Tim Allen ‘overwhelmed’ by push to bring back ‘Last Man Standing’

Tim Allen told Fox News this week he is “overwhelmed” by fans who are calling for ABC to bring back “Last Man Standing.”

Fans called for ABC to bring back the show this week after Roseanne Barr revealed that her sitcom character on “Roseanne,” which ABC recently revived, is a Trump supporter. She said it’s realistic for her character to support President Donald Trump, as “half the people voted for Trump, and half didn’t.”

After this news broke, fans once again expressed their desire to bring back “Last Man Standing,” which was canceled in May 2017. At the time, fans believed “Last Man Standing” was canceled because its characters shared conservative values.

Allen said he couldn’t believe how supportive fans have been.

“The support from all the fans to bring back ‘Last Man Standing’ is truly overwhelming to me and so appreciated,” Allen told Fox News. “I, along with the talented writers, wonderful crew and terrific actors, would definitely entertain the idea of bringing the show back as there is so much gas left in the tank, more to be said, and laughs to be had.”

He added, “I know fans would love nothing more than for us to take the cover off, fire up the engine, back this car out of the garage and get it back on the highway, full-throttle. My sentiment sits in the front seat beside you.”

ABC canceled “Last Man Standing” last year after it spent six seasons on the network, according to the Deseret News. In fact, the show had the second-highest ratings of all comedies on the network, trailing only “Modern Family” in the category.

The show even had the network’s third-highest overall ratings, behind only “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Modern Family.”

ABC entertainment president Channing Dungey said the show was canceled because of scheduling decisions, according to Entertainment Weekly.

“A large part of these jobs are managing failure and we’ve made the tough calls and canceled shows that we’d otherwise love to stay on the air,” Dungey said.

“That’s the job. I canceled ‘Last Man Standing’ for the same business and scheduling reasons that I canceled ‘Dr. Ken,’ ‘The Real O’Neals,’ ‘The Catch’ and ‘American Crime.’ And ‘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.”

Allen was surprised by the show’s cancellation.

Fans started a petition at the time to bring back the show, calling ABC’s cancellation an example of the network’s liberal bias.

“It is a show that appeals to a broad swath of Americans who find very few shows that extol the virtues with which they can identify; namely conservative values,” the petition said.

Amanda Fuller, who played Allen’s daughter on the show, shared the petition, too.

“To all the devoted ‘Last Man Standing’ fans, thank you,” she wrote in a lengthy note. “I believe in the power that lies in storytelling being a mirror to our world, representing all voices … and for that reason I have always been proud and honored to be a part of ‘Last Man Standing,’ the only sitcom today that I feel truly strived to do that.”

Allen told the Deseret News in an exclusive interview last fall that his character from the show, Mike Baxter, was a “snarky” conservative.

“He tells constant jokes about big government and things that conservatives get labeled with,” Allen said. “The conservatives I know have nothing but admiration for people in trouble and people of different persuasions.”

He added that the show often united many people — not just conservatives.

“Conservatives understood and admired a liberal point of view, and liberals understood and accepted — and at times admired — a conservative point of view,” Allen said. “That show brought all of us together and it was an amazing occurrence.”