It wasn’t hard to notice last night that there was a connection between the three comedy projects that had been expected to get pickups but didn’t — pilots Cristela and Fresh Off the Boat and series Last Man Standing. All three hail from 20th Century Fox TV. I hear the three are part of a negotiation between ABC and the studio that somewhat echoes last year’s four-series negotiation between Sony TV and NBC that included pilots The Blacklist, Welcome to the Family and Night Shift and returning Community. I hear the issue is a request from the network for a license fee reduction on Last Man Standing. I hear the network had made the same request last year after Last Man‘s first season in the lower-trafficked Friday 8 PM slot in what was supposed to be a one-time thing. I hear the studio agreed and Last Mad was renewed for a third season. Further squeezing the license fee for the show may be problematic for the studio as star Tim Allen commands a six-figure per-episode pay check. On the other hand, sibling Twentieth TV had been shopping Last Man for a syndication sale, so getting a fourth season is important to the studio. The standoff impacts 20th TV’s hot comedy prospects Cristela and Fresh Off the Boat, which have become a part of the negotiations.
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