I Missed Tim Allen’s Amusing Toy Story Nod Thanks To ABC’s Big Dispute With YouTube TV

I missed quite a bit on ABC’s 2025 schedule while they were having issues with YouTube TV. While everyone was focused on college football, some of my favorite shows were interrupted, and I ended up missing a cool Toy Story reference from Tim Allen and the rest of the cast.

Here’s what happened: ABC released a Halloween episode of Shifting Gears on October 29th, but I was playing tennis and didn’t get to watch it. The next day, ABC and YouTube TV had a disagreement that blocked access to the episode. Luckily, with the dispute now resolved, the episode reappeared in my YouTube TV library this week.

This holiday episode saw the family separate for their celebrations. The kids ended up at a Day of the Dead party where Riley dressed as a Mama Bear – someone mistook her for a Wookie! She was with her friend Gabe, who was dressed as Han Solo, and he was getting to know someone new. Back at home, Matt Parker was reluctantly giving out Halloween candy with his girlfriend Eve when a child dressed as Woody came to their door.

Matt playfully suggested to the child that a “space ranger” costume would have been a better choice, creating a fun nod to another one of Tim Allen’s famous roles. The show Shifting Gears has frequently referenced Allen’s past work, even featuring the cast of Home Improvement recently, so the joke felt like a natural fit. While well-placed within the episode, the reference to Toy Story felt particularly timely with a fifth movie on the way, and would have been even more perfect if it had appeared around Halloween.

Honestly, watching a Halloween episode so late in November felt really strange, and it also made me miss a reference to Kat Dennings’ previous role on 2 Broke Girls.

YouTube TV: $82.99 a Month

Thinking about switching from cable to a streaming service? YouTube TV now includes ABC, plus all your favorite live news channels and on-demand shows – and it’s more affordable than cable! See the deal here.

Disney and YouTube TV recently disagreed over how much YouTube TV should pay Disney for channels like ABC and ESPN. While the exact details aren’t public, reports suggest YouTube TV ultimately agreed to pay Disney extra to allow content from ESPN’s new streaming service to be directly accessed through the YouTube TV app.

The disagreement reportedly benefited other streaming services like Sling TV, and YouTube TV gave its subscribers a $20 credit to apologize for the inconvenience.

It might seem like a minor victory, but viewers actually lost out. It’s frustrating enough to make you grunt – like Tim Allen would.

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2025-11-18 16:08