Was Tim Allen’s ‘Last Man Standing’ Cancelled Because of Trump?

In preparation for next week’s announcing of its television schedule for the fall, ABC Network made the announcement that it would cancelling the Friday night sitcom “Last Man Standing”, starring Tim Allen. The announcement was a mild  surprise given that the show was sporting decent ratings and was the network’s third-highest rated scripted program.

A number of conservative outlets have  given voice that this was done as a rebuttal to President Trump. The show has a defined right-of-center tone featuring Allen (himself an avowed conservative) as a family valued business man with Christian principles. He is often in scenes with a liberal son-in-law discussing socio-political issues, giving platform to views not commonly displayed in primetime. But is this a political hit job by liberal Hollywood on a conservative show?

That accusation withers under examination. For one issue this is not a new program denied a chance to thrive. “Last Man Standing” has been on the network for 6 seasons — hardly a sign of political intolerance. It is not as if ABC (owned by Disney with liberal-supporter Bob Iger) was surprised by the show’s content.

LMS was the anchor of its Friday night lineup, but at least one other Friday sitcom – “Dr. Ken” — was also cancelled, indicating a probable shakeup of that night’s schedule. That means if the network was being politically vindictive towards a show it was doing so at the expense of numerous titles in its lineup. It is hard to see executives so spiteful of one particular show to undercut numerous programs, and compromise one entire evening of its schedule.

More of an explanation for cancellation comes from the contract terms shifting this year. “Last Man Standing” is produced by 20th Century Television — for now. The terms of the agreement with ABC was that beginning next season the production costs would be taken on entirely by the network. This becomes especially burdensome for two reasons. First, star Tim Allen has a hefty contract. Secondly, as they grow older all shows see an increase in salary for the remaining cast. The network was facing taking on the cost of a show that held diminishing returns.

The variable in all of this is syndication. While that market has been on a downslide  “Last Man Standing” has been a rare instance of a show not only doing well but growing at a strong rate in the replay market. This brings about the likelihood of the show finding a home with another network. The Fox Network could be a sensible home, but also a cable outlet, such as CMT, could be a fit. That network took another comedy years ago — Reba — which saw a ratings bump after its move.

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