Why was 'Last Man Standing' canceled?
ABC denied claims that politics played a role in the cancelation of "Last Man Standing."
The reason for the cancelation was ABC's decision to change its Friday programming schedule. The network quoted Channing Dungey, ABC Entertainment president, who said in a conference call to reporters, "'Last Man Standing' was a challenging one for me, because it was a steady performer. Once we made the decision not to continue with comedy on Friday, it was just kind of that's where we landed."
She stated that the political leanings of Tim Allen, the star of "Last Man Standing," had no impact on the decision to cancel the show. Allen is pro-Donald Trump. "I wouldn't say that was the deciding factor," she said in the conference call.
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She revealed that the network applied the same set of criteria used to evaluate the other shows on the network. According to her, among the factors that are considered on whether to continue or cancel the show are studio ownership, future creative direction, viewer engagement, and ratings.
From comedy, the new Friday lineup of ABC will now feature superhero shows, specifically "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." and the new show "The Inhumans." These will then be followed by the news program "20/20."
On Twitter, Allen expressed his disappointment that his show had been canceled. He tweeted, "Stunned and blindsided by the network I called home for the last six years. #lastmanstanding." Prior to ABC's official statement, rumors ran that the reason for the cancelation was Allen's conservative political views. Aside from that, "The Last Man Standing" was shown to depict the conservatives in a positive light, which is contrary to how they are presented in popular media. Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker sent a message to Allen via Twitter following the show's cancelation, saying, "Looks like ABC is playing politics with your show despite decent ratings. Sad."
"Last Man Standing" ran for six seasons prior to its cancelation.
