'Last Man Standing' Star Tim Allen Says Show Will Tackle 'Guns' in New Season

Tim Allen says that Last Man Standing will tackle the issue of guns when the series makes its TV return following its revival by Fox.

The sitcom Last Man Standing has been off the air for a year, and when the series returns at its new home at Fox, it will not be missing any hot topic beats, with series star Tim Allen revealing that the new season will take on the issue of guns.

"I'm excited because we have so much left in our tank. There were a lot of stories we hadn't gotten to," Allen told Closer, adding that one of those issues is the topic of guns, as his character Mike Baxter "owns a sporting-goods store that has firearms, so we're going to have to deal with that somehow."

Allen previously revealed at the 2018 Fox upfront presentations that the series, which had been cancelled by ABC in May 2017, will pick up eight months after the final episode. While the issue of gun violence had not been a hot button topic at that time, in the months since, a series of highly publicized school shootings has thrusted the topic to the forefront of the news.

While it is not clear how the issue will be dealt with, Fox Television Chairman and CEO Gary Newman said that Allen's own political aligning would not feature into the series.

"Tim's personal politics are not a big feature of the show and if you were to talk to Tim he would say [his character] is a centrist and the show never delved deeply into politics. We think it's a funny show and audience responded to it," Newman said.

On May 10, after months of speculation that the network was in talks with Allen to pick up the series, Fox announced that it would be reviving Last Man Standing. Originally airing for six seasons on ABC from 2011 to 2017, the multicamera comedy follows Allen's character Mike Baxter living in a house full of women.

"Last Man Standing ended too soon and the outcry from the fans has been deafening. 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," said Newman and Dana Walden, chairmen and CEOs at Fox Television Group.

The sitcom is set to join Fox's Friday night lineup, airing at 8 p.m. ET.