Kaitlyn Dever Stuns Tim Allen With Surprise ‘Shifting Gears’ Visit In Mini ‘Last Man Standing’ Reunion
One very familiar face just rolled into Tim Allen’s orbit — but not on Shifting Gears.
Four years after Last Man Standing wrapped its nine-season run, Allen received an unexpected on-set visitor: former TV daughter Kaitlyn Dever, who played Eve Baxter. The surprise moment was captured and shared by the official Shifting Gears Instagram account, and the reaction was — in true sitcom fashion — pure chaos.

In the clip, Allen strolls into the kitchen set, clearly expecting to find Kat Dennings (his current TV daughter) rummaging through the fridge. Instead, Dever pops up from behind the door like a full-blown jump scare, immediately stopping him in his tracks. The studio audience loses its mind — hoots, hollers, the whole deal — as Allen pulls her in for a long-overdue hug.
The audience warm-up guy steps in to confirm what everyone’s thinking: yes, that is “the amazing Kaitlyn Dever,” now best known for her Emmy-nominated turns in Hulu’s Dopesick and HBO’s The Last of Us. She shares a hug with Dennings, then Allen grabs her again before she exits.

Allen and Dever last appeared together in the 2021 Last Man Standing finale — a reunion that wasn’t really a reunion at all. Dever was tied up filming the Dear Evan Hansen movie and, thanks to stringent COVID protocols, had to shoot her scene alone and appear only via FaceTime. As executive producer Kevin Abbott explained to TVLine at the time: “The reason why she could shoot in front of the crew, but not the cast, is because the crew’s all masked. They shielded up, but the cast [could not], and there was not time to do the proper quarantine procedures.”
Dever isn’t the first Last Man Standing alum to stop by Shifting Gears. The series previously welcomed Nancy Travis and Jay Leno, and Travis’ second episode even served as a mini Home Improvement reunion with Patricia Richardson, Richard Karn, and Debbe Dunning all appearing.
The show’s fall finale airs Wednesday, December 10 at 8 p.m. on ABC, with episodes hitting Hulu the next day.
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