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Q: I have heard that ABC may not continue with "Last Man Standing," which has to be one of its highest rated shows. Why would they cancel it? Is it a political thing?

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Author: 
Adam Thomlison / TV Media

ABC has explicitly denied that it canceled "Last Man Standing," a conservative-themed sitcom, because of politics. Of course, the fact that it had to deny it is news in itself -- as you know, networks rarely give reasons for their cancellation decisions. 

That said, this one was particularly surprising, because "Last Man Standing" still had fairly strong ratings. They weren't excellent or anything, but they were still better than many shows that don't get the ax.

Indeed, the show's star, Tim Allen, said on Twitter that he was "stunned and blindsided" by the decision. Things got political afterward, with many fans arguing the network canceled it for its conservative values (or for Allen's conservative values), and at one point they called for a boycott of the network.

But ABC Entertainment president Channing Dungey denied it was a political decision, saying instead it was a matter of scheduling. "Once we made the decision not to continue with comedy on Friday, it was just kind of that’s where we landed," she said.

True to her word, the Friday night schedule this fall is a pretty serious affair: the fairy-tale drama "Once Upon a Time" leads in to the network's highly anticipated new comic book series "Marvel's Inhumans." The night rounds out with news-show mainstay "20/20."

"Unfortunately, we weren't able to create room for it on the schedule, which was a disappointment to me because the show was a high-quality show that was very well done," Dungey explained at an appearance at the Television Critics Association press tour. "But Tim Allen's personal politics had nothing whatsoever to do with it."

 

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