12 Best Shows Like Last Man Standing You Should Watch Next

“Domestic Goddess” Roseanne Barr’s stand-up comedy routine ascended from the stage to become a sitcom legend in “Roseanne.” Departing from the aspirational middle-class airs that defined many of its television predecessors, “Roseanne” is a slice-of-life from the perspective of the working-class Conner family. Matriarch Roseanne Conner (Barr) and her husband Dan (John Goodman) toil away in fictional Lanford, Illinois, job-hopping and penny-pinching to keep the lights on for their three children. “Roseanne” is both devastatingly funny and assertively poignant, and the show never shied away from taking a stance on controversial topics.

“Roseanne” broke away from the sitcom mold. Its popularity signaled that audiences were ready to embrace the complexities of their own lives in sitcom form. Yet, as trailblazing as “Roseanne” was, it still adhered to many sitcom tropes, and in later seasons the show played with them in a very self-aware fashion. “Last Man Standing” doesn’t make a habit of television meta-commentary, but, like “Roseanne,” it takes on topical social issues through its familial dynamics. What’s more relatable than seemingly out-of-touch parents arguing with their kids only to resolve the issue with a good old heart-to-heart conversation? Next time you need a dose of realism with your laugh track, fire up an episode of “Roseanne” and expect to be delighted.