Tim Allen says a gay reference in his new ABC sitcom was meant to be funny — not offensive.
In the pilot episode of the new fall comedy “Last Man Standing,” macho outdoorsman Mike Baxter suggests his grandson should attend a different preschool or he will end up “dancing on a parade float.”
“I think it was a funny joke,” Allen told a group of TV writers in Los Angeles yesterday. “So, I believe the network will probably leave it in there.
“It was meant to be one guy’s perspective of how his view of softness will go to dancing on a float. But, we can safely hide behind, ‘What are you talking about? A lot of people dance on floats. Haven’t you seen the Macy’s parade?’
“Obviously, if you go to Santa Monica Boulevard [a popular gay area in Los Angeles], it’s a different kind of float.”
“Last Man Standing” marks Allen’s first return to series television since 1999 — and bears more than a passing similarity to his long-running sitcom “Home Improvement.”
As Baxter, Allen is once again a father of three — this time, teenage girls — and works as the marketing manager of an outdoor and camping supplies company.