Fox announced Wednesday that Tim Allen’s death-defying family sitcom will conclude with its upcoming ninth season, which is set to premiere in January. The network resurrected the series in May 2018, ordering a seventh season nearly a year to the day after its controversial cancellation at ABC.
In one of the most obvious decisions of the broadcast season, Fox has renewed Tim Allen comedy Last Man Standing. The pickup is for the multicamera comedy’s eighth season overall and the second on Fox.
Exclusives
The Viacom-owned network is in preliminary talks to revive the Tim Allen comedy Last Man Standing canceled by ABC. Insiders stress talks are in the early stages as CMT is exploring if it can revive the expensive show at a price point that works for the niche cable network.
Studio 20th Century Fox Television is looking for a new home for canceled Tim Allen comedy Last Man Standing. Studio presidents Jonnie Davis and Howard Kurtzman say they were surprised by ABC’s decision to pull the plug on the show. “That’s the one that’s really an open sore right now,” Davis said. Kurtzman added, “We really were expecting a pickup. The fact that we didn’t get a pickup was a surprise and a disappointment.”
A number of conservative critics and media outlets — including Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker — are accusing ABC of playing politics in prime time with the cancellation of the Tim Allen sitcom Last Man Standing. Allen’s character is an outspoken conservative and a Christian who regularly talks up “traditional” American values.
Last Man Standing is no longer on its feet: ABC has axed the Tim Allen sitcom after six seasons.
ABC’s Friday comedy Last Man Standing was not a hot off-network commodity when Twentieth Television first took it syndication buyers at NATPE 2014. For the week of Dec.5, Last Man Standing was No.4 among all 19 comedies airing in broadcast syndication. It’s hard to pinpoint one reason behind the show’s unexpected strong syndication run. But one may be Tim Allen — star-driven sitcoms have always been a major draw for stations looking for off-network product.
Tim Allen visited Chicago last Thursday to promote the off-network syndication launch of his sitcom, Last Man Standing. The comedy holds the No. 1 slot among all the new first-run and off-network syndicated programming and is already ranked No. 6 among all 19 syndicated comedies. Last Man Standing airs on many Tribune stations, including WPIX New York, KTLA Los Angeles, WGN Chicago, WPHL Philadelphia and KDAF Dallas. On hand were (l-r): Ken Lawson, 20th Television, Sean Compton, Tribune, Allen and Larry Wert, Tribune.
The Friday comedies, which debuted strong for the night, will have 18-episode seasons on the network.
ABC has given full season orders to Once Upon a Time and Last Man Standing. Additionally, the network has extended the episode count for Happy Endings to 22 and has ordered five more scripts for the 1960s-set aviation drama Pan Am.
‘Last Man Standing’ Falls In Second Week
Tim Allen’s new ABC sitcom Last Man Standing didn’t match last week’s lofty premiere but the show held up decently in week two. Standing averaged a 3.0 adults 18-49 rating at 8 p.m., down 14% from last week’s hour-long premiere, which averaged a 3.5 rating. Standing was still well ahead of last year’s timeslot occupant on ABC, No Ordinary Family, and it helped lead-out Man Up! to a so-so 2.4 in its debut episode at 8:30 p.m.
A Strong Return For Tim Allen On ABC
Tim Allen’s Last Man Standing, the comedian’s first TV venture since the wildly successful Home Improvement in the 1990s, got off to a good start in the 8 p.m. Tuesday timeslot where ABC has struggled the past few years. Man averaged a 3.5 adults 18-49 rating for its one-hour debut at 8 p.m., bettering the launch of last year’s timeslot occupant, No Ordinary Family, by 9%. The show finished second in its timeslot to CBS’s NCIS and also averaged 13 million total viewers.
