‘Last Man Standing’ Renewed for Season 9 by Fox

Fox officially renewed Last Man Standing on Monday, though it is still not clear when production will resume or when exactly new episodes may air. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Fox Entertainment President Michael Thorn announced the renewal on Monday, along with other live-action shows at the network. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, these shows are not included in Fox’s current fall schedule.

Fox reportedly intends to have Last Man Standing back on the air in 2021. The show is entering its third season on Fox and its ninth season overall, having originated on ABC. It was renewed along with The Resident on Monday, when Thorn said: “The Resident and Last Man Standing are such important parts of Fox, and we’re so pleased they will be returning next season. We want to thank all of the writers, actors, directors, producers and talented crews for both of these shows, and, of course, our friends and producing partners at 20th Century Fox Television.”

Fox has now given verdicts on the futures of almost all of its scripted shows, either renewing them for 2021 when filming will be safe again or canceling them altogether. The only two still unanswered for are Prodigal Son and Outmatched. The network still has brand new pilots in contention as well, though anything requiring an in-person film set would likely be left for 2021 as well.

Last Man Standing and The Resident are two out of the five live-action scripted shows Fox has now committed to — the others being the new Call me Kat, the procedural 9-1-1 and its spin-off, 9-1-1: Lone Star. All are tentatively expected to premiere after the midseason break in 2021, though that depends on how much restrictions ease as the coronavirus pandemic continues.

In the meantime, Fox’s fall line-up relies heavily on the network’s big roster of animated sitcoms, including The Simpsons, Family Guy and Bob’s Burgers. The network has two newer animated sitcoms going into their second season as well — Bless the Harts and Duncanville — and two brand new ones on the way. One is called The Great North, starring real-life couple Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally, as well as Jenny Slate, Wil Forte, Aparna Nancherla and others.

The other new animated sitcom is called Housebroken, starring Lisa Kudrow and Clea Duvall at the head of an all-star cast. It centers around a therapy dog named Honey, exploring human psychiatry from an animal’s perspective.

Other than that, Fox is relying on previously filmed but newly licensed content, as well as game shows and live events to fill out its fall schedule. Last Man Standing is expected to return some time in 2021.