After recently bringing Nancy Travis onto Shifting Gears, Tim Allen welcomed another Last Man Standing co-star in the latest episode

Shifting Gears Brought In Jay Leno For A Quick Cameo, And I Got Something Way Funnier Than The Last Man Standing Reference I Expected

(Image credit: ABC/Raymond Liu)

Warning! The following contains spoilers for the Shifting Gears episode “Gummies.” Stream the episode with a Hulu subscription and read at your own risk!

After recently bringing Nancy Travis onto Shifting Gears, Tim Allen welcomed another Last Man Standing co-star in the latest episode. Jay Leno showed up playing himself, and while I expected him to refer to the previous series like Travis did, the ABC comedy hit us with a curveball by referencing another one of Allen’s earlier projects: Home Improvement.

In what was his second network television sitcom appearance since his voice cameo in Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage, Jay Leno played himself as a client of Allen’s character, Matt Parker. Their brief conversation made it sound like the two were pretty friendly, at least enough for Leno to rib him about his resemblance to a television character.

Jay Leno Made A Vague Reference To Home Improvement

Jay Leno showed up toward the end of the episode, arriving at the auto shop to pick up one of his cars that he’d “forgotten about.” He then briefly talked to Matt, and recalled a voicemail he sent him the night prior where he wasn’t making much sense. The voicemail didn’t make sense because Matt had taken a marijuana edible, but rather than admit that, he instead said he was doing a comedy bit. Leno bought the excuse, and it jogged his memory of something else he’d seen the night before:

I was watching this show last night, must’ve been from the ’90s. A guy, looks like a younger version of you, has all your mannerisms. And the difference between you and him? He was really funny. Oh that guy, he was unbelievable.

While the series wasn’t directly mentioned, Shifting Gears made a pretty clear reference to Home Improvement. It’s a fitting nod considering the classic series aired on ABC, for those old enough to remember before it was available with a Disney+ subscription or on other platforms. As someone who was totally expecting another reference to Last Man Standing, it was fun to have my expectations subverted.

Will Home Improvement Stars Make Their Way To Shifting Gears?

Now that Home Improvement has been mentioned, I have to know when we’ll start seeing the former stars of the sitcom join Tim Allen and Kat Dennings. After hearing the origins of the “Goth Mark” storyline, I would love to see Taran Noah Smith show up and play a character on Shifting Gears, if only to make a joke about that.

And am I the only one who would love to see Richard Karn play a character that opens up a competing auto shop on the other side of town? After watching Karn play Tim Allen’s best friend Al on Home Improvement, seeing the two as bitter enemies in the new series would be hilarious. Let’s get these two in a show again because that History Channel series wasn’t enough.

We’ll see what actors from Tim Allen’s past will show up on future episodes of Shifting Gears, which air on ABC on Wednesdays at 8:00 p.m. ET. This sitcom is one of the top shows so far on the 2025 TV schedule, so be sure to catch up if you haven’t already.