ABC Releases First Look at ‘Home Improvement’ Reunion on ‘Shifting Gears’

It’s Home Improvement meets Shifting Gears.

After ABC released a trailer for Shifting Gears’ second season featuring the much-anticipated reunion, the network treated fans to a first look at it.

It was announced in August that Home Improvement stars Patricia Richardson, Richard Karn, and Debbe Dunning will be appearing in the upcoming season of the sophomore ABC sitcom alongside Tim Allen. It’s now been confirmed that all three will be appearing in the Season 2 premiere, airing on Wednesday, Oct. 1. In the episode, titled “Secret,” Allen’s Matt “wrestles with his feelings for Eve, and Charlotte convinces him to go to a grief group. Meanwhile, Riley struggles with her own ‘will she or won’t she’ feelings about Gabe.”

Details surrounding the trio’s characters have not been released, but from the looks of the pictures, it can be assumed that they will be part of the grief group that Charlotte suggests for Matt. However they appear, it will be entertaining seeing them on-screen together with Allen. Home Improvement ran for eight seasons from 1991 to 1999. Allen portrayed Tim Taylor, while Richardson was his wife, Jill Taylor. Karn played Al, Tim’s friend and assistant on Tool Time, and Dunning was Tool Time girl Heidi Keppert.

The Home Improvement reunion is not the only reunion that Tim Allen will be getting on Shifting Gears. His Last Man Standing wife, Nancy Travis, is returning as the aforementioned Charlotte. Former Tonight Show host Jay Leno also guest starred last season after recurring on Last Man Standing. Considering how close Allen seems to remain to most of his co-stars, it wouldn’t be surprising if more reunions were in store, or if this isn’t the last time that Richardson, Karn, and Dunning are seen on Shifting Gears.

It’s been 26 years since Home Improvement ended, and fans should be excited to see four of the stars reuniting once again. There is no telling how the episode will go and how the characters will interact, but luckily, the wait isn’t much longer. The Season 2 premiere of Shifting Gears airs on Wednesday, Oct. 1 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC, streaming the next day on Hulu, where the first season is currently available. All eight seasons of Home Improvement are also streaming on Hulu.