Tim Allen on ‘Last Man Standing’ Revival: ‘Hell Yes, I’m Excited!’

Last Man Standing is back after one season off the air, and star Tim Allen could not contain his excitement.

“Excited? Team LMS was in the sixth inning, ahead by four runs, stands were packed and then for no reason, they call off the game. It leaves you sitting in the dugout, holding a bat and puzzled. Now we get the news from Fox that it’s time to get back out on that diamond — hell yes, I’m excited!” Allen said in a statement shared to The Hollywood Reporter. “When I heard the offer to create more episodes of Last Man Standing, I did a fist pump so hard I threw my back out. It’s the fans!”

The former Home Improvement star continued, “I could not be more grateful for the fans who wrote petitions and kept up the passion and incredible support for the show. And a fist pump, ouch, for Dana Walden and Gary Newman at Fox for not only listening to the fans, but for making the bold move to bring Last Man Standing back. I’m sure audiences will be curious to see what we look like after all these years. Oh, has it only been one year? Well, just goes to show you — a lot can happen in a year.”

Allen later tweeted his thanks to fans for their support.

“Thanks to all you guys for the support,” he wrote. “We are back!”

The news came after months of speculation that Fox was in talks with Allen to bring back the series, which originally aired on ABC and produced by 20th Century Fox TV, which explains how it landed at the new network.

On Thursday, Fox also cancelled three critically acclaimed single-camera comedies – Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Mick and Last Man on Earth. The network has yet to renew L.A. to Vegas and Ghosted, both single-camera format sitcoms without studio audiences.

Last Man Standing could give Fox an all-multicam line-up of sitcoms. The network also put in series orders for The Cool Kids and Rel, which will both feature studio audiences and laughter.

“Last Man Standing ended too soon and the outcry from the fans has been deafening,” added Gary Newman and Dana Walden, chairmen and CEOs at Fox Television Group. “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‘s revival also follows the success of Roseanne at ABC. Like Roseanne Barr, Allen is conservative politically and his show appeals to Middle America. Coincidentally, if Disney’s purchase of Fox assets is approved by the government, Last Man Standing could become a Disney property.

The new season will be Last Man Standing‘s seventh season. The series stars Allen as Mike Baxter, with Nancy Travis as his wife and Amanda Fuller, Molly Ephraim and Kaitlyn Dever as his daughters.