After more than three decades of television success, Tim Allen knows a thing or two about building a hit sitcom — and yes, he’ll take some credit. His latest series, Shifting Gears, is another ratings winner, this time pairing Allen with Kat Dennings in a comedy about family, estrangement, and, of course, classic cars. The show was recently renewed for a second season by ABC, and Allen has told Closer Weekly that bringing his own passions into the series made it a winner in his eyes.
“I love cars, and I have a shop in North Hollywood. The shop on the show is pretty much designed after mine.”
That shared passion was key to shaping his character, Matt Parker, a widowed father and gearhead navigating the return of his estranged daughter, Riley (Dennings), and her two kids. Since its January premiere, Shifting Gears has been revving up impressive numbers for network television — something Allen sees as rooted in comfort and clarity for viewers, who like the predictability of the series as well as the speedy resolutions it brings, resolutions that are often hard to find in the real lives of those watching their televisions for an escape from the trials and tribulations of their daily activities.
“You get 23 minutes to resolve [a problem],” Allen said. “It’s really easy [on the show], but it’s not so easy in real life.”
That structure of the sitcom, the classic American tradition — a grounded family, a clear conflict, and a satisfying resolution by the end of the episode — has been Allen’s formula since Home Improvement debuted in the early ’90s. It’s a method he honed again with Last Man Standing, and now with Shifting Gears, he’s sticking to what works. Who can blame the guy?
What Makes Tim Allen’s Sitcoms Work?
Allen’s philosophy when it comes to writing and shaping his shows is simple: keep it real, and keep it affectionate. “I think the foundation [of Home Improvement] was really good,” he said. “I wanted the marriage to be really affectionate — not bickering all the time. I wanted the three boys to be three boys, not two boys and a girl.”
On Last Man Standing, Allen flipped the dynamic. “Same thing. The relationship with [TV wife] Nancy Travis — I wanted to be very affectionate, [but they] have three girls, not three boys. So, I had to deal with all one gender. It was wonderful to do that.”
But no matter what show you watched, Allen’s sitcoms all have one thing in common: they make life feel just a little easier — at least for 23 minutes. Shifting Gears can be streamed now on Hulu.
