''Last Man Standing'' is an Australian television series that aired in from June 2005 to October 2005 on

Seven Network Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...

; and in New Zealand from April to September 2005. It was aired also in

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

(''Viimeiseen mieheen'') in 2007. The series did not return for a second season.

Overview

The main characters are three best friends — Adam, Bruno and Cameron — who live and work in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. Adam is newly single, having come out of a long-term relationship, and is dealing with the dating world for the first time in a long time. Cameron is the sexual predator of the group, although this role has been somewhat lessened by the fact that his ex-wife Zoe — who left when he had an affair — is now part of the group, and is becoming friends with the women he dates. Bruno is a nurse who has a habit of falling for women who don't care for him, while ignoring the many women who do. All three are discovering that, in their late twenties, they are still single and really have no idea about women whatsoever. In keeping with the show's distinctly

feel, iconic Melbourne rock band

Dallas Crane Dallas Crane are a triple ARIA Award nominated Australian alternative rock band from Melbourne. Their self-titled third album was released on 10 July 2004, and peaked in the ARIA Albums Chart top 50. Its lead single, "Dirty Hearts" (June ...

recorded a cover of ''Come See Me'', originally by

The Pretty Things ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

, for the show's theme tune. The cover can be found as a

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

to the band's ''Curiosity'' single

Cast

Main

Rodger Corser Rodger Corser (born 28 February 1973) is an Australian actor and TV host. Early life Corser graduated from Deakin University in 1996 with an Honours B.A. in Media Studies. He formed a band called Tender Prey when he was 16. They played their ma ...

as Adam Logan *

Travis McMahon Travis McMahon is an Australian actor. For his performance in '' Stingers'' he was nominated for the 2001 Australian Film Institute Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Guest Role in a Television Drama Series. After graduating from ...

as Bruno Palmer *

Matt Passmore Matthew Passmore (born 24 December 1973) is an Australian actor. In television, Passmore is known for his lead roles on Australian shows as Cameron Kennedy on the Seven Network series '' Last Man Standing'' (2005), Marcus Turner on the Nine Ne ...

as Cameron Kennedy *

Miriama Smith Miriama Te Rangimarie Smith (born 3 June 1976) is a New Zealand film and television actress who has played roles in various TV shows such as '' Xena: Warrior Princess'', '' Karaoke High'' and ''Shortland Street''. Her best-known roles, however, ...

as Zoe Hesketh

Recurring

Fletcher Humphrys Fletcher Humphrys (born 1 April 1976) is an Australian actor. He is best known for his roles as Brett 'Brick' Buchanon in ''McLeod's Daughters'' and as Alex Kearns in '' All Saints''. Career Humphrys made his acting debut in 1993, appearing i ...

as Anto * Anita Hegh as Marly * Jesse Griffin as Chich *

Nikola Dubois Nikola Dubois (born 1977) is an Australian actress who appeared on Neighbours. Neighbours Dubois appeared as a recurring character on ''Neighbours''. She played the role of Kirsten Gannon in 2007–08. She was nominated in the "Best Bitch" c ...

as Taia *

Jacinta Stapleton Jacinta Patrice Stapleton (born 6 June 1979) is an Australian actress. Best known for her role as Amy Greenwood in the Australian television soap opera ''Neighbours'' from 1997–2000, 2005 and 2020–2023). Her most notable role was playing u ...

as Syl * Stephen Phillips as Mark * Gillian Hardy as Anne * Terry Kenwrick as Gavin *

Kat Stewart Katherine Louise Stewart (born 30 November 1972) is an Australian actress who has made numerous appearances in television series, movies and on-stage. Early life Kat Stewart is the daughter of Tony and Kitty Stewart and was born and raised in B ...

as Claire * Cal Wilson as Nurse Jude Vanderwert * Susan Godfrey as Nurse Rachel Barton

Guests

Benjamin McNair Benjamin John McNair (born 25 August 1974, London) is an Australian actor, best known for his role as Malcolm Kennedy in the soap opera ''Neighbours''. Early life McNair moved to Australia with his family when he was 18 months old. He develope ...

as Nurse Derek (1 episode) * Brett Swain as Bret *

Diana Glenn Diana Glenn (born 1974) is an Australian actress with many credits in television, film, and theatre. Early life and education Glenn has an English father, Greek mother and three siblings. She attended Melbourne Girls Grammar School and studi ...

as Anguk (1 episode) *

Elena Mandalis Elena Mandalis (), also known as Elle Mandalis, is an Australian television, film and stage actress of Greek descent. She is known for her roles in Ana Kokkinos' films '' Only the Brave'' (1994) and '' Head On'' (1998), both of which explore th ...

as Margot (1 episode) * Kate Lister as Female Shopper (1 episode) *

Louise Crawford Louise Crawford (born 1978 in Queensland, Australia) is an Australian film and television actress, who is a councillor and mayor of the City of Port Phillip. Crawford has appeared in many Australian soaps and dramas, including a role as Sgt. Ka ...

as Spunky girl (1 episode) * Lucia Smyrk as Ricki (1 episode) *

Peta Sergeant Peta Sergeant is a Malaysian-born Australian actress best known for her lead role in the Australian television series ''Satisfaction (Australian TV series), Satisfaction''. She graduated from National Institute of Dramatic Art, NIDA. Career Her ...

as Janessa (4 episodes) * Sam Healy as Helen (1 episode) *

Tim Robertson Tim Robertson is an Australian actor and writer. Early life Robertson was born in 1944 in Braintree, Essex, in the UK. He relocated to Australia in 1952. He is a graduate of the University of Western Australia (1965). After graduating, he ta ...

as Bride's Dad (1 episode)

Broadcast history

The series premiered in Australia on 6 June 2005 - although it premiered in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

some two months earlier. It struggled to find an audience from the beginning, with an average Australian viewership of 750,000 weekly viewers. These low ratings occurred despite the show having ''Desperate Housewives'' as a lead in, which at the time was attracting over 2 million viewers a week. It was thought by critics that ''Last Man Standing'' appealed only to "inner city lefties", unlike past successful Australian dramas such as ''Blue Heelers'' and ''All Saints'' which have more widespread demographic appeal. Given that a full 22 episodes had been filmed before the series began airing, the

aired consistent repeats to allow the show to find an audience. Ratings didn't climb, however, and in early September, the network announced the show's cancellation. The

series finale A series finale is the final installment of an episodic entertainment series, most often a television series. It may also refer to a final theatrical sequel, the last part of a television miniseries, the last installment of a literary series, ...

aired on 25 October. This episode ended in a

cliffhanger A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious situation, facing a difficult dilemma or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode of serialized fiction or bef ...

, which - due to the show's cancellation - will remain unresolved. The series began its airing in the UK on the FX channel in early 2006. The series began its airing in Finland on the Sub (formerly known as Subtv) channel in June 2007.

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, id=0423685, title=Last Man Standing
Last Man Standing at the National Film and Sound Archive

Last Man Standing on 7plus
2000s Australian drama television series Seven Network original programming 2005 Australian television series debuts 2005 Australian television series endings