Tim Allen’s former TV costars just can’t stop visiting Shifting Gears!
While taping an upcoming episode of the ABC sitcom, Allen, 72, received a special surprise from one of his Last Man Standing TV daughters, Kaitlyn Dever.
“Some behind the scenes love for you: the best surprise,” a Friday, December 5, social media post from the show read. “Thanks for stopping by @kaitlyndever!”
In the footage, Allen walked into the house set, where Dever, 28, had her head buried in a refrigerator.
“Oh,” Dever said when she looked up to find Allen approaching, before they embraced in a sweet hug.
Dever notably played Allen’s daughter Eve on all nine seasons of Last Man Standing.
“I love playing her just because the writers write this hilarious stuff for her, and amazing lines. I love doing that and making people laugh,” the Rosaline actress said in a 2013 interview with She Said Media Said. “I think I relate to her in the way that she has such a dry sense of humor, and I have a very dry sense of humor in real life too. She’s a really fun character. She’s really into sports and if you ask her any questions about sports, she will know it.”
@shifting_gearsabc Some behind the scenes love for you: the best surprise 🥰 Thanks for stopping by Kaitlyn Dever!
♬ original sound – Shifting Gears
At the time, Dever gushed that many of her favorite set memories included Allen.
“We have so many [special] moments on set. It’s really hard to keep track of each one, because every time we go to shoot or any time we go to rehearsals, I’m constantly laughing,” she recalled. “Tim is constantly making me laugh, but it was really, really cool because we went on a hiatus and we were throwing this Christmas party right after the show. I show up to the party … and I walk in and everyone is singing happy birthday to me and they have this big Sweet 16 cake. The whole cast and the crew were standing there singing, ‘Happy Birthday.’ I was so surprised.”
Last Man Standing ended in 2017, eight years before Allen took on the role of widower Matt on ABC’s Shifting Gears. As Shifting Gears found its devoted audience after its January debut, Allen enlisted several of his former costars from both Last Man Standing and Home Improvement to make special cameos.
Allen’s Last Man Standing TV wife, Nancy Travis, even made an appearance on the Shifting Gears season 2 premiere — and thought her former onscreen kids could be next.
“I have no doubt [about that]. Tim is nothing if not loyal. It was great to walk on that set and see most of the crew was from Last Man Standing,” Travis, 63, exclusively told Us Weekly in February. “The director John Pasquin did so many episodes of Last Man Standing and is a personal friend. It was just so great to feel this sense of reunion.”
She continued, “I wouldn’t be surprised if everybody from Last Man Standing shows up on Shifting Gears in one way or another. If Tim has his way, he’ll make sure that everybody from [his costar Kat Dennings’] 2 Broke Girls comes on too.”
