Things generally happen in threes, from mishaps to miracles, pitfalls and positives. Tim Allen is a familiar face in the world of sitcoms thanks to Home Improvement and Last Man Standing, and after his original plans fell through, it seems Shifting Gears will complete the trifecta.
71-year-old Allen has frequented ABC, and then Fox, through sitcoms, with Home Improvement airing from 1991 to ’99, and Last Man Standing remaining on two feet from 2011 to 2021. In a chat with Entertainment Tonight, Allen revealed just how much Shifting Gears means to him as an additional chance to put his all into a project and produce a quality product.
A ‘Home Improvement’ reunion wasn’t in the cards
A Home Improvement reboot remained in a place of very confused limbo for a time. Allen had once told EW that he spoke with Disney about the possibility of launching just such a project, joined by his former castmates. However, on the Back to the Best podcast, Patricia Richardson, who played Allen’s TV wife Jill Taylor, said she had not been contacted by anyone about putting together a reboot.
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“It was so weird,” she recounted. “I would hear on Twitter or whatever, I’d hear that he was coming out publicly and saying this stuff about everyone was on board to do a Home Improvement reunion, but he never asked me, and he never asked Jonathan [Taylor Thomas], who I talk to.”
Deciding to get answers, Richardson added, “So I called Jonathan one day, and I said, ‘Has he asked you about this? He went, ‘No.’ ‘So why is he saying everyone is on board when he hasn’t talked to you or me?’ I think that’s weird.”
Tim Allen opens up about ‘Shifting Gears’ as an additional chance to make another quality sitcom
Sure enough, Tool Time never showed off another dose of more power. Yet Allen’s passion never wavered; he still had the bug. “You know, I tried really hard with Home Improvement, and then Last Man Standing,” he said, speaking with ET. “Maybe three’s a charm! Maybe I can finally make a statement with this.”
He added, “It was a big event for me, ’cause I really loved Home Improvement, [so] to do Last Man Standing was a big push, and then I love that family so much.”
“But then ABC said, ‘If you come up with an idea,'” Allen shared, “and I said, ‘If I did it, it would be this.’ And we came up with this idea, and we’re getting there.”
Shifting Gears is currently greenlit for a pilot and tells the story of Allen’s character, who owns a classic car repair shop. Suddenly, he finds himself reconnecting with a branch of his family long thought inaccessible when his estranged daughter and teenage kids move in with him. It’s certain to be a battle of different demographics that Allen has turned into two triumphant programs already. Will you be watching?
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