Get ready “Last Man Standing” fans! With the premiere set to air next month, the comedy series’ star Tim Allen and show producers are revealing what’s coming up this season.
From Fox News:
For starters Allen’s character, Mike Baxter, who was previously revealed to be someone “with a conservative viewpoint,” is “probably pro-Trump,” according to Allen, 65.
“I think the guy is a centrist,” the actor told reporters at the 2018 Television Critics Associations’ Summer Press Tour in Beverly Hills, Calif. Thursday.
“This guy’s a practical guy,” he explained. “He owns a big business. If it’s helping his business, he’s probably pro-Trump. He probably doesn’t defend him.
“I don’t know that it’s going to be that, I think he’s going to be more of a centrist,” Allen noted. “Whatever’s good for his business and good for the state of Colorado or any policies that he does he’s going to go with.”
However, Executive Producer and Showrunner Kevin Abbott cautioned that the show will not “specifically comment on Trump” in the series.
“Mike Baxter is a conservative Republican. He holds those ideals, but the character himself, I don’t think we’re going to address [Trump] one way or the other,” Abbott shared.
Aside from Baxter’s political viewpoint, Abbott also discussed how the series will address being off the air for more than a year, including the addition of a new character, and one star who won’t be returning.
“We’re coming back in real actual time,” he shared. “There will be one year-and-a-half passing in the Baxters’ lives between the last episode and the first episode.”
“One person who won’t be coming back with us is Molly Ephraim,” Executive Producer Matt Berry revealed of the actress who played Mandy Baxter, one of the three daughters on the hit comedy.
Berry, who explained that Ephraim signed onto other projects during the show’s time off, shared that the producers have been looking at other actresses to step into the role of Mandy.
“We intend to have a Mandy,” Abbott echoed. “We’re in the final stages of casting her.”
“We’re also planning on bringing another character on the show,” Abbott teased. “The Vanessa character [Mike Baxter’s wife played by Nancy Travis], when she was in her teens, went on a foreign exchange.
“She was a big supporter of that all of her life,” Abbott continued, adding that “all of the kids are getting older” so Vanessa ultimately brings in a child “to support that program.”
Abbott also explained that “you’re going to have a student from a different political system, and then you have Mike Baxter, who is going to promote the American way.”
Fans can also expect a new character playing the son of oldest daughter, Kristen Baxter (Amanda Fuller) and husband, Ryan Vogelson (Jordan Masterson).
