
Last Man Standing will be without two of its original cast members for its upcoming revival on Fox. Molly Ephraim and Flynn Morrison, who played Mandy and Boyd Baxter — the middle daughter and grandson, respectively, of Tim Allen’s Mike Baxter — during the series’ run on ABC, have opted not to return for Season 7. Both roles are in the process of being recast, Deadline has confirmed.
Created by Jack Burditt, Last Man Standing stars Allen as a married father of three girls who tries to maintain his manliness in a world increasingly dominated by women.
The rest of the show’s core cast is back including Allen, Nancy Travis, Jonathan Adams, Amanda Fuller, Christoph Sanders and Jordan Masterson. Also back is co-star Hector Elizondo whose deal to return — made last month — was originally in second position to his NBC comedy pilot Guess Who Died. That pilot was not picked up by the network and was shopped unsuccessfully. The options on the cast recently lapsed, rendering everyone, including Elizondo, available to take other series jobs.
Kevin Abbott, who served as an executive producer on the original series for most of its six seasons on ABC, with stints as showrunner in Season 1 and the second half of Season 6, is back as executive producer/showrunner for Season 7. He will be joined by three other veteran Last Man Standing writer/executive producers: Matt Berry — who also served as showrunner on the original — Kevin Hench and Ed Yeager.
Last Man Standing, from 20th Century Fox TV, is slated to return to its longtime Friday 8 PM slot in the fall.
Deadline’s sister site TVLine was first to report the recastings.
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