BREAKING NEWS: Jonathan Taylor Thomas Surprises Tim Allen on Shifting Gears Set, Kat Dennings Can’t Contain Her Excitement. giang

Kat Dennings tried to keep her cool after running into her childhood celebrity crush, Jonathan Taylor Thomas.

While appearing on the Jan. 7 episode of The View, the Shifting Gears star, 38, opened up about the “fun” special guests who came to visit her and her costar Tim Allen on set of ABC’s latest sitcom.

After admitting that Thomas was her “first love,” Dennings recalled watching him on Home Improvement alongside Allen when she was growing up.

“For anyone who doesn’t know, Home Improvement — Tim Allen’s first big sitcom — Jonathan Taylor Thomas played his little son,” she explained. “And when I was like, 7 and watching the show, I was in love with Jonathan Taylor Thomas as anyone in this age bracket was.”

“So he came to set to visit and I was losing my mind, but I was trying to act cool and I think I succeeded until now, because now he can see that I was not playing it cool at all,” she laughed, noting how it was “really sweet” to see Allen and Thomas reuniting after all these years.

Home Improvement ran for eight seasons from 1991 to 1999 and starred Allen alongside Thomas, Zachery Ty Bryan and Taran Noah Smith. Over the course of its run, the series earned three Emmy nominations for outstanding comedy series.

Shifting Gears follows Matt (Allen), a “stubborn, widowed owner of a classic car restoration shop” but when his estranged daughter Riley (Dennings) and her two kids move back into his home, “the real restoration begins,” per the show’s logline.

In addition to Dennings and Allen, other cast members include Seann William Scott as Gabriel, Daryl “Chill” Mitchell as Stitch, Maxwell Simkins as Carter and Barrett Margolis as Georgia.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Shifting Gears premieres Jan. 8 at 8 pm ET on ABC.