It may seem odd to ask “what the hell happened” about a guy who is currently starring on a network sitcom. Tim Allen definitely didn’t disappear. He’s still a decent-sized TV star. But once upon a time, Allen was more than that. At the peak of his career, Allen had the number one book, movie and TV show in the United States. Since that time, his track record at the box office has been spotty. He hasn’t starred in a mainstream movie in nearly a decade!
What the hell happened?
Timothy Alan Dick was born June 13, 1953 in Denver, Colorado. His father died in a car accident when he was young, and soon after, his mother moved him and his siblings to a suburb of Detroit, Michigan. Allen remains closely intertwined with the state of Michigan including doing voice overs for the state’s tourism department.
Allen graduated from high school with a love for the arts (specifically classical piano), and went on the graduate from Western Michigan University. His career in show business began on a comedy club dare from friends. His first stand-up gig proved successful so he pursued comedy and gained enough local recognition to make the move to LA.
Before that, however, a wrench was thrown into Allen’s plans. He was arrested at Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International Airport for cocaine possession, 1.43 pounds of it. Meaning he was dealing. With a possible life sentence looming, Allen pleaded guilty, and ratted on some fellow dealers in exchange for a mere three-year sentence. It makes for one of the more surreal celebrity footnotes.
Newly released from Sandstone Federal Correctional Institution, Allen became a standup staple in the Los Angeles area, and steam was gathered for a television pilot. It was in vogue at the time for a network to commission an entire show based solely on a comedian’s standup material, to simply take what was there, and broadcast it.
Allen’s act was mostly based upon the male/female dichotomy. It was intentionally regressive. He portrayed himself as a macho man, a “male pig” and proud of it, and supported the associated positions for comedic effect.
This was the basis for his ABC pilot, Home Improvement. His “male pig” character is given the additional dimension of being a caring family man, simply stuck in a 50s-era mindset. Allen played the host of a do-it-yourself handyman show. At home, he’s a goofy dad raising three young boys.
Home Improvement was a runaway success. Debuting in 1991, its first season was a ratings juggernaut. The show peaked commercially in the fifth season and trailed off until season eight which was its last. While Seinfeld appealed to the adult demographic, Allen’s show was aimed at family viewers.
While Home Improvement was never a critical darling, both the show and its star did receive some recognition. Allen was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series in 1993. He lost to Ted Danson who was nominated for Cheers. He fared better at the Golden Globes where he was nominated five consecutive years from 1992-1996. during that time he lost to John Goodman, Jerry Seinfeld, Kelsey Grammar and John Lithgow. But in 1994, he took home the statue.
Ashley Judd auditioned for the role of the Tool Time girl. Series creator Matt Williams was so impressed with Judd’s audition that he refused to cast her in such a small role. Instead, Pamela Anderson was cast as the jiggly Tool Time girl. Williams went back to Judd’s agent and offered to create a bigger role specifically for her. If she had accepted, Judd would have played Allen’s sister. Ultimately, Judd passed in favor of a smaller role on the dramatic series, Sisters.
Home Improvement ended its run in 1999. By then, Allen had already diversified into movie stardom. He was earning $1.5 million per episode making him one of the highest paid actors in TV history. Reportedly, Allen was offered $50 million dollars to return for a ninth season.
Allen’s movie debut was playing a baggage handler in the 1988 crime drama, Tropical Snow. Six years later, Allen returned to the big screen with a starring role in the Disney holiday comedy The Santa Clause.
Allen played a divorced dad who accidentally kills Santa Claus. Yes, this is a Disney holiday movie in which Santa falls off a rooftop to his death. Allen’s character ends up taking Santa’s place and transforming to look more like St. Nick including weight gain and a full beard. The experience brings Allen closer to his son because this is a Disney holiday movie – dead Kris Kringle not withstanding.
Allen wasn’t the producers first choice. The script was written with Bill Murray in mind. It was later offered to Chevy Chase who had schedule conflicts. Disney had to make an exception to one of their company policies in order to hire Allen. The company has a policy against hiring ex-cons. Allen had a previous drug conviction which meant he was ineligible to work for Disney. Of course, Allen has worked for Disney extensively ever since.
In the original cut of the movie, Allen’s character made a joke referencing “1-800-SPANK-ME”. It turns out, this was a legitimate phone line. As you can imagine, it was actually a phone sex line. In 1997, Disney started getting complaints from parents of children who had called the line and racked up enormous phone bills. Disney ended up buying the phone number and disconnecting the service. The line has been omitted from future home video releases.
On a budget of $22 million, Allen delivered a major success. The Santa Clause received a rapturous reception from audiences, with the movie nearly passing $200 million. Critics responded well, calling it “a lovable family comedy harkening back to old-fashioned Christmas movies”. The film is now a staple of Yuletide programming, and is considered a Christmas classic.
In 1994, Allen was unavoidable. On the debut weekend of The Santa Clause, Allen led the week’s highest-grossing film, highest-rated TV show, and wrote the highest-selling book, Don’t Stand Too Close to a Naked Man.
In 1995, Allen provided the voice of Buzz Lightyear in the first fully computer-animated feature film, Toy Story.
Tom Hanks played Woody, a toy cowboy and de facto leader of the toys in a little boy’s bedroom. When humans aren’t around, the toys come to life. Allen played a new space ranger toy who doesn’t understand that he is not the real deal.
Toy Story‘s arduous road to the screen is well-documented. Based on the strength of the Pixar short, Tin Toy, Disney commissioned a feature-length computer animated film. After numerous story treatments were shot down the Toy Story concept was agreed upon. However, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Disney’s studio chief, didn’t like the first test reel and production on Toy Story was halted.
Pixar retooled the story significantly and Disney agreed to resume production. After a grueling development process, voices were matched to the characters on-screen. Woody, originally a villain, was deemed to be the main foil of audience empathy, and so Tom Hanks and his “every-man” voice were tapped. For Buzz Lightyear, the self-absorbed, haughty yet capable and, eventually, compassionate Space Ranger, Allen was approached.
Once again, Allen was not the first choice. According to Allen, Pixar originally wanted to cast Paul Newman as Woody and Jim Carrey as Buzz. The thinking was that Newman would represent “old Hollywood” and Carrey would represent “new Hollywood”. But the idea was discarded when it proved too expensive.
Billy Crystal turned down the role of Buzz and later regretted it. So when John Lasseter called Crystal to discuss a role in Monsters Inc, Crystal said “yes” before Lasseter could tell him anything about the movie. Chevy Chase also passed on the part. Allen has said that Chase was huge comic influence for him so he was interested in snapping up Chase’s discarded roles.
Toy Story met with critical praise and was highly profitable. It was the highest-grossing movie of the year and the first animated film in Oscar history to be nominated for Best Screenplay. It was arguably one of the more disruptive films ever. Its warm reception started a shift in animation from the drawing table to the desktop. Had it failed, the advent of computer-animated films would have at least been delayed. The film spawned two sequels (with a fourth film announced). Allen returned for each one so we’ll be talking about Toy Story more as we go.
In 1997, Allen appeared as himself in the Rodney Dangerfield vehicle Meet Wally Sparks. Dangerfield, who had been a mentor to Allen during his early stand-up career, played a tabloid TV reporter trying to boost his ratings. The cameo was Allen’s way of paying back Dangerfield for the early career boost. But critics didn’t like the movie and audiences chose not to meet Wally Sparks.
Allen’s second live-action starring vehicle began a long series of poorly received family comedies with gradually diminishing box office returns. The inaugural entry of this series was titled Jungle 2 Jungle.
Allen starred as puffed-up NYC commodities broker who discovers he fathered a child with a woman who subsequently joined a remote, unrefined Amazon tribe. He takes the kid back to New York and fish-out-of-water gags ensue. Fish-out-of-water is basically the sole source of laughs with Allen in the jungle and the tribal boy in the concrete jungle. Oh, I see now. I guess it is a slightly clever title 🙂
Jungle 2 Jungle was a remake of a French farce named Little Indian, Big City. Lolita Davidovich played Allen’s fiancée and JoBeth Williams played his ex-wife. Martin Short played a supporting role as Allen’s business partner and Leelee Sobieski played his daughter who begins a relationship with Allen’s son.
Jungle 2 Jungle was, uh, savaged by critics. Roger Ebert, who had high hopes based on his affinity for Allen and Short, called it “far too mediocre to be terrible”. Siskle disagreed. He named Jungle 2 Jungle as one of the worst of the year.
Audiences were lukewarm. The movie opened in second place and grossed just shy of $60 million dollars. That’s not a bad haul, but it was disappointing following The Santa Clause.
Next up for Allen was an alliterative pairing with Kirstie Alley, for the fish-out-of-water comedy For Richer or Poorer.
Allen and Alley starred as NYC socialites disillusioned with their marriage. When they are separated from their wealth, they flee to Amish Country to avoid the long arm of the IRS. Deprived of their prosperity and of modern conveniences, hilarity ensues. In theory anyway.
Though the professionalism of the two leads was acknowledged by critics, For Richer or Poorer was saddled with negative reviews. Commercially, the film failed to recoup its budget. Alley was drifting post-Cheers, and For Richer or Poorer represented a wave that pushed her further from dry land. Allen, however, was still white-hot due to Home Improvement.
In 1999, the year of Improvement‘s final season, Allen returned to the silver screen. First, he voiced Space Ranger Buzz Lightyear for a second time in Toy Story 2.
In the sequel, Woody is stolen by a nefarious toy collector who plans to sell him in Japan where he is a prized collectible. It’s up to Buzz and the rest of the toys to find their friend and bring him home.
Initially, Toy Story 2 was intended to be a cheap direct-to-video sequel. When John Lasseter caught wind of the plans, he offered to have Pixar produce a the movie instead. Pixar and Disney were currently operating under a five-picture contract and Lasseter assumed that Toy Story 2 would count as the fourth movie under the deal. But the contract stipulated that Pixar had to produce five “original” movies meaning that sequels didn’t count.
Disney CEO Michael Eisner refused to budge over the contract and demanded two more original Pixar productions. This was the beginning of a rift between Lasseter and Eisner that would continue to grow. Eisner was jubilant after a poor test screening of Finding Nemo and it is believed that he intentionally tanked the home video release of The Incredibles as a means to keep Lasseter in line. We’ll see how that played out a little later on.
Toy Story 2 is considered to be one of the few sequels that matched or even surpassed the original. Delving deeper into the characters and forging new storylines rather than extending old ones, the film garnered an exceedingly rare “100%” rating on Rotten Tomatoes (the series second). It is also one of only three animated films to win a Golden Globe for Best Picture. At the time, it was the second-highest grossing animated film of all time.
1999 also brought the partly metafictional sci-fi comedy Galaxy Quest.
Allen played a pompous actor who starred in a defunct science fiction TV show. For extra money, he makes appearances at sci-fi conventions along with his former co-stars. The rest of the cast, played by Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman and Tony Shalhoub, resent Allen for his prima donna behavior.
Allen’s character is essentially a stand-in for William Shatner. Pompous and self-absorbed (a recurring Allen character trait), he is a faded actor who is mistaken by aliens as an actual space hero, as opposed to having played one on TV. The aliens enlist Allen and his “crew” to command their vessel.
Harold Ramis was originally hired to direct. Ramis wanted to Alec Baldwin for the lead role, but Baldwin turned the movie down. Ramis also approached Steve Martin and Kevin Kline. When they were unavailable, Allen was cast. Ramis disagreed with the casting decision and walked away from the movie. After seeing the finished film, Ramis later said he was impressed with Allen’s performance.
Galaxy Quest is praised as Allen’s best live-action project with the possible exception of The Santa Clause. Savor it, as the reviews slump from here on out. Unfortunately, those reviews did not translate into box office success. The movie opened in a dismal 7th place behind Man on the Moon. Thanks to positive word of mouth, it actually improved its performance in subsequent weeks peaking in 5th place. Ultimately, it grossed just over $70 million dollars on a $45 million dollar production budget.
Over the years, Galaxy Quest has developed a cult following on video. Rumors have been swirling about a possible sequel. Allen, Weaver and Rockwell have all expressed a willingness to reprise their roles.
As Home Improvement was coming to an end, The Walt Disney Company bestowed upon Allen one of its highest honors. Allen was named a “Disney Legend”. This tradition started with the company in 1987 and awards are given to individuals who have contributed to the Disney legacy. Honorees include animators, engineers, musicians, actors and executives.
There are relatively few actors awarded the title. To date, Allen’s Toy Story co-star Tom Hanks has not received the honor. Neither has former Disney CEO Michael Eisner (pictured above with Allen). Robin Williams and Kurt Russell are the only other recipients in the WTHH series.
2000 brought only a voice-over role for Allen. He reprised his role as Buzz Lightyear in the DTV sequel, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins. Allen did not lend his voice to the resultant TV series, Patrick Warburton replaced him. Allen would later go on to reprise Lightyear again.
2001 gifted us with Joe Somebody. Allen starred as an oppressed worker at a Big Pharma company. Oppressed not by his employer, but by the office bully, played by Patrick Warburton. Joe goes to learn martial arts and beef up in order to duel the bully and reclaim his dignity. It’s like The Karate Kid for middle-aged men if Mr,. Miyagi was played by Jim Belushi and Johnny Lawrence was Puddy from Seinfeld.
Once again, Allen was taking other comedian’s cast-off roles. Jim Carrey was offered Joe Somebody but passed to star in The Majestic. Allen was attracted to the role because it offered him a chance to show his dramatic side.
No telling on the outcome of that fight, but lets just say a few more people paid for the Mayweather-Pacquaio fight. Joe Somebody stumbled out of the gate. It opened in 10th place behind Monsters Inc which had been in theaters for 8 weeks already. It was two spots down from The Majestic. The critics weren’t impressed either.
Another year, more roles for Allen. First off, an adaptation of a Dave Barry novel. That really is a match of consonant humors. You would think they would have collaborated more often. Perhaps they might have, if not for Big Trouble.
Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, and costarring Rene Russo, Ben Foster, Jason Lee, and, once more, Patrick Warburton, Allen is in the lead as a divorced journalist seeking to regain his family’s favor amidst interlacing storylines set against Miami’s skyline.
Big Trouble was one of many films disrupted by 9/11. It was originally scheduled to be released in 2001. But the studio felt that scenes in which a nuclear weapon is smuggled on to a plane would be insensitive. So the film was delayed until 2002. When it was released, there was little to no marketing. It was basically abandoned by the studio.
Despite middling reviews (frankly excellent by Allen standards), the movie bombed, grossing less than a fourth of its $40 million budget. It opened in 9th place behind a re-release of E.T. which had already spent three weeks on the charts.
Later that year, Allen appeared in the Paramount Classics release Who Is Cletis Tout?
Christian Slater starred as a criminal who assumes the identity of a photojournalist who is wanted by the mafia. Allen played a hit man who is obsessed with film noir. Allen is sent to kill the man Slater is pretending to be. Richard Dreyfus, Portia de Rossi and RuPaul co-starred.
Cletis Tout actually opened in Spain in late 2001. In July 2002, it received a limited release in the US on 18 theaters. The few critics who saw the movie didn’t like it. It ended up grossing around a quarter of a million dollars. But it afforded Allen a chance to show his range.
Given the success of The Santa Clause, a sequel was inevitable.
Allen took time to commit to a second round as Santa. This time around, Scott/Santa had to contend with an artificial Santa who attempts a coup over the naughty/nice list. The single St. Nick was also busy searching for a woman who befits the title of Mrs. Claus.
The second entry in Disney’s Clause series performed moderately well with critics, garnering reviews less positive than the original, but far more favorable than for what was to come. SC2 reaped a sizable gross at the box office, performing well enough to merit another sequel.
Following a one year hiatus, Allen returned to the screen in 2004 with the holiday family comedy Christmas with the Kranks.
Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis play that Chicago couple, Luther and Nora Krank. The Kranks decide to skip Christmas one year because their daughter has gone away. Dan Aykroyd played the Kranks’ overbearing neighbor who refuses to accept their refusal to observe the yuletide season. M. Emmet Walsh plays their crotchety old neighbor.
The movie is adapted from a John Grisham work, but tonally differs from earlier Grisham adaptations just as the kitchen does from the bathroom. They serve entirely different purposes.
The movie was directed by Joe Roth, then known for thrillers, now known for launching Disney’s streak of live-action remakes. Roth had recently founded Revolution Studios, and was searching for a comedy project that Roth himself could direct. They found that in Grisham’s source novel, a tale about a Chicago suburbanite couple who reject Christmas and its pageantry in exchange for a sunny cruise. While the novel is leery of conformity, and celebrates individual choice, the film adaptation promotes a hive-mind mentality.
The sentimentality is piled on thick. The movie just surpassed the break-even point in theaters, but it broke many critics. RT summarizes it as being “fresh as last year’s fruit cake”, “mirthless”, “coarse”, and “garish”. One critic opined that the film “gave Ebenezer Scrooge plenty of ammo”. .
Allen once again took a yearlong hiatus, but roared back in 2006 with a voice cameo, and three starring roles.
Allen first reprised Buzz Lightyear briefly in the closing scene of Cars, playing a car styled after the Space Ranger.
The tagline for Allen’s sophisticated, sleek 2006 affair read as follows: It’s going to be a “ruff” day. Like Oscar Wilde rose from the dead to pen that one. As one can guess, canines are involved in the Disney family comedy The Shaggy Dog.
A remake of a 1959 Disney film of the same name, Allen plays a DA that, spoiler alert!, slowly transforms into a bearded collie while he is working on prosecuting a Big Pharma company that is engaged in animal experimentation. The company’s top executive was played by Robert Downey, Jr. I suppose that sort of sounds like a sci-fi plot, but it is in fact the plot of family comedy.
The movie made the Razzie rounds, with three nominations including Worst Actor for Allen. The way the Razzie’s work is that you are nominated for all of the movies you appeared in that year. Allen was nominated not just for The Shaggy Dog but for all of his 2006 output. He “lost” to Shawn and Marlon Wayans for Little Man.
Critics were negative, citing Allen’s performance and the retread physical comedy gags. The movie was a very modest commercial success. It opened in second place behind Failure to launch and ended up grossing just over $60 million dollars in the US.
Next up was another Disney family comedy, a sci-fi superhero action comedy called Zoom.
Allen played the leader of a band of superheroes, Captain Zoom. Also appearing were Courtney Cox (Arquette), Chevy Chase, Rip Torn, an early Kate Mara, and Allen’s Santa Clause franchise costar Spencer Breslin. The team must do battle with the superhero-turned-villain Concussion, who can pitch sonic waves.
Zoom‘s release was delayed by a lawsuit from Fox and Marvel, alleging the screenplay was too similar to the script for X-Men: The Last Stand. The delay was one of 4 months. When the film finally came out, it bombed, grossing a third of its budget. The film is actually Allen’s worst-ever in terms of reviews, with a 3% rating on RT.
Luckily, Allen could convalesce from the last blow with the help of his elves at the North Pole. The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause was Allen’s final 2006 project, and (as yet) the final romp of the Clause series.
The third entry sees Scott Calvin facing a new challenger for control of Santa’s throne, Jack Frost, played by Martin Short. Most every previous character recurs in this film.
While I actually think this movies works as a campy family holiday comedy with heart, critics didn’t seem to. Though they praised Martin Short, they lambasted the movie as a whole. They also criticized Allen for his tired performance.
The Santa Clause 3 was nominated for 5 Golden Raspberries including the previously mentioned triple nominee for Allen as worst Actor (rolled up with Zoom and The Shaggy Dog). Allen and Short were also nominated for Worst Screen Couple which they “lost” to “Shawn Wayans and either Kerry Washington or Marlon Wayans” for Little Man.
The third Santa Clause movie opened in second place at the box office behind Borat. It ended up grossing over 80 million in the US and over $110 million worldwide. Given the movie’s relatively low budget, those numbers are pretty solid. But it still grossed less than half of the other two movies.
2007 united Allen with some other stars grappling with fading audience interest. Allen, John Travolta, Martin Lawrence and William H. Macy teamed-up in the biker road trip family comedy Wild Hogs.
The four actors played middle-aged men who each suffer from an individual mid-life crisis, or at least the material for one. They embark on a cross-country motorcycle trip to bond and resolve/escape their problems. They encounter, and later tussle with, a real biker gang led by Ray Liotta.
Allen, Travolta and Lawrence had all hit rough patches (which is reflected by the fact all three have now been covered in WTHH). Macy, who is primarily known as a character actor is probably safe. But the clock is ticking on Liotta.
Though critics mostly agreed each cast member earned his designated laugh, they called the movie unsatisfying and prosaic. They read the riot act over the film’s repeated employment of some insulting, homophobic jokes. Despite the negative reviews, the film crushed it at the box office. It opened in first place at the box office.
One theory for the box office success of Wild Hogs is that those under 17 who wished to see 300 would buy tickets to the Disney biker comedy and then sneak into the bloody historical drama. Though that might suitably explain a small percentage of the movie’s gross, that certainly doesn’t explain the $39.6 million opening weekend. 300 didn’t even open until Wild Hogs‘ second weekend.
There have been rumors of a sequel for many years although nothing ever came of it.
Allen’s next role was a supporting one in the David Mamet’s martial arts drama, Redbelt. Allen decided he was once again willing to play against type as a waning action star, Chet Frank. Allen as Chet takes Chiwetel Ejiofor’s Mike Terry under his wing and charity.
The film grossed a mere $2 million at the box office on a $7 million budget, however, critics gave the movie first-string reviews, greatly praising Ejiofor and mostly lauding Allen.
2009 gave us another starring role from Allen, though this one went straight-to-video. As of yet, Wild Hogs marks Allen’s last theatrical, live-action leading role. The Six Wives of Henry Lefay has Allen play a catchpenny salesman presumed dead while parasailing in Cabo San Lucas. His daughter (Elisha Cuthbert), fiancée, and six former wives (including Andie MacDowell and Jenna Elfman) descend on his estate to combat over his holdings.
The movie got middling to poor reviews.
In 2010, Allen made his directorial debut with the comedy Crazy on the Outside. It reunites Allen with his Galaxy Quest co-star Sigourney Weaver, his Wild Hogs co-star Ray Liotta, Kelsey Grammer from Toy Story 2, and Julie Bowen from Joe Somebody.
The dysfunctional family comedy received a DTV release and poor, poor reviews from critics.
2010 also saw Allen reprise Buzz Lightyear for Toy Story 3.
The sequel ended what was at the time a trilogy (the fourth film is coming in 2017) with Andy finally outgrowing his toys. The toys are accidentally dropped off at a daycare instead of the attic where Andy intended to store them while he goes away to college. Michael Keaton joined the voice cast as Barbie’s boy toy, Ken.
When it came to another Toy Story sequel, Pixar and Disney were locked in contention. Given Disney owned the rights to the characters and any continued storylines, they steamrolled Pixar and created Circle 7 to “sequelize” successful Pixar films.
This was a gambit by Disney CEO Michael Eisner to try to force John Lasseter and Pixar to renew their partnership with the Mouse House. Eisner was basically holding Buzz and Woody hostage. “Come back to the negotiating table or the toys get it!”
Instead of folding, Lasseter dug his heels in. He had been feuding with the CEO going back to Toy Story 2. He wanted nothing to do with Eisner’s Disney. The controversial CEO was facing battles on other fronts as well. But when Disney’s Board of Directors had to decide whether to back Eisner or Lasseter, they ousted their CEO and promoted Bog Iger who they hoped could smooth things over with Pixar.
Iger’s first order of business was purchasing Pixar.This meant Toy Story 3 ceased to be a negotiating tactic and became a real movie with Pixar behind it. Allen and Hanks signed on after the mostly-completed movie was shown sans sound.
Though audiences might have been initially skeptical of another Toy Story, their concerns were allayed when the reviews began streaming. For a long time, it was another 100% effort on the Tomato-meter. Though the rating now stands at 99%, critics thought the film another heartfelt, sincere story, as opposed to the money-grubbing cash-grab expected by some. Audiences worldwide propelled the movie to an over-$1 billion gross.
2011-12 witnessed Allen continue to reprise Buzz Lightyear in a string of Toy Story shorts. He rarely misses an opportunity to voice Buzz Lightyear. In addition to these shorts, Allen has played Buzz in video games and theme park attractions.
2011 was also the year that brought us Allen’s return to network TV, with a starring role in the family sitcom Last Man Standing.
The sitcom centers around Mike Baxter (Allen), a man’s man in upper management at a sporting good story chain. He loves, but often butts heads with the women of his family, and feuds with his often-epicene protegé at the store. Though the show often descends into lowest common denominator territory, I feel it offers some amusing moments. Critics seem to mostly agree, differing slightly on either side of the scale.
After he took up Last Man Standing, Allen began appearing on-screen with less prevalence. As a result, Allen began to lend his iconic voice to various projects with a greater frequency. Chevrolet, Campbell’s Soup, Michigan Tourism Board (“Pure Michigan”). In 2012, he narrated two documentaries, the first being Disneynature’s Chimpanzee.
Chimpanzee is the sixth entry in the Disneynature catalog, continuing the tradition of Earth Day releases with a percentage of gate receipts being donated to conservation efforts. The film garnered solid reviews, and met success at the box office. It is notable for containing the first documentation of primate altruism, the act of which was the adoption of the film’s main character.
The second narration of the year was of another nature documentary, this one for IMAX. Penguins 3D chronicles the life of an emperor penguin on the remote British island of South Georgia.
2013 came with it Allen’s final (insofar) feature performance in the form of the adult-skewing comedy Geezers! Along with Breckin Meyer, J.K. Simmons, and Scott Caan, Allen explores the nature and perceptions of aging in today’s world. Allen plays Tim, a convalescent home resident and former actor. The film was straight-to-video, and received cellar-dwelling reviews, with critics saying it made Betty White’s “dreadful” “Off Their Rockers” TV show “seem sophisticated”.
In 2017, ABC cancelled Last Man Standing despite respectable ratings. The network claimed the decision came down to scheduling, but fans of the show cried foul. Although the show was not overtly political, it did skew towards conservative viewpoints. As with so many things, the sitcom became politically charged.
Ultimately, Last Man Standing was revived on Fox. That makes sense for a variety of reasons not least of which is that the sitcom is produced by 20th Century Fox. Had the show remained on ABC, the Disney-owned network would have had to pick up production costs for a show produced by a rival studio. But to many, the finances of the situation didn’t matter. The situation was viewed by many as the liberal media keeping conservatives down.
Allen himself contributed to the hysteria. During an interview with Jimmy Kimmel on ABC, the actor compared Hollywood to Nazi Germany and opined “You gotta be real careful around here, you know. You’ll get beat up if you don’t believe what everybody believes.”
For much of Allen’s career, his politics were largely irrelevant. If you look through the pictures in this article, you will see the smiling faces of many Hollywood liberals who were more than happy to work with the conservative comedian. Ever since Allen raised a stink about the circumstances surrounding the cancellation of Last Man Standing, he has become a more polarizing figure. If Allen wasn’t on the outs with many in Hollywood before, he is now.
Despite his lack of live-action movie appearances, Allen is still very active. He is expected to reprise his role as Buzz Lightyear in the forthcoming Toy Story 4. And Last Man Standing continues to chug along on its new netowork. He still has what can only be considered a very successful career. But in spite of his massive success in TV, his movie career came up a bit short.
So, what the hell happened?
Plucked from the comedy club stage and deposited onto national television, Allen ascended to the height of comic fame as Tim “Tool Man” Taylor. He parlayed this character into a film career, early on simply repurposing his television role with only slight derivation. As things progressed, he would diverge with more variance but even still, as Allen has publicly noted himself, he has limited range. A few successful roles rose above the rest, and gave Allen a safety net. Gradually, his film career tapered off like a nuclear reactor being cooled. White hot, slowly, steadily emitting steam.
Despite the fact that his last theatrical live-action role was a financial smash hit, Allen stepped away from the silver screen to the small one, returning to ABC for another family comedy. He lends his voice to various projects, including his most recognizable role, Buzz Lightyear. His is a “Disney legend”, still widely respected, and is by all account very content with his current position n Hollywood and in life. He marks one of the happier endings of the WTHH? series.
Another great entry from oakleya77! He’s on a role.
We’re planning to do some Disney-themed stuff in June so I thought about holding on to this another week or so. But ultimately, I just couldn’t wait to get it out there for readers.
I’ve never been a fan of Allen’s but this is a wonderful entry in the What the Hell Happened series, with a breezy, but informative read and good jokes. I do have to admit that Allen was probably the right choice for the wonderful Galaxy Quest, and his limited acting skills don’t damage the film at all. I understand why Ramis wanted Baldwin and others, though. Allen’s status as a Disney “legend,” based mostly on The Santa Clause and his voice over work in Toy Story, is a little overblown, especially considering some of the people who are not on… Read more »
Home Improvement was also a big reason for Allen being dubbed a Disney Legend. It was Disney-produced and aired on ABC. That’s why he received the award when he did. The show was ending an epic 8-season run. That show made the mouse a lot of money!
Excluding voice work, I have seen precisely two Tim Allen movies. Galaxy Quest which is excellent and in which he is well cast and Wild Hogs which is less than good. Bad even. So I’m not a fan. But I agree that this was a terrific entry in the series.
Derailed Film Stars: The Fading Buzz on Tim Allen: https://web.archive.org/web/20150106053020/http://www.twcc.com/articles/2015/01/04/d/derailed-film-stars-the-fading-buzz-on-tim-allen Original | Laura Smith, Originals Published January 4, 2015 07:00PM EST We’ll always have a soft spot for Tim “The Toolman” Taylor thanks to the classic 90s sitcom Home Improvement. Despite his personal setbacks and bumpy career, there is something innately likable about Tim Allen. After making a career of playing a professional smart ass and family man, Allen returned to the sitcom world on his show Last Man Standing, once again playing a Dad trying to maintain his manliness. Though he could probably retire and live off his Toy… Read more »
I guess I feel like there is a “core” to what Disney is that does not include every little thing they produce as a company. Just because something was on ABC doesn’t make it an identifiable Disney property. “Pardon the Interruption” has been really popular on ESPN for the last decade or so, should Michael Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser be considered for “Disney Legend” status? How about Shonda Rhimes? To be fair, Allen’s status as Buzz Lightyear actually makes him a much better candidate than any of the above people (although there’s nothing about his performance as Buzz that suggests… Read more »
One minor clarification, it wasn’t just that Home Improvement aired on ABC. It’s that it was produced by Disney AND aired on ABC. That made it doubly profitable for the Mouse. As far as Eisner and Disney were concerned, there wasn’t much that was more pure Disney than Home Improvement. I share your opinion of most of Allen’s output although to be fair, I haven’t watched most of it. He’s not my cup of tea. I can also agree with you about what a Disney legend should be. But that’s not what it is. It’s a company award like Employee… Read more »
and we should!
We clearly cannot count on corporations to behave responsibly/reasonably, so it is our job as citizens/fans to point and criticize. That’s part of the game.
There are lots of names on that Disney Legends list that are either unrecognizable even to someone who has done a lot of reading about the company, or kind of puzzling for their inclusion. There is one absent name that sticks out like a sore thumb to me though. I wonder if it does to you to.
Walt? I think that might be redundant. Eisner? It’s a pretty big slap in his face that he hasn’t been given the award yet. It started during his tenure. You know he expected to receive it by now. I hope they get around to recognizing Roy O. Disney. He was instrumental in saving the company twice as well as all of Disney animation. Katzenberg also deserves recognition but will probably never get it. I’ll be honest. I don’t really care about Disney’s core values anymore. Those are long gone. They are only ever brought up as a selling point. I… Read more »
Those are all good suggestions, but not the one I had in mind 🙂
I completely agree that it is not realistic to believe that we can hold Disney to the idealized image they’ve sold us. That has been a come-on for a long, long time. But since we care more about that core than they do, I tend to see talking about it amongst ourselves as a positive activity rather than a fruitless one. Maybe that’s still naive.
So who is your glaring omission? Or will we find out in June?
I’m hoping to work in the time to write a little something about this person, so I’ll just leave a hint.
This person is an iconic Disney voice.
…and now I’ve thought of a second omission who also fits that description.
I look forward to hearing about it. Readers can consider this a teaser for our post-post apocalypse theme.
When Tim Allen Jumped the Shark:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGH_ZKAoegE
Ignoring his career as a comedian, of course.
Always loved the Home Improvement ensemble – it was a great show and I suddenly want to see those reruns again. What’s interesting to me is that Allen has had much more of an extensive film career than I would have guessed. Critics and box office aside, the man has not lacked for steady work! Glad he found something more profitable than dealing.
Also, as usual in the series, I have discovered a “must see” movie. That clip from “Wild Hogs” had me rolling.
Wild Hogs assured viewers that men were born to be mild: http://thedissolve.com/features/forgotbusters/518-wild-hogs-assured-viewers-that-men-were-born-to-be/ by Nathan Rabin Forgotbusters re-examines movies that were among the top 25 grossing films the year of their release, but have receded culturally, in order to explore what originally attracted audiences to them, and why they failed to endure. . According to pop-culture conventional wisdom, the heterosexual male was once a proud creature that ran free across our fair land, like a mighty man-buffalo slathered in Old Spice. He was a veteran of one of the good wars, ideally World War II or at least Korea, and those… Read more »
Most likable and rootable sitcom lead characters: http://officialfan.proboards.com/thread/530710/most-likable-rootable-sitcom-characters?page=2 Post by theslickness on 17 hours ago yesterday at 5:29pm Push Val Venis said: Tim Taylor always meant well. He was hard to hate. He was the kind of dude you’d slap upside the head for being dumb then give him a hug 5 minutes later for being awesome. More or less a prototypical lovable oaf. Unless your name was Al. Agreed. Home Improvement kinda set the stage for the “lovable oaf married to smart/hot wife” wave that we saw from the mid/late 90’s onward, but the difference is, Tim didn’t have… Read more »
Nice work, oakleya77! Your Oscar Wilde joke was the best thing I’ve read all day. 😀
I’m not a Tim Allen fan, nor am I not a fan. He’s just one of those actors who I do not actively seek out his work, but his presence in a project also does not cause me to avoid seeing it. But as a 90s kid, I saw pretty much everything in his filmography detailed in the first 4 pages of this article. That realization was mildly embarrassing. My favorite Tim Allen movie is definitely Galaxy Quest.
Retrospective / Review: Galaxy Quest (1999)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fR1BR-Y4ukI
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The Lost Roles of Tim Allen: http://splitsider.com/2011/10/the-lost-roles-of-tim-allen/ by Bradford Evans | October 6th, 2011 After developing his popular stand-up act into the hit sitcom Home Improvement in 1991, Tim Allen became a highly sought-after actor for big screen roles as well. While most sitcom actors try and fail at movie stardom, Tim Allen made this tricky career transition gracefully with back-to-back hits The Santa Clause and Toy Story, each film spawning its own long-lasting franchise. Allen returns to his roots next week, starring in the new show Last Man Standing, a stab at a sitcom comeback on his home network,… Read more »
Tim Allen (and this isn’t necessarily a criticism per se) isn’t an actor who plays roles but is an actor which a character is based off of or molded around.
I agree with that, and I believe many others would as well.
That’s that drug dealer dude, right?
Tim Allen’s ‘Last Man Standing’ Is a Right-of-Center Success: http://www.newsmax.com/Hirsen/Allen-Last-Man-Standing-conservative-ABC/2015/03/02/id/627707/ Monday, 02 Mar 2015 10:43 AM By James Hirsen In the world of television entertainment, Tim Allen’s show, “Last Man Standing,” is a comedic oasis, especially for viewers who have longed to see more conservative-friendly themes appear within the much-loved sitcom category. Now in its fourth season, the series is proving to be a winner for ABC. Allen is a major star of both the big and small screen, which is impressive in these times considering that he is also one of those rare commodities in Hollywood — a conservative.… Read more »
Last Man Standing’s second season was the weirdest sitcom season since ’Til Death: http://www.avclub.com/article/ilast-man-standingis-second-season-was-the-weirdes-95857 By Todd VanDerWerff Apr 1, 2013 •12:00 AM Between Last Man Standing’s first and second seasons, the largely non-distinct sitcom, mostly known for being Tim Allen’s return to television, had a choice to make. Headed for Fridays, the second least-watched night of the week (after Saturdays), the program had to do something to make some noise and hopefully attract viewership. Simply having Allen in the cast wasn’t going to do it any longer. So, as Allen and new showrunner Tim Doyle discussed with the New York… Read more »
The Upside to Tim Allen’s Manly-Man Brand of Comedy: http://splitsider.com/2013/06/the-upside-to-tim-allens-manly-man-brand-of-comedy/ by Justin Gray | June 5th, 2013 When I have a tool in my hand, like a screwdriver, let’s say, or a power drill, I become riddled with anxiety and begin to sweat profusely. A tool offers less in the way of helping me fix things than it does a brand new opportunity to fail at something. My brothers built trucks when they were teenagers, and my Dad used to hang around with them, offering instruction and insight into the inner working of the combustible engine. Where was I? Probably… Read more »
Reasons Why Turning This Into ALL IN THE FAMILY 2012 Doesn’t Work: http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showpost.php?p=4742697&postcount=17 Holy cow. I thought the show was cute last season. Not great, but cute. I don’t even understand what’s going on now. I can’t tell if these are actually Tim Allen’s views, or if he’s pulling a Carroll O’Connor. If it’s the latter, then he is in no way as skilled as Carroll O’Connor. Nor is his character as sympathetic. Archie Bunker, for all his bigotry, was an old weary man on his old weary chair, in his average Queens blue collar house. Mike Baxter is middle-aged,… Read more »
Opinion: Why gun-owners should watch “Last Man Standing” http://www.guns.com/2015/03/10/opinion-why-gun-owners-should-watch-last-man-standing/ Every now and then, there comes a funny sitcom that remains clean while the rest of Hollywood indulges in trashy one-liners and unrealistic scenarios. “Last Man Standing” is one of those sitcoms. But perhaps even more shocking about this show is the pro-gun streak that continues to run through the series. Now in its fourth season, “Last Man Standing” follows the life of Mike Baxter (played by Tim Allen). Allen’s character is an outspoken conservative businessman who is a partner in the fictional store “Outdoor Man.” He is the face of… Read more »
If this is yet another convoluted misinterpretation of the Second Amendment, I’m not watching it. The gun debate is actually plagued with full time NRA paid lobbyists, and like anything else where there is a lot of money on one side, expect the “debate” to favor that side. Gun grabbers? I would celebrate each and every person identified as such. Grab all guns, please. Oh but that would cut into NRA profits….
http://t.co/7n0rr0yk5F
‘War Games’ episode really hit home for #LastManStanding star @amandafuller27
Negative fan reaction tough on ‘Last Man Standing’ star Amanda Fuller: https://groups.google.com/group/rec.arts.tv/browse_thread/thread/88ce0b6a270a79e6 By Amber Dowling 2012-11-29 ‘Last Man Standing’ replacement overwhelmed by mean people When Amanda Fuller took the job as Kristin Baxter on Last Man Standing, she was genuinely excited to have nailed the old-fashioned audition process, and to be working alongside Tim Allen. Little did she know joining the ABC sitcom would cause a huge fan backlash. “I have to be honest, it hasn’t been easy,” the 28-year-old tells TV Guide Canada. “I wasn’t expecting people to embrace me right away, but it’s weird because social media gives… Read more »
Last Man Standing Star Amanda Fuller Opens Up About The Casting Controversy Surrounding Her Character Kristin:
http://www.celebified.com/videos/last-man-standing-star-amanda-fuller-on-the-kristin-controversy
ABC’s Last Man Standing is heading in a new direction. Now in its second season, the show already has a new showrunner, Tim Doyle. Tim chose to recast several roles, including the part of Kristin, the oldest daughter. Amanda Fuller joins the cast, replacing Alexandra Krosney, and she dishes to Celebified that with change comes a new direction. Hear her take on the “Kristin” controversy, as well has where the show as a whole may be heading.
Seriously? So the coke dealer is now right wing?? The things I learn here!!
Fearless ‘Last Man Standing’ Takes on Liberal Scare Tactics and Hillary Clinton: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/culture/alexa-moutevelis-coombs/2015/10/03/fearless-last-man-standing-takes-liberal-scare By Alexa Mouteveli… | October 3, 2015 | 4:36 PM EDT Amidst all the shows with a blatant liberal agenda, “Last Man Standing” is a lone conservative voice on ABC; a gem hidden away in the 8pm Friday night slot. The latest episode of the sitcom, “Free Range Parents,” hits scaredy-cat overprotective parents, leftwing news, and even Hillary Clinton. Mike Baxter (Tim Allen) is trying to get his son-in-law, Ryan, to allow his grandson to walk 6 blocks home from school by himself, but liberal Ryan worries… Read more »
Tim Allen: Bill Clinton was ‘eyeballing my wife’ as we met
http://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/270017-tim-allen-bill-clinton-was-eyeballing-my-wife-as-we-met
What happened to this show in season 2? https://www.reddit.com/r/lastmanstanding/comments/2v7nhi/what_happened_to_this_show_in_season_2/ I’m just watching this series through from season 1. And just got halfway through the premier of season 2. I’m already thinking about giving up on it. I can see why Alexandra Krosney left after season 1. In season 2, her character is completely inconsistent with what she and the writers had created in season 1. Somehow, Kristin and her baby daddy have now become the mouthpiece of every left-wing and Bill Mahr straw-man argument, dismissive and preachy. With episode 1 of season 2, they went about to completely destroy the… Read more »
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/last-man-standing-canceled-petition_us_591af9cce4b0809be1581aaf?fb_comment_id=1548569385207145_1548782081852542
I personally stopped watching this show a long time ago because I was sick of Allen pushing his political views. I don’t care if you are right or left… you were hired to entertain, not push your agenda. We watch fluffy sitcoms like “Last Man Standing” to escape the nasty realities of life not to be subjected to the actor’s political views.
Tim Allen was someone who didn’t cross my mind, but it turns out his career fits well for an entry in this series. I’ve always been a fan of “Galaxy Quest” (viewed it in a theater; in fact, during the 1990’s I spent more time in the theater than viewing TV, so “Home Improvement” mostly escaped me, although I think it’s a solid show) and I actually like “Who Is Cletis Tout?”, but I think Tim Allen has had better sustained success on television (I’ve viewed “Last Man Standing”, and find it very watchable). I think this was an excellent… Read more »
Allen didn’t really cross my mind either because he’s currently on a successful TV show. He certainly hasn’t disappeared. But he has disappeared from the big screen. That’s the angle. Why wasn’t his movie career more successful? I think that’s a fair question to explore.
I’m about halfway through “Wild Hogs” and will have to view the rest later. It is a pretty funny movie – as with Home Improvement, Allen is at his best as part of an ensemble – in my opinion anyway.
Have you gotten to the scene with John C. McGinley yet? It’s really embarrassingly awful. Macy saved the movie for me just barely. The three bigger movie stars might each get a yuck or two but Macy stole the show. But the extended homophobic jokes just kill the movie dead in its tracks. I have no desire to ever watch that movie again.
It’s awful, but not in a bad way. Here’s the thing. It’s still hilarious. I always remember on one of the early podcasts, you and Daffy were discussing humor, I don’t remember exactly the subject but the general idea was that when screen humor veers into the potentially offensive side, “if better be funny.” It might have been Daffy that said that. That really struck me as insightful. And in this case, the scene was funny. “Homophobic” would be portraying the gay community in some negative way, in this scene it was a gay highway patrol officer hitting on them,… Read more »
The whole point of a lot of the humor in the movie is that the worst thing that these guys can imagine is for someone to think they might be gay. When they actually meet a gay person, they can’t get away from him fast enough. They are horrified of him. But he just keeps coming after the because as everyone knows gay people can’t help chasing straight middle-aged men. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IU2MRgM2Nsk In my humble opinion, there’s nothing remotely funny about this kind of gay panic “humor”. It does portray the gay community in a very negative light and it absolutely… Read more »
That’s quite a statement, I just had some dental work done and well… that’s quite a statement. The whole difficult to get numb thing… I’ll watch all of Wild Hogs 10 times in a row rather than feel that nerve again. Anyway 🙂 The scene in question isn’t really one of the underpinnings of the movie in its entirety. It’s one scene in a series of misadventures, which again is actually quite entertaining. It isn’t a major theme as you described, the theme is more about how these 4 guys are dealing with the fact they aren’t young anymore. Watch… Read more »
I could go on about how the problem with the movie isn’t just that once scene. Articles have been written about all of the ways in which Wild Hogs is offensive. Travolta’s character in particular is constantly being made uncomfortable about his manhood. There’s a scene where a gay character gets punched in the face for being too flirtatious. And really, most of it isn’t funny. Macy is because he feels like he’s in a completely different movie. A movie I would much rather be watching then Wild Hogs. I don’t get horribly worked up about the movie. It’s too… Read more »
I agree; as it turns out, the demise of his film career is a worthy subject to analyse and discuss. It’s also true that Tim Allen was unavoidable through the 1990’s, even if one lived in space (then he would just be tracked down, like in “Galaxy Quest”:-).
How was the article harsh? I wonder if this commenter actually read the article or just the title. (It doesn’t sound like it.) The article clearly makes the point that Allen is a very successful TV actor. But to say he was “always a TV star” is misleading. He was at one point a movie star. Or at least he was making an effort to be. Between 1994 and 2008, he starred in 13 live action movies. That is completely discounting the fact that he does voice work in one of the most successful and beloved animated movie series ever.… Read more »
Voice acting IS acting. In fact, there has been a lot of criticism of animated movies hiring A-list actors to do the voices instead of professional voice actors who usually do a much better job. Whether or not Allen should have been chosen over a professional voice actor is one thing, but it definitely counts as a real acting role. That’s not the same as saying Toy Story is a Tim Allen movie though.
I totally agree, Carl. Just listen to the great voice actors and broadcasters and compare the character and skill they convey compared to any old person who can speak reasonably well and there’s just such a gap. I’m hoping to honor a couple of these people here sometime in June. The voice just says so much more than words alone can.
wild hogs is funny. john c mcginmely scenes are a hoot. people take movies too seriously sometimes. they expect every movie to be groundbreaking oscar worthy. its was a fun enjoyable movie people can kick back and relax too. like u said lebeau his last theatrical movie was a hit i think he choose to take it easy. he wanted to to go back to tv easier schedule. iam kind of surprised u put him up there. hes same league as damon waynes except tims had a better movie career. despite having a good amount of hit hes seen more… Read more »
Another thing lebeu Home improvement wasnt a critically darling in its first seasons but became it afterwards. Emmys are tv equivalent to oscars tv shows that get panned dont get emmys usually. i do remember home improvment getting great reviews in its 2nd seasons and past it
With the caveat that it has been YEARS since I’ve seen it I rather liked ‘Wild Hogs’.
John C. McGinley’s character is desperately painful and was horribly dated even in 2006 but I seem to recall he vanishes half way through the movie (which I’ll admit is half a movie too much.)
That said ‘Galaxy Quest’ is outright brilliant and Tim Allen will always get a pass for me for that.
I don’t fault anyone for liking Wild Hogs. Like I said before, Macy just barely salvaged the movie for me. Mrs. Lebeau, who was a huge fan of Travolta and Lawrence at the time, really enjoyed it.
I just don’t ever want to sit through it again.
Oakley77, terrific post! I was aware back in the 90’s that Allen had a criminal record (yep, he actually served prison time before becoming famous). I was not aware, however, that Disney had to actually break one of it’s own ground rules to actually hire him to star in The Santa Clause; Disney had a rule against hiring ex-cons that it had to overlook to hire Tim Allen! Wow, that is a great trivia bit right there. Not that Allen should be judged too harshly for his criminal past, after all everybody deserves a second chance, but in that light… Read more »
That was the part that I found ironic too. Obviously, Allen hasn’t been a career criminal and we should be willing to look past his youthful transgression. But it is unusual that someone like Allen would even be hired by the Disney company, much less receive their highest honor.
Nice writeup! Who knew that 1999 would be such an incredible year for movies? Galaxy Quest was one of 36 movies I saw in the theater that year, an all-time high for me. Allen was simply superb in it. I had never watched a single episode of Home Improvement and still haven’t, lol, though I had seen the Santa Clause (not sure why, but I did–in the theater, too). Anyhow, fast forward to Joe Somebody. I was expecting good things. The premise seemed solid, and that Tim Allen wit… OMG. That was one of the worst movies I have ever… Read more »
Allen’s movie career is really littered with stinkers like Joe Somebody. Galaxy Quest is the clear stand out of the bunch. And yes, 99 was a great year. In spite of the massive disappointment of The Phantom Menace.
I had a bad feeling about “The Phantom Menace”; a friend of mine was purchasing a CD from Sam Goody and the cashier asked him if he wanted pre-screening tickets for a low rate or something like that. He declined, and after walking away we discussed that the film wouldn’t be something to shout about (the “Batman Forever” of Stars Wars pictures, so to speak). Ahh, 1999 and Sam freak’n Goody.
Other than that, I liked 1999 in the theaters as well.
I’m pretty sure the new Star Wars flick is going to be terrible too, though in a totally different way. I just don’t see the story as being there. And the premise seems to be terrible: there’s an awakening in the Force? Was it sleeping when Palp, Darth, Luke, and crew were going at it? Oh but now this new villain is going to be really scary and threatening. Sure.
I actually have hope for the new installment (not a new hope though; maybe renewed hope?).
Haha. And upon what is this hope based? With all the oohing and aahing over the trailers and whatnot, I’ve heard joy at seeing the Millennium Falcon again, nostalgia-based things like that, but I have yet to hear anyone say that the story itself sounds in any way cool.
I see what you mean; you may be right, I may be crazy (I just may be the Billy Joel I’m looking for), but at least the plot is going forward, not backward. Mind you, I have muted expectations (I feel the greatness of the Stars Wars franchise lies in video games nowadays), but at least in seems headed in a better direction.
First, I don’t mean to sound snarky. I totally get where that feeling comes from. I saw the original trilogy in the theater. The excitement about and love for those movies was so intense. People really want to get that feeling back. The material was there for the prequels to be masterpieces (I mean, it would have been completely different material than what Lucas vomited forth!), but they were horrendous movies. So, this may sound snarky, but do you mean a better direction than the most disappointing movies in the history of cinema? 😉 I think the new Star Wars… Read more »
There’s nothing inherently wrong with the premise that evil has re-awakened. Just because evil is bested, doesn’t mean it won’t ever surface again. In fact that’s real life evil 🙂 The challenge will be in the execution. The trailer gives us nothing. I hope that it isn’t because they have nothing, but I’m willing to wait and see what develops.
Having heard all the horror stories about the prequel trilogy, I never saw them. If this latest turns out to be nostalgia, like a Love Boat reunion, i’m actually OK with that.
Here’s the thing. No matter what, you can’t “get that feeling back” because you’re not a kid anymore. Kids experience movies like Star Wars differently. As a seven year old, I hadn’t developed the critical ability to realize that Star Wars was incredibly corny. Watching it today, I realize that it’s pretty cheesy but I don’t care because I loved it when I was 7. Which is not to say that adults didn’t like Star Wars in 1977. But it was definitely a movie aimed at kids. Adults may have liked it, but not with the intensity of those of… Read more »
Time will tell. I’m hoping for the best and prepared for the worst.
in my opinion 1994 and 1999 best year for movies. 1994 had gump pulp fiction,shawshank, four weddings,leon ,mask,dumb and dumber and ace venture. 1999 good too fight club green mile american beauty toy story 2 ,cider house rules ,magnolia ,insider hurricane,bowfinger and being john malcagveg
Bad Movie Beatdown: Christmas with the Kranks
http://blip.tv/film-brain/bad-movie-beatdown-christmas-special-christmas-with-the-kranks-3014515
The Kranks are going on a cruise for Christmas. Film Brain wishes they’d sod off sooner.
Update: “Home Improvement” Creators Lose Court Case over Syndication Profits:
http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=309204
Blockbuster Buster: The Shaggy Dog (2006)
http://blip.tv/the-blockbuster-buster/the-shaggy-dog-review-by-the-blockbuster-buster-6644237
Did the world really need this remake?
Last Man Standing: TV Show’s Star Tim Allen Says Sitcom Will Get Political in 5th Season: http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2015/08/04/last-man-standing-star-tim-allen-were-going-to-drill-hillary/ “We’re going to drill Hillary.” – Tim Allen LOS ANGELES – Season 5 of “Last Man Standing” is going to get political with the presidential race upon us, and neither Hillary Clinton nor Donald Trump is going to be safe from the wisecracking Mike Baxter, played by Tim Allen. “We’re going to drill Hillary,” the star told FOX411 at the Television Critics Association Q&A session for his ABC series. “It will be horrible personally if Hillary continued [to lead the Democrats], but it… Read more »
Tim Allen says Last Man Standing will skewer Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump:
http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2015/08/05/tim-allen-says-last-man-standing-will-skewer-hillary-clinton-and-donald-trump/
“We’re going to drill Hillary,” the Republican ABC star told critics. He added, of Trump: ”Until I see what’s under that hair, I can’t really support him.”
Tim Allen didn’t seem to learn anything from shows like for example, “Murphy Brown” or anything that Norman Lear put out in the ’70s (like “Maude”). When you structure your program around real life topics and conflicts (in trying to capture the political zeitgeist of the moment), you immediately run the risk of not having a long shelf-life. To put it in another, what ever was relevant or considered “hot-buttoned” now, won’t automatically or easily resonate many years down the road. “A Different World” is another sitcom that was huge during its initial run but is not brought up to… Read more »
I myself am fine when a TV series is or wants to go topical, but yeah, it does hurt its rerun-ability (not a word) for the reasons you described. One has to be either in the moment with that series or a nostalgia romantic (as I am). I guess it’s probably safer to make the content more universal, yet avoiding making it too vanilla or generic.
Last Man Standing – TV show: http://officialfan.proboards.com/thread/529586/last-man-standing-tv-show Post by (SHDD) Rick Styles on 13 hours ago So I just watched the first season of this show on Netflix and it was hilarious. A lot more adult humor then I expected then when I started season 2 I was shocked that they had changed the oldest daughter actor and style completely and even the kids father. After watching the first episode of season 2 I gave up on it and was really disappointed. Anyone else a fan of this show? Post by SHAKEMASTER TV9 is Don Knotts on 9 hours ago… Read more »
I’m guessing that Donald Trump (my mom likes him) is something of a stunt political figure. Man, it’s all bought and sold, had too much vodka, and recycled the news report.
http://forums.previously.tv/topic/32075-season-5-discussion/#entry1732268 QUOTE Ever since Amanda Fuller has been in the role, you can’t get behind her in the part. Kris has been written to be: “Poor me, life is so hard.” Not the one who was trying to get her life back on track despite being knocked down in season 1 that Alex Krosney, played so well. I’m sorry but her telling Mandy she was tired of her just breezing through in life was too much. She has been handed a good job not once but twice by an old friend and then her father and Ed. She took Ryan… Read more »
Men Upset Show for Men Cancelled http://jezebel.com/1795267576 5/16/17 3:10pm My in-laws watch it, so inevitably I end up watching it when they visit. I didn’t think much at first, but a few comments here or there would catch my attention for being aggressively conservative. Like, relating a lying boyfriend to Hillary Clinton. Or complaining to his boss/co-owner about having to pay for “damn Obamacare.” Or calling a woman who didn’t want to shop at his outdoor sports store a “special kind of snowflake.” It felt like the writers or Tim Allen himself was going out their/his way to say, “Look… Read more »
S05.E02: Free Range Parents 2015.10.02 http://forums.previously.tv/topic/32327-s05e02-free-range-parents/#entry1565093 We’ve seen the last couple of years that LMS changes characters around to fit the plots for the show. Ryan freaking out and admitting the news is propaganda more these days rang true. However, his entire: “Can’t walk home, Boyd will be kidnapped.” Had me rolling my eyes. Of course we know this is a lead up to politics coming up because upcoming episodes have Mike going at Hillary later this season and the Board of Education as stated in an interview for Time Allen: “Has been screwed up since Mr. Peanut took over.”… Read more »
S05.E03: Ping–pong 2015.10.09 http://forums.previously.tv/topic/32656-s05e03-ping%E2%80%93pong/#entry1587373 I seriously wish Nancy Travis would tell the producers either to do something good with her character or she’ll leave the show. Wow! Vanessa voting for Hilary because she is a woman and thinking Chuck did Obama because he’s black. I really am tired of Disney letting Tim Allen have this political view needed for LMS. The show has really lost what made it good. No one came off as relatable. Eve is like: “Hey, who cares about anything, things have been done.” Mike has been purposely losing to Mandy all these years? Seriously? Now, Mike… Read more »
Tim Allen Predicts Trump Internment Camps on ‘Last Man Standing’
http://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/culture/alexa-moutevelis-coombs/2016/04/08/tim-allen-predicts-trump-internment-camps-last-man
By Alexa Moutevelis Coombs | April 8, 2016 | 11:54 PM EDT
Tim Allen’s character Mike Baxter on ABC’s Last Man Standing is well known to be right of center. He spends most of his time taking swipes at Obama and the Clintons, but tonight he took a BIG hit at Donald Trump.
Donald Trump Ruins the Party on ‘Last Man Standing’ http://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/culture/justin-ashford/2016/10/23/donald-trump-ruins-party-last-man-standing ABC’s Last Man Standing aired its Halloween special “Trick or Treat,” featuring Donald Trump as the most popular costume, but with a portrayal that was milder than what we’ve been seeing lately from liberal Hollywood. Mike Baxter (Tim Allen) doesn’t like Halloween parties, so he gets his family to agree to dressing up as one another in the hopes they’ll annoy each other so much it ruins the party and prevents any future ones. As the episode pans out, they all have their counterparts, except Mike. He walks out in… Read more »
Tim Allen talks new season of ‘Last Man Standing’ http://bit.ly/1FxrPro via @seanhannity
S05.E04: Educating Boyd 2015.10.16 http://forums.previously.tv/topic/32693-s05e04-educating-boyd/#entry1614292 This show doesn’t know what it wants to do or be about. Just seems to want to criticize things in a straw-man fashion. All characters are idiotic or uninteresting save for Mike and usually Eve. There is no continuity in storytelling. A new “issue” each week is brought up and then forgotten. What is the point and where is the humor? Hate Ryan, Boyd, and Kristin with a passion. Actively annoyed when I see Ryan and especially Boyd. That kid is awful and just bugs. Hate episodes revolving around Boyd. Ryan is a wet blanket… Read more »
Last Man Standing and Dr. Ken Reviewed: “The Road Less Driven” (#5.05) and “Dr. Wendi: Coming to LA!” (#1.04)
http://nickanddisneyreviewed.blogspot.com/2015/10/last-man-standing-and-dr-ken-reviewed.html
Shipping Wars Are StupidOctober 23, 2015 at 6:39 PM http://nickanddisneyreviewed.blogspot.com/2015/10/last-man-standing-and-dr-ken-reviewed.html?showComment=1445650776651#c4329114745970970132 Oh God. Unknown, my friend, you went there. Last Man Standing…where to begin? I guess I should say that I’m a stridently liberal feminist. My sister and a person I consider to be like a brother both serve in the Navy. I’m a Christian but I dislike having faith used in a pandering way or in a shove-it-down your throat way. I prefer to show my faith through my actions. I actually left a church I went to through all of high school due to the homophobia, anti Catholic attitudes… Read more »
Topic: Last Man Standing is 5 seasons long
http://www.therealtsm.com/index.php?topic=11377.msg857248#msg857248
I watched it the first season and liked it well enough. I tuned into the second season premier and he spent the first 10 minutes bashing Democrats. I don’t care if you don’t agree with one political party or not, and if you don’t agree with them, but I don’t need to be beaten over the head for the first part of a sitcom with your political views.
Tim Allen Gets in a Good Hit at Obama on ‘Last Man Standing’ with Guest Star Jay Leno
http://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/culture/alexa-moutevelis-coombs/2016/01/15/tim-allen-gets-good-hit-obama-last-man-standing-jay
By Alexa Moutevelis Coombs | January 15, 2016 | 11:57 PM EST
Jay Leno made another cameo appearance on Last Man Standing with Tim Allen, and the two were back to their old hi-jinks. In the episode “Mike and the Mechanics,” the comedians rip on each other through their characters Mike and Joe, joking about Allen sticking to TV sitcoms and Leno leaving “The Tonight Show,” respectively.
After “Last Man Standing” started ramping up the political jokes starting in the second season, the show immediately gave off the vibe that the viewer was supposed to be laughing alongside Tim Allen at how clueless young liberals are. And then there’s the father of his grandchild on the show, in which it seemed like they wrote that particular character based on what a far right blowhard thinks a liberal is.
5 reasons ABC might have canceled the Tim Allen comedy Last Man Standing
https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/5/12/15628038/last-man-standing-canceled-tim-allen
I guess there’s more to this show getting the axe then. I wonder though, do viewers under 50 really switch household & other types of brands due to the influence of television commercials? I thought a lot of times it’s word of mouth or, imagine this, someone coming to their own conclusions?
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/tim-allen-last-man-standing-cancellation-nothing-more-dangerous-a-funny-likeable-conservative-charac-1043231#comment-3538741840 It was an OK show, nothing special – honestly, it just ran its course. His character had a hero complex which was annoying. Everyone else was incompetent but he was the wise cool guy ………it just seemed like a fantasy of an insecure guy. I can see why it may have appealed to some people, it just validates their world view. His daughters’ storylines had nowhere else to go, same for his wife. The daughters – especially Mandy – were the best part of the show. They maxed out the value of the side characters. If anything, it should… Read more »
Yeah, but the show also has Hector Elizando; I don’t want to sound Like Penny or Garry Marshall, but hector Elizando seems like a good choice!
Tim Allen SHUDDERS at the Thought of Another Obama Term (We Do, Too!)
http://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/culture/alexa-moutevelis-coombs/2015/11/15/tim-allen-shudders-thought-another-obama-term-we-do
By Alexa Moutevelis Coombs | November 15, 2015 | 2:24 PM EST
In the episode “The Big Sleepover” of Last Man Standing, Eve’s friend has overstayed her welcome at the Baxter household and interfered with Mike’s (Tim Allen) relationship with his daughter. Eve finally finds a way to get her friend to find another place to stay because she doesn’t want her dad “moping around like Obama got a third term.”
Comedian Tim Allen Riles the Liberals, Jokes ‘The Clintons Are Like Herpes’ http://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/tim-graham/2016/01/29/comedian-tim-allen-riles-liberals-jokes-clintons-are-herpes Comedian Tim Allen, now in a fifth season of his ABC sitcom Last Man Standing, started tongues wagging when he compared the Clintons to herpes in a joke to The Hollywood Reporter. Allen is a television rarity in that he’s taken two sitcoms past the 100-episode mark, and this one is also very rare in its appeal to people who like seeing a little Democrat-bashing in their comedy: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: Why has the show gone after Hillary but not Trump? TIM ALLEN: It’s a little surprising… Read more »
Tim Allen: Obama’s ‘Turned into an Eight-Year Nightmare’ http://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/culture/alexa-moutevelis-coombs/2016/02/05/tim-allen-obamas-turned-eight-year-nightmare Maybe ABC got a message from the higher ups that the show Last Man Standing was getting a little too conservative and anti-Obama for their liking. This week for the first time this season, in the episode “Home Sweet Loan,” when Mike Baxter (Tim Allen) gave a great line mocking Obama, his hippy-dippy liberal son-in-law came back with a rejoinder defending him: -Mike: I thought you guys were thinking of moving out and buying a house. Boyd would be able to play in a yard instead of going to the park… Read more »
ABC Comedy ‘Last Man Standing’ Compares Sore Losers to Hillary Clinton http://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/culture/karen-townsend/2017/03/17/abc-comedy-last-man-standing-compares-sore-losers-hillary By Karen Townsend | March 17, 2017 | 10:26 PM EDT In “Heavy Meddle,” Friday night’s episode of ABC’s Last Man Standing, Ryan (Jordan Masterson) and Kristin (Amanda Fuller), the show’s more liberal thinking couple, are worried that Kyle (Christoph Sanders) and Mandy (Molly Ephraim) wouldn’t be smart enough to participate in an escape room challenge. After playing a game of Trivial Pursuit with Mandy and Kyle one night, Kristin and Ryan enjoy feeling intellectually superior to the younger couple – you know, like in regular life when… Read more »
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/last-man-standing-canceled-petition_us_591af9cce4b0809be1581aaf?fb_comment_id=1548569385207145_289579511501315
They tried to bank off of Home Improvement and they failed. It was not as good nor as funny. His heavy conservative political lean should have been dialed way back considering the real current circumstances. But since that is who he is, it wasn’t going to fly anymore. It’s time for him to retire to voice overs, stand-up and movie cameos unless he’s ready to be the butt-end of the jokes from now on…
Shakespeare Taught Tim Allen That Acting Is Just “Really Advanced Lying”
http://splitsider.com/2015/11/shakespeare-taught-tim-allen-that-acting-is-just-really-advanced-lying/
Nostalgia Critic: Christmas with the Kranks (2004)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4ePe_Xh3n4
Appearing on several top 10 worst lists, the time has come to look at one of the most despised Christmas movies of all time.
Nostalgia Critic Real Thoughts On: Christmas with the Kranks
http://www,youtube.com/watch?v=ERpbCrF7GSE
One of the worst Christmas movies, or THE worst Christmas movie?
Movie Jail: This Week’s Defendant is…Tim Allen!
http://www.joblo.com/movie-news/movie-jail-this-weeks-defendant-istim-allen-255-02
https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/25yoqw/what_actor_actress_do_you_think_needs_a_really/chm1a00
10 Rubbish Movies Directed By Great Actors http://whatculture.com/film/10-rubbish-movies-directed-by-great-actors.php/8 Crazy On The Outside (Tim Allen) Ah, Tim Allen. Another comedy star that huge audiences used to love. In Home Improvement and The Santa Clause movies he won our hearts as a hugely funny everyman. As Buzz Lightyear’s voice he continues to charm us, but his live-action stardom has taken a nosedive in recent years. Although even that’s better than his directing career. He helmed a single episode of Home Improvement in 1999 before making the giant leap to directing and starring in cinematic parole comedy Crazy On The Outside in 2010.… Read more »