Last Man Standing was a hit television series that, despite being forced to switch networks
halfway through its run, lasted for nine seasons and represented a career renaissance of sorts
for lead actor Tim Allen.
Tim had previously headed the successful sitcom Home Improvement, and Last Man Standing was
a sort of spiritual successor.
Many have wondered why Last Man Standing came to an end after nine seasons, and it’s become
clear why thanks to interviews with the cast.
Join Facts Verse as the Last Man Standing cast confirms why the show was canceled for
good.
Last Man Standing Survived Being Cancelled by ABC
When Last Man Standing ended its run in May of 2021, it had been on the air for nine seasons!
Few could’ve predicted what a hit the show would become for lead actor Tim Allen, with
the series striking a chord with fans of the actor’s previous hit series, Home Improvement.
Like all good things, Last Man Standing had to come to an end eventually.
However, when Last Man Standing ended its run after nine seasons, it wasn’t the first
time it had been canceled!
Last Man Standing infamously survived being canceled by its home network of ABC in 2017.
Thankfully, the show was actually owned by the FOX network, which produced it.
Many speculated that Last Man Standing was canceled by ABC as a result of star Tim Allen’s
longtime outspoken conservatism, though spokespeople for the network claimed that this wasn’t
so.
Tim has spoken on the occasion that being a conservative actor working in Hollywood
is akin to being a Jew trying to find work in 1930s Germany, and conservative actress
Gina Carano was later fired from the Disney+ series The Mandalorian for making similar
claims.
Given that the ABC network is owned by Disney, this could be a precedent.
After Last Man Standing was canceled by its home network of ABC, the FOX network came
in and gave the show a second chance.
The show switched networks in 2017 and ended up lasting for another couple of seasons on
the FOX network before finally coming to an end in May of 2021.
When asked why ABC had let go of the series, spokespeople claimed that the show had become
too expensive to produce and was no longer worth the effort.
The Show Was Picked Up By the Fox Network The prospect of several more seasons of Last
Man Standing may not have seemed all that lucrative to ABC, but FOX felt differently.
The show ended up finding a nice home on the network, and the network certainly didn’t
have any problem with lead star Tim Allen’s conservatism as a result of its inherent Fox
News affiliation.
Some casting changes came alongside the show’s switch to the FOX network, though the show
had experienced similar changes before.
The series maintained a relatively consistent quality up until its finale, and fans were
satisfied with the show’s conclusion.
Many have wondered why Last Man Standing came to an end after nine seasons, and it seems
that the show had simply run its course.
There don’t seem to have been any bad feelings amongst the cast and crew, and it seems that
everyone amicably agreed to make the ninth season of the series it's last.
Because of this, the ninth season of the show go to take its time to tie up loose ends,
which helped it to become a hit with fans of the series.
There was also the matter that ratings had been dropping slowly but surely over the course
of the show’s last several seasons, which made the creative staff realize that the clock
was ticking.
Last Man Standing ended with an hour-long series finale that aired on May 20, 2021.
Fans were generally very satisfied with the popular series’ conclusion, though there
were a few issues that longtime watchers had with it.
One of these issues was that actress Alexandra Krosney wasn’t brought back for a cameo
appearance.
Alexandra Krosney portrayed the character of Kirstin Baxter over the course of the show’s
first season before being replaced by actress Amanda Fuller for its second season.
Amanda would then go on to play the character for the rest of the show’s run, but there
are many diehard fans that still consider Alexandra the true Kirstin.
Fans hoped that the producers would at least bring actress Alexandra Krosney back for some
type of cameo, but they eventually decided against it.
Alexandra Krosney may have been the first star of Last Man Standing to be replaced over
the course of the show’s nine seasons, but she’s certainly not the only one!
Other characters that were recast over the course of the show’s run include Boyd Baxter
and Mandy Baxter.
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Alexandra Krosney Was Recast Early On Many fans wondered why Alexandra Krosney ended
up being replaced in the role of Kirstin Baxter after Last Man Standing’s first season.
According to producers, they simply wanted to go with someone a little bit older for
the role because they believed that would grant them increased story opportunities.
The recasting of the character angered many fans that had started watching the show during
its first season, and this outrage continued over the course of the show’s run.
It got to the point where actress Amanda Fuller, who was hired to replace Alexandra Krosney
from the show’s second season onwards, felt more hate from fans than love.
Still, there were plenty of audience members who didn’t start viewing the series until
after the recasting and came to know the character of Kirstin first and foremost via Amanda’s
portrayal.
Sadly, Last Man Standing isn’t the only series that Alexandra Krosney has been recast
on.
Following being replaced on Last Man Standing, Alexandra Krosney was given a role on the
series iZombie and then similarly recast.
Not long after this, it seems that the actress decided to call it quits on acting for good,
with her not having appeared in an acting role since 2016.
Alexandra would be the first star of Last Man Standing to be replaced, but not the last.
Another Last Man Standing character that was recast multiple times was the character of
grandson Boyd Baxter.
Grandson Boyd Baxter Was Recast Multiple Times Boyd Baxter was the grandson of Tim Allen’s
Mike Baxter on Last Man Standing, and the character was recast twice over the course
of the show’s nine-season run.
For the first season of the show, a pair of young twins by the names of Evan and Luke
Kruntchev played the character.
Following the show’s first season, a young star by the name of Flynn Morrison was hired
to take on the role.
It is Flynn that remains the most iconic of the several actors to have portrayed the character
of Boyd, though he would later be replaced in the role upon the series’ jump to the
FOX network.
When FOX revived the show after its ABC cancellation, a slightly older teenage actor by the name
of Jet Jurgensmeyer replaced Flynn.
Once this happened, the character of Boyd began showing up a great deal less.
As was the case with the character of Kirstin Baxter previously, the producers claimed that
they recast the character of Boyd Baxter following Last Man Standing’s jump from ABC to FOX
because they felt that aging the character up might grant them increased story opportunities.
However, they didn’t end up making much use of the new and slightly older Boyd.
Another character who began showing up a lot less during the show’s later seasons was
Eve Baxter, who was played consistently by actress Kaitlyn Dever over the course of the
show’s nine seasons.
Kaitlyn decided to work on the show less so that she could work on other series around
the time that Last Man Standing changed networks.
Why Eve Baxter Was Written Off of the Show When Kaitlyn decided to take a decreased role
on Last Man Standing, the producers decided that they didn’t want to replace her in
the role of Eve Baxter.
Instead, the creative staff simply found a way to explain why the character of Eve was
absent most of the time.
On the series, the character of Eve went into the Air Force Academy, though Kaitlyn returned
to reprise the role multiple times over the course of the show’s final years.
Kaitlyn returned a few times during the show’s final season, making for some fan-pleasing
moments.
Another big fan-pleasing moment during the show’s ninth season came when Tim Allen’s
character of Mike Baxter got to meet the character of Tim Taylor, whom Tim Allen had previously
portrayed in Home Improvement.
Mandy Baxter Was Also Recast After the Network Jump
Another character that was recast over the course of Last Man Standing’s Run was Mandy
Baxter.
During the ABC years, actress Molly Ephraim played Mandy.
Upon the show’s jump to the FOX network, actress Molly McCook replaced her in the role.
As with Alexandra Krosney, many diehard fans of the series expected to see Molly Ephraim
pop up for some kind of cameo role during the show’s final season.
However, the producers ended up deciding against bringing back either of the actresses, even
though they claim that they thought about it.
Despite this small grievance that some diehard fans had with Last Man Standing’s final
episode, the show’s finale ended up being a generally crowded-pleasing affair.
Tim Allen Is Still Working Hard 68-year-old Tim Allen is keeping busy in the
wake of Last Man Standing’s end.
The actor has recently started up a new competition series on the History channel alongside former
Home Improvement co-star Richard Karn.
Not only that, but it appears that the conservative actor may have put his beef with the Disney
corporation behind him after Last Man Standing’s ABC cancellation.
Despite Tim continuing to espouse is Republican beliefs, it appears that Disney has asked
back to reprise the titular character in a new streaming program based upon their film
series The Santa Clause.
Last Man Standing lasted for nine seasons and seems to have come to an end because most
of the creative staff simply thought it was the right time.
Now it’s time to hear from you: did you know that multiple characters on Last Man
Standing were recast over the course of the show’s nine-season run and that some fans
believe that ABC canceled the series because of star Tim Allen’s conservative beliefs?
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