The Last Man Standing and Home Improvement worlds are colliding.
Tim Allen will be reprising his role as Tim Taylor from Home Improvement for a crossover episode of his current show, Last Man Standing, in which he stars as Mike Baxter. In the episode, titled in “Dual Time” and airing on Fox Jan. 7, Allen will play both dads.
The pair meet when Mike’s wife Vanessa (Nancy Travis) hires a home improvement repairman who looks strikingly similar to Mike. A clip of their interaction is briefly featured in a trailer for the upcoming season of Last Man Standing.
“They call me the tool man,” Allen as Tim Taylor says to which Allen as Mike Baxter quips that he’s “a little annoying.”
Home Improvement ran for eight seasons on ABC starting in 1991. Alongside Allen, the beloved sitcom starred Richard Karn, Patricia Richardson, Jonathan Taylor Thomas and Zachery Ty Bryan.
Last Man Standing is set to air its ninth and final season premiere in January on Fox. In October, Allen teased in a statement that season 9 would be “memorable and hilarious.”
“I’ve been one lucky dude to have been part of Last Man Standing,” said Allen, who also executive produces the show. “I so appreciate the incredible support from our fans over this near decade of work. As we approach the ninth season, I just admire and feel grateful for all the hard work our wonderful cast and crew have done.”
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“We had all considered to end the show after last season, but together with Fox, we decided to add a year so we could produce a full season to create the gentle and fun goodbye,” he added. “I’m looking forward to a memorable and hilarious final season.”
In addition to showing a brief clip from the Home Improvement crossover episode, the trailer for the season includes a reference to another one of Allen’s iconic roles — Kris Kringle in The Santa Clause trilogy.
“As this pandemic grinds on, I won’t shave until we get through this,” his character says, stroking a long beard. “I could play Santa Claus!”
