Tim Allen and Me! (Well, Tim Allen in “Last Man Standing,” Talking about Free-Range Kids)

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“The line of cars for pick-up was three stupid blocks!” announces “Boyd,” the adorable moppet on “Last Man Standing,” as he gets home from school.

Turns out he is quoting his grandpa, played by Tim Allen, who allowed him to walk instead of being driven. The boy’s dad, Ryan, is horrified. “It’s way too dangerous!”

And so begins an itakybrtyk
episode titled, “Free-Range Parents.”

Yes, we’ve hit the big time.

So the dad and grandpa argue about the dad’s hovering. The dad — who looks to be about 38 — says, “Don’t even joke. There are child abductions all the time. That’s why I don’t buy into the whole ‘Free-Range Parenting.'”

When asked what this is, he explains, “It’s a movement where parents let their kids walk home and play outside unsupervised.” (Or so I scrawled while watching, my mouth agape. A sitcom declared us a movement!)

Tim Allen rejoins, “You mean what we used to call ‘childhood.'”

Then Boyd pipes up, “That was fun today. Can I walk by myself tomorrow?”

I leave you to watch the rest of the episode here (I couldn’t find the embed code), including a sub-plot about another over-the-top fear. While the metric tonnage number of commercials is fairly maddening, it sure was worth it.

And Tim, if you’re reading this: Thanks. (Call me!) — L.

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I'm Tim Allen and I endorse Free-Range Kids. (At least when I'm in character.) (But probably all the time, right? He seems like he would.)

I’m Tim Allen and I endorse Free-Range Kids. (At least when I’m in character.) (But he probably does in real life too, right readers? He seems like he would.)

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21 Responses to Tim Allen and Me! (Well, Tim Allen in “Last Man Standing,” Talking about Free-Range Kids)

  1. Michelle October 12, 2015 at 6:08 pm #

    I loved this episode! I hoped you’d mention it! 🙂

  2. LauraL October 12, 2015 at 9:40 pm #

    My entire household lit up when we saw the title of the episode!

  3. Edward Hafner October 12, 2015 at 10:22 pm #

    COOL!
    And the “Black-ish” Zero Tolerance episode; AWESOME!

    (Correct me if I’m wrong but now we need an EPIC episode from someone and just for old times sake, a good old FAR OUTer!)

    Really, this was great – OH, OH – an Epic episode would have a “Special Guest Star” (Hint hint wink wink).

  4. Wendy W October 12, 2015 at 10:54 pm #

    I’m a season behind and watching on Netflix. Sounds like I need to jump ahead!

  5. Crystal October 13, 2015 at 9:46 am #

    My husband and I loved this show! It’s pretty much the only thing on TV that calls it like it is anymore.

  6. E October 13, 2015 at 11:13 am #

    I haven’t watched this episode, but I’ve been watching Parenthood on Netflix. It’s a multi-generational drama about a family with Bonnie Bedelia and Craig T Nelson as the matriarch/patriarch.

    I’ve observed some of these same conflicts in regard to what the grandparents think their grandchildren are capable of AND by the same token, need to be held accountable for.

    It’s nice to see these topics played out.

  7. Rhonda October 13, 2015 at 11:19 am #

    To be honest, I was pretty worried when I saw the episode title. Even though I love the show, I had this fear that FRK would be poorly represented.
    I was pleasantly surprised, to say the least. I should have never second guessed the show, it’s always pretty much right on.

  8. A Dad October 13, 2015 at 11:34 am #

    Wow!!

    There quite a bit of philosophy by Outdoor Man in relation to FRK.

    Tim gave a good summary at the end of the FRK episode on how to face the unknowns. What he said is how humans have faced the unknown since time began.

    However, we in modern society feel we know so much more and have decided to react differently.

  9. Vicky October 13, 2015 at 12:40 pm #

    Outstanding. Just more proof that common sense isn’t really dead in America, just liberals own the media that makes us believe it’s dead.

  10. E October 13, 2015 at 2:21 pm #

    Atta girl Vicky! Let’s take a great post and insert your personal politics into it!

  11. Linda October 13, 2015 at 3:08 pm #

    I really enjoyed this! Aside from the laugh track and the not-so-subtle liberal blaming.
    But I can live with being blamed if it gets more kids outside (without GPS trackers).

  12. EricS October 13, 2015 at 4:46 pm #

    This is one of the reasons why I enjoy watching this show. Tim/Mike is old school. Who tries to make both the old ways work with the (not so confident) new ways. I got hooked on this show, 1. because I’m a fan of Home Improvement and Tim Allen, 2. the very first episode was about Mike teaching his grandson how to play “dodge ball”, or rather, learn to take a hit. lol While Boyd, freaks out saying “it’s dangerous”. Boyd is cast as the atypical paranoid, believing everything on the internet, sanctimonious parents of today. And Mike, well, he’s like the rest of us. lol

  13. EricS October 13, 2015 at 4:50 pm #

    “You mean what we used to call ‘childhood.’”

    I loved when he said that, I was hoping he would say it when they started talking about “Free Range Parenting”.

    They can call it whatever they want, but it’s really just childhood for our species prior to this generation. And as long as people are starting to re-notice that, and taking a step back from their teetering paranoia, keep it going.

  14. EricS October 13, 2015 at 4:56 pm #

    @A Dad: “However, we in modern society feel we know so much more and have decided to react differently.”

    Because of technology, and social media, many just THINK they know more. In reality, they have more information to access, but because they don’t stop to think before accepting those “information”, they never realize how off or wrong they are. It comes again down to “common sense”.

    Technology has made people become more lazy. Even too lazy to research about that “bear who took a child from a campsite and raised it as it’s own”. To many, as bizarre as that may sound, they will actually take it at face value. Because after all, it’s on the internet. lol My rule of thumb, if it sounds strange, or a little off, I’m using Google to cross reference stories. Most times, it’s a hoax, or some yahoo decides to repost an old news article and leave key points out. Causing people to think it’s recent, and real. And then spreading it out even more. THIS is how we lost what childhood was, and “Helicopter parenting”, and “Free Range Parenting” came to be.

  15. Papilio October 13, 2015 at 5:45 pm #

    Aaaww, that’s so cool 😀 And promising too, that they didn’t misrepresent it.
    I’ve never heard of this show, though it might be broadcasted here somewhere, I just don’t watch sitcoms. I do watch crime series, and this post reminds me a bit of how Castle would sometimes (try to) be a bit over-protective with his teen daughter (who is far more level-headed than he ever was, as his mother reminds him time and time again, so common sense would still win over his paranoia 🙂 ).

  16. LauraL October 13, 2015 at 6:31 pm #

    I have to laugh at the liberal-blaming. I’m quite the left-leaning liberal, I support Lenore and FRK 100%, and I love Last Man Standing. This political blaming is unnecessary. Just encourage EVERYONE to give their kids more freedom, regardless of the color of their politics.

  17. Paul Bearer October 14, 2015 at 5:07 pm #

    Personal politics are irrelevant, I’m a liberal New Yorker who knows plenty of paranoid liberal parents, but I work at a school in a very conservative suburb and find conservative parents to be exactly the same.

    This is an issue of ignorance and skewed perceptions, things that a wide number of Americans on both sides of the aisle suffer from.

  18. James Pollock October 14, 2015 at 5:48 pm #

    There’s no shortage of partisans who believe that THEY have flaws that WE don’t have (insert identities for THEY and WE accordingly).

    Of course, as a centrist, *I* don’t have any flaws like that…

  19. Fiamma October 15, 2015 at 10:46 am #

    The funniest thing to me is my husband and I are more lax with our three year old than his parents ever would be. LOL My mother in law used to panic when I would tell her I left our son napping the car when he was 1 1/2 years old, in my driveway where I can see him. She would ask if the doors were locked. I live on a dead end street where most people work from home and a car does not come down this street without someone noticing.Paranoia is not just for this current generation of parents.

  20. Julie October 15, 2015 at 7:33 pm #

    I LOVE that show! And, although I don’t usually follow celebrities, I do have to say I’ve always loved everything Mr Allen has been in. He’s terrific.

  21. Rachelle October 23, 2015 at 11:19 am #

    Love it! Just to let you know, the dad (Ryan) is under 30, because Boyd was conceived during their last year of highschool. So he should be mid-20s.