Tim Allen not holding back in return of 'Last Man Standing'

'Last Man Standing' star Tim Allen is excited for the new season. But the actor told Fox News at the Fox Television Group Upfronts in New York City that when it comes to his hit sitcom's return, it will be all about the jokes and less about political correctness.

If there’s one person who was eager to bring “Last Man Standing” back on television, it was Tim Allen.

And one hot topic Allen said the show will address? Guns.

The 64-year-old star explained his character “owns a sporting-goods store that has firearms, so we’re going to have to deal with that somehow.”

“Last Man Standing” tells the story of a married father of three who tries to maintain his manliness in a world often dominated by women.

The popular sitcom was resurrected by Fox for Season 7 a few weeks ago, after ABC canceled the show in 2016.

The show’s original cast, including Allen, Nancy Travis, Jonathan Adams, Amanda Fuller, Christoph Sanders and Jordan Masterson, are lined up to return.

Tim Allen was eager to bring back 'Last Man Standing.' (ABC)

Last Man Standing.

Allen teased a possible reboot of “Last Man Standing” on social media a few weeks back.

“I’m excited because we have so much left in our tank,” he told Closer Weekly. “There were a lot of stories we hadn’t gotten to.”

Allen, a conservative who has voiced his support for Trump, stars as Mike Baxter, who is also politically conservative on the show.

Gary Newman and Dana Walden, chairmen and CEOs of Fox Television Group, said the decision to bring back the series was a no-brainer.

Tim Allen, a conservative who has voiced his support for Trump, starred as Mike Baxter, who is also politically conservative on the show. (Reuters)

“’Last Man Standing’ ended too soon and the outcry from the fans has been deafening,” they shared. “We’ve wanted to put the show back together since its final taping a year ago, and Tim never gave up hope either. Thanks to its millions of devoted viewers and the irrepressible Tim Allen, we haven’t seen the last of ‘Last Man Standing.’”

“Last Man Standing” averaged 8.3 million viewers in Live +7 ratings for the 2016-17 season on ABC. It was the network’s second most-watched comedy, after “Modern Family.”

Many speculated at the time that the network axed the series over its politics, a rumor that ABC vehemently denied at the time.

“We’ve been talking to Tim throughout the year,” revealed Walden during a 2018 programming presentation for the press earlier this month. “We tried to move ‘Last Man Standing’ over last year when ABC decided not to move forward. It’s a really funny show… We always felt that for whatever reason, ABC didn’t really prioritize ‘Last Man Standing.’”

Newman added that despite rumors, he doesn’t believe ‘Last Man Standing’ was canceled over Allen’s political views.

“I’m not sure that cancellation really had anything to do with politics,” he said. “If anything, it may have had something to do with that network trying to own more of its schedule… Tim’s personal politics really aren’t a big feature on the show… [Mike Baxter] doesn’t have extreme political views.

Newman noted fans of “Last Man Standing” were quick to launch a petition to bring back the series. However, he didn’t believe the lasting success behind “Last Man Standing” was solely based on Baxter’s conservative values.

“I think one of the great things about broadcast television is that the fans get very connected to these stars, the characters and the shows,” he said. “And a lot of that social sentiment that you see results in online discussions about shows, I think, is part of what drives the success of the show.

“That fan base identifies or appeals to them that Tim has his particular political viewpoints. I just don’t think the show ends up delving into it very deeply. From time to time, there may be a moment on the show that deals with current politics, but it doesn’t feel like a soapbox or any particular point of view.”

Last Man Standing has a complicated history. The comedy originally aired on ABC but was canceled after six seasons despite high ratings. Fans of the show immediately jumped to blame the network for discrimination against Tim Allen, who has conservative political views in a staunchly liberal atmosphere.

Whether or not politics had anything to do with it will probably remain a mystery. But thankfully for fans of the show, Last Man Standing lived to see another day when it was picked up by Fox. The decision to resurrect the comedy paid off in the form of excellent ratings ever since. Fox’s President of Entertainment Michael Throne recently congratulated the cast on their 150th episode, calling the show “one of television’s most popular comedies.”

But now that the new lineup was announced, will Last Man Standingremainstanding?

What happened in the last season of ‘Last Man Standing’?

At the end of Season 7, Mandy and Kyle moved into their new apartment despite reservations about their shared future. Mike issued the couple an ultimatum, which didn’t go over well with Kyle. By the end of the episode, however, the men bonded over a waffle make that belonged to Mr. B’s deceased father. It was emotional and poignant with a few laughs thrown in for good measure.

The final episode brought a successful season to a close andthe cast was very happy with how everything had turned out during theirfirst year on a new network. As executive producer Kevin Abott explained, “I do think that there’s a subtle quality thattranslates itself to the screen when the people doing it are really enjoyingthemselves. And this was just a delightful season, and I think that’s very rareto say about a seventh season of a show, because it gets harder.”

Will ‘Last Man Standing’come back in the fall?

The one big change for fall is that Last Man Standing won’t be returning to Friday nights as that spot is reserved for WWE’s Smackdown Live. However, that’s no reason for fans of the show to get discouraged.

The network confirmed thatTim Allen’s Last Man Standingwouldreturn in the fall of 2019, but a specific day and time slot hasn’t beenannounced yet.

“[In the] short-term,Friday night is going to WWE,” FOX Entertainment chief Charlie Collier explainedto reporters at the Television Critics Association winter press tour.“We’ll look to stand [LastMan Standing] up on another night.”

Why is ‘Last Man Standing’moving to a new night?

The main reason for theshakeup is the overarching goals at Fox, which include introducing a new genreof show into their lineup.

“We set some comedy goals, one of which was ramping up our animation lineup; that was our No. 1 comedy target,” Fox Entertainment President Michael Thorn said while naming three new animated series on the fall schedule. They also mentioned wanting to pair the show with a worthy complement.

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No matter where Last Man Standing winds up, we can’t wait to watch!