Fox Renews ‘Last Man Standing’ & ‘The Resident’

The Resident Renewed Last Man Standing Fox
Guy D'Alema/FOX; Jack Zeman/FOX

It’s unclear when shows will return, but there is some good news: two Fox staples will be back for the 2020-2021 season.

The network announced Tuesday that it has renewed comedy Last Man Standing for Season 9 (the third on Fox) and medical drama The Resident for Season 4.

The Resident and Last Man Standing are such important parts of FOX, and we’re so pleased they will be returning next season,” Fox Entertainment president Michael Thorn said. “We want to thank all of the writers, actors, directors, producers, and talented crews for both of these shows, and, of course, our friends and producing partners at 20th Century Fox Television.”

Last Man Standing, which follows Mike Baxter (Tim Allen), his wife Vanessa (Nancy Travis), and their three daughters, is the network’s most-watched comedy, averaging more than eight million multi-platform viewers. It also stars Amanda Fuller, Molly McCook, Christoph Sanders, Jordan Masterson, Jonathan Adams, Krista Marie Yu, and Hector Elizondo.

Amanda Fuller Nancy Travis Last Man Standing Season 8

(Michael Becker/FOX)

Season 8 ended early, with Episode 21 instead of 22, and Kristin (Fuller) going into labor. “I would want to shoot the show that we didn’t get to shoot because it’s a great episode,” showrunner Kevin Abbott said after the finale if the show was renewed. “I can’t imagine that in this changed universe that that exact episode could just be re-shot and put on the air and feel correct, you know what I mean? Hospitals changed drastically. People now have a very different opinion of hospitals than when we shot that episode.”

Meanwhile, The Resident explores both the good and the bad in medicine and the doctors at Chastain Memorial Hospital, and it averages nearly 10 million multi-platform viewers. It stars Matt Czuchry, Emily VanCamp, Bruce Greenwood, Manish Dayal, Shaunette Renée Wilson, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Jane Leeves, and Morris Chestnut.

Showrunner Todd Harthan revealed they pulled up some things that had already been shot to craft the early Season 3 finale, but fans will likely see most of what was originally planned for the other three episodes. “We are looking at everything we had at the end of the year for those few episodes,” he explained. “The main arcs and things we had planned, I think everything is going to remain intact.”

Fox was the first to announce its fall 2020 schedule, with new series neXt and Filthy Rich joining the returning Masked SingerMasterchef Junior, and Animation Domination. Plus, L.A.’s Finest and Cosmos: Possible Worlds will make their network debuts. Set for the midseason are the returning 9-1-19-1-1: Lone StarDuncanville, and Hell’s Kitchen and new series Call Me KatThe Great North, and Housebroken.