Tv, Tim Allen | featured news

ABC rolled out its new comedy block Friday night, but it was the Sharks that made the biggest splash. Tim Allen’s Last Man Standing (7.8 million, 1.9 adult demo rating) returned to its new time period, obviously down quite a bit from its Tuesday series debut last year, but still pulling a solid number for this slot. That led into Reba McEntire’s new comedy Malibu Country (8.9 million, 2.2), which notably improved upon its lead-in.

Guess what is shaping up as the biggest hit of the new TV season? Tim Allen’s retro “manly man emasculated” sitcom, “Last Man Standing.” TV critics loathed it — but 13.2 million viewers liked it. That’s TV’s biggest 8 p.m. comedy debut in more than seven years. And the new 8 o’clock comedy opened on its own. No watch-us-kill-Charlie-Sheen-and-put-his-ashes-in-a-DustBuster lead-in audience of 30 million here!

EW has learned from multiple sources that Tim Allen ("Home Improvement") is looking to stage a return to prime time -- as long as it involves the right project. "It will be huge," predicts one manager of Allen's comeback -- if and when it happens. Another source indicated that the actor is taking "a few select meetings" with writer-producers, one of whom may include Greg Daniels ("Parks & Recreation," "The Office"). Is there a chance that Allen could even join the staff of Dunder-Mifflin?