Tim Allen 'stunned and blindsided' by cancellation of conservative 'Last Man Standing' sitcom

Actor and comedian Tim Allen said Tuesday that he was "blindsided" by the controversial cancellation of his popular ABC sitcom, "Last Man Standing."

“Stunned and blindsided by the network I called home for the last six years,” Allen tweeted.

Stunned and blindsided by the network I called home for the last six years. #lastmanstanding

— Tim Allen (@ofctimallen) May 16, 2017

The network announced the show's cancellation last week, shutting down production on the sitcom after six seasons.

The cancellation came as a shock to many — not just Allen — as "Last Man Standing" was ABC's Friday night anchor show and boosted viewership of programming following its weekly airing.

In addition to the show's success, it was one of the few primetime shows that took a more conservative stance.

Allen’s character, Mike Baxter, was a politically conservative Christian who celebrated traditional American values and took cues from the United States' blue-collar demographic.

The show previously took on hot-button political topics, mocking Hillary Clinton's election loss to President Donald Trump and advocating for gun rights.

Some analysts surmised that the reason for the show's cancellation was Allen's hefty salary, but conservatives slammed the network and accused it of playing politics.

However, ABC Entertainment President Channing Dungey denied allegations that the show was canceled because of its conservative leanings and said that the show was cancelled in order to make room for "superhero" programming, TV Guide reported.

"I canceled 'Last Man Standing' for the same business and scheduling reasons that I canceled 'The Real O'Neals,' 'Dr. Ken,' 'The Catch' and 'American Crime,'" Dungey said, according to TV Guide. "'Last Man Standing' was a challenging one for me because it was a steady performer in the ratings, but once we made the decision not to continue with comedies on Friday, that was where we landed."

Dungey told TV Guide that the network's Friday lineup is being revamped to include "fantasy and science fiction."

Allen himself has been an outspoken conservative, and during a March appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" Allen told Kimmel that Hollywood was very intolerant of anything outside of the liberal scope.

"You’ve gotta be real careful around here," he said, referring to Hollywood. "You get beat up if you don’t believe what everybody believes. This is like ’30s Germany. I don’t know what happened."

Allen also told former Fox News host Megyn Kelly in November that "hypocritical" anti-Trump celebrities are the real political bullies.

“What I find odd in Hollywood is that they didn’t like Trump because he was a bully,” he told Kelly. “But if you had any kind of inkling that you were for Trump, you got bullied for doing that. And it gets a little bit hypocritical to me.”

A Change.org petition emerged last week in an attempt to resurrect the axed sitcom and place the blame on liberal H0llywood. The petition — which currently has more than 130,000 signatures — states:

Last Man Standing stands out in the sea of network television sitcoms.  It is a show that appeals to a broad swath of Americans who find very few shows that extol the virtues with which they can identify; namely conservative values.

Last Man Standing was not just selling conservative ideals though, as some of the characters in the show are clearly of the liberal persuasion, yet the characters on the show all manage to get along and take care of one another, despite their politically opposed views.  The show is about more than politics though, it is about family.  In fact, politics is only a secondary part of the show, but one in which many Americans can readily identify.

Last Man Standing is one of the only shows on broadcast television, and the only sitcom, that is not constantly shoving liberal ideals down the throats of the viewers.  And sadly, that is likely the real reason the show has been cancelled.

The petition calls for 150,000 signatures and will be delivered to ABC Network. The creator of the petition also noted that fans of Allen and the show should boycott the station and refuse to view any of the programming provided by the network.