Like the cavemen whose simulated grunts first made him famous, Tim Allen is still carrying a torch for his dead ABC sitcom Last Man Standing. Allen took time out from his busy “misunderstanding things” schedule this week to go on Norm MacDonald Live and wax poetic about the show, discussing all the ways his character Mike Baxter was too “dangerous” for Hollywood liberals.
“There is nothing more dangerous, especially in this climate, than a funny, likable conservative character,” said Allen, possibly over-estimating exactly how likable people actually found his cranky throwback to be. He also drew parallels between Baxter and Archie Bunker, noting that, unlike Carroll O’Connor, he actually mostly believed the right-wing talking points his character was constantly dishing up.
Allen also bemoned the show’s treatment by its network, which canceled it despite strong ratings. Executives for the network have placed the blame on the series’ price tag, which was higher than average because the show was produced at an outside studio. (Something similar is thought to have stopped it from being revived at CMT.) Either way, Allen is bummed, suggesting that his clan of well-off conservatives would have been a great lead-in for the network’s upcoming revival of blue-collar sitcom Roseanne. “I have no idea why they did what they did,” Allen said in reference to the cancellation. “You couldn’t have handled this worse.” (Or, in Caveman: Auuuuuuuuughhhhh?!)