Last Man Standing Scores Season 9 Renewal at Fox
Fox is keeping the lights on at Outdoor Man, renewing Last Man Standing for a ninth season, TVLine has learned.
In addition to the Tim Allen comedy, the network has picked up a fourth season of medical drama The Resident. Both are expected to return sometime in 2021, following the release of a pandemic-proof fall schedule that mostly consists of sports franchises, reality series, animated tentpoles and postponed scripted fare.
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“The Resident and Last Man Standing are such important parts of Fox, and we’re so pleased they will be returning next season,” Fox entertainment president Michael Thorn said in a statement. “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.”
Tuesday’s renewals narrow the field of Fox scripted bubble shows down to two: Prodigal Son and Outmatched. (For an updated list of remaining bubble shows, click here.)
Coming up just one episode short due to the pandemic, Last Man Standing this season averaged a 0.74 demo rating and 4.3 million total viewers (in Live+Same Day numbers), down 32 and 26 percent from Season 7 (which aired on Fridays). But out of the 15 scripted series that Fox aired this TV season, it ranked No. 6 in the demo and third in total audience (where it easily outdrew any of the network’s Sunday-night animated comedies).
When Last Man first premiered on ABC in 2011, the show centered on Allen’s Mike Baxter, a happily married father of three daughters who found himself the odd man out in a home dominated by women. As of Season 8, Mike and his wife Vanessa (The Kominsky Method‘s Nancy Travis) are technically empty-nesters — though they do continue to house foreign-exchange student Jen (Dr. Ken‘s Krista Marie Yu).
Rounding out the supporting cast are Amanda Fuller (Orange Is the New Black) as Kristin, Molly McCook (Good Trouble) as Mandy, Christoph Sanders (Ghost Whisperer) as Kyle, Jordan Masterson (Greek) as Ryan, Jonathan Adams (Bones) as Chuck, Hector Elizondo (Chicago Hope) as Ed, and recurring guest star Kaitlyn Dever (Unbelievable) as Eve.
TVLine’s Broadcast Renewal Scorecard has been updated to reflect the LMS pickup. Are you looking forward to Season 9?
Launch Gallery: 2020 Broadcast-TV Renewal Scorecard
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