‘Last Man Standing’ to End With Season 9 on Fox

“Last Man Standing” is coming to an end — again.

Fox announced Wednesday that the previously announced Season 9 of the Tim Allen multi-camera comedy will be the show’s last. The ninth and final season is slated to debut in January. This will mark the second time “Last Man Standing” has ended. The show originally ran for six seasons on ABC before being canceled in 2017. Fox then picked up it for a seventh season, which began airing in 2019. Upon its conclusion, the show will have filmed 194 episodes.

“It has been an honor to be home for Tim Allen and ‘Last Man Standing,’” said Michael Thorn, president of entertainment for Fox Entertainment. “Millions of families have long enjoyed the show because, perhaps, they see themselves in the Baxters. The loyal affection they’ve shown proves just how much this series has meant to them. On behalf of everyone at Fox, a big, big thank you to ‘Last Man Standing’s’ brilliant cast, led by Tim, Nancy and Hector, as well as its writers and crew, headed by showrunner Kevin Abbott. We’ll be rooting them on throughout the season as they conclude what has been an impressive run.”

Allen stars as Mike Baxter, a happily married father of three daughters who usually finds himself the odd an out in a home dominated by women. Nancy Travis as Mike’s wife, Vanessa; 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 foreign exchange student Jen; and Hector Elizondo as Mike’s longtime business partner and Vanessa’s step-father, Ed Alzate.

“I’ve been one lucky dude to have been part of ‘Last Man Standing,’” Allen said. “I so appreciate the incredible support from our fans over this near decade of work. As we approach the ninth season, I just admire and feel grateful for all the hard work our wonderful cast and crew have done. We had all considered to end the show after last season, but together with Fox, we decided to add a year so we could produce a full season to create the gentle and fun goodbye. I’m looking forward to a memorable and hilarious final season.”

The series has remained popular throughout its run. Per Fox, it averaged 9 million viewers per episode in multi-platform viewing, a 111% increase from its Live+Same Day audience.

“Being the studio to bring national treasure Tim Allen back to television not once, but twice, was one of the great pleasures of all of our careers,” said 20th Television president Carolyn Cassidy. “The fact that this series, created by Jack Burditt and run by Kevin Abbott, has had such longevity is a testament to its talented writing staff and crew, the deep support of two television networks and the undeniable charisma of its stars, led by Tim Allen, Nancy Travis and Hector Elizondo.”

The show is produced by 20th Century Fox Television and was created by Jack Burditt. Allen, Kevin Abbott, Matt Berry, Kevin Hench, Ed Yeager, Marty Adelstein, Shawn Levy, Becky Clements, Richard Baker, Rick Messina, Pat Bullard, Mike Teverbaugh, Linda Teverbaugh, and John Amodeo are executive producers. Abbott serves as the series’ showrunner.

With the end of “Last Man Standing,” Fox will have virtually no live-action comedies left on its programming slate. The network previously ordered the multi-cam “Call Me Kat” starring Mayim Bialik for the 2020-2021 season, which is expected to bow at midseason. There is also the holiday event series “The Moodys,” which was renewed for a second season in July. Beyond that, Fox has largely pivoted to animated comedies like “The Simpsons,” “Family Guy,” and “Bob’s Burgers” as well as new entries like “Bless the Harts,” “Duncanville,” and the upcoming “Housebroken.”