On the heels of the news that Fox hadcancelledThe Last Man on Earthas well as themuch belovedBrooklyn Nine-Nine(which couldlive on elsewhere) andThe Mick, the bloodbath continues with the cancellations of supernatural dramasLuciferandThe Exorcist. And yet, the broadcaster is reviving ABC’s cancelled dramaLast Man Standing, starringTim Allen. What the hell is going on?!
In a statement released earlier today, Fox TV chairmen and CEOsGary NewmanandDana Waldensaid that, “We’ve wanted to put the show back together since its final taping a year ago, and Tim never gave up hope, either. Thanks to its millions of devoted viewers and the irrepressible Tim Allen, we haven’t seen the last of Last Man Standing.”
Hmm yeah, ok. Meanwhile,Luciferco-showrunnerJoe Hendersonhas beenTweetinghis thoughts on the matter, saying “We created a season finale with a huge cliffhanger so that there was no way Fox could cancel us. Instead, we’re going to frustrate the hell out of you fans. I’m so sorry for that.” Sadly that gamble didn’t pay off, though Henderson did encourage fans to “MAKE NOISE. I have no idea if we have a shot of coming back, but I know sure as anything that everyone wants to. We have so many more stories to tell.” The nowseriesfinale will air this coming Monday.
As forThe Exorcist, which did suffer some very low ratings during its run,TV Linehas an interview with EPJeremy Slaterabout what would have happened if the series had been renewed for Season 3, saying that “Part of the story in Season 3 would be Marcus having to use his connections to this religious underworld to track down his missing partner. If he can’t necessarily trust the Church anymore, because it’s been compromised, I think it’d be fun to see Marcus having to go outside the bounds of the Church and talk to some of the people he would have met over his last 30 years of exorcising people. [Sources] who deal in conspiracy theories, religious reliquaries and things like that… Shamans and rabbis and people from different faiths who may be fighting the same evil using different terminology and different methodology.”
It seems like Fox is looking to start pretty fresh with a new lineup of programming this fall, and some of that may have to do with its Disney merger. Reviving a show likeLast Man Standingalso feels like the network is desperately trying to draft off of the success of ABC’sRoseannerevival. We’ll continue updating you with more cancellation and renewal news as it happens, but in the meantime, you can check out all of the latest news of what’s coming back (and what isn’t) with ourTV Lifeline.
