Frank Micelotta/FOX/PictureGroup(LOS ANGELES) — Tim Allen’s Last Man Standing returns to TV this fall, this time on Fox. With Roseanne gone, Allen’s character, Mike Baxter, is one of the few politically conservative starring characters on TV these days. But Allen and executive producer Kevin Abbott told the crowd at Thursday’s Television Critics Association summer press tour in Beverly Hills that the renewed show will be focused on family and not politics.
“I don’t think we are going to comment specifically on Trump,” Abbott said at the panel. “I think Mike Baxter is a conservative. He’s a Republican. He holds those ideals, but I don’t think we’re going to address it one way or the other.”
When ABC cancelled the sitcom last year, many assumed it was because of Allen’s conservative political views. He assured the crowd at the panel that isn’t true.
“I worked for ABC for years. I know these people and if it was a political motivation to move that show, they certainly wouldn’t be dumb enough to admit it or ever show that side of themselves. I don’t really believe that was,” Allen said. “I think it was a financial decision on ABC’s part.”
However, Allen was surprised by the network’s decision.
“We had like 8.1 million viewers,” he added. “That’s big stuff in this world. We just got kind of stretched. I thought it was done very poorly.”
Last Man Standing premieres on Fox this fall.
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