Tim Allen is gearing back up to star in a new sitcom.
Tim Allen, who rose to fame as the star of the classic sitcom Home Improvement, has been tapped to play the lead role for a pilot that’s been ordered by the Disney-owned network ABC. Per THR, the planned series is called Shifting Gears, and it’s a multicamera comedy show. This marks the first pilot order for ABC of 2024. Whether it gets ordered to series remains to be seen, but Shifting Gears may have a leg up with Allen on board, given his past success in making sitcoms popular.
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Shifting Gears is co-written by Mike and Julie Scully. Allen is executive producing alongside the pair, with other EPs including Last Man Standing’s Marty Adelstein, Becky Clements, Richard Baker, and Rick Messina. In the pilot, Tim Allen plays Matt, a “stubborn, widowed owner of a classic car restoration shop. When Matt’s estranged daughter and her teenage kids move into his house, the real restoration begins.”
This marks another reunion for Allen and Disney, with the latter owning ABC. Allen’s previous sitcom, Last Man Standing, was also developed for ABC originally. After six seasons, the show moved to Fox, which was owned by 20th Century. Disney subsequently acquired the studio and licensed Last Man Standing to Fox for another three seasons. More recently, Allen had again been collaborating with Disney as the star of The Santa Clauses, the Disney+ series that serves as a continuation of the Santa Clause movie trilogy.
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At one point, there had been rumors that Disney was looking to cut ties with Tim Allen, though that is clearly not the case. The rumors had flared up when it was revealed that Chris Evans would be voicing an alternate version of Allen’s Toy Story character in the franchise film Lightyear, which was released in 2022. It has since been reported that Toy Story 5 is in development with plans to bring back Allen to reprise the voice of the toy version of Buzz Lightyear.
Will a Home Improvement Revival Happen?
Meanwhile, Tim Allen has also recently suggested that he’d be open to revisiting Home Improvement, perhaps with a revival special. As of now, however, there are no concrete plans for that to happen. It’s possible that the recent legal troubles of Zachery Ty Bryan put the kibosh on the chances of the revival happening anytime soon.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
Home Improvement
The daily trials and tribulations of Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor, a television show host raising three mischievous boys with help from his loyal co-host, loving wife, and eccentric neighbor.
Release Date September 17, 1991
Cast Tim Allen , Earl Hindman , Taran Noah Smith , Zachery Ty Bryan , Patricia Richardson , Richard Karn , Jonathan Taylor Thomas
Main Genre Comedy
Seasons 8
Cinematographer Donald A. Morgan
Creator Carmen Finestra, David McFadzean, Matt Williams
Producer John Pasquin, Gayle S. Maffeo, Alan Padula
Production Company Wind Dancer Productions, Touchstone Television
Number of Episodes 203
