As all the major TV networks announced their pickups and cancellations for the upcoming
season, the biggest surprise came from ABC.
Even though the Tim Allen show Last Man Standing was the network's second highest-rated comedy,
ABC decided to drop the sitcom after six seasons.
Why would they end one of their most successful shows without warning?
Here are some of the reasons Last Man Standing took a fall.
A major network shift
Though Last Man Standing aired on ABC, the network didn't actually own the show.
The sitcom was produced by 20th Century Fox, which meant ABC had to pay licensing fees
every season.
This may have factored into the cancelation because it made the show more expensive than
some of their other comedies.
Still, that may not be the whole story.
ABC's Fresh Off the Boat is also produced by 20th Century Fox, but was renewed for a
fourth season despite lower ratings.
ABC Entertainment President Channing Dungey said that axing Last Man Standing was simply
a business decision.
The network decided to make Friday a night for dramas.
And once the scheduling switch was made, they felt Last Man Standing had no place to go.
The show shared the night with Dr. Ken, which was also canceled, though the Ken Jeong program
netted half as many viewers on an average night.
Dungey explained the difference, saying, "Last Man Standing was a challenging one for me
because it was a steady performer in the ratings, but once we made the decision not to continue
with comedies on Fridays, that was where we landed."
Fridays will be all drama on ABC now, including Once Upon a Time and Marvel's upcoming Inhumans
series.
Budgeting woes
For a lot of shows, season seven is a year of contract negotiations.
Last Man Standing was no exception: Tim Allen's contract needed to be renewed, which more
than likely meant a pretty big raise.
Since the show made less money for ABC because it was owned by Fox, and because Allen already
had a pretty sizable salary, the network may not have wanted to pump even more money into
the sitcom.
Sure, ratings were good, and good ratings typically equal lots of network dollars.
But Last Man Standing also didn't have the ideal audience.
Advertisers want viewers in the 18 to 49 age group.
While the program did fairly well in that demographic, the show's audience skewed older.
If advertisers weren't willing to shell out the big bucks, ABC wasn't willing to foot
the growing bill.
Playing politics?
After Last Man Standing's cancellation was announced, rumor quickly spread that ABC pulled
the plug because of Allen's openly conservative politics.
The show's premise rested on an old school guy who rails against PC culture and wishes
we could go back to the good old days.
"Women want to have sports—sporting events with men!
I don't get it.
Because if you beat a woman you're a bully, but if you lose to a woman you're an embarrassment."
Some suspect the network may have wanted to distance themselves from that conservative
viewpoint, especially since Dungey has previously said Donald Trump's presidency has made her
re-think the network's' programming slate.
"You'd think any woman would know the value of being compared to a device like this.
but no, no, no."
In real life, Allen is a proud Republican and has stirred up some controversy with his
off-kilter comments about his status as a rare conservative in Hollywood.
"You gotta be real careful around here.
You get beat up if you don't believe what everyone believes.
This is like '30s Germany.
I don't know what happened."
Wisconsin's Republican Governor Scott Walker tweeted his support to Allen, stating "Looks
like ABC is playing politics with your show despite decent ratings.
Sad."
Conservative pundit Glenn Beck chimed in during his online radio show, vowing "to start looking
into why this show got canceled."
In response to the rumors, the network has insisted politics played no part in Last Man
Standing's demise.
As ABC President Dungey put it, "I canceled Last Man Standing for the same business and
scheduling reasons I canceled The Real O'Neals, Dr. Ken, The Catch, and American Crime."
Straightforward as that might sound, it did nothing to stem the tide of fan outrage.
"When life knocks you down, you don't lie on the canvas, crying like Al Gore after the
2000 election.
Boy, he blew up like the Hindenberg, didn't he?"
Fighting back
Days after the cancellation was announced, Tim Allen tweeted that he was "stunned and
blindsided by the network I called home for six years," and his fans were just as irked.
A Change.org petition to save the show drew more than a quarter of a million signatures
of support during the days after the show's fate was sealed.
Though the vocal support proves the show has a fervent fanbase, its chances for finding
a new home are low.
According to Deadline, Fox considered taking the show, but decided they didn't have a place
on their schedule.
The possibility of the show moving to streaming services or other outlets is also reportedly
remote.
"Oh come on, Frank."
"My husband will kick your ass first!"
All of the above
In the end, it looks like a number of different factors played into Last Man Standing's surprising
cancellation.
ABC is rearranging their schedule and the show was deceptively expensive — and to
think that politics had absolutely nothing to do with it might be a bit of a stretch,
despite the official line.
Whether a boycott of the network or a fan petition will ultimately have much impact
remains to be seen.
"Protestors are rarely interested in facts, and unfortunately we don't get picketed by
angry historians."
For now at least, it looks like the Last Man Standing probably won't get back up any time
soon...
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