Tim Allen: Being a 'funny, likable conservative' may have cost him 'Last Man Standing'

Tim Allen is doubling down on his claims that politics played a role in ABC's unexpected cancellation of "Last Man Standing."

As the network's second-most watched comedy (after "Modern Family"), "Last Man Standing" aired for six seasons -- and months after the announcement, Allen is still perplexed by it.

"It's hard. I have no idea why [ABC] did what they did," Allen said during an interview on Norm Macdonald Live, adding that he "always wanted" the show to be like "All in the Family" (1971 - 1979), which starred Carroll O'Connor as grumpy conservative Archie Bunker.

“Archie Bunker pushed boundaries, but Carroll O’Connor was not that guy at all," Allen said. His character, Mike Baxter, was "a version of that guy. But there’s nothing more dangerous, especially in this climate, than a funny, likable conservative.”

Although Allen is not the first to draw comparisons between Bunker and Baxter, viewers of both shows will note one key difference: In the lens of "All in the Family," Bunker's purpose was to show the absurdity of prejudice and outdated values.

"President Nixon [mistakenly] thought we were making a fool out of a good man," O'Connor once said.

(Reuters)

ABC has maintained that politics "had nothing to do" with the decision to cancel Allen's show. "We have actors on our shows who have all sorts of different political views," said ABC president of entertainment Channing Dungey.

After news broke that ABC had pulled "Last Man Standing," there were rumors of a deal to revive it at CMT -- but negotiations fell flat, Allen confirmed: "You couldn't have handled this situation worse."