Tim Allen is back on ABC with a brand-new sitcom.
He’s added a new twist to his formula for success.
And Tim Allen revealed one secret about his new show that his fans never expected.
Tim Allen’s new character has a major difference from his previous characters
Comedian Tim Allen has played some of the funniest sitcom characters in TV history.
He starred as Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor for eight seasons in the 1990s on the ABC hit Home Improvement.
Allen’s character hosted a home improvement TV show and enjoyed manly pursuits like classic cars while raising his three sons in suburban Detroit.
He returned to ABC in 2011 with Last Man Standing about a dad who deals with living in a house with his wife and three daughters.
The comedian launched his new ABC sitcom Shifting Gears in January about a widower whose estranged daughter and her two kids show up out of the blue to move back in with him.
Allen told US Weekly that his new character Matt Parker isn’t a “man’s man” like he played in Home Improvement and Last Man Standing.
“He’s more like me. I’m more of an artist,” Allen said. “I was a design student and a philosopher and my standup comedy is really about messing with people in a good way.”
Last Man Standing was based partially on his life growing up in a household filled with women.
“I came from a huge family run by women,” Allen stated. “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.”
Tim Allen brings the laugh with a different style of character
Allen drew upon his personal experiences to help bring Matt to life.
“This is a new character and it’s much closer to [who I am]. I’ve been through grief in my life with losing my father,” Allen explained. “I’ve been blessed to be a comedian and so that’s who this [character] is. If I did it again, I wanted to get as much closer to the [man] that I am.”
Allen’s character is looking to repair his relationship with his daughter Riley played by actress Kat Dennings.
“From the very beginning, [the creative team has said] that we’ve never seen Tim Allen in a sitcom with a romantic interest. And I said, ‘Well, I’ve just lost my wife so I don’t see it.’ So I love where we are,” Allen stated. “I said, ‘If it happens over time and happens organically with two people that do not get along then it is OK. I just am really cautious about this. I just want it to happen where it’s organic and proper.”
Allen reunites in the show with actress Nancy Travis who played his wife in Last Man Standing.
She plays a widow named Charlotte who gets close with Matt.
“The Nancy Travis story is really, really clever,” Allen explained. “Nancy Travis once told me [something] after I called her during Last Man Standing. I said, ‘Have you talked to the girls [who play our daughters] over the summer?’ Then there’s this long pause and she goes, ‘Tim, these aren’t our daughters and I’m not actually your wife.’”
Shifting Gears is off to a strong start and it looks like Tim Allen could have another hit in the making.
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