Four days after hiring a new showrunner, ABC’s Last Man Standing made its renewal official late Sunday.
ABC’s Tim Allen family comedy will return for its fifth season after the network and producer 20th Century Fox Television reached a new deal.
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The multicamera comedy has been a reliable performer for ABC on Fridays at 8 p.m. despite its April 17 season-four finale coming in down 21 percent year-over-year. In its fourth season, the comedy finished off 8 percent week-over-week. While not a breakout performer like some of ABC’s other family comedies, Last Man Standing is nearing its 100th episode — a key benchmark for syndication.
The series was expected to return to ABC’s schedule after closing a deal with co-executive producer/writer Matt Berry to serve as showrunner.
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Berry replaces Tim Doyle, who stepped down to pursue other opportunities, and becomes the show’s third showrunner after creator Jack Burditt‘s departure.
Last Man Standing joins a roster of returning comedies at ABC including The Goldbergs, The Middle, Modern Family and rookies Fresh Off the Boat, Black-ish and Galavant. It will be joined by new comedies Dr. Ken, The Real O’Neals, Uncle Buck and the revival of The Muppets.
Keep up with all the renewals, cancellations and new-series orders with THR‘s handy Scorecard.
Email: Lesley.Goldberg@THR.com
Twitter: @Snoodit
