https://screenrant.com/shifting-gears-episode-9-jay-leno-tim-allen-home-improvement-joke-fix-how-explainer/

Shifting Gears (https://screenrant.com/db/tv-show/shifting-gears/) has been fodder for Tim Allen fans since it debuted, but episode 9’s thinly-veiled callback to Home Improvement proves the lead actor’s past roles are hurting the ABC comedy. Alongside Allen’s Matt Parker, Kat Dennings leads Shifting Gears' cast of characters as Matt’s daughter, Riley. Shifting Gears follows Riley, in the weeds of a failing marriage, suddenly moving home with her two children, Carter (Maxwell Simkins) and Georgia (Barrett Margolis). Shifting Gears' story isn’t necessarily groundbreaking, but it doesn’t have to be in order to succeed as a sitcom.

Shifting Gears has earned impressive viewership from the very beginning, in no small part due to Tim Allen leading the show. However, the harsh reality of Tim Allen’s role in Shifting Gears has been clear from the first episode: Matt Parker is nothing new. Allen has played similar archetypes in his two most popular projects, namely Tim Taylor in Home Improvement and Mike Baxter in Last Man Standing. The similarities are so conclusive, the ABC sitcom used it as a punchline in Shifting Gears episode 9— but the self-aware humor could indicate a deeper issue.