ABC is keeping the engine running on its newest family comedy. The network has officially renewed Shifting Gears for Season 2, giving fans more time with Tim Allen and Kat Dennings‘ delightfully dysfunctional father-daughter duo. Created by Julie Thacker Scully and Mike Scully, with Michelle Nader serving as showrunner, the multi-cam sitcom follows estranged father Matt (Allen) and daughter Riley (Dennings) as they attempt to rebuild their fractured relationship — with plenty of sarcasm, misunderstandings, and reluctant bonding along the way.
There initially seemed to be little chance of the show not being renewed when it debuted in January and quickly became ABC’s most-streamed comedy premiere ever, pulling in a whopping 17 million cross-platform viewers in just seven days, but doubts began to creep in as live viewership dipped as the season progressed, even though the show consistently saw solid gains in delayed viewing.
Plot details for Season 2 are being kept under wraps, but Season 1’s finale teased new romantic entanglements for Matt, renewed tensions with Riley, and plenty more opportunities for generational clashes between Allen’s conservative leading man and the more liberal younger members of the cast—the exact kind of juxtaposition that his audience has come to expect and enjoy.
Tim Allen Loves His Role in ‘Shifting Gears’
Allen is one of the kings of sitcoms in Hollywood, but after leading two of television’s most successful sitcoms—Home Improvement (1991-1999) and Last Man Standing (2011-2021)—he truly wasn’t sure if he really wanted to do another series. But when he was proposed Shifting Gears, and saw that the set was designed after his own North Hollywood garage, he admitted it was “what I always wanted” from a show.
“I love the sitcom format because of my stand-up,” he explained. “I get to be in a live audience situation. When they said, ‘What would you do if you did another one?’ I said, ‘If a guy had just lost his wife and he’s still able to be funny and [work on] a relationship with an older daughter … and I’d like to build hot rods!’ Kat Dennings said, ‘[Some people] get into a relationship because [their] parents don’t like it. Your parents tell you not to do something, so you do it.’ My daughters are not like that. I mean, we’ve had our problems, of course.”
Kat Dennings Says ‘Shifting Gears’ Has Been “A New Experience”
Dennings has also spoken recently of how much she’s enjoying her part in the series. She was interviewed on the Not Gonna Lie podcast, saying she was excited about playing a mother for the first time in her career, even though she joked she’s still “12.” Dennings stated it was the chance to try something new that drew her to the series, as well as getting to act with Allen, adding that he’s always “very present” and “really feeling these things.”
“In the first episode, we both get emotional and it was real. It’s incredible to deal with him and the kids. I mean, everybody is really amazing. That just makes the funny parts even funnier and such a relief to do. It’s just been a very good, organic-feeling show to me. Which is new, it’s a new experience for me.”
Shifting Gears is streaming now on Hulu.
via Collider