On the heels of Last Man Standing's Season 9 renewal, Tim Allen is talking about the show's growing history and some of the big moments over the years that have impacted him. Recently, he spoke about the show's loss of actress Kaitlyn Dever, and how that exit hit him close to home.
Dever has been a part of Last Man Standing since its beginning, but transitioned to a recurring role from Season 7 on to pursue her growing film and television career. The show had to write Dever's Eve out of the show by sending her character to the Air Force Academy, though the series has occasionally welcomed her back when her schedule allowed. Tim Allen talked about that transition and what made it so difficult:
We had an episode...where we had to change Eve's [Kaitlyn Dever] room and it reminded me of real life. You know, your kid's not coming back. They'll visit, they're not going anywhere, but they're not coming back to the bedroom they grew up in. It was really a hard one for me to do based on my oldest daughter, when she left.
Based on his comments to Fox News, Tim Allen channeled his own personal experiences through Mike Baxter on Last Man Standing, which had to make the sting of Kaitlyn Dever leaving hurt just a bit more. Much like his daughter, Kaitlyn Dever's Eve had left and, while she still pops up on the show from time to time, obviously there are now more episodes without her than with her.
It's hard not to see how Tim Allen would draw those parallels between Kaitlyn Dever's Eve leaving and his own daughter, especially given how long Last Man Standing has been on the air. While it's still a decent stretch away from Home Improvement's episode count, Last Man Standing has officially had more seasons than Tim Allen's former sitcom. These people have spent a good deal of time together, so it's only natural the family feeling would be there with all of them.
Caitlyn Dever's Eve did return for Last Man Standing's final episode of Season 8, which was not originally planned to be the season finale. The global health crisis made it so that Season 8 ended at an awkward position in the story, and Eve was still hanging out with the family while Kristin was in labor. The fact that Dever is a busy actress with various obligations could make picking up where the story last left off problematic if the show can't get her back for the continuation of that two-part episode.
As mentioned, Last Man Standing will return to Fox for Season 9 (with some relevant stories), though a release date has not been announced yet. Stick with CinemaBlend for more details on what's happening with the Fox sitcom, and for the latest news happening in television and movies.
