Some minor spoilers can be found in this article about Nancy Travis’ big appearance on the Valentine’s Day episode of Shifting Gears, which recently hit the 2025 TV schedule.
Nancy Travis’ recent reunion on Shifting Gears with her Last Man Standing co-star Tim Allen was a delight, and it turns out that wasn’t just true for audiences only. In fact, a lot of the people who work on Allen’s new show were also around for his last sitcom (and some even harken back to his Home Improvement days), and Travis opened up about the moment that got the biggest pop when she was on set.
Travis showed up on Shifting Gears as Charlotte, a widow who met Matt at the cemetery. She’d been grieving for five years by the time they bumped into one another, and she helped Matt to see there is a life to be had after one’s partner dies. It doesn’t sound like a barrel of laughs, but the show had winks to their Last Man Standing relationship, including when Matt admitted he was not ready to see someone new yet, and Charlotte joked he reminded her too much of “the last guy she was with,” anyway.
It was a joke that really worked for a lot of the OG Last Man Standing crew and more who worked on set.
It got the biggest laugh. Everyone feels like they’re in on something. It just feels incredibly inclusive. People that come to a lot of the tapings, I would imagine, are big fans of Tim’s as well as Kat Dennings. But they come to expect certain things, and when they see an actor that he’s worked with before on the show, they’re looking for the wink moment, the inside joke.
Travis said “the inside joke” was also something she learned while on Last Man Standing, as she told The Wrap. During her time on that long-running sitcom, the show had on Allen’s former Home Improvement wife Patricia Richardson, and they took a similar tact.
I remember there were a lot of jokes like that when Pat Richardson was on ‘Last Man Standing.’
I’d imagine there’s always a bit of push and pull when there’s a reunion on a sitcom set. Charlotte is very different than Nancy Travis’ Last Man Standing character Vanessa Baxter – as she notes, Charlotte’s “more mature” and has “sharp wit.” But I’d assume the rhythms of working with one’s former frequent scene partner would be very much the same, and it would garner some interesting feelings while filming. Particularly if one is back on the set of a sitcom working with a lot of the people one has worked with in the past. Luckily, in this case, the gig turned out great.
Shifting Gears is only in its first season, but it marks Tim Allen’s return to network television, and it’s been a fan-favorite in the ratings so far. If you aren’t caught up, you can always do so with a Hulu subscription. I’d consider starting soon though if you’re excited for cameos, because another one from fellow car aficionado Jay Leno is on the way.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
