Last week during the 2017 television upfronts, ABC announced that Last Man Standing had been canceled, along with Dr. Ken on the network’s Friday night schedule (while Modern Family got picked up for another two seasons). There was no reason given for the cancellation of the conservative-leaning show, which has always managed to squeak by on somewhat decent ratings — although the attention Tim Allen recently drew to himself by comparing Hollywood to living in “1930s Germany” may not have helped.
In any case, conservative fans are pissed about the demise of their favorite show, and are demanding satisfaction with a petition and threat of a boycott of ABC, should the Disney-owned network refuse to un-cancel the show as NBC recently did with its sci-fi time-travel drama Timeless.
The petition, which has accumulated nearly 100,000 signatures at the time of this writing, makes the case that Last Man Standing “appeals to a broad swath of Americans who find very few shows that extol the virtues with which they can identify.”
Last Man Standing was not just selling conservative ideals though, as some of the characters in the show are clearly of the liberal persuasion, yet the characters on the show all manage to get along and take care of one another, despite their politically opposed views. The show is about more than politics though, it is about family. In fact, politics is only a secondary part of the show, but one in which many Americans can readily identify.
Last Man Standing is one of the only shows on broadcast television, and the only sitcom, that is not constantly shoving liberal ideals down the throats of the viewers. And sadly, that is likely the real reason the show has been cancelled.
ABC will be officially releasing its 2017 fall schedule later Tuesday morning, so it still remains to be seem whether or not fan voices will be heard.
(Via Entertainment Weekly)
