Why Last Man Standing Will Be Moving Nights For Season 8

Last Man Standing Tim Allen Nancy Travis

Last Man Standing will move away from Friday nights for Season 8, its second season on Fox. What night will it be on? Fox has yet to make that clear. Wouldn't it be interesting if Tim Allen's show moved back to Tuesdays, its Season 1 night on ABC, and competed against ABC's The Conners?

Fox has yet to officially renew Last Man Standing for its second season on the network, but it's a given. Fox Entertainment boss Charlie Collier talked about it like it's understood, it's just a matter of finding it a new night and time, what with WWE moving to Fox in the 2019-2020 season:

[In the] short-term, Friday night is going to WWE. We’ll look to stand [Last Man Standing] up on another night.

Every season of Last Man Standing has premiered in the fall, and that's expected to be the case for Season 8 as well. According to TVLine, as part of Fox's new five-year deal, the WWE will be airing new episodes of SmackDown Live starting Friday, October 4. So that means the 2019-2020 season of Last Man Standing will have to move to a new night.

Last Man Standing started on Tuesday nights in 2011 on ABC. But every season after that -- on ABC until 2016, and then picked up by Fox for Season 7 in 2018 -- has been on Fridays.

Last Man Standing has made the point that it can slay in the ratings on Friday nights, which is not usually a show's #1 choice as a show day. It's possible moving away from Fridays will help the show find even more viewers -- not that it's hurting where it is.

Fox is known for moving its shows around, and cancelling favorites, but it just saved Last Man Standing after ABC cancelled the comedy. There's no way the network is going to pull the plug now, especially with the sitcom doing so well. But Tim Allen and company are going to have to work to make sure fans can find the show, once Fox 1) officially renews it for Season 8 and 2) announces the new day of the week and time.

There's no saying Last Man Standing would return to Tuesdays, but it did fine there back in 2011. Plus, going up against The Conners -- ABC's Roseanne spinoff without Roseanne Barr -- seems like something Tim Allen might enjoy. Right now, since The Conners has finished airing Season 1, Fox is airing Lethal Weapon and The Gifted on Tuesdays during the 2019 midseason.

I just hope Fox doesn't cancel my favorite new show on the network, The Passage. Right now, that show airs Mondays at 9 p.m., after The Resident. On Wednesdays, Fox has Gordon Ramsay's 24 Hours to Hell and Back and new hit reality show The Masked Singer.

Fox may just move Last Man Standing to Thursdays, since Gotham is currently airing Season 5 at 8 p.m. but it's the final season.

For now, Last Man Standing is staying on Friday nights through Season 7. So don't go thinking you have to change channels anytime soon.

And don't get worried when you don't see Last Man Standing airing this Friday, February 8! Hell's Kitchen is airing its two-hour finale from 8-10 this Friday, but Last Man Standing Season 7 will be back for back-to-back episodes on Friday, February 15, airing from 8 to 9 p.m. See what else is airing on TV with our 2019 midseason schedule.

Gina Carbone

Gina grew up in Massachusetts and California in her own version of The Parent Trap. She went to three different middle schools, four high schools, and three universities -- including half a year in Perth, Western Australia. She currently lives in a small town in Maine, the kind Stephen King regularly sets terrible things in, so this may be the last you hear from her.