It’s as if Tim Allen has the Midas touch when it comes to picking TV shows of which to star in. ABC’s Last Man Standing, only in its first season, has already solidified Allen as a twice-successful leading man in the world of the network sitcom. In regards to his hugely successful run with Home Improvement, he says of this second go-round, “It doesn’t take a genius to see the similarities here. Instead of Tool Time, I have a VLOG, and on this show I have three girls instead of boys.”

Yes, the formula is familiar, but hey, if it ain’t broke, why fix it? In Last Man Standing, Allen’s Mike Baxter is a traditional man’s man, a lover of all things adventurous and outdoors. A pick-up truck-driving sportsman, Mike is constantly fighting to salvage his idea of a man’s world. He works at an iconic outdoor sporting goods store where he is the king of the hill, and then he returns to his female-dominated home front where he is the odd man out save for his toddler grandson, Boyd.

Among his wife, Vanessa (Nancy Travis), who has recently returned to the work world where she was quickly promoted, and his three daughter’s, he is caught juggling his mission to get men back to their rightful place in society in conjunction with his roles as husband, father and grandfather.

The main outlet for his woes proves to be the VLOG he speaks of. His longtime friend and boss, Ed (Hector Elizondo), puts him in charge of the company’s webpage and Mike soon discovers the cathartic platform which gives him a voice in which to appeal to those who also agree that manliness as a whole is under assault in this new woman’s world that he finds himself trapped in.

Currently filming the episode entitled "This Bud's For You", they bring on Robert Forster (The Descendants) to play Mike’s dad, Bud. There is a certain magic to the set as it is the old Seinfeld soundstage. The laughter is palpable as we watch some takes with Forster before they break and answer a few questions.

ABC was struggling as a network up until the 2004-2005 season when it struck TV gold with several extremely successful one-hour television programs including Lost, Desperate Housewives, and Grey’s Anatomy. But with Lost ending it’s mysterious run in 2010, Desperate Housewives currently shooting their final season now, and the future of Grey’s Anatomy in question after this season, ABC has wisely begun to shift its attention to comedy. The network currently has the most successful new show in years with its Emmy Award-winning series Modern Family, and has recently added to that success with several other popular comedies including Cougar Town, last year’s mid-season replacement Happy Endings, and Tim Allen’s recent return to television with Last Man Standing. Now the network will try to add to it’s comedy roster once again with the new series Man Up!, which premiers tonight, Tuesday October 18th at 8:30PM EST on ABC.

The series, which will run after Allen’s Last Man Standing, was written and created by Christopher Moynihan (Coupling) and stars himself, Dan Fogler (Take Me Home Tonight), Mather Zickel (I Love You, Man), Henry Simmons (NYPD Blue), Teri Polo (Meet the Fockers), and Amanda Detmer (Saving Silverman). The show revolves around three adult friends, Will (Zickel), Kenny (Fogler), and Craig (Moynihan) who spend their free time playing Call of Duty together and dreaming of being “real men,” when they’re not dealing with the various women in their lives. Polo plays Theresa, Will’s wife and the true “man of the house,” while Detmer is Brenda, Theresa’s sister and Kenny’s ex-wife who wants to make him jealous with her perfect new boyfriend Grant (Simmons). The pilot skillfully sets up all of these situations, while Moynihan’s Craig deals with his ex, a woman he is still madly in love with and who is set to marry someone else that day.

Last week, I had a chance to speak with the show’s creator and star Christopher Moynihan about his new series Man Up! I caught up with the actor/writer while he was on the set of the show filming it’s ninth episode and he spoke openly with me about creating the series, his character’s Graduate moment, playing video games, ABC, following Tim Allen, casting Dan Fogler, and working with the legendary Billy Dee Williams.

Paramount Pictures likes what they see in Last Man Standing, an upcoming graphic novel from Heavy Metal Publishing that was apparently a huge hit at Comic-Con. (Yes, they actually have comics at Comic-Con.) This is looking like the next big thing comic geeks will fall in love with, and soon the same might be said for fanboys of all stripes...