Tim Allen’s ‘Last Man Standing” Wins Big In Ratings War

Tim Allen’s new ABC sitcom Last Man Standing was a big hit with audiences last night while debuting with an average of 13 million viewers over the shows two episodes which aired from 8 PM to 9PM. The show was ABC’s biggest 8 PM comedy series debut since 2004.

While the show debuted to great numbers critics have panned the show for it’s predictability and stale setup. According to Slate the show is “Very probably the worst sitcom on network television” while Hitfix.com called the show “groan worthy” and The Washington Post says the series is “homophobic, xenophobic and generally just phobic.”

It could simply be that critics don’t like the fact that Tim Allen basically recreated Home Improvement. Tim’s character Mike is a super-macho sporting-goods store worker who decides to spend more time with his family (replace the sons on Home Improvement with daughters) while grunting about being a man.

While the show has not received the type of reviews ABC would have liked the The Hollywood Reporter did praise Tim Allen by announcing:

“It would be a trillion times worse without Allen’s veteran presence and ability to sell comedy.”

Did you happen to catch Tim Allen’s return to TV in Last Man Standing? If you watched the series premiere be sure to let us know what you thought.