife character that is often put together with a more foolish husband to make his masculinity seem threatened.

Most reviews about the show by critics were scathing.  Remarks that the show was crude, behind the times, and this review even said that the gender jokes were "mildly offensive."

Other unfavorable reviews include:

http://news.yahoo.com/tim-allens-last-man-standing-one-liners-no-234145540.html

http://www.metacritic.com/tv/last-man-standing-2011/season-1

http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-10-11/entertainment/30284548_1_new-abc-sitcom-joke-allens


Despite these reviews, the debut drew in 13 million viewers.  Whether this was due to Tim Allen's previous success drawing in viewers, people liked the theme of the show, or other reasons, it is still an impressive debut.  The test will be whether or not the show keeps such high views.

It may be interesting to find out if this show takes off or not as it is contrary to the changes in how gender roles are being portrayed in other shows today.  Will it be successful and show that many want to stick to the view of real men being gruff and sweaty working men that avoid all things considered feminine?  Will it tank because people want to leave that view behind?  Or maybe it will fail just because of bad screenwriting?  Too early to say.

Being Plastic

Look fake? Well she mostly is, and yes, that is a real live woman.

http://izismile.com/2011/09/06/real_life_barbie_doll_from_moscow_23_pics.html

Surgery is dangerous.  It would not be strange to think that using such a method for vain purposes is wrong or foolish.  While this is a matter of personal opinion, the truth is that a lot of people attribute cosmetic surgery as making someone "fake."  This girl actually aspires to a fake doll.  I believe she even went as far as to get contacts to make her eyes seem almost dead.

This isn't the only instance of someone wanting to be like a barbie doll.

Sarah Burge as seen above also payed quite a bit in order to look like a barbie doll.

I find it interesting that some desire the beauty of a doll that doesn't even match up to normal human proportions.