‘Roseanne’ Inspired Fox to Pick Up ‘Last Man Standing’

New network, same old antics. At the Television Critics Association‘s 2018 summer tour Fox’s CEOs, Dana Walden and Gary Newman, had a frank discussion about Last Man Standing‘s new life on Fox, how Roseanne‘s popularity influenced Fox’s decision to pick up the series, and whether or not Tim Allen‘s character is a Trump supporter.

“Going back over a year now when Last Man Standing was canceled on ABC, we really had a desire to bring that show back,” Newman said. “We really thought it was canceled too soon and it was more about ABC wanting the opportunity to program Friday night with its own studios.”

But after securing Thursday night football and seeing Roseanne’s reception, Fox decided to move forward with the canceled ABC series. “When we did see the success of Roseanne, which really reminded us that a family comedy with a strong point of view and strong central character that would play well with the middle of the country, can be a pretty powerful show to have. We thought this is the time to bring back Last Man Standing.”

Walden and Newman were also asked what the political leanings of Tim Allen’s character would be. Throughout Last Man Standing‘s six seasons, Mike Baxter (Allen) was vocally opposed to Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

“I would say right now the producer’s plans are simply not to address whether or not he might be a Trump supporter. Clearly he’s a character with a conservative viewpoint,” Newman said. In Fox’s continuation of the show, Mike will have a “fairly centrist viewpoint.”

“Of course that could change during the season, but there are no plans [to change that] at this time,” he added.

“I think the [Mike’s] kind of a socialist,” Allen said later in the day during Last Man Standing‘s official panel. “This guy is a practical guy. He owns a big business. He’s probably pro-business. He’s probably pro-Trump. He probably doesn’t defend him.”

Allen then clarified that the show isn’t supposed to be pegged to Trump. “Whatever’s good for his business and good for the state of Colorado, the policies and stuff, he’s going to go with [that],” he said. “The character himself, I don’t think we’re going to address [Trump] one way or another.”

Allen also addressed ABC’s decision to cancel Last Man Standing, saying that he doesn’t believe it was politically motivated. “My whole thing with ABC, I’ve worked with ABC for years. I know these people. And if it was a political motivation to remove that show they’re certainly smart enough to not admit it or show that side of themselves. I don’t really believe that it was. I believe that it was a financial decision on ABC’s part.”

Though Allen revealed that ABC executives and Disney CEO Bob Iger congratulated him on Last Man Standing’s Fox renewal, he doesn’t think the show’s original network handled its cancelation well. The comedian always asked that ABC give him a head’s up over Last Man Standing’s renewal status to account for his standup schedule. “Normally in April, May, you have a good idea. We had no idea.” Allen said. “I thought [the cancelation] was done very poorly. That’s my attitude.”

Last Man Standing has been one of the odder television stories from this past year. The comedy, which had a solid fan base, was canceled by ABC in 2017. At the time of its cancelation the show was the second most watched comedy at the network during the 2016-2017 season. But this year while axing New Girl and completely restructuring its live-action comedy lineup, Fox made the surprising move of picking up the newly dead series for a seventh season. It’s not unusual for networks to poach canceled shows from their competition, but waiting a full calendar year before making that move is.

At the time, ABC’s cancelation of Last Man Standing was surprising but not completely exceptionally so. The network was eyeing a Roseanne reboot that looked like a promising investment. If it wanted to take some sitcom gambles, it had room. But as we all now know, Roseanne was a mess. Last Man Standing always felt more like a Fox show anyway.

Season 7 of Last Man Standing premieres on Fox September 28, 2018.

Note: This article has been updated to include Last Man Standing’s panel at TCA 2018.

Where to stream Last Man Standing