In a sneak peek into Last Man Standing‘s upcoming 150th episode, Mandy Baxter (Molly McCook) is lamenting the struggle she’s come across in getting her clothing line off the ground.
She considers hiring an influencer, which Mike Baxter (Tim Allen) says is just a cool word for a spokesperson, in order to help sell more of her designs.
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“The last two months I’ve been trying to get meetings with buyers but they’ve all said no. I just need someone to say yes,” Molly said, before revealing her latest idea is to pay an influencer to wear her designs.
“Oh, what’s an influencer?” mom Vanessa Baxter (Nancy Travis) asks.
“It’s a cool way to say spokesperson,” Mike says.
“No, it’s a social media celeb who makes ton of cash endorsing products to all their followers,” Mandy responds.
“Sounds like a spokesperson,” Vanessa says, bringing home the joke.
The 150th episode, titled “Yass Queen” and set to air Friday, April 19, will also be a Reba reunion of sorts. Showrunner Kevin Abbott, who was previously an executive producer on Reba McEntire‘s eponymous sitcom, brought back none other than Melissa Peterman, who famously played Barbra Jean on Reba.
In the episode, Mike disagrees with Mandy’s plan to hire an influencer, and he invites Mandy to sit in on a meeting with an aggressive sales rep named Celia Powers (Peterman) in the hopes of installing some old-school business strategies in his middle daughter.
“When we were conceiving the character, we immediately thought of Melissa,” Abbott told TVLine. “[Executive producer] Matt Berry is my No. 2 on this show, and he was my No. 2 on Reba, and we just love her.”
Throughout the episode, Celia becomes a sort of mentor to Mandy, which is ultimately “somewhat off-putting to Mike,” Abbott said. “Mike’s a little bit more of a straight arrow, whereas Melissa’s character is outrageous. She considers herself a millennial and very hip [with the times], so they’re very funny together.”
About said he hopes to have Peterman back in the just-announced season 8. “You don’t necessarily have to script funny for Melissa. She’ll just find the funny,” he said. “We hope to have the character [return].”
Friday’s landmark episode won’t be the first time that Last Man has hosted one of Abbott’s former sitcom stars. McEntire herself previously guest-starred as Mike’s ex-girlfriend Billie back in season 5, longtime fans will recall.
Last Man Standing‘s 150th episode, which is season 7’s 20th, airs Friday a 8 p.m. ET on FOX.
