BEVERLY HILLS, California 鈥� Last Man Standing isn鈥檛 rushing to pick up the Roseanne pro-Trump mantle when it starts life at its new network this fall.
Tim Allen, star of the comedy that was axed by ABC and picked up by Fox, said his character is a centrist who would support Trump administration policies that help his business. But Mike Baxter probably isn鈥檛 a vocal defender of President Donald Trump, Allen said.
Series executive producer Kevin Abbott described Allen鈥檚 character as a conservative Republican, but he said it鈥檚 unlikely the show will address Trump one way or the other.
Allen chimed in teasingly, saying, 鈥淥h yes, we will.鈥�
A change of network won鈥檛 change the show, which will remain familiar to fans of its ABC run, Abbott said: 鈥淭he show was beloved by a large audience, and we want to keep that audience and we hope expand it a little bit.鈥�
His fellow executive producer, Matt Berry, said Last Man Standing and Roseanne can鈥檛 really be compared.
鈥淭he only similarities with the Roseanne show is we鈥檙e a family sitcom and the central character has a more conservative view,鈥� Berry said. But the revived Roseanne was an 鈥渋ssue-of-the-week鈥� comedy, and 鈥渨e don鈥檛 do issues of the week. We consider ourselves a family show with a traditional character at the centre.鈥�
Barr鈥檚 series, in which the star鈥檚 support for Trump was mirrored by her character, was cancelled by ABC after one hit season when Barr posted a racist tweet about former Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett.
Barr has both apologized for and denied knowing it would be seen as bigoted.
A spin-off, The Conners, will air this coming season on ABC with the Roseanne cast minus Barr.
Abbott and Allen said they were surprised by ABC鈥檚 abrupt 2017 decision to cancel Last Man Standing after six seasons, which Allen said was 鈥渧ery poorly handled.鈥�
Allen said at the time that his personal politics 鈥� he attended Trump鈥檚 inauguration 鈥� might have played a role, and on Thursday he said if there was a political motivation the network certainly wouldn鈥檛 admit it. But he added that it was a 鈥渇inancial decision on ABC鈥檚 part.鈥�
Allen also said that viewers shouldn鈥檛 judge him by his TV character and that his stand-up comedy was more revealing of what he believes.
The final season of Last Man Standing averaged nearly six million weekly viewers, more than some other ABC series that were brought back, including black-ish, Shark Tank and The Goldbergs. Fans clamoured for more, and Fox announced its decision last May to revive the show produced by sibling 20th Century Fox Television.
Some fans may be drawn to the family sitcom because of Allen鈥檚 personal political views, but they 鈥渁ren鈥檛 really a big feature of the show,鈥� Fox Television Group executive Gary Newman said then. 鈥淲e just think it鈥檚 a really funny show鈥� with general appeal.
Newman echoed Allen鈥檚 description of his character as a centrist and said that producers weren鈥檛 planning on portraying him as a Trump supporter.
