TV Shows

Tim Allen’s ‘Shifting Gears’ to Feature Reunion With ‘Last Man Standing’ Co-Star

Allen’s former on-screen wife Nancy Travis will be joining him on an upcoming episode of Shifting Gears.

Tim Allen on 'Shifting Gears' (Disney/Raymond Liu)

Tim Allen’s worlds are colliding on Shifting Gears. The actor’s newest ABC sitcom is staging a Last Man Standing reunion, Us Weekly reports. Allen’s former on-screen wife, Nancy Travis, will be appearing in an upcoming episode of the new hit series as Charlotte, a spirited widow who connects with Allen’s character, Matt.

“The Nancy Travis story is really, really clever,” Allen told the outlet. “Nancy Travis once told me [something] after I called her during Last Man Standing. I said, ‘Have you talked to the girls [who played our daughters] over the summer?’ Then there’s this long pause, and she goes, ‘Tim, these aren’t our daughters, and I’m not actually your wife.’ She was so wonderful about it because when they were having trouble on the show, I’d go, ‘How do you think they feel?’ And she would respond, ‘Tim, they’re actors. We just read [what is on the page, but] she’s not really that sad.’”

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LAST MAN STANDING: L-R: Nancy Travis and Tim Allen in the “Meatless Mike” episode of LAST MAN STANDING airing Thursday, March 4 (9:30-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX.

Allen and Travis played Mike and Vanessa Baxter on Last Man Standing, which ran for a total of nine seasons from 2011 to 2021. While both actors have been as busy as ever since the end of the sitcom, Travis’ upcoming appearance on Shifting Gears marks the first time they’re sharing the screen together since Last Man Standing. Other details surrounding Travis’ role, including when the episode will premiere, have not been released. It’s also unknown if she will be able to come back or if this is just a single-episode stint.

Meanwhile, Shifting Gears premiered on ABC on Jan. 8 and also stars Kat Dennings, Seann William Scott, Daryl Chill Mitchell, Maxwell Simkins, and Barrett Margolis. It follows a widower who runs a classic auto restoration shop who reluctantly takes in his estranged daughter and her two children. While it’s received mixed reviews, the show is becoming a hit on the network. Since it did just premiere, it’s hard to tell if it will get renewed, so it might still be a while until that information is released.

More information about Nancy Travis’ Shifting Gears appearance should be revealed in the coming waits. In the meantime, fans can watch the new series on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC, streaming the next day on Hulu. All nine seasons of Last Man Standing are also available to stream on Hulu.