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NieR Occomata
Jan 18, 2009

Glory to Mankind.

Last Man Standing
"Bullying"
Season 2, Episode 8

Dear Tim Allen,

Wow, you're like the most racist, most homophobic, and most misogynist person in existence today. And somehow you have a show on ABC. It's kind of astounding how homophobic and racist and misogynist you are, I'm kind of impressed duders.

Just because Eve gets suspended from school for calling Jay Breakerhoff "Gay Breakerhoff" doesn't mean you feel the NEED to slam gay people. I mean, I get the complaining about the "oversensitivity" of America, that's your shtick, you think America's full of pussified men. But that's all it needed to be, complaining about how the school systems are infringing on Eve's first amendment rights (which your character does) and saying vague, flat, pointless declarative statements about how "real weapons hurt way more than words" (which your character also does).

But why does there need to be homophobia? Why do you have to analogize calling someone gay, when they're not gay, with calling a tall man "Shorty"? (Although you're tacitly admitting homosexuality is a genetic predisposition like height, right?) Why do you have to angrily complain about "Why is calling someone 'gay' offensive?" Are you seriously this loving dense? Are you seriously this inept and brazenly ignorant about how that's bigoted speech? What decade are you from?

Oh, you're from the 1890s, apparently, because you point out that that decade was called the "Gay Nineties" and nobody had a problem with that. Do you not see how the meaning of words could, possibly, change in the ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY loving YEARS since then? What the gently caress?

Okay so you're weirdly homophobic for no reason, but what's with the racism? In the video log you do for Outdoor Man you....you know what, I'm so astounded that this racist monologue actually appeared on a network tv sitcom I'm just gonna quote it in its entirety:

"I'm gonna have a sale. I'm gonna sell night-vision goggles, navigation equipment, nylon angling shirts. Everything in the store that starts with the letter n. We're gonna call it...the M-Word Sale. Because if I used the other letter, you'd call me a racist."

That's because you're a loving racist! What?! This is the definition of dogwhistle racism. You literally provided a textbook loving example of what that is, on top of backdoor stating that "friend of the family" (oh look at me Tim Allen, I'm actually less of a pussy than you for actually using the word instead of dancing around it like a coward, you piece of garbage) is not a hurtful word! How did this show not get cancelled? Why was there no public outcry when this episode aired? This is easily the most racist garbage I've seen on network TV. Tim Allen you loving suck.

(Oh, and by the way, complaining about how the phrase "jerry rig" is defamatory to Germans- which I have literally never loving heard before -and not pointing out how the phrase is the more acceptable version of the phrase "friend of the family rig" is some aggressive loving ignorance. You're a loving idiot, Tim Allen.)

But then your show has the reveal that Eve was actually called a "dyke" first by Jay Breakerhoff for bringing it to him on the basketball court. So that...makes Eve calling him "gay" in response okay to you? Also, apparently, Eve was hurt because she had a crush on Jay?

Why didn't your character sit down with his daughter and talk to her about how she shouldn't be attracted to men that don't respect her and call her slurs? Where is the anger over the fact that someone called the daughter character a really offensive term for women? Why don't you confront or get mad at the Jay character? Why does your character compliment Eve for "keeping her mouth shut"? Why is the reveal that Eve and Jay kissed during a school rally (because they're in wuv with each other you see) at the end treated as a positive development instead of a troubling one based on how Jay treated Eve? Why at no point do you seem to care, in the slightest, that someone insulted your daughter? Why is this show so loving bad?

Obviously the answer is you're a misogynist piece of poo poo who's fine with women getting treated like dirt by the men in their lives, or by being cut down a peg for being the ignorant bitches they are, as shown by the B-plot resolving, as per usual, with Mandy getting embarassed by Ryan for presuming he was a piece of poo poo when he was actully a great guy. Is there any slam against women and their general capabilities that your show won't take?

So we get the trifecta, homophobia, racism, and misogyny, Tim Allen. Now I know what you're saying, that you didn't write any of the dialog that Mike says and that you actually respect women and blacks and gays. Now I sincerely doubt the latter is true, but even if it is- you read this script and approved it. You said that awful monologue defending the word "friend of the family", into a camera, and was fine with it. You said every other ignorant and offensive line of dialog your character says in this episode and didn't complain a whit. You didn't use your cachet as both the star of this show and as executive producer to get any of this changed, even though you easily could have. Even if you're not a piece of poo poo with piece of poo poo beliefs, though you probably are, it doesn't matter; you're still a piece of poo poo for allowing this mockery, this modern-day minstrel show onto the air.

Also your show isn't funny.

Go gently caress Yourself,
Occupation

Grade: F

Random Thoughts:
  • This episode is so bad I almost want to recommend people watch it, because after a certain point it's so ignorant in every way it becomes ironically amazing, like something SNL would make making fun of a conservative show. It's kind of incredible when viewed from that light.
  • Mandy: "[Myself] is one, teen preggers is two, and bigot gets the bronze!"
  • Kyle: "When in doubt, say LGBT. Ed: "Sounds like a delicious sandwich."

NieR Occomata fucked around with this message at 18:00 on May 12, 2014

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DarklyDreaming
Apr 4, 2009

Fun scary

Occupation posted:

Last Man Standing
"Putting a Hit on Christmas"
Season 2, Episode 7
Grade: A

I'm imagining the higher ups saying "Alright it's the Christmas episode, let's just crank this out and go home" and one of the writers is fresh out of college as an English major with dreams of their own top tier show on FX or HBO someday who hates having to write this poo poo for food money and a resume credit so they snuck in something subversive when no one was looking.

EDIT:

Occupation posted:

Last Man Standing
"Bullying"
(Oh, and by the way, complaining about how the phrase "jerry rig" is defamatory to Germans- which I have literally never loving heard before -and not pointing out how the phrase is the more acceptable version of the phrase "friend of the family rig" is some aggressive loving ignorance. You're a loving idiot, Tim Allen.)
It's always been "Jury Rigged" "Jerry" is a bastardization. The term comes from sailors who would use blankets and/or shirts to replace holes in sails, the origin being the french word jour meaning day, so sailors started going around saying "It's my jour mast" when they came to port needing repairs, and the word eventually trickled down into the phrase we know today. I just explained this because everything else makes me rage.

DarklyDreaming fucked around with this message at 17:56 on May 12, 2014

hcreight
Mar 19, 2007

My name is Oliver Queen...

Pillowpants posted:

Was home improvement this bad or was I just young and didn't notice?

Home Improvement definitely had its moments of overt MANLINESS but it was usually tongue-in-cheek. The Tool Man did and said a lot of dumb poo poo but was always put in his place by Jill/Al/Wilson/random guest stars. Wilson would probably hate to have Mike Baxter as his neighbor.

NieR Occomata
Jan 18, 2009

Glory to Mankind.

DarklyDreaming posted:


EDIT:

It's always been "Jury Rigged" "Jerry" is a bastardization. The term comes from sailors who would use blankets and/or shirts to replace holes in sails, the origin being the french word jour meaning day, so sailors started going around saying "It's my jour mast" when they came to port needing repairs, and the word eventually trickled down into the phrase we know today. I just explained this because everything else makes me rage.

So wait was "friend of the family rigged" a bastardization of "jury rigged", itself? This is interesting I like learning about etymology

Ror
Oct 21, 2010

😸Everything's 🗞️ purrfect!💯🤟


Yeah, friend of the family-rigged is a bastardization of jury-rigged too. Jury is still the 'correct' version. Jerry-rigged is from jury-rigged but also possibly influenced by the similar phrase jerry-built. But in both jerries' cases, there is no original link to the British use of Jerry in WW2. So Tim Allen is still wrong about politics.

Unfortunately, I'm not sure everone is getting the same message from the show. I found this while trying to look up any other responses to this episode:


edit: actually, that should maybe say FORTUNATELY. some people's common sense of morals overrides the actual messaging of the show.

Ror fucked around with this message at 18:23 on May 12, 2014

Poor Miserable Gurgi
Dec 29, 2006

He's a wisecracker!
The 'jerry-rigged' version doesn't even make much sense, since German engineering during WWII was recognized by the Allies to be generally superior. British soldiers constantly stole German gas tanks, jerry cans, because the ones their own army produced were awful in comparison.

Dolash
Oct 23, 2008

aNYWAY,
tHAT'S REALLY ALL THERE IS,
tO REPORT ON THE SUBJECT,
oF ME GETTING HURT,


Alas, Tim Allen knows that it always falls to the white, middle-aged, well-off man to tell everyone else that words don't really mean anything and they should stop being so sensitive. What a burden to bear.

IRQ
Sep 9, 2001

SUCK A DICK, DUMBSHITS!

DarklyDreaming posted:

It's always been "Jury Rigged" "Jerry" is a bastardization. The term comes from sailors who would use blankets and/or shirts to replace holes in sails, the origin being the french word jour meaning day, so sailors started going around saying "It's my jour mast" when they came to port needing repairs, and the word eventually trickled down into the phrase we know today. I just explained this because everything else makes me rage.

I wanted to be the one to sperg over this but as long as someone does it points out what an ignorant shithead Tim Allen is so it's all good.

zoux
Apr 28, 2006

Is Tim Allen actually conservative and racist or is he just cast as that because of Home Improvement?

sbaldrick
Jul 19, 2006
Driven by Hate

Practical Demon posted:

The 'jerry-rigged' version doesn't even make much sense, since German engineering during WWII was recognized by the Allies to be generally superior. British soldiers constantly stole German gas tanks, jerry cans, because the ones their own army produced were awful in comparison.

jerry and jury-rigged seem to be just different ways to pronouce the same word. I've never heard of "friend of the family-rigged" before, must be a regional American thing.

NieR Occomata
Jan 18, 2009

Glory to Mankind.

when i was in the army i heard it a lot from my, ofc, southern friends

SunshineDanceParty
Feb 7, 2006

One Road. Two Friends. One Ass.
This has made me watch a few episodes, and Occupation isn't exaggerating. The episode about Ed's mistress was some baffling poo poo. Everything about Mike is made worse because the show presents his attitude as tolerable and apparently lovable to his intelligent, successful wife.

Buzzsaw Roomba
Feb 14, 2012

Christ, what an asshole.
I'm suffering from whiplash just reading these reviews

Oxxidation
Jul 22, 2007

Occupation posted:

Okay I think I worked out a solution that gets you sadists what you clearly want

So I'm gonna finish this godawful season of Last Man Standing. And I will, at Deadpool's request, review the first four episodes of season 3 to fulfill the original spirit of the toxx agreement. So yeah you're getting that guaranteed

If Deadpool is willing, if he'll name/av change me to fulfill the second part of my toxx (I have to get an insulting name/av of SHUPS' choice) I'll do the rest of season 3, at the same standard I'm doing now-long form recap/reviews. I'm kind of broke and don't really have the spare 15bux right now, but want to honor my agreement so I think this is a fair trade

My idea: he doesn't have to watch Season 3.

Instead, he gets to watch Season 2.

Of nu-Who.

Alipes
Sep 6, 2006

Grimey Drawer

Occupation posted:

Okay I think I worked out a solution that gets you sadists what you clearly want

So I'm gonna finish this godawful season of Last Man Standing. And I will, at Deadpool's request, review the first four episodes of season 3 to fulfill the original spirit of the toxx agreement. So yeah you're getting that guaranteed

If Deadpool is willing, if he'll name/av change me to fulfill the second part of my toxx (I have to get an insulting name/av of SHUPS' choice) I'll do the rest of season 3, at the same standard I'm doing now-long form recap/reviews. I'm kind of broke and don't really have the spare 15bux right now, but want to honor my agreement so I think this is a fair trade

I just want to point out: I'm still getting a raw deal out of this since the avatar and name are meant to be insulting.

I am the lurkingest lurker ever (seriously, my post count speaks for itself), but Occupation has provided me with a ridiculous amount of entertainment from this thread. If Deadpool doesn't name/AV change you, I will pay for the certs in order for you to do so, if you're willing to review season 3. I am incredibly serious.

Emerson Cod
Apr 14, 2004

by Pragmatica
This thread is fantastic and your reviews are awesome. Though, if by some miracle there's a 6th season of Community on Hulu or Sony's VOD channel, would you keep this up? Could you keep it up? It's not outside the realm of possibility, Dan Harmon did say Sony was interested in continuing it in some other way and he said he would actively discuss it with him.

sexpig by night
Sep 8, 2011

by Azathoth

hcreight posted:

Home Improvement definitely had its moments of overt MANLINESS but it was usually tongue-in-cheek. The Tool Man did and said a lot of dumb poo poo but was always put in his place by Jill/Al/Wilson/random guest stars. Wilson would probably hate to have Mike Baxter as his neighbor.

Yea usually in Home Improvement the joke was Tim was a well meaning moron who was legitimately a product of a different way of thinking and, in most episodes, they ended with HIM learning 'oh it was real stupid and mean of me to belittle my wife or whatever today, I understand that and am sorry for it'. This seems to be the bizzaro world version where everyone else learns that Tim was actually right.

Zaggitz
Jun 18, 2009

My urges are becoming...

UNCONTROLLABLE

Oxxidation posted:

My idea: he doesn't have to watch Season 3.

Instead, he gets to watch Season 2.

Of nu-Who.

You do realize that giving him s2 instead of s3 spares him from this catastrophe don't you:



Why would you ever allow Occ to miss out on such a masterpiece?

NieR Occomata
Jan 18, 2009

Glory to Mankind.

Emerson Cod posted:

This thread is fantastic and your reviews are awesome. Though, if by some miracle there's a 6th season of Community on Hulu or Sony's VOD channel, would you keep this up? Could you keep it up? It's not outside the realm of possibility, Dan Harmon did say Sony was interested in continuing it in some other way and he said he would actively discuss it with him.

If there is a season 6 of Community in any form (an almost literal impossibility) I will make a season 4 thread for Last Man Standing and post timely reviews for every episode

:toxx:

hcreight
Mar 19, 2007

My name is Oliver Queen...
Mods request thread title change to "Occupation Never Learns."

Dolash
Oct 23, 2008

aNYWAY,
tHAT'S REALLY ALL THERE IS,
tO REPORT ON THE SUBJECT,
oF ME GETTING HURT,


Thank you, Occupation, for somehow guaranteeing the return of Community.

Arist
Feb 13, 2012

who, me?


His sacrifices will give us all more quality entertainment.

NieR Occomata
Jan 18, 2009

Glory to Mankind.

hcreight posted:

Mods request thread title change to "Occupation Never Learns."

Literally the worst outcome of the toxx is I get to see more episodes of Community

CaptainHollywood
Feb 29, 2008


I am an awesome guy and I love to make out during shitty Hollywood horror movies. I am a trendwhore!
If you keep giving every other episode an "F" - how am I supposed to differentiate the bad, the terrible and the truly awful?

MrAristocrates posted:

His sacrifices will give us all more quality entertainment.

He did help provide us with the TV IV random review thread.

I'm going to go watch* a few random episodes of this show and will report back.

*while I do some chores as it's playing in the background. I'm not that sick.

CaptainHollywood
Feb 29, 2008


I am an awesome guy and I love to make out during shitty Hollywood horror movies. I am a trendwhore!
Alright just finished episode Season 2 Episode 13. I may have experienced minor Stockholm Syndrome during the episode because I almost kinda found it....good? It wasn't "terrible" and the plot was straight out of a 60's sitcom but the ending really brought everything together.

Although the B plot was one big :suspense:

:staredog:

SPOILERS - Don't click Occupation, it should be a surprise for you
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TD4hKYZRbkE

Honestly, the whole thing kinda felt like a live action Family Guy without the cutaways.


|
\|/
.

Fixed.

Also just realized why that one girl looked so familiar. Justified and Party Down :monocle:

CaptainHollywood fucked around with this message at 00:07 on May 13, 2014

NieR Occomata
Jan 18, 2009

Glory to Mankind.

CaptainHollywood posted:

If you keep giving every other episode an "F" - how am I supposed to differentiate the bad, the terrible and the truly awful?


I dunno if that is a joke but I actually spend serious time figuring out what grade I want to give an episode

C grades are for average episodes (or episodes that have bad parts but are balanced by the good), D grades for episodes that are bad/terrible but have some sort of redeeming aspect, and F grades are for episodes that are for episodes that genuinely offend me in some way on top of being so awful, whether genuinely or at a specific point within the episode, that it discounts any positive parts or parts that I enjoyed

Also your link is embedded hollywood

CaptainHollywood
Feb 29, 2008


I am an awesome guy and I love to make out during shitty Hollywood horror movies. I am a trendwhore!

Occupation posted:

I dunno if that is a joke but I actually spend serious time figuring out what grade I want to give an episode

Also your link is embedded hollywood

I actually figured as much. I guess it's not so much "unfunny" as it is insulting to your psyche.

I watched the next episode. Meh. Not much to say except for a well timed boner joke.

Also some 'major???' (but obvious) developments at the end of the episode.

gently caress this, I have to catch up on the newest Hannibal, Game of Thrones and Silicon Valley.

Goonspeed Occupation.

CaptainHollywood fucked around with this message at 00:04 on May 13, 2014

NieR Occomata
Jan 18, 2009

Glory to Mankind.

Last Man Standing
"Attractive Architect"
Season 2, Episode 9

I don't get this show. I mean, usually I do- it's conservative fearmongering dogma disguised, poorly, as a third-rate ABC 'family' sitcom, but then every once in a while you get a weirdly progressive episode like "High Expectations" or an episode that drops the facade entirely and is a mere examination of these terrible characters' terrible lives, like "Putting a Hit on Christmas".

Then "Attractive Architect" comes along and tries to be all three of these things at once, and ends up being none of them. It's both liberal and conservative, progressive and regressive, deep and shallow, mocking and sincere, and ends up a schizophrenic mess of an episode. This doesn't feel like an episode of television that tried to be something more than it was and hit short of the mark- a common complaint for, say, certain season 3 Community episodes -this just felt like what would happen if you sat, say, Tina Fey and Ted Nugent together in a room together and asked them to write an episode about wage and employment disparity between sexes in America.

The episode opens with a visit from an old friend of Mike's, Bill McKendree (Richard Karn). If that name sounds familiar to you, he played Al on Home Improvement. It's a dangerous game for LMS to play, reminding us all of a much better ABC sitcom star vehicle for Tim Allen, but it works, mostly because his entire character is an excuse for the LMS writers to write in a bunch of references to Home Improvement. Which, by LMS standards, is some high loving comedy.

Anyways Bill is apparently a big-shot architect Mike frequently uses when expanding the Outdoor Man franchise, and fully expects to have this one in the bag. Then Ed comes into frame with Alyssa (Jackie Seiden), a hot young architect, in tow. Ed predictably wants to hire her (because of her "portfolio", Mike ineptly innuendos), and Mike predictably doesn't, because she's hot so that must mean she doesn't know what she's doing. Ed sends Mike home with the architect proposals with a challenge to pick what he feels is the best.

At the Baxter house, Vanessa is preparing to go to a funeral- apparently Bruce Jenkins, her coworker, has died, and due to the vacancy Vanessa has attained a promotion at work. Mike remarks about his architectual problems, which predictably offends Vanessa an attractive, intelligent woman who has struggled against the glass ceiling. After an all-too-obvious argument, Vanessa storms out of the scene to attend the funeral.

At the funeral she learns that she was awarded the promotion over another, marginally more qualified female geologist, Dr. Pullman- Vanessa received her degrees from Ohio State, and Dr. Pullman has received the exact same degrees from Yale. No other statement about their comparative qualifications exist within the episode but we can generally assume they've worked for the company at least roughly the same length of time.

Dr. Pullman is presented as a, well, dumpy, socially awkward woman, so the episode seems to imply that Vanessa's looks did have some influence on her promotion. Dr. Pullman and Vanessa argue, then commiserate as they note that "they should be running the company over the men" and that none of their superiors have PhDs- only Vanessa and Dr. Pullman do.

During all of this, Eve has hidden all of the cosmetics in the house so Mandy, distraught, is forced to "endure" a day at high school without any makeup.

As Vanessa returns home from the funeral, so too do Eve and Mandy, the latter of which notes how her life was changed both for the better and for the worse due to not wearing makeup- her popular friends didn't associate with her, most of the student body ignored her, and teachers would call on her because they assumed she "would actually know the answers". The parallels to the attractiveness argument pervading the main plot are obvious.

Mike and Vanessa argue about the glass ceiling, including an incredibly painful, drawn-out dissection of the glass ceiling analogy itself -Mike at one point argues that breaking the glass ceiling "would cause black mold. And who's gonna clean that black mold? A MAN!" -until Vanessa urges Mike to reconsider the architectual bids and choose the best entry, gender aside.

The final scene of the episode entails Bill, in Mike's office, learning he has lost the bill to Alyssa (of course), which eventually devolves into Bill revealing he's a massive sexist. But it's all played for laughs so I think the audience is supposed to be on Bill's side? It's a bizarre final scene of a bizarre episode.

I watched this episode twice and I'm still not sure of its gender politics. It presents the glass ceiling as a truism- Vanessa notes that women make "77 cents on the dollar" of men, and this isn't a laugh line, so clearly we're supposed to buy the fact that gender inequality in the workplace is a thing. But then there's all these scenes that contradict it- Mike himself argues the glass ceiling doesn't exist. And I'm still not sure if it presents women getting promoted based on looks as a good or bad thing, and it's even hard to argue that Vanessa doesn't deserve the promotion over Dr. Pullman -they present the other lady as an asocial boor, and it's hard to argue against the fact that being social is a direct benefit in determining who gets a promotion. Being able to integrate and gel with others in the workplace is huge, and just from what we see Vanessa acts the way one who's upwardly mobile on the corporate ladder should.

This episode is just bizarre, and again, schizophrenic in all parts, from tones to plots to general message. This is most clearly seen in the credits tag, where during an Outdoor Man video log Mike decries the death of the "White American Male" to, in particular, women, but it's not presented as a problem inasmuch a motivation for the men in the world to perform better to keep up with their female counterparts. From one perspective, that's a very progressive view, but the mere assertion that the White American Male is anything but utterly dominant in every aspect of American culture is by definition conservative fearmongering.

It's an episode that attempted to serve three different masters and ended up a confusing mess. Which means, by Last Man Standing's...standards, a decent enough episode, I guess.

Grade: D

Random Thoughts:
  • Richard Karn showing up, as stated before, meant there was a bunch of HI references, which probably ended up endearing me to the episode more than I would normally have.
  • Mike (to Bill): "Last project we did seemed to last...forever."
  • Bill: "Say hi to the wife and the three boys." Mike: "It's three girls." Bill: "Really? God, I seem to remember it was three boys..."
  • Ed: "It was the dog or me, Mike. (sobbing) Sugar died a hero..."
  • Eve: "Hey Mom, what's with the black dress? Someone die?" Vanessa: "Oh yeah...Bruce Jenkins, from my work." Eve: "Oh...sorry, I feel bad. I was just trying to make fun of your dress."
  • Vanessa: "Calvin... You gave me [my promotion] strictly based on job performance, correct?" Calvin: "Of course. Although Jenkins dying didn't hurt. I mean your chances, he was in a lot of pain there in the end."
  • Dr. Pullman: "You got the job that I was qualified for! But it's okay, I still have my cats. How many cats do you have, Vanessa, I bet you don't have SIX."

NieR Occomata fucked around with this message at 01:55 on May 13, 2014

McSpanky
Jan 16, 2005






I wonder what Home Improvement-era Tim Allen's reaction would be to Last Man Standing-era's Tim Allen. It seems that he's devolved into the exact thing he used to parody.

Dolash
Oct 23, 2008

aNYWAY,
tHAT'S REALLY ALL THERE IS,
tO REPORT ON THE SUBJECT,
oF ME GETTING HURT,


It makes you wonder if it really was a parody, or if he was in on the joke.

X-O
Apr 28, 2002

Long Live The King!

As much as I hate to disappoint the thread, my understanding is that staff cannot actually change usernames anymore. But I will permit someone doing it for him and if they do and he agrees it will be added to the :toxx: so there's no way out of it. You'll have to work out the details on how it will happen privately though.

Postal Parcel
Aug 2, 2013

CaptainHollywood posted:

Alright just finished episode Season 2 Episode 13. I may have experienced minor Stockholm Syndrome during the episode because I almost kinda found it....good? It wasn't "terrible" and the plot was straight out of a 60's sitcom but the ending really brought everything together.

Although the B plot was one big :suspense:

:staredog:

SPOILERS - Don't click Occupation, it should be a surprise for you
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TD4hKYZRbkE

Honestly, the whole thing kinda felt like a live action Family Guy without the cutaways.


|
\|/
.

Fixed.

Also just realized why that one girl looked so familiar. Justified and Party Down :monocle:

From that video

quote:

I have to say, I really loved season 1, but thought season 2 didn't really feel right. Sure you could argue that the first season was very one-sided politically, but actually that is somewhat expected in a tight-knit family. Season 2 it seems like it's everyone against Tim Allen. Including Eve, which I REALLY didn't like. They seemed to have balanced it out in season 3 though. Eve is once again daddy's girl, and the rest, while disagreeing with some of his views, are open-minded to him having a good point in his opinions. So I hope they make a season 4, and that it'll continue what we have in season 3.

NieR Occomata
Jan 18, 2009

Glory to Mankind.

Postal Parcel posted:

From that video

honestly if the show became less directly confrontational it would make the show a LOT better, even if it was "man black people...no good huh?" "you know Mike, you have a point. Black people ARE no good"

Alipes
Sep 6, 2006

Grimey Drawer
Do you have PMs Occ?

NieR Occomata
Jan 18, 2009

Glory to Mankind.

Alipes posted:

Do you have PMs Occ?

Yeah

NieR Occomata
Jan 18, 2009

Glory to Mankind.

Last Man Standing
"The Help"
Season 2, Episode 10

I kinda feel like I should just copy-paste my review for "Attractive Architect" and do a find-replace of every instance of the word "woman" and "female" with "immigrant" and "Hispanic". It's bizarre that in two back-to-back episodes Last Man Standing tries, awkwardly, to seem more progressive and sensitive than it actually is, but then fails in the clutch as it, at the last minute, holds onto its conservative propagandist roots. Who are these episodes even for? Not liberals, because we have every mention of undocumented workers use the charged term "illegal immigrants", and Mike himself remarks about immigrants, quote, "If they're so honest, why are they willing to go under the floor of a van to get in this country?" and, "That's the problem! They never go back!" Not for conservatives either, because every Hispanic in this episode is portrayed as hardworking, honest, and providing for their families- the exact opposite message the conservatives wish to present undocumented workers as. The politics of this episode, much like the previous one, are a confusing, atonal minefield.

The main plot of the episode revolves around the Baxters getting a new, legal, Guatemalan immigrant housekeeper, Blanca (Carla Jimenez), after their last housekeeper died. Apparently the Bartmans, one of the Baxters' neighbors, have moved and Blanca is now "on the market", as it were. This dovetails into Mike deciding to check to make sure everyone working at Outdoor Man is legal, most specifically on the loading dock- see because that's where all the brown people work. Ed aptly notes that he doesn't check the loading dock's papers because he doesn't go "looking for trouble", which seems like an altogether decent enough way to run a business, to be honest.

Mike and Ed travel to the loading dock and greet the genial, hardworking, honest foreman JJ. You can probably see where this is going- guess who's the only undocumented worker on the loading dock? Yep, JJ. JJ gets fired, Mike feels guilty about it, especially because JJ has apparently worked there for a decade, the show makes a bunch of Mexican jokes, and the end of the episode is tied up in a neat little bow as Ed uses his immigration lawyer to legally get JJ his job back. Hooray?

Here's my problem with the episode: It's entirely built around resolving a problem that Mike caused. The end of the episode they're right back to where they started, except Ed has spent many presumably thousands of dollars. JJ is never portrayed negatively except for his legal status- he's the paragon of the quote-on-quote "one of the good illegals". Heck, he even thanks Ed and Mike, when he's fired, for giving him the job in the first place, which smells real Uncle Tom-y. What is the point of this episode? I guess how great rich white men are?

But even that point is kind of undercut by the subplot involving Carla being such a great housekeeper that Eve, Boyd, and Mandy become even lazier assholes, which almost feels like a commentary on how we treat Hispanics in this country (although I don't think this show is sophisticated or politically nuanced enough to make that observation). This all changes when Mike encourages Carla to treat his kids like he would her own, which ends with Carla threatening to bury the kids up in sand and letting "los gatos" feast on them unless they clean up after themselves. Hah, hah, because she's brown, you see?!

Nothing in this episode seems to have a real point and the contradiction of the fairly racist Mexican jokes against the portrayals of all Hispanics being basically human paragons makes no real sense. Are brown people bad or good? Last Man Standing has no real idea.

The most damning thing I can say about this episode is that although it was bad and fairly offensive at points, it wasn't so bad or so offensive in comparison to the other episodes of this season to be an F episode. So by virtue of being less worse, it's...kinda okay? Man, I don't even know any more.

Grade: D

Random Thoughts:
  • I agree with Mike about the Bartmans, anyone who has a mailbox that's just a small version of their house is a putz.
  • Vanessa apparently reads "50 Shades of Grey" in bed. Just thought I should note that.
  • One thing I keep on forgetting to mention, and I genuinely appreciate about this show, is the teenagers act like teenagers and don't receive the heavy-handed moral lesson for their actions. Mandy was revealed to be a chronic shoplifter who never got caught and only stopped out of a combination of guilt and Eve threatening to rat her out, Eve went to a party and drank profusely, Kristen had premarital sex and got pregnant, and now in this episode Mandy flagrantly cheats off of Eve for her homework. I genuinely appreciate the way LMS honestly portrays how teenagers act.
  • Mike: "Our housekeeper. Where has she been?" Vanessa: "Dead."
  • Mike: "Girls are just better at [cooking and cleaning]. You ever spend time at a frathouse?" Vanessa: "Oh yeah." Mike: "Well then you'd know how bad...what do you mean by 'Oh yeah'? What does THAT mean?"
  • Vanessa: "So, Blanca...what do you do on your day off?" Blanca: "...Celebrate Christmas."
  • Mike: "What am I supposed to do, not make my wife happy just to save a few bucks?" Chuck: "I'd appreciate that, yes."
  • Oh I forgot to mention- Carol and Chuck show up for the first time since episode 3. Unfortunately Chuck's role seems to have been reduced to making a bunch of strained, awkward racial jokes with Mike, which is unbearably disappointing. Despite all that he does get a great line this episode (the above quote), and the deadpan delivery by Jonathan Adams really sells it.

NieR Occomata fucked around with this message at 17:22 on May 13, 2014

NieR Occomata
Jan 18, 2009

Glory to Mankind.

TRIPLE POST SON

1) Please change the thread title to "Occupation Watches Seasons 2 and 3 of Last Man Standing- gently caress [Mod Challenge ITT]" Gonna watch and review all of Season 3 now, :toxx:, everyone thank Alipes (seriously thanks dude)

2) I don't think this review was very good, I struggled with something interesting to say and I'd like to get people's reactions on this specific one

Alipes
Sep 6, 2006

Grimey Drawer

E PLURIBUS ANUS posted:

TRIPLE POST SON

1) Please change the thread title to "Occupation Watches Seasons 2 and 3 of Last Man Standing- gently caress [Mod Challenge ITT]" Gonna watch and review all of Season 3 now, :toxx:, everyone thank Alipes (seriously thanks dude)

2) I don't think this review was very good, I struggled with something interesting to say and I'd like to get people's reactions on this specific one

1) Glad to be of "help"! :allears:

2) I can't imagine that every episode of terrible television would be new and exciting in its terribleness. Sometimes plots are just bad, especially when it's rehashing basic ideas. I think the quotes really help make each episode unique though, because Vanessa's "Oh yeah" comment made me giggle more than I probably should have.

Propaganda Machine
Jan 2, 2005

Truthiness!

Alipes posted:

1) Glad to be of "help"! :allears:

2) I can't imagine that every episode of terrible television would be new and exciting in its terribleness. Sometimes plots are just bad, especially when it's rehashing basic ideas. I think the quotes really help make each episode unique though, because Vanessa's "Oh yeah" comment made me giggle more than I probably should have.

I think that's why the other thread has such a good thing going; when single episodes are held in isolation like that, it doesn't get stale.

Also I liked that review, ANUS! I watched episode...8?...on your oh-god-this-is-terrible recommendation, and was only mildly disappointed. I like how Eve wore all that obtrusive jewelry to her basketball game since there's no way in hell any coach or ref would allow her to wear it on the court.

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NieR Occomata
Jan 18, 2009

Glory to Mankind.

Last Man Standing
"Mike's Pole"
Season 2, Episode 11

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXx0pWpszKg

Tim Allen (2014) (Copyright Occupation Music Studios)

Tim Allen
You're a Republican now
Always hatin' somebody
And sabotagin' somehow
You're a jingoistic douchebag
Carin too much 'bout a pledge
Allegiances, American flag
Back away from that real dumb edge
You really don't remember
That time you were arrested?
All the cocaine in your head
Snitchy Tim Allen
Tim Allen

Look how far you've fallen
If everybody wants you
Why is it nobody's watchin'?
You don't have to answer
Just check it ratings ti-ime, ohh
Whiny Tim Allen

Tim Allen
(Tim Allen)
I think we got your number
(Tim Allen)
I think we got the show premise
(Tim Allen)
That you've been hidin' under
(Tim Allen)
But you really don't remember
All that racist poo poo you said?
You wish all black people were dead
Racist Tim Allen

Tim Allen
Eve's in ROTC?
Will you let her in the main lines?
Or will you cave to the misogyny?
Will you let Ed be a dummy?
Say sexist poo poo about your daughter, too?
Here's a novel idea oka-aay:
Just be a good dad, you loon
And you really don't remember
All that sexist poo poo you said?
Hating women in your head
Sexist Tim Allen
Tim Allen

Tim Allen
(Tim Allen)
I think we got your number
(Tim Allen)
I think we got the show premise
(Tim Allen)
That you've been hidin' under
(Tim Allen)
But you really don't remember
All that racist poo poo you said?
You wish all black people were dead
Racist Tim Allen

Grade: C

Random Thoughts:
  • Tim Allen
  • Tim Allen
  • Tim Allen

NieR Occomata fucked around with this message at 19:27 on May 13, 2014

  • Locked thread