Tim Allen isn’t just reuniting with his former Home Improvement and Last Man Standing costars on Shifting Gears — he is also set to share the screen with Los Angeles Dodger Mookie Betts.
ABC confirmed that Betts, 32, will be playing himself as he makes his scripted TV debut in an upcoming episode. Comedian Lilly Singh is also joining the show as Riley’s (Kat Dennings) new mom friend “who she clicks with instantly, only for their budding friendship to be derailed by unexpected mama drama.”
The casting news comes after Deadline confirmed early last month that season 2 will feature appearances from Patricia Richardson, Richard Karn and Debbe Dunning after they worked with Allen, 72, on Home Improvement. Nancy Travis, meanwhile, is returning to the show after playing Charlotte in season 1, which reunited her with Allen after Last Man Standing.
Richardson, 74, Karn, 69, and Dunning, 59, are set to appear in the October 1 premiere to support Allen’s character Matt in an “unexpected way.” The sitcom legend has often recruited costars from his previous projects to make guest appearances on Shifting Gears after the show premiered on ABC in February.
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Jay Leno also made a cameo as himself in season 1, which brought the comedian into Matt’s (Allen) Parker Customs auto shop for a repair. Shifting Gears follows widowed father Matt and his estranged daughter, Riley, as they find themselves living together and working to repair their relationship.
In addition to Allen and Dennings, 38, Shifting Gears also stars Seann William Scott, Daryl “Chill” Mitchell, Maxwell Simkins and Barrett Margolis. Jenna Elfman, meanwhile, was cast in a recurring role as spirited choreographer Eve Drake, who owns a dance studio across from the classic car restoration shop run by Allen’s character.
“It was a complicated decision [to do Shifting Gears]. I was doing Disney+’s Santa Claus series at the time and I said, ‘I really can’t think about this now,’” Allen exclusively told Us Weekly in January. “Do I want to do linear TV? I was so depressed at how streaming has hurt television. So if I did it, I want to elevate it.”
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It was his experience in the comedy space that eventually caused Allen to reconsider. “I’ve done Mike Baxter [on Last Man Standing] and Tim Taylor [on Home Improvement],” he noted. “So if I do this again, I pitched three things: I want a guy that lost his wife recently, so he’s dealing with grief; I want a guy with the family that doesn’t get along; and then he has a custom car shop.”
Allen was thrilled to try something new when it came to bringing Matt to life.
“He’s more like me. I’m more of an artist. I was a design student and a philosopher and my standup comedy is really about messing with people in a good way,” Allen added. “I came from a huge family run by women. So my perspective is very different about men. I don’t think we run things. So I want this to be that guy. He’s not a ‘man’s man’ in that term, and he wasn’t trying to be anything but what he does.”
Shifting Gears returns to ABC on Wednesday, October 1, at 8 p.m. ET before streaming the next day on Hulu.
