Tim Allen is back – he’s currently starring on the new ABC sitcom Shifting Gears, four years after his previous hit show Last Man Standing wrapped.

On an upcoming episode of the new show, he’ll be reuniting with a very special former co-star that fans will recognize!

Allen Reunites With Last Man Standing Wife

Allen, 71, and Nancy Travis, 63, starred together as the fictional couple Mike and Vanessa Baxter on the beloved sitcom Last Man Standing from 2011-2021. Though that show has been off the air for four years, it is still beloved by millions of fans to this day for its portrayal of the common sense average Joe, played by Allen.

That’s why fans are extremely excited to learn that Allen and Travis will be reuniting on an upcoming episode of Shifting Gears!

Travis will be guest starring on a Shifting Gears episode playing a widow named Charlotte. Her character will connect with Allen’s character Matt, who also lost his wife.

“The Nancy Travis story is really, really clever,” Allen told US Weekly. “Nancy Travis once told me [something] after I called her during Last Man Standing. I said, ‘Have you talked to the girls [who play 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 sometimes when they were having trouble on the show, I’d go, ‘How do you think they feel?’” he continued. “And she would respond, ‘Tim, they’re actors. We just read [what is on the page but] she’s not really that sad.’”

This will be the first time that Allen and Travis reunite onscreen since Last Man Standing went off the air. It is unknown at this time when exactly Travis’ episode will air.

Related: Tim Allen Gets Emotional – Reveals What Humbled Him Most About ‘Last Man Standing’ As Show Ends

Shifting Gears

Allen stars in Shifting Gears alongside the former 2 Broke Girls star Kat Dennings. They play widowed father Matt and his estranged daughter Riley, who find themselves having to move back in together as they repair their relationship.

Playing a widower is a new role for Allen. Indeed, on his previous sitcoms Last Man Standing and Home Improvement, he played characters married to women portrayed by Travis and Patricia Richardson. Allen has admitted that he was intrigued to do a sitcom playing someone who doesn’t have a love interest.

“From the very beginning, [the creative team has said] that we’ve never seen Tim Allen in a sitcom with a romantic interest. And I said, ‘Well, I’ve just lost my wife so I don’t see it.’ So I love where we are,” he explained. “I said, ‘If it happens over time and happens organically with two people that do not get along then it is OK. I just am really cautious about this, I just want it to happen where it’s organic and proper.”

Related: Fan-Favorite Tim Allen Praised By His ‘Shifting Gears’ Co-Star Kat Dennings – ‘He’s A Very Kind Person’

Allen ‘Very Excited’ To Be Doing Shifting Gears

Allen loves the sitcom format.

“I am very excited,” Allen told Entertainment Tonight last year. “You know, I tried really hard with Home Improvement, and then Last Man Standing. Maybe three’s a charm! Maybe I can finally make a statement with this.”

“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,” Allen explained. “But then ABC said, ‘If you come up with an idea,’ and I said, ‘If I did it, it would be this.’ And we came up with this idea, and we’re getting there.”

“I’m very geeked to be given this opportunity,” he concluded with a smile.

Shifting Gears airs Wednesday nights on ABC. Be sure to keep an eye out for Travis’ upcoming episode. You do not want to miss her reunion with Allen!

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