(L-R) TIM ALLEN, JONATHAN ADAMS (ABC/Tony Rivetti)(LOS ANGELES) — While arguably not everybody’s cup of tea, it’s obvious that Tim Allen’s affable family sitcomLast Man Standing has a following: it wouldn’t have lasted six seasons if it didn’t.
The Friday night show had been getting solid ratings, but ABC Entertainment President Channing Dungey announced at the network’s “up fronts” gathering Tuesday that the series, which she admitted was a “steady performer,” was being cancelled for “business and scheduling reasons.”
It was apparently news to Allen, who tweeted, “Stunned and blindsided by the network I called home for the last six years. #lastmanstanding”
Stunned and blindsided by the network I called home for the last six years. #lastmanstanding
— Tim Allen (@ofctimallen) May 16, 2017
Fans called foul, citing politics. Allen played a Trump supporter, one whose take on political correctness in part mirrored Allen’s own.
Incidentally, Allen got into hot water recently after telling Jimmy Kimmel, in an anecdote about attending President Trump’s inauguration, “You gotta be real careful around here. You get beat up if you don’t believe what everybody else believes. This is like ’30s Germany.” Many people criticized Allen for apparently equating criticism of conservatives to persecution by Nazis.
Last Man Standing‘s cancellation sparked a Change.org petition that had attracted more than 235 thousand signatures as of noon Wednesday. The organizers said in part, that the show “appeals to a broad swath of Americans who find very few shows that extol the virtues with which they can identify; namely conservative values.”
The petition adds that although, “some of the characters in the show are clearly of the liberal persuasion…the characters on the show all manage to get along and take care of one another, despite their politically opposed views.”
During the announcement, Dungey didn’t address Allen’s politics when asked if they motivated her decision.
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