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2 • February 3 - 9, 2019 • Brainerd Dispatch By Joy Doonan TV Media S tarting in 2006, Matt LeBlanc took a five-year hiatus from act- ing on television. This was not long after one of the most popular '90s sitcoms ended its 10-year run. "Friends" had made LeBlanc a household name, and his portrayal of the lovably doofy Joey Tribbiani had made him TV royalty, so his sud- den departure seemed to leave a hole in the television landscape. When he returned to the screen in 2011, he was starring in "Episodes," a meta comedy in which LeBlanc played a fictional version of himself. He also enjoyed a three-year stint hosting "Top Gear." These shows were a far cry from the type of role that first launched his career. It wasn't until 2016 that LeBlanc finally decided to return to his roots, and "Man With a Plan" has been a hit so far. The family sitcom is a throwback to the genre's golden days — the 1990s — and mimics the whole- some-but-dysfunctional family model of many of its predeces- sors. Still going strong, "Man With a Plan" is now returning for its third season. The premiere epi- sode airs Monday, Feb. 4, on CBS. Created by Jackie and Jeff Fil- go and co-executive produced by LeBlanc, "Man With a Plan" follows the everyday life of LeBlanc's Adam Burns, an awkward, straight-edge sub- urban dad whose wife, Andi (Liza Snyder, "Yes, Dear"), de- cides to go back to work after 13 years of being a stay-at-home mom to their three kids. As a result, Adam has to pick up a greater share of the child care duties, and he begins to learn that his kids aren't as simple or innocent as he always thought they were. Adam, a guy who seems to take very little seriously and would rather have a beer and read the paper than engage in the bureaucracies of his children's schooling, clumsily at- tempts to be the disciplinarian but eternally fails to win the respect of his scheming progeny. The upcoming season promises to feature more of the fan-favorite Marcy, Adam's over- bearing sister-in-law, as the actress who plays her, Kali Rocha ("Liv and Maddie"), has been bumped up to cast regular. The show also stars Kev- in Nealon ("Weeds") as Adam's immature brother, Don, with whom he runs a contracting business while juggling the difficulties of par- enting. Matt Cook ("Clipped") pro- vides even more flavor to the mixed bag of characters as Adam's contract- ing assistant and close friend, Lowell. When asked why he was drawn to the concept of "Man With a Plan," LeBlanc has said that, being a father in real life, he wanted the opportunity to play the classic sitcom family man on TV. While the show is meant to emulate family comedy tropes of the past, one of LeBlanc's goals has also been to play with some contempo- rary parenting struggles. He told CBS Los Angeles that the biggest chal- lenge of being a parent today is that kids are "harder to outsmart" than ever before as a result of the technology available to them. Much of the show's charm comes from the Burns kids — Kate (Grace Kaufman, "Bubble Guppies"), Emme (Hala Finley, "Back Roads," 2018) and Teddy (Matthew McCann, "All Stars," 2015) — constantly out- maneuvering their dad and causing never-ending chaos. Co-stars LeBlanc and Snyder have shared a love of the energy on the set of "Man With a Plan" for the past two seasons, with Snyder telling CBS Boston that "we shouldn't be al- lowed to have this much fun at a job," and that the live audience makes for both a good time and an effective sounding board to see how well jokes are landing. The show has also become a nostalgic collabora- tive project as many of the crew members worked together on "Friends." For the upcoming third season, the cast and crew are looking for- ward to a couple of changes that will help the show grow. In addition to Rocha joining the fold as a regular cast member, Jessica St. Clair ("Play- ing House") is set to make guest ap- pearances as Andi's snobby sister, Kelly, who has an auspicious job in Chicago and only seems to come to town because she enjoys igniting petty arguments with Andi. With the positive changes that are in the works for the show, the third season of "Man With a Plan" is shaping up to be more fun than ever. According to Deadline, it was one of the net- work's most popular Monday shows last year, and hopefully there is even more good fortune to come. In retrospect, taking five years to enjoy family life may have been one of the most felicitous decisions of LeBlanc's career, since he now emu- lates the experience of everyday fam- ily life on set, with his own comedic flair. At the end of the day, "Man With a Plan" is a simple, slice-of-life sit- com that's meant to be relatable. Kaufman, who plays the eldest of the three Burns children, told Nadula magazine that the show "revolves around the concept of family, and that no matter what may happen, we are always there for one anoth- er." Season 3 of "Man With a Plan" premieres Monday, Feb. 4, on CBS. Raising hellions Family sitcom 'Man With a Plan' returns for a third season Cover Story this week Kali Rocha as seen in "Man With a Plan" The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon I read that an Arizona woman sent a man more than 159,000 texts after they went on one date. When asked why she did it, the woman was like, "Why? Did he ask about me?" I read about a 94-year-old woman in Utah who is Arby's oldest employee. When asked what it's like to work with her, the manager said, "Oh thank God, you can see her, too." Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his wife are splitting up. But on the bright side, he has a lot of extra boxes to pack up his things. The Late Show With Stephen Colbert The shutdown is bad news for fans of food, because the FDA has halted routine food inspections, so food companies are going to have to start adjusting their advertising. Now Kix cereal is just going to say, "Kid tested … ." The Late Late Show With James Corden A bride and groom who are both mathematicians came up with an unusual seating arrangement for their wedding guests. Everybody who came to the wedding had to solve a math equation to find their seats. I did the math of how many people enjoyed that wedding: it was zero. The first restaurant in Paris exclusively for naked diners has announced it's closing due to a lack of customers. I know, what a shame. Is this a shock to anyone? Who thought this would work? Scalding hot soup and no pants don't mix. Jimmy Kimmel Live You know, it's funny — we're gone for two weeks and at first it feels great to be on vacation. You're relaxed, just kind of hanging out — and then Kevin Spacey makes an insane video and you have got no place to talk about it. I was out on the lawn yelling at the neighbors. Late Night With Seth Meyers The NYPD is looking for a man who recently broke into an Apple store and stole $75,000 worth of products. That's crazy — why would anyone need five iPhone cables? A cat that went missing from its owner in Michigan for two months was recently found over 1,000 miles away in Florida. Or, some cats look the same. A team of scientists in Brazil and Ireland have published a paper suggesting ways to genetically modify tomatoes to be spicy. Though, to be fair, people in Ireland already think tomatoes are spicy. Late Laughs

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