‘Last Man Standing’ Cancellation ‘Was Handled Very Badly’: Tim Allen

Fans were outraged earlier this year when the popular sitcom “Last Man Standing” was given the ax by its network, ABC.

The decision to cancel the show seemed strange. “Last Man Standing” was a highly rated comedy that was successful in both its initial broadcasts and in syndication.

The series followed a conservative father named Mike Baxter (played by Tim Allen) as he raised his three daughters and struggled to adapt to a quickly changing world.

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With ABC not able to provide a consistent or convincing reason for cancelling the sitcom, many people felt the reasons were political, since “Last Man Standing” was one of the few right-of-center programs on television, Tim Allen was an open conservative, and the series was incredibly popular in red states.

Tim Allen stopped by a recent episode of the weekly podcast “Norm MacDonald Live,” hosted by MacDonald — and he touched on his show’s ending despite stellar ratings.

“You couldn’t have handled this worse,” Tim Allen said about how ABC canceled the sitcom. “Not for me because I’ll survive, but there [are] 190 of us that worked there [on the show].”

“It was handled very badly,” Allen reiterated. “I have no idea why they did what they did.”

Allen said the lateness with which the decision was made to cancel the show and the shock from those on the show because of the success of the series left many in the cast and crew high and dry.

“It was handled very badly,” Allen reiterated. “I have no idea why they did what they did.”

When MacDonald suggested studio heads may have been fearful of a successful “rural comedy,” Allen seemed to acknowledge the politics of his show certainly didn’t help its standing in the industry.

“There’s nothing more dangerous to me, especially in this climate, than a funny, likable conservative,” Allen said. “Because he [Mike Baxter] was mitigated on the show by a family of women [who] had different opinions, but the guy was a likable guy.”

He added about his character, “He was a principled guy just about work and ethics and all this stuff.”

Related: Fans Boycott ABC Boycott ABC Over ‘Last Man Standing’ Cancellation

Allen said the network had already made questionable decisions about his show, none of which affected its success.

“They put us out to pasture on Friday [nights] and we won Friday,” he said.

He said the network is missing an opportunity, as it is reviving an old sitcom that would have made a perfect pairing with his already successful show. “I would have put ‘Roseanne’ after us,” Allen said.

Related: Will the ‘Roseanne’ Revival Be Pro-Trump?

Before moving onto another topic in the interview, Allen said one more time, “I think there’s nothing more dangerous right now than a likable conservative character.”