(ABC / Tony Rivetti)
Ever since ABC cancelled Tim Allen’s Last Man Standing TV show last week, fans have wondered if the family comedy series got the axe, partially in reaction to Allen’s conservative politics. ABC entertainment president Channing Dungey told reporters today, that the Last Man Standing cancellation came down to a business decision.
The Last Man Standing TV series follows straight-talker Mike Baxter (Tim Allen), a man surrounded by women. The ABC cast also includes Nancy Travis, Molly Ephraim, Kaitlyn Dever, Amanda Fuller, Jordan Masterson, Flynn Morrison, Jonathan Adams, Christoph Sanders, and Hector Elizondo.
TV Line reports:
[In] a conference call with reporters on Tuesday, ABC entertainment president Channing Dungey waved off the suggestion that Allen’s politics informed the axing.
“Look, sadly, a large part of these jobs [as network bosses] is managing failure. We have to make the tough calls and cancel shows that we otherwise would love to stay on the air,” she said. “But I cancelled Last Man Standing for the same business and scheduling reasons that I cancelled The Real O’Neals, Dr. Ken, The Catch and American Crime.
“Last Man Standing was a challenging one for me, because it was a steady performer in the ratings,” Dungey acknowledged, “but once we made the decision not to continue with comedies on Friday, that was where we landed.”
ABC this fall will open Friday night with Once Upon a Time‘s seventh season. Marvel’s Inhumans will follow at 9/8c, then cede that time slot to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. after its 8-episode run ends. Explaining that combo, Dungey said the network was curious to see how Once performs away from Sunday night football, and that there has always been viewer interest in seeing the fantasy drama paired with S.H.I.E.L.D.
Of course, Last Man Standing was also a pricey sitcom, fueled by TV vet Allen’s salary, and it also is produced not by ABC but 20th Century Fox TV. Addressing the ownership issue, Dungey said, “I wouldn’t say that that was the sole factor in not bringing Last Man Standing back.”
Last Man Standing: A Look at the Ratings
The sixth season of Last Man Standing averaged a 1.15 rating in the 18-49 demographic with 6.41 million viewers. Compared to the fifth season, that’s down by 5% only in both measures. That’s not a big decline for a show six years into its run.
Although when sorted by ratings demo numbers Last Man Standing ranks 12th among the 25 scripted ABC TV shows we’re tracking, in terms of average total audience size it’s a top three show.
Remember, the sitcom racked up those numbers on Friday nights, when the audience is smaller. Since Last Man Standing was the Alphabet Network’s 2nd most-watch sitcom (following Modern Family), fans were understandably surprised by the cancellation.
What do you think? Were you a fan of the Last Man Standing TV series? Should it have been cancelled or renewed for a seventh season on ABC?
Absurd! Many people love this show and abc is ignorant to cancel it. Lame excuse. You know it was for political reasons, no matter what abc says. You’re losing many people, and just because you don’t hear from them about it, doesn’t mean they aren’t there. No abc for me.
Last Man Standing should not have been canceled. It was the best sitcom on TV at this time. During this very long phase of “reality TV” a good sitcom has been hard to find. LMS filled the hole.
I read the reasoning behind the cancellation of Last Man Standing and I know that there are reasons that the tv watching public will never get to know. But it seems that with some of the shows that were not cancelled, this is one that could have been moved and kept on the air. My wife and I have decided not to watch ABC shows anymore. There are plenty of other shows and channels we can watch.
Love the show love Tim Allen. Would definitely watch on another network
Love the show love Tim Allen. Would definitely watch on another network.
I absolutely loved the show…can’t understand why it would be cancelled….will not be watching any shows on ABC….
Last man standing was the one of the last comedys on that I liked watching, since they cancelled Mike and Molly. We really enjoyed watching the show. All the characters were an asset to the show! Why don’t you care about what the people over 49 years old think. This was a show our whole family could set down and watch together. I guess we will just have to watch the reruns now. I hope you regret this decision or another network picks up the great show and puts abc to shame!
I think he’s full of crap on his supposed reasons for canceling Last Man Standing
Last Man Standing was a funny family show. You could always count on a good laugh and stress relief. I am not one to watch hour long shows, they are either fake scripted romantic reality shows or Cop, Medical or political dramas. With so much negativity and stressful political situations in this country people need a comical show to get us through the week. Since the cancellation I have not watched ABC since and I watched it Tuesdays, Wednesdays and daily watching the Chew. I hope ABC loses watchers which causes a huge financial loss
I totally agree. Bye ABC!
My husband and I both really enjoyed Last Man Standing and made it a point to be home on a Friday night just to watch this show. We are extremely upset with this decision and will definitely join the boycott the ABC network shows. Your excuse for cancelling was not sincere and truly shows your lack of knowledge what a good wholesome program is. I hope the millions of views who share our disappointment with this decision will truly boycott ABC.
Boycott is the only way ABC will get it.
You still have time to change your mind and do the right thing. Last Man Standing should be brought back it doesn’t have to run on Friday night just because that’s where it originally played.
Lets hope ABC knows what the right thing is.
I WILL NOT BE WATCHING THOSE SHOWS ON ABC OR ANY OTHERS FRIDAY NIGHT OR NOT !! SORRY ABC YOUR ONLY FAILURE IS CANCELLING LAST MAN STANDING !!!’m
Bye bye ABC. That was the last show that kept me coming to your channel. I will continue going to the stations that have comedy to watch as we all need a little laughter in our lives.
It should have been renewed. The exec’s remarks are bogus at best and lies at worst. The show COULD be picked up by another station. It IS that good.
Other networks are you hearing us? This is a very popular show and you will be rewarded with millions of fans. GOOD FOR EVERYONE.qMGHN
ABC can babble any excuse those exec’s thinks sound good BUT it’s their actions and history screaming the truth! The were two much better possibilities 1) if you can move “Once Upon A Time” (losing all known characters) & other pitiful series should move “Last Man Standing” and give it a second chance too, not that it’s needed (over 8 million viewers on a slow night?!!) hack off eight million+ more viewers ABC, keep on renewing garbage, axeing good shows and booting fantastic shows out the door just like you did “Nashville” and nobody will even remember hell bent ABC… Read more »
Another horrible cut was American Crime, one of the most intelligent shows on the air, but they keep a lot of crap.
Fox already turned it down, and its parent company is the one making money on syndication, so that should tell you something about the supposed political reasons the show was cancelled. it was simply not economical. Even if another network were to pick it up, they would have to lean down the cast and get Allen to take less money to make it feasible to continue.