Eyes are on the future of various TV shows. One comedy still with an open fate on FOX is Last Man Standing. Will it land a ninth season?

When FOX revived Last Man Standing, we wondered whether it would be worth it. Fortunately, it was the best decision FOX had made in a long time and it wasn’t surprising to find out that it would be renewed for an eighth season. but what are the chances of the future? Will Last Man Standing Season 9 happen?

While we need to look at the live TV ratings to get an idea, it’s worth noting that Last Man Standing Season 7 aired on Friday nights. It moved to Thursdays for Season 8 once Thursday Night Football was over. This will have an effect on the ratings and also means the comedy has more competition. This is something FOX will need to consider when making a decision. But what are the chances of a renewal.

Large dip between seasons isn’t necessarily a bad thing

According to TV Series Finale, the average ratings for Last Man Standing Season 8 have dropped considerably from the seventh season. The show has seen a 31% drop in the demo and 25% drop in the total audience. While a drop is standard, these figures do look high. This is why I mentioned the change of night.

Friday nights may be the death slot for some shows, but they’re a strong slot for others. For the revival of the Tim Allen comedy, it meant less competition, so higher ratings were possible. Moving to a Thursday night at 8 p.m. opposite ABC’s TGIT was always going to be a risky move.

Yet, the show continues to perform well overall for FOX. It sits in sixth place out of 15 scripted shows in terms of the average demo. When the average audience is taken into account, it sits in third place. It seems unlikely that FOX would cancel this show.

But FOX canceled Deputy

Of course, fans of Last Man Standing will be worried because FOX chose to cancel Deputy. The cop drama sits lower than the comedy in the average ratings, but the performance wasn’t terrible overall. With postponed pilots and Empire coming to an end, there was hope that the cop drama would be renewed. With FOX making this decision, it would cast a little doubt over Last Man Standing Season 9.

I wouldn’t be too worried. For one, Deputy and Last Man Standing are two very different types of shows with different audiences. One also costs much less than the other due to it being a half-hour comedy instead of an hour-long drama. These are all factors FOX will take into consideration when making a decision.

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I have a lot of faith in the future of the Tim Allen comedy. We’ll likely see Last Man Standing renewed for Season 9.

Last Man Standing Season 8 airs on Thursdays at 8/7c on FOX.