Last Man Standing mulled a Newhart-style series finale

TVLine

The Fox comedy said goodbye on its own terms Thursday night after 194 episodes, nine seasons and two networks. But Last Man Standing fans could've been treated to a Newhart-style ending featuring Tim Allen as Home Improvement's Tim "The Toolman" Taylor and Patricia Richardson as his wife Jill had The Toolman not appeared earlier this season. "We talked about it. Yes, we did," says showrunner Kevin Abbott, telling TVLine: "Yeah, especially because Bob Newhart and Tim Allen are (two of the) only (comedians) who have had two series that went longer than five seasons. I wouldn’t have felt bad for borrowing from that, because I think it would’ve been honoring Bob Newhart. And we did talk about it, and had we not done Tim Taylor meets Mike Baxter earlier in the season, we might’ve done something like that. But we also wanted to end on the (Outdoor Man vlog), since the vlog was the signature device of the series." Abbott says he felt "enormous pressure" to end Last Man Standing on the right note after its unexpected cancelation and first series finale on ABC in 2017. "When we came back, we got the gift of being told it was the final season," Abbott tells Deadline. "It was a gift, it was really a great thing that they did for us, because it allowed us to plan, and to appreciate, and to really be grateful for what we had. I wanted to make sure that we did it right in our minds, and most importantly, Tim’s mind, because he’s the one most invested in it. He’s given a lot, over the years, to the show, and it was important to be rewarding him for that, to give him the respect that he deserves. We sat down to think, what do we want out of this final episode? We quickly came to the conclusion, we didn’t want it to be a sad episode. Ideally, the series finale is the embodiment of what the show was, with the added message of saying, hopefully, ‘thank you.'” Asked by TVLine how he'd like Last Man Standing to be remembered, Abbott says: "I hope it’s remembered as one of those shows that people could watch with their entire family, and recognize themselves or their family members (in our characters). Laugh about what’s funny, and maybe see the humor in some of the situations that aren’t funny. That’s how I’d like Last Man Standing to be remembered."

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