‘It’s Just Too Much Too Soon’: Behind the Scenes of Gabe’s Emotional Reveal to Riley in ‘Shifting Gears’

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The ABC sitcom Shifting Gears follows Matt (Tim Allen), the widowed owner of a classic car restoration shop who suddenly had his estranged daughter Riley (Kat Dennings) step back into his life and home with her two kids. Riley was fed up with her musician husband’s unwillingness to step up as a husband and father, and decided to find common ground with the father she’s never seen eye-to-eye with. When Jimmy (Lucas Neff) returns with an exciting new job and wants her and the kids to move into his house, Riley is left to decide what’s best for her now and whether it’s time to put herself first, which creates possibilities for a potential Season 2.

During this interview with Collider, Dennings and Seann William Scott, who plays family friend Gabriel, talked about Riley’s big decision, Gabe’s feelings about Jimmy, what they most enjoy about working with each other, how surreal it is to be on a sitcom with Allen, the fun little nods and Easter eggs, figuring out just how far Riley would lean in for a kiss, and whether a possible Season 2 would be too soon to explore a Riley and Gabe romance.

‘Shifting Gears’ Kat Dennings Says It Was Important For Riley To Decide What To Do About Jimmy on Her Own

“I think she already knew the answer.”

Collider: Kat, Riley has been waiting a long time for Jimmy to step up, and him presenting her with what she thought she wanted makes her realize that it might not be what she wants anymore. Even though she goes to her dad for his input, to Gabe and Stitch, and even to her own kids, do you feel like it was important for her to actually make that decision on her own?

KAT DENNINGS: Oh, yeah. She’s been waffling about it for so many years. In the pilot, she says, “I’m getting a divorce,” so obviously we’ve had this talk before, but she has two children with him and there’s so much history. And when you meet someone super young like that, they feel like part of your identity so much that I think she was just really scared to really let it go. But that was more out of fear than out of love. I think she just wanted somebody to tell her what to do. That is actually very much like me. If I have a big decision, I will ask everyone I know, I’ll be like, “Okay, what do you think? Do you think this, or do you think this? I don’t know. I need you to tell me.” But I think she already knew the answer. It was important for her to hear from her kids, too, that they would be fine, no matter what. It had to happen.

And now she can’t blame anybody else either.

DENNINGS: That’s the least fun part of making decisions yourself.

Seann, I love that Gabe is very direct in his reaction to Riley sharing her conflicted feelings about what to do and whether it’s a good idea for her to get back together with Jimmy. He just saying, “It’s not, he sucks,” which is very direct and to the point. Does he genuinely feel that way about Jimmy, and about Riley with Jimmy, or is that clouded by his own feelings, at all?

SEANN WILLIAM SCOTT: No, he thinks he sucks because he does suck.

DENNINGS: He has a cool mustache though.

SCOTT: Mustache aside, he sucks.

I just think it’s funny that you can say that and it still sounds so well-meaning. There’s something about the way you say it that just doesn’t sound mean.

DENNINGS: It’s true. He’s so sweet.

SCOTT: Aw, thank you. That’s also (showrunner) Michelle Nader. We talked about the character just being a good guy and always making sure that he is a good guy. He can be flawed, but he’s also really earnest. He just can’t hold back. He’s like, “No, he sucks,” but he’s not being mean. He sucks for her.

What are each of you most enjoying about working with each other? When it comes to a sitcom where you can really play and have fun, what do each of you appreciate about what the other brings to your scenes together?

DENNINGS: Seann is like a little ball of sunshine. I’m a very negative person.

SCOTT: That’s not true.

DENNINGS: Yes, it is. Okay, well, I’m working on it. But every time I see Seann, it just brightens my day and my mood because he’s a sweet sweetheart.

SCOTT: Thank you. I feel the same way about her. When we’re actually working and doing scenes together, I’m like, “Oh, man, this is fun. This is so much fun. I love what we’re doing.” And then, it’s just about being able to see each other and spend time together. It’s different than any experience I’ve had. It’s been a gift for me. I really, really love it. That’s one of the many reasons why I hope we get to keep doing this. It’s just so much fun. It’s so amazing to be able to spend time together.

Kat Dennings and Seann William Scott Love Working With Their ‘Shifting Gears’ Co-Star Tim Allen

“Matt is Gabriel’s idol.”

Similarly, what have each of you most enjoyed about working with Tim Allen and establishing your character in relation to his character? It’s so fun to watch all of you guys together, but it’s especially fun to see the effect he has when he comes into a room with each character.

DENNINGS: Oh, my God, that’s so true. It’s so funny because in this show, he’s surrounded. He’s one vibe, and then we’re all a completely different thing. It’s just really funny. Personally, I am just blown away that I’m on a show with Tim Allen. It’s crazy because I grew up, as a kid, watching Home Improvement, constantly. It’s very surreal that we’re doing a show with him. It really is.

SCOTT: Yeah. It’s super surreal. It’s pretty crazy. It’s awesome bragging rights. We have some similarities, and the characters do too. I have a line where I’m like, “I love my Daddy Matty.”

DENNINGS: There’s a little thing that develops where Matt is Gabriel’s idol. It’s a really cute and funny thing for them to play. I love watching that stuff.

SCOTT: It’s a father figure/man crush.

DENNINGS: Exactly, yes. How delightful.

I love that this show can have nods and little Easter eggs throughout it. The moment Riley walks into the shop and says, “Dude, where’s my car?,” is such a perfect moment. Do you guys know when those little nods are coming? Seann, what was your reaction to that one?

SCOTT: I laughed. I thought it was perfect. I was like, “That’s very clever and it’s going to get a big laugh.” I’m so glad that Kat said it. It wasn’t so obvious. She said it coming in, and it wasn’t a cheap joke. I just thought it was really smart.

With a serious moment in a sitcom, you always have to find the right balance with how funny to make something. What was it like to figure out the moment when Riley leans in to kiss Gabe, and then he gets up off the couch? Did you talk about how to not make that too serious?

SCOTT: We did talk about it. That was a big chunk of dialog for me, and I was concerned that would feel like, “Oh, this is that moment we’ve seen a million times, and it’s just too much too soon.” It felt weird, all of a sudden, because this moment that I’m spewing out all of these feelings felt like I was just trying to get enough time for us to get to the joke where she falls asleep. So, I was like, “How can we try to make this feel good and grounded?” And Kat was really encouraging. So, yeah, we did talk about it, and it felt good when we were doing it.

DENNINGS: I did a couple of different things. Sometimes I wouldn’t really lean in that much, and it would just be an unspoken shift. I did that once, and then the writers were like, “Why didn’t you lean in?” I was like, “Oh, shit!” Seann says, “I don’t know how to make it grounded,” but he’s such an incredible actor that even when he thinks he’s not making something grounded, it’s grounded because of how amazing he is when he says these lines. It just works. With someone else, perhaps it would have been an iffy thing, but with him, it was just sweet and panicked, which was really cute. And then, I had to somehow realistically fall asleep sitting up. We’ll see what people think of that.

SCOTT: Thank you, Kat. That was really sweet.

DENNINGS: Of course!

‘Shifting Gears’ Kat Dennings and Seann William Scott Don’t Think Riley and Gabe Should Jump Into a Romance

“It becomes about the relationship, and then the comedy will suffer.”

Would you guys like to see what could happen between Riley and Gabe? Do you think it’s too soon for them? Is that something you’d want to see in a possible Season 2?

SCOTT: I think it’s too soon. Hopefully, we get the chance to do this for a long time. For example, there’s a line when Kat comes into the car shop and she’s like, “Coffee klatch, now.” And Gabe is like, “Don’t worry, the three of us will raise it together.” I feel like if they get together anytime soon, we lose all of those opportunities of playfulness. It becomes about the relationship, and then the comedy will suffer. It’s not about, “Oh, let’s get the audience wondering when they’re going to get together.” There are all these wonderful interactions between the two of us that have nothing to do with feelings. Those were some of my favorite moments throughout the season. So, selfishly and also comedically, I wouldn’t want to sacrifice that because those are some of my favorite comedic moments for my character.

DENNINGS: I agree. And because she slept through it, chances are she didn’t hear it, so it will be business as usual for Riley.

I wondered if she was just faking it and had really heard it all.

DENNINGS: Hopefully, we’ll find out in Season 2. Let’s see.

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