FRIDAY
CRAIG: 8:00 Last Man Standing; 8:30 Dr. Ken; 9:00 Shark Tank; 10:00 20/20
SHILO: 8:00 Last Man Standing; 8:30 Dr. Ken; 9:00 Shark Tank; 10:00 20/20
CRAIG: It works well enough for now, so why not? I was tempted to put the new ABC series Pearl with Last Man Standing so that you could have a “TV favorites” night with Tim Allen and Candice Bergen back to back, but let’s be realistic: No one is going to banish the former Murphy Brown to Fridays. So, keeping things as they were seems to be the right answer.
SHILO: Both ABC multi-cams have done renew-worthy ratings this season, but their fate likely rests with the negotiations currently going on between ABC and 20th Century FOX, the production studio behind Last Man Standing. For the past several seasons, the show’s renewal has been held up due to the studio and network haggling over license fees, syndication, and cast salaries, but with Last Man Standing nearing the end of its life span, these negotiations have been about more than how much of the show’s back-end Tim Allen negotiates for himself. If nothing can be worked out between ABC and 20th, ABC would be forced to either take on The Fluffy Shop, their lone multi-cam in development, as a new anchor or cancel Dr. Ken along with Last Man, given that Dr. Ken isn’t strong enough to launch something new. It’s a nice complementary piece, but its existence is (mostly) tied into Last Man Standing continuing on and if no deal can be reached, ABC does have other options they could go with (e.g. Beyond the Tank, a new reality show, an hour of single cams, etc.).
But I’ll take the optimistic route and say that Last Man Standing and Dr. Ken will both be back for another season. If ABC is going to make moves on other nights, they need Fridays to be stable for at least one more year and if it comes down to it, Dr. Ken producer Sony can bundle in other shows in development that ABC might be interested in (e.g. The Jury, Hail Mary) with a Ken renewal. What happens at the end of next season, with Last Man Standing (probably) gassed and Dr. Ken halfway to syndication, is anybody’s guess, though.
