Man with a Plan is an American sitcom television series created by Jackie and Jeff Filgo and starring Matt LeBlanc, who also serves as an executive producer. The series ran on CBS from October 24, 2016, to June 11, 2020, airing for 69 episodes over 4 seasons. The series was a staple on CBS' Monday night comedy lineup for its first three seasons, before being moved to Thursday nights for the fourth season. LeBlanc stars as Adam Burns, a contractor raising three children in suburban Pittsburgh with his wife Andi, who decides to go back to work as a medical lab technician in the pilot. Kevin Nealon and Matt Cook co-starred through all four seasons as Adam's brother and friend, respectively. Stacy Keach and Kali Rocha recurred as Adam's father and sister-in-law, respectively, and were upgraded to regular cast members in later seasons. In May 2020, the series was canceled after four seasons.
Summary
When his wife Andi returns to work, old-school father Adam Burns takes on more of the responsibilities of parenting his three rambunctious children. Adam must learn to balance this challenge with running a contracting business with his brother Don, while at the same time dealing with his overbearing father Joe. The series is set in suburban Pittsburgh.
Cast
Main
Matt LeBlanc as Adam Burns:
The patriarch of the Burns household. Along with his brother, Don, he owns Burns Brothers Construction. In season 4, he states that he is 50 years old.
The matriarch of the Burns household. As the series started, Andi went back to work as a medical lab technician following several years as a stay-at-home mom. At the start of season 3, she has joined Burns Brothers Construction as a designer.
The eldest Burns child. At the start of the series, Kate is 13 years old, celebrating her 14th birthday later in the first season. She is the sassy, rebellious child, who is often embarrassed by her parents. She gets her driver's license in the penultimate episode of the series, suggesting she is at least 16 years old by then.
Hala Finley as Emme Burns:
The youngest child in the Burns family, who is five years old and beginning kindergarten at the start of the series. Emme is the younger, innocent daughter, who often knows her parents will never let her get away with a lot. She is six years old as of season 2.
Matthew McCann as Teddy Burns:
The middle child in the Burns family, who turns 12 years old during the first season. Teddy is a rather dimwitted child, whose intelligence is often ridiculed by the other characters, including his parents. Adam states that Teddy has his Uncle Don's intelligence.
One of Adam's fellow room parents, who is a promiscuous divorcee with children in both Emme and Kate's classes. After episode thirteen, Marie is never seen or mentioned again.
Matt Cook as Lowell Franklin:
The other room parent and the Burns' friend, who idolizes Adam as his mentor. Lowell is a stay-at-home dad who relies on statistics and experts to help parent his children. In "The Three Amigos", he begins working with Adam and Don as their tech specialist after helping them land a lucrative job with a video presentation he created. Lowell's wife leaves him in season 3.
Emme's kindergarten teacher who is a thorn in Adam's side.
Kevin Nealon as Don Burns:
Adam's older brother, who co-owns Burns Brothers Construction alongside Adam. It is mentioned in "The Three Amigos" that Don handles sales for the business. He is very dim-witted like his nephew Teddy. He is married to Marcy, and together they have a son, Mikey, who is an ex-convict living in a studio apartment.
Adam and Don's father, who moved his motor home into Adam and Andi's driveway. Adam frequently accuses Joe of favoring Don, but Joe insists it's only because Don has always needed more coddling than Adam.
Kali Rocha as Marcy Burns, Don's wife.
Recurring
Swoosie Kurtz as Beverly Burns, Adam and Don's mother and Joe's wife who heavily scrutinizes her daughters-in-law. While she becomes somewhat friendly toward Andi, she never warms up to Marcy.
Christine Woods as Lisa McCaffrey, Adam and Don's client on a mall construction project.
Sherri Shepherd as Joy, the Burns' neighbor who is also the building inspector on Adam's job site.
Tim Meadows as Rudy, the Burns' neighbor and Joy's husband.
On February 3, 2016, the production officially received a pilot order and James Burrows would direct the pilot. The pilot was written by Jackie and Jeff Filgo who was also set to executive produce 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 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 premiered on October 22, 2016 by Monday at 8:30pm. On November 14, 2016, CBS picked up the series for a full season of 19 episodes. On January 6, 2017, CBS ordered three additional episodes, increasing the first season order to 22. On March 23, 2017, CBS renewed the series for a second season, which premiered on November 13, 2017. On November 27, 2017, CBS ordered eight additional episodes for the second season, bringing the total to 21 episodes. On May 12, 2018, CBS renewed the series for a third season which premiered on February 4, 2019. On May 10, 2019, the series was renewed for fourth season, which premiered on April 2, 2020.
Casting
Casting for the main cast started in February 2016 with Matt LeBlanc and ended the next month with Matt Cook and Grace Kaufman. On May 13, 2016, it was reported that Jenna Fischer, who was originally cast to play the female lead opposite LeBlanc in the series, had exited and her role would be recast. On August 1, it was announced Liza Snyder would replace Fischer in the role. On August 2, 2016, it was reported that Kevin Nealon had joined the cast in a main role. On September 4, 2018, it was announced that Kali Rocha was promoted to series regular for season 3.
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. The series concluded on June 11, 2020, following a 69 episode run.
Reception
Critical response
Man with a Plan has received generally negative reviews from critics. On the review aggregatorRotten Tomatoes, the series has an approval rating of 21%, based on 29 reviews, with an average rating of 3.29/10. 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".
Ratings
Accolades
Home media
The first season was released in Region 1, via Amazon's Manufacture on Demand service, on November 16, 2018. The second season was released on July 8, 2019.
