Kerby Anderson

Was an ABC sitcom cancelled due to Hollywood politics? Some viewers think so and started an online petition calling for a boycott of ABC. Two weeks ago, ABC News announced they were cutting Tim Allen’s show, The Last Man Standing. He responded with a short Twitter announcement: “Stunned and blindsided by the network I called home for the last six years.” Some viewers point to the show’s cancellation as a “clear victim of an attack on conservatives.” On the surface it would seem that this family comedy about a man who has strong conservative opinions about politics and culture got the axe because of those views. The show has been a mainstay on ABC’s Friday schedule. It had an average of about 6 million viewers. That is more than the ABC shows “black-ish” and “Shark Tank.” It is more than the ABC show, “The Goldbergs,” which just scored a two-year renewal for a fifth and sixth season. It is also worth mentioning the “The Last Man Standing” has also done very well in syndication. The network contends that money was the issue. Each year, apparently, there was wrangling over the license fee for the program between ABC and 20th Century Fox TV. Also, the cost is higher than for other programs because of the salary that Tim Allen receives for the show. Money might be the reason, or money might be the excuse. I don’t really know, but it does remind me of the comments we heard from department stores that dropped the Ivanka Trump line of fashions. Was it the lack of profitability of her fashion line or the fact that executives of these stores hated her father? It’s hard to tell. Some speculate that the show might move to Fox TV since 20th Century Fox TV already owns the show. It might also end up on Hallmark or Netflix. That might be a better fit for a show that makes conservative comments that doesn’t go over so well with Hollywood executives.