In its first season, Tim Allen’s latest network outing Shifting Gears tipped its oil-stained hat to the comedian’s prior sitcom Last Man Standing by bringing in Nancy Travis for a fun role, as well as getting Jay Leno in the mix. For Season 2, Allen’s classic sitcom Home Improvement will be fueling that nostalgia factor, with not just one, not just two, but three former co-stars coming together once again to kick off the ABC comedy’s sophomore debut on the 2025 TV schedule.
It’ll almost be like watching an episode of Tool Time and then some. According to Deadline, the Season 2 premiere dropping on October 1 will feature guest-starring roles for:
- Patricia Richardson (Jill Taylor)
- Richard Karn (Al Borland)
- Debbe Dunning (Heidi Keppert)
[The enusing paragraph was completely drowned out by the sound of happy-grunting and a capella version of the Home Improvement theme song]
Ahem. I don't know where all that grunting came from. There must be a window open. In any case, here's what we can look forward to seeing.
The details are light at the moment, possibly to keep the final product a surprise until closer to airing, but Patricia Richardson, Richard Karn and Debbe Dunning will all show up on Shifting Gears as character who will be supporting Allen's character Matt in one way or another.
Character specifics haven't been unveiled yet, which has the potential to lead to some interesting reveals, assuming the reasoning there isn't just "They're playing generic townspeople." Because let's not forget that Tim Allen's own Tim Taylor appeared in a crossover episode of Last Man Standing, which was teased and promoted pretty directly ahead of the episode's airdate. Perhaps Richardson, Karn and Dunning will also be paying homage to their Home Improvement characters in some way. Or maybe they'll be tied more to RIley's story.
Whatever the case may be, it'll be fun watching Allen sharing scenes with his former-costars again in front of a live audience. I'm still a bit shocked that all three were grouped together for a single episode, as opposed to spreading the love out. Maybe that means we can look forward to seeing Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Taran Noah Smith and Pamela Anderson in later episodes. Or maybe he'll factor in more of his Last Man Standing family members, though he may want to steer clear of Kaitlyn Dever after what she did to the Internets Daddy in The Last of Us.
Richardson previously reunited with Tim Allen twice in Last Man Standing, while the latter and Richard Karn worked together on not just LMS but also a pair of unscripted History Channel series, Assembly Required and More Power.
Stay tuned for hopefully more details about the sitcom trio's arrival on Shifting Gears. Season 2 will air on ABC on Wednesday, October 1, at 8:00 p.m. ET.
