'Roseanne' Opened Door to 'Last Man Standing' Possible Revival

Tim Allen may have Roseanne Barr to thank for the likely revival of Last Man Standing on [...]

By Libby Birk

Tim Allen may have Roseanne Barr to thank for the likely revival of Last Man Standing on Fox.

Roseanne's massive success week after week during its first revival season may have encouraged those at Fox to consider the conservatively-leaning sitcom, TV editor Lesley Goldberg wrote Thursday.

"Memo from Tim Allen to Roseanne: 'Thanks!'" Goldberg cracked on Twitter.

"That's a joke, but the success of [Roseanne] opened the door for this to become a larger reality. It was ABC's No. 2 comedy behind [Modern Family] when ABC canceled it. A revival comes as networks catering more to middle America," Goldberg continued.

While Allen may not have actually sent Barr a memo, he did take to Twitter to confirm that the revival is well on its way to a sure fire deal.

"They heard all your voices people!! [Last Man Standing] just might be a reality," Allen wrote in a recent tweet."Keep it up. Who wants more [Last Man Standing]?"

Last Man Standing got the axe last May, causing an uproar among fans who speculated that Allen's well-vocalized conservative beliefs contributed to the decision — although ABC Entertainment president Channing Dungey denied those claims and stressed that the network's sizable licensing fee to 20th TV was behind her decision to drop the show. Allen's contract was also about to be up after season six, with a new, larger deal almost certainly increasing the cost of the aging show.

Allen himself added to the controversy last fall, telling Norm Macdonald Live, "There's nothing more dangerous, especially in this climate, than a funny, likable conservative."

Like Roseanne, Last Man Standing appealed to a conservative audience and featured a main character, Allen's Mike Baxter, who is a political conservative and devout Christian adhering to traditional American values. The sitcom widely appealed to middle America, where Roseanne, headed up by another politically conservative actor, also proved to be massively popular.

Allen has reportedly signed on with Fox for a deal for a potential season 7. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Allen has been a driving force in the conversations that are already underway with key cast members and executive producers from the original series to join him.

Insiders stressed to THR that talks are still on the early side and have time to break down ahead of the network's May 14 upfront presentation to Madison Avenue ad buyers.

The Fox revival reports come after Allen and the network's studio counterpart, 20th TV, attempted to find the series a new home in CMT. Talks for a short-order or multiple-season/20-episode revival ultimately broke down due to the expensive nature of multi-camera comedy.

What's interesting about this deal is that ultimately, Disney may be the conglomerate that winds up owning Last Man Standing, should regulators approve Disney's $52.4 billion deal to buy Fox assets. Fox produced Last Man Standing when it aired originally on ABC, but current discussions involve rebooting and putting it on Fox.

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