Actor Tim Allen announced Tuesday that Fox has renewed his hit sitcom Last Man Standing for a ninth season, signalling continued viewer interest in the series that ABC mysteriously cancelled in 2017 after six seasons.
The popular sitcom is virtually unique among major network series in its portrayal of a conservative protagonist. Mike Baxter (Tim Allen) is a devoted family man who works as a marketing executive at a sporting goods store. The series follows the ups and downs of his personal and professional life, with the most recent season concluding with Kristin– one of Mike Baxter’s three grown daughters — going into labor.
“@LastManStanding is returning for yet another season!! Can’t wait to be back with my #TV #Family,” Allen tweeted on Tuesday.
ABC’s decision to cancel Last Man Standing — which is produced by 20th Century Fox Television — after six seasons came as a surprise since the show had drawn a consistent viewership in its Friday evening time slot. At the time, ABC Entertainment president Channing Dungey claimed that she axed the show for “business and scheduling reasons” and not for political ones.
Tim Allen is a rare TV and movie star who is also politically conservative, though he is often coy about his beliefs. In 2017, he told Jimmy Kimmel that life in Hollywood is difficult for conservatives. “You get beat up if don’t believe what everybody believes. This is like ’30s Germany. I don’t know what happened,” he said.
Shortly after Last Man Standing was cancelled, ABC’s Dungey also gave the axe to Roseanne, the network’s top-rated sitcom, after Roseanne Barr tweeted insensitively about Obama senior advisor Valerie Jarrett. Like Allen, Barr is a political conservative who has supported President Donald Trump.
Fox eventually picked up Last Man Standing and put it in its Friday night line up, before moving it to Thursday evenings.
Like many TV shows, Last Man Standing saw its most recent season cut short by the Chinese coronavirus pandemic. It remains unclear when the sitcom will start shooting its ninth season, since the major studios still haven’t said when production activity will resume.
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