In a lot of ways, Tim Allen has led a life that is far more fascinating than the vast majority of his Hollywood peers. After all, Allen came amazingly close to spending the rest of his life behind bars after he was arrested as a young man. Thankfully for Allen and all of his fans, he was able to avoid a prison sentence and he went on to become a major star thanks to his standup comedy and acting careers.
Given the fact that Allen came so close to paying a steep price for a serious mistake, it would make sense if he never wanted to do anything to risk the success he went on to achieve. In reality, however, Allen has consistently been willing to be far more outspoken than almost all of his Hollywood peers. At times, Allen has gotten himself in hot water due to things he has written or said. Despite that, Allen has proven to be a survivor. Sadly, however, some of the people that Allen has worked with haven’t been able to hang on to their jobs. For that reason, many of Allen’s fans have been left wondering why Allen’s show Last Man Standing has gone through so many casting changes.
Why Did Nick Jonas Leave Last Man Standing?
Throughout television history, there has been a long history of sitcoms attempting to juice their ratings by getting famous people to appear in an episode. For example, even though the show was a massive hit during its entire run, the show Friends welcomed a long list of guest stars over the years.
During the first season of Last Man Standing, the people behind the show managed to convince a major star to play a memorable character. In the 2011 episode “Last Christmas Standing” from Last Man Standing’s first season, Nick Jonas played Ryan Vogelson. Considering how famous Jonas was and remains, getting him to show up in an episode of Last Man Standing was a big deal for the show.
When the production of Last Man Standing’s second season began, the decision was made to make the character Ryan Vogelson a major character. Since Nick Jonas is a superstar, it was a non-starter to think he would return to join the cast on an ongoing basis. As result, Jordan Masterson was hired to play Vogelson and he went on to appear in 126 episodes of Last Man Standing.
Why Last Man Standing’s Kristin And Boyd Were Recast
In the acting business, perception is of paramount importance. As a result, the people with power in the industry have come up with certain phrases they use to explain away potentially sticky situations. For example, when Alexandra Krosney left Last Man Standing after the show’s first season and Amanda Fuller took over playing Kristin Baxter, producers needed to explain what happened. Fortunately for them, all they had to do was blame the move on “creative differences” and everyone accepted that explanation at face value.
Fortunately for the people who make Last Man Standing, they didn’t even need to explain themselves when they recast the role of Kristin’s son, Boyd. After all, TV shows recast child characters constantly as evidenced by the fact that Modern Family notably recast the character Lily. With that in mind, nobody batted an eye when Boyd was recast the first time, although it seemed more notable when the second actor to play the character also was replaced.
During the first season of Last Man Standing, Boyd Baxter was a very young character who was brought to life by twins Evan and Luke Kruntchev. By the time the show’s second season began, the decision was made to have Flynn Morrison take over the character and he went on to play Boyd for four years. When it came time to produce Last Man Standing’s seventh season, the decision was made to make Boyd an older character to open up storyline possibilities. For that reason, an older actor needed to be hired to play the character and Jet Jurgensmeyer was chosen for the role.
Why Many Last Man Standing Characters Looked Different After The Sixth Season
For any television network to succeed, there is one thing it needs above all else, popular shows. For that reason, it obviously would be counterproductive for any network to cancel a popular show. Despite that, even though Last Man Standing was ABC’s second most popular sitcom when its sixth season ended, the network didn’t renew the show. Since the move made no sense, a lot of people concluded that the show was canceled due to Tim Allen’s political beliefs.
Fortunately for Last Man Standing fans everywhere, Fox eventually announced that they were bringing the show back and seasons seven through nine aired on that network. By the time Fox decided to give the show a new home, it had been some time since Last Man Standing was initially canceled which caused a notable problem.
If they want to keep their career going, when an actor loses their job, they need to quickly move on and find a new role to embody. As a result, when Last Man Standing was canceled after the sixth season, several of the show’s stars immediately found new roles. Sadly, that meant that when Fox gave Last Man Standing a new home, several of the show’s stars were committed to other projects. For that reason alone, several characters were played by new actors when production began on Last Man Standing’s seventh season. For example, Molly Ephraim was replaced by Molly McCook and Erika Alexander was replaced by Tisha Campbell.