Man with a Plan (TV series)

## ***Man with a Plan***

***Man with a Plan*** is an American sitcom television series created by Jackie and Jeff Filgo which was premiered from CBS on October 22, 2016 and concluded on June 11, 2020. The series is produced by Double Double Bonus Entertainment, 3 Arts Entertainment in association with CBS Studios, with Filgo's serving as showrunners.

In May 2019, the series was renewed for a fourth season by CBS which was premiered in April 2, 2020. On May 6, 2020, CBS confirmed that it was cancelled after four seasons.

## Summary

Adam Burns is a newly construction worker living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with wife Andi, daughters Katie and Emme, and son Teddy. He looks forward to spending time with his family and hanging out with his friends, who are also co-educators: Lowell, Marie and Ms. Rodriguez. However, his elder daughter Katie, who was away at middle school; Teddy is becoming dimwitted child, whose intelligence is often issues; and youngest daughter Emme is a innocent child who often knows her parents will never let her get away with a lot issues.

The show is about a dad who finds out that parenting is harder than he thought after his wife goes back to work and he's left at home to take care of the kids.

## Cast

### Main

* Matt LeBlanc as Adam Burns
* Liza Snyder as Andi Burns
* Jessica Chaffin as Marie Faldonado (Season 1, episode 1-13)
* Matt Cook as Lowell
* Grace Kaufman as Kate Burns
* Matthew McCann as Teddy Burns
* Hala Finley as Emme Burns
* Diana-Maria Riva as Mrs. Rodriguez (Season 1)
* Kevin Nealon as Don Burns
* Stacy Keach as Joe Burns (Season 2-4, recurring Season 1)
* Kali Rocha as Marcy Burns (Season 3-4, recurring Season 1-2)

### Recurring

* Swoosie Kurtz as Beverly Burns
* Christine Woods as Lisa McCaffrey
* Tim Meadows as Rudy Randall
* Sherri Shepherd as Joy Randall
* Ron Funches as Funchy

## Production

### Development

On September of 2015, it was announced that CBS had given the production, then titled *I'm Not Your Friend*, a pilot production commitment. The pilot was written by Jackie and Jeff Filgo who was also set to executive produce alongside with Michael Rotenberg and Troy Zien. Production companies involved with the pilot include Double Double Bonus Entertainment, CBS Television Studios, and 3 Arts Entertainment. On January 2016, the production officially received a pilot order. On February 8, 2016, it was announced that James Burrows would direct the pilot. On May 12, 2016, it was announced that CBS had given the production, now titled *Man with a Plan*, a series order. A day after that, it was announced that the series would premiere in the fall of 2016 and air on Mondays at 8:30 P.M. On November 14, 2016, CBS picked up the series for a full season of 19 episodes and on January 6, 2017, CBS ordered three additional episodes, increasing the first season order to 22 episodes. On March 23, 2017, it was renewed by CBS for a second season which premiered in November 13, 2017 and  recently ordered eight additional episodes for the second season, bringing the total to 21 episodes. On May 12, 2018, it was renewed for a third season with 13 episodes.

### Casting

Before the final season of *Episodes* on February 8, 2016, Matt LeBlanc signed on for the new series who became the father of three kids and his real life. In March 2016, it was announced that Jessica Chaffin, Matt Cook, Diana-Maria Riva, Grace Kaufman, Matthew McCann and Hala Finley had joined the pilot's main cast. There were few differences between the unbroadcast pilot and the version that was broadcast. Jenna Fischer played the role of Andrea in the unbroadcast pilot, but on August 1, 2016 she was replaced by Liza Snyder two months later and the character nickname changed to Andi. On August 2, 2016, it was reported that Kevin Nealon had joined the cast in a main role. In the third season, Kali Rocha was cast in the role of Don's wife Marcy Burns, and was later promoted to series regular on September 4, 2018.

### Cancellation

On May 6, 2020, CBS announced that they were cancelling Man with a Plan after four seasons. While ratings for the fourth season were satisfactory, the network was reportedly looking to lower costs following the merger of CBS and Viacom that had taken place that same season. The series was expensive to produce for the network, which was a major factor in its decision to cancel the series.

## Broadcast and syndication

*Man with a Plan* aired from October 24, 2016 until June 11, 2020 on CBS. *Man with a Plan* aired on Laff since 2023.

## Reception

*Man with a Plan* has received generally negative reviews from critics. On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the series has an approval rating of 21%, based on 22 reviews, with an average rating of 3.5/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "*Man with a Plan*s flawed, unimaginative writing fails to properly showcase the charm of its unfortunately underperforming lead." On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating, the series has a score 36 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".

### Nielsen Ratings

Based on average total viewers per episode of *Man with a Plan* on CBS:

## Trivia

* The original title was *I'm Not Your Friend*.

## References

1. ↑ Man with a Plan, Season Two Renewal for Matt LeBlanc series *TVSeriesFinale* by Cindy McLennan, March 23, 2017.
2. ↑ Man with a Plan, Season Three Renewal for Matt LeBlanc *TVSeriesFinale* by Cindy McLennan, May 12, 2018.
3. ↑ ‘Man With A Plan’, ‘Tommy’, ‘Carol’s Second Act’ & ‘Broke’ Canceled By CBS

## External links

Man with a Plan on:

* Wikipedia
* IMDb
* Television Wiki
* CBS Wiki
* My CBS Shows Wiki
* Facebook
* Twitter