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A man surrounded by women — his wife and three daughters — has to make sure his manhood is never compromised. Mike Baxter, played by Tim Allen, is that man. He will be losing his TV family on May 20, 2021, when the “Last Man Standing” airs for the last time.
After ten years, Fox has canceled the show, leaving cast members to figure out what they will do next. Last year, the network reported season nine would be the last for Allen, Nancy Travis, who played his wife, and the rest of the cast. Instagram recently shared the news with a picture of the cast with the caption “It’s the end of the #LastManStanding era.”
Allen shared with Entertainment Weekly his feelings on the show’s demise. The star stated that comedy covers the way he feels. When asked his thoughts on the show’s finale, he revealed he cares for the people he has spent so much time with and does not want to end the friendship. Though the cast knows each other outside of the show, Allen sees the people they portrayed disappearing. He is “losing” his family.
As he and Travis discussed facets of the show during their final day of shooting, like how they saw Kaitlyn Dever, who played their daughter, Eve, mature. The actor admitted that the thought of leaving from where you loved going each day while getting paid for it could take one’s breath away.
Allen modestly donated his skills to the series for the first time by writing the hour-long final episode. It is titled “Keep on Truckin’,” which shows Joe Leonard, played by Jay Leno, along with the Baxters and some friends, memorializing the truck Leonard had been working on for ten years.
The episode was supposed to end with the truck having an accident and being smashed. Allen could not let the truck go out like that and changed it to being stolen. Each scene is a testament to how the cast sees the end of the “Last Man Standing.”
Allen has collected many items from both shows, giving him memories that will last a lifetime. He says he has a “crapload” of things from the car shop like the whole Tool Time set that’s nearly 100 percent complete and wonders what he is to do with all of it.
Comparing the ending of “Last Man Standing” to the final countdown to “Home Improvement,” Allen spoke of how he would go to each set, sit and reminisce on conversations he had with his slightly visible neighbor Wilson, played by Earl Hindman from 1991 to 1999. He died in 2003 of lung cancer.
Hindman was very dear to him and the show, as evidenced in the episode entitled “Dual Time” episode where Allen as Baxter had a conversation with Tim Taylor (Allen), a handyman who looked exactly like him. Baxter asks Taylor who Wilson was. Speaking fondly of Wilson, Taylor tells Baxter that Wilson was his neighbor with whom he shared lots of things and that he misses him very much.
Allen is humbled and grateful to have played a role in “Home Improvement” and two times grateful to have played a role in “Last Man Standing,” along with his co-stars Nancy Travis as Mike’s wife, Vanessa Baxter; Amanda Fuller as their oldest daughter, Kristin Baxter; Molly McCook as middle daughter Mandy Baxter-Anderson; Christoph Sanders as Mandy’s husband, Kyle Anderson; Jordan Masterson as Kristin’s husband, Ryan Vogelson; Jonathan Adams as the Baxters’ neighbor and Mike’s co-worker, Chuck Larabee; Krista Marie Yu as a foreign exchange student Jen; and Hector Elizondo as Mike’s longtime business partner and Vanessa’s stepfather, Ed Alzate.
After discussing the end of the show with a dear friend, Buzz Aldrin, who showed Allen a different perspective, with the fact that they were only going to do seven seasons, but did eight, the same as “Home Improvement.” Then they got a bonus season. After nine years with this family, the mission has been accomplished. Allen says that he now has a new appreciation for the future.
Written by Brenda Robinson
Edited by Cathy Milne-Ware
Entertainment Weekly: Tim Allen celebrates the end of an era on Last Man Standing: ‘Mission accomplished’; Rosy Cordero
Entertainment Weekly: Tim Allen Pays Tribute To Home Improvement Character Wilson In Last Man Standing Sneak Peek; by Rosy Cordero
Country Living: ‘Last Man Standing’ Fans Are Going to Be Really Upset About This Finale News
Images Courtesy of ABC|Disney – Used With Permission