When ABC axed Tim Allen'a Last Man Standing last year, it caused an uproar with the show's fans. In an article on TheWrap.com, Reid Nakamura writes that the cancellation came despite steady ratings averaging more than 8 million weekly viewers on Friday nights.
ABC Entertainment president Channing Dungey issued a denial after Allen, who was outspoken in his disappointment, suggested that his conservative politics may have been a factor.
Then Fox stepped in, whose executives heard the outcry from fans. And now Last Man Standing is still standing.
The sitcom returns for its seventh season at 7 p.m. Friday on Fox. It stars Allen as Mike Baxter, a happily married father of three daughters who finds himself the odd man out as he tries to maintain his manliness in a home surrounded by women.
Mike tries to escape to the warm, manly embrace of his job as marketing director at the Outdoor Man store, a sporting goods emporium. He revels in his Outdoor Man video blog that he uses as a pulpit for opinions that often have nothing to do with the store's merchandise.
In addition, the show stars Nancy Travis as Mike's wife, Vanessa, along with Amanda Fuller, Christoph Sanders, Jordan Masterson, Jonathan Adams and Hector Elizondo as Ed Alzate, the owner of Outdoor Man.
Following at 7:30 is The Cool Kids from executive producer Charlie Day (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia). It stars David Alan Grier, Martin Mull, Vicki Lawrence and Leslie Jordan as a ragtag group of friends living in a retirement community. What unites them is their shared belief that they are not done yet -- not by a long shot. These self-proclaimed "cool kids" are determined to make the third act of their lives the craziest one yet.
-- Rosemary Boggs
Style on 09/23/2018