‘Last Man Standing’ Showrunner on Why Tim Allen Wrote the Sequence Finale, That ‘Punch’ of an Eve Scene

(Warning: This put up contains spoilers for the collection finale of “Last Man Standing.”)

After 9 season and two networks, “Last Man Standing” at final sat down on Thursday with a group finale that metaphorically said goodbye to the suppose by literally announcing goodbye to Mike Baxter’s (Tim Allen) beloved truck, which was stolen apt after he’d done his 10-year restoration on the vintage automobile.

The hourlong two-parter, titled “Baxter Boot Camp / Withhold On Truckin,’” managed to remain largely upbeat, which is precisely what Allen and “Last Man Standing” showrunner Kevin Abbott wished for the ending of the Fox sitcom. But the writers did ranking in a single big emotional scene, the set Mike, Vanessa (Nancy Travis) and the entire members of the Baxter family and their closest chums gathered together for a memorial carrier to mourn the inability of the suppose — er, truck.

Right here, Abbott breaks down the selections that went into the final episode of “Last Man Standing,” at the side of why Allen bought his first-ever writing credit ranking on the suppose for the finale and how they managed to with regards to work in Kaitlyn Dever’s Eve for that “punch” of a scene with Mike.

TheWrap: How did you to scheme to a resolution how heavy to accelerate in the finale, in terms of the tone you wished to shut “Last Man Standing” on?

Abbott: We undoubtedly salvage to own emotion in our suppose. Matt [Berry, executive producer, writer and former showrunner] and I always approached it with the sense that we are searching to atrocious it on factual emotion. We are searching to position folks thru things and ranking them to a pair undoubtedly emotional fact, however always with relaxing. Our first and most foremost job is to bring pleasure to folks. So that was the enormous teach. That is the enormous ask that we asked ourselves, how will we assemble this so as that it’s now not apt a maudlin, cryfest of an ending, on fable of I deem that might perhaps perchance be fraudulent to what the collection was. Primarily, what we made up our minds to assemble was to interrupt up it into two halves. In the most foremost half of hour of the suppose, we suggested the individual stories. We did three storylines the set we own been roughly pointing the direction of the set these characters are going to accelerate on with their lives as soon as the collection itself ends, and address that that scheme. And then we felt love we would build the goodbye to the collection for the 2nd half of of the suppose, and we wished to restrict that as great as likely. We wished to honor it and own it, however to now not dwell on it.

So that’s why, when Matt got right here up with the foundation of utilizing the truck as a metaphor for the suppose — one thing that you beloved being taken from you that you worked on for a undoubtedly very lengthy time — we own been ready to roughly assemble an episode that would own been apt a usual episode and wrap it around that. And then we apt saved the emotion till we bought to the memorial scene. That was the one scene that I needed to allow the forged members to accurate their feelings for the collection thru the metaphor. Varied than that, we wished to maintain it relaxing, now not only for the viewers’s sake, however frankly for the actors’ sake. I mean, that scene was sophisticated ample for them to ranking thru as a metaphor that I’m able to only factor in if we own been always space on it… We broke any other stories as the collection finale, love Kyle transferring on to the priesthood, or Ed retiring and throwing a goodbye celebration for him. They all apt regarded as if it would dwell in the maudlin. It apt was very worthy to portray it now not being roughly a tragic week. And we didn’t desire it to be a tragic week. We wished it to be a overjoyed week, as great as that you might perhaps perchance below the conditions. Really appropriate most doubtless the most reasons we wished Jay Leno on the suppose is that he’s always such an upbeat presence, and we own been ready to inject comedy in a extremely emotional teach.

Kaitlyn Dever makes her final guest appearance as Eve, Mike and Vanessa’s youngest daughter, thru Zoom from the Air Power academy sometime of the memorial scene. Used to be that a creative desire you made on aim or one which COVID made for you?

That was a resolution pushed totally by the realities of COVID. If we’d been ready to ranking Kaitlyn stay, we would own devised the scene otherwise. We would own written it otherwise and perhaps would own soundless wished to build her for the final emotional endpoint of that memorial scene. But she was taking pictures “Dear Evan Hansen,” so apt the logistics of quarantine and being ready to ranking her on region, we weren’t going so as to assemble it. I idea it in actuality worked barely neatly on fable of there’s the fraudulent ending to that scene, when Kyle presents what might perhaps perchance well own been the emotional stay of the scene, which is, “I wish it wasn’t long gone. I don’t desire this going.” And it roughly presents you that head spurious. And then you definately draw in with Eve. Tim and Kaitlyn own always had this kind of particular relationship. No longer that he didn’t own it with the relaxation of the crew and all the pieces, however I deem he felt very fatherly to Kaitlyn. And I deem that was a punch that undoubtedly landed that scene nicely. So it worked out undoubtedly neatly. But yeah, that was a creative resolution pushed by the realities of production.

The finale involves barely a pair of winks to “Last Man Standing” changing networks and Allen’s light sitcom,”Home Enchancment,” with lines about how the truck’s GPS can’t be tracked on fable of it’s “off the community” and they also might perhaps perchance well additionally strive “one other community,” and how lengthy Mike has been doing “improvement on this home.” How did you to scheme to a resolution to what diploma you wished to invent these references?

Discover, barely a pair of the meta stuff is in general for the writers and the actors and confidently the viewers enjoys it. But I don’t are searching to elevate them out of the legend either. But we had extra (Laughs). For a whereas, we own been going to accuse that guy Neil, up the avenue, that his son’s a indecent guy. You know, “Neil’s son took this teach off.” [Note: If you didn’t get that, Abbott was making a joke about Nielsen TV ratings.] We had a bunch of stuff and we pulled it motivate somewhat of to apt a pair of the lawful jokes. The “improving his home” funny legend was Matt’s, which we beloved. And then “dead, dead community.” We love the community, by the fashion. That’s a friendly lunge at them on fable of they couldn’t own been better to us. So these roughly things, what we wished to assemble was apt invent obvious that as soon as we bought to the memorial scene, that folks own been picking up on the fact that this was a metaphor. I didn’t desire folks to maneuver away thinking they apt did a suppose a pair of truck being stolen for the final suppose; that’s extra special. I needed them to survey the bigger portray, and that’s why the origin of the memorial scene was, it’s for a truck — and then Vanessa retains describing the suppose. I idea that that worked neatly. We former it for rather than apt the meta, relaxing purposes of it to roughly wink at the viewers that, howdy, right here is bigger than a truck.

Tim Allen has the writer’s credit ranking on the finale, which marks his first writers credit ranking on the collection. How did you to scheme to a resolution Tim would write this one?

As , the suppose is neighborhood-written per week with the writers. And then we are able to set the “written by” credit ranking

primarily based fully on who contributed potentially the most, or who roughly felt the strongest about the sphere, or apt who was up subsequent. When it got right here to the final episode, of any season, in general it can even be Matt or I that might perhaps perchance elevate it and would write it ourselves. But when we bought to this one, neither with out a doubt one of us undoubtedly wished to elevate it for some aim. It apt felt love hogging credit ranking to me. And Matt didn’t are searching to elevate it on fable of if his title is on it, he wrote it. And that wasn’t going to happen, we own been going to all write the final suppose. So he got right here up with the foundation, why don’t we give it to Tim and assign Tim’s title on it? I said that’s precisely what we might perhaps perchance additionally soundless assemble, on fable of Tim is a gigantic collaborator and a gigantic phase of every episode. We struggle thru the episodes with him, he presents us Mike’s perspective, he presents us storylines and throughlines and jokes. And he’d never had his title on a script on the collection, which gave the impression, when we regarded because it, to be hideous, to be unfair. So we said, we are searching to give this to Tim. We went to Tim and asked him if that might perhaps perchance be OK. And he was very, very honored to own that, on fable of he earned it over the direction of the collection with all of his enter.

In the final scene between Héctor Elizondo’s Ed Alzate and Mike Baxter at work, Ed goes to converse one thing ahead of announcing goodbye, however cuts himself off and walks out with out ending his idea. What was he going to converse and why did you own him now not dispute it?

We wished Ed to own his moment with Mike to converse goodbye, as neatly as Vanessa. So that’s why we assign him in precisely ahead of the vlog shot. In the origin, it had apt been the set he says, “I’ll think you tomorrow to come, OK?” And then Hector and Tim had draw up with the final bit, the set Hector stops, turns around and clearly is love, I’m now not going to converse it, however clearly I had one thing foremost to converse. We beloved that. I needed to move it the fashion it was and apt let the viewers roughly factor in what he would dispute. We knew it can even be emotional and worthy and worthy. But it had a energy with out in actuality verbalizing it. So only Hector knows what was in his head when he was thinking what he didn’t dispute.

Why did you invent the final scene of “Last Man Standing” with out a doubt one of Mike’s “Open air Man” vlogs?

We made up our minds to remain it with a vlog on fable of he felt love the vlog was the signature tool for the suppose all the scheme in which thru its accelerate. We wished to give it its own situation of honor, region it aside great love, , we wished Mike to own a moment with Vanessa and we wished Mike to own a moment with Ed. We wished Mike to own a moment with his vlog. And it presents Tim the final likelihood to converse goodbye, on fable of we deliberately saved him from having too great emotional dialogue in the suppose on fable of we own been holding off the maudlin. We wished to let the opposite characters dispute goodbye, and then the vlog shall be Tim’s likelihood as Mike. And to give credit ranking the set credit ranking is due, Kevin Hench wrote the overwhelming majority of the vlogs all the scheme in which thru the collection accelerate, and he wrote this one alongside with Tim. So that was what he wished to converse. Broadly, we talked in the room about what needs to be said, however Tim and Kevin Hench wrote the actual dialogue, so their decisions that went into which are only identified to them.

TheWrap: What was the collection wrap, the final scene shot, for “Last Man Standing”?

The gathering wrap was on the vlog. We did a COVID suppose, in the sense that we did now not own stay audiences all the scheme in which thru the year and that felt very– unfair is hideous, on fable of oldsters undoubtedly suffered thru this pandemic, however it undoubtedly felt off. We love having our viewers displays. And it didn’t undoubtedly feel precise to me that the actors wouldn’t ranking a final curtain call. So we invited 45 members of production and family who sat in cubicles that own been sealed and stayed six ft aside. It was very great love an ICU room on that stage. But we own been ready to own stay folks for the final scenes. And Tim did his vlog. It was very emotional and a flowery time. Clearly, the relaxation of the forged joined him after that vlog was done. I had intended, if we had the room, if we had the time, I was going to undoubtedly spend the final curtain call as the save and own the vlog be the final moment of the suppose. But we ran very lengthy on the final suppose. We went practically 5 minutes lengthy, which is plenty to sever if you happen to might perhaps perchance additionally only air for 20 minutes. So none of that bought to air. But we did assemble the vlog and it felt love a undoubtedly fitting moment to remain the season and collection on, especially when the forged was all ready to be half of Tim and to fragment in the partiality that all of us had for every other.