Tim Allen will be returning to prime time this fall with the new FOX rendition of “Last Man Standing” after an unexpected hiatus following ABC’s abrupt cancellation of the show despite solid ratings and a loyal fan-base. Speculation at the time was that parent-company Disney axed the show because it centers on a Christian conservative patriarch that says politically incorrect things.
In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Allen triggered the Left again by injecting some sense into the national conversation regarding President Trump. While Allen doesn’t classify himself as a “Trump supporter” (he endorsed Kasich), the famed sitcom star believes that people need to calm down and look at the evidence, which shows that the economy is living up to the MAGA promise:
I’ve met [Trump] at the charity event years ago, and that certainly doesn’t fit with the man who tweets. I’ve met a lot of people in private whose public persona is a bit off. My perception is ‘let’s see what he gets done.’ Let’s stop banging on the pilot’s door and trying to pull the guy out of his seat while he’s still flying. You might not like how he’s flying the plane but let’s let him land it.
Allen explored that a bit more by suggesting maybe some of Trump’s style could just be theater as he gets results people have long been waiting for:
Do I like him or agree with him? … I don’t know. Somebody got this NAFTA thing done. How did that happen? It’s like a slight of hand with this dude. There’s this smoke and smelly food but over here he just fixed a pothole. The theater of this is fascinating. He doesn’t do it very attractively but you don’t even realize the economy is doing better. Is it? There’s so much drama. Maybe it took this type of guy to get stuff done because it was so stuck in the mud. I’m just watching the theater of it and trying to keep my personal opinions out of it. What difference does it make whether I like him?
Earlier on in the interview, Allen rejected political labels by preferring to go by the term “political anarchist,” emphasizing that he wants citizens and people to do the work that government cannot do competently. He also hates taxes and wants them lower. Though those are all conservative platforms, he did not own the label.
As to why his “Last Man Standing” character Mike Baxter has become such a popular character as a wealthy blue-collar guy, Allen said it’s because Baxter worked from the ground up and loves the outdoors along with how things work. In a way, he’s almost an exact doppelganger to Allen’s other alter-ego, Tim Taylor of “Home Improvement,” which lasted 8 seasons on ABC.
‘Blue collar’ is people who do a lot of stuff with their hands — to me that’s what ‘blue collar’ is. Much to be honored and so misunderstood. You flush a toilet and don’t even think about how cool that is, how that works. Outdoor people seem like they’re not environmentalists but they’re actually the most environmental — they want the outdoors to stay exactly the same so they can go and hunt things. It’s practical. [Mike Baxter] worked his way up, went to college and worked at a small fishing store, and by sweat and equity built it up through 11 stores. So yes, I would guess [he’s rich], but we never really deal with how wealthy this guy is. And he never forgot where he came from.
“Last Man Standing” will return to FOX on September 28.