CBS
Recently, We Are Men was canceled after only two episodes aired. That was too many episodes, in my opinion. They tried to use the crutch of the man who bands with his “bros” over the “shrill, angry” women who would ruin their fun. People didn’t want to see emotionally adolescent men stay stuck in those mindsets for a whole season. In other words, the crutch broke REAL fast.
The thing is, the TV genre of “man doing dumb things” on TV has been dwindling. There have been several in the last few seasons, including How to Be A Gentleman, Man Up! and Work It! (the last two were separate shows, though I am afraid someone may come out with a show called Man Up And Work It!) and were all cancelled quickly. At least Last Man Standing has Tim Allen’s genial presence behind it and actually has good messages amidst the gags. Though the Duck Dynasty cash-in episode that shoehorned in religion was juuuuuuuuuust a bit heavy-handed.
I think that audiences have really recognized how lazy the premises of these shows are. Yes, men can do dumb, stupid, and crude things. There’s always reality shows like Jersey Shore and their ilk if they want to see it up close. When it is played on sitcoms, it just distorts these men into even more grotesque caricatures of themselves and it rapidly devolves into pure stupidity.
Sure, there are shows where men act plenty silly and goofy, but they also show themselves to be capable of being mature adults when the time calls for. The failed shows paint the guys as those who would be rushing fraternities until they were 90.
So, sorry Jerry O’Connell, Christopher Nicholas Smith, Tony Shalhoub and Kal Penn – the next time that your agent pitches you for a casting call for one of these types of shows, your best bet is to politely decline…and then run very quickly for the door.
