It’s not just a show victory; it’s a conservative one.
On May 10th, 2017, after six successful seasons — and despite being the second-most-watched ABC sitcom during the 2016-17 season — the Tim Allen hit Last Man Standing was abruptly canceled.
Did parent company Disney just not like money? Why else would the show have gotten the ax?
Stunned and blindsided by the network I called home for the last six years. #lastmanstanding
— Tim Allen (@ofctimallen) May 16, 2017
Tim had an idea, expressed on Norm Macdonald LIve:
“I always wanted Last Man Standing to be like Archie Bunker. Archie Bunker pushed boundaries, but Carroll O’Connor was not that guy at all. I am a version of that guy. But there is nothing more dangerous, especially in this climate, than a funny, likable conservative character.”
Aside from the “danger” of his conservative bent, Tim was at a loss:
“I have no idea why they did what they did. … Second biggest show, [ABC] hadn’t won a Friday night in 15 years. They put us out to pasture on Friday and we won Friday. Big night for us. Big night for them. I would have put Roseanne after us. Use us just to launch shows, if nothing else.”
A year later, a television miracle happened: after much protest over the inexplicable canning, Fox revived the show.
Tim was elated:
“Team LMS was in the sixth inning, ahead by four runs, stands were packed and then for no reason, they call off the game. It leaves you sitting in the dugout, holding a bat and puzzled. Now we get the news from Fox that it’s time to get back out on that diamond – hell yes, I’m excited! When I heard the offer to create more episodes of Last Man Standing, I did a fist pump so hard I threw my back out. I could not be more grateful for the fans who wrote petitions and kept up the passion and incredible support for the show.”
As of October, the comedy was killin’ it in the ratings, averaging 8 million viewers on Friday nights (see my coverage here).
In January, it was still going strong, as reported by Deadline:
The juggernaut that is Fox’s Last Man Standing continued its Friday ratings stranglehold, once again winning the demo wars with a solid 1.2/6 and 6.21 million total audience.
So how’s it doing now?
The sitcom centered around a Republican dad and husband is set to return April 19th — for its milestone 150th episode.
Congratulations to Tim and the crew, and to those of us supporting a true act of diversity in Hollywood network programming.
-Alex
BY THE WAY: I HEARTILY RECOMMEND TIM’S BOOK, DON’T STAND TOO CLOSE TO A NAKED MAN.
Relevant RedState links in this article: here.
See 3 more pieces from me: Superman & Lois, a Christmas miracle, and saving yourself.
Find all my RedState work here.
And please follow Alex Parker on Twitter and Facebook.
Thank you for reading! Please sound off in the Comments section below. For iPhone instructions, see the bottom of this page.
If you have an iPhone and want to comment, select the box with the upward arrow at the bottom of your screen; swipe left and choose “Request Desktop Site.” If it fails to automatically refresh, manually reload the page. Scroll down to the red horizontal bar that says “Show Comments.”
Join the conversation as a VIP Member