While Tim Allen is back with a new comedy, Shifting Gears doesn’t feel like it, unfortunately. ABC launched its latest sitcom midseason to fill in gaps in its programming for shows that aren’t supposed to return with new episodes until March. The network is dipping its toes back into a fresh comedy featuring an icon of the sandbox, with Allen fronting the project with Kat Dennings from 2 Broke Girls. Shifting Gears’ story follows father and daughter, Matt Parker and Riley Parker, who are forced to live together after years of separation.
Joining the rest of the ensemble is Sean William Scott as Gabriel, Daryl Chill Mitchell as Carter, as well as Maxwell Simkins and Barrett Margolis as Carter and Georgia — Riley’s kids. Currently, Shifting Gears has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 45%, which is technically “rotten,” although it’s worth noting that only one episode has been released thus far. Sadly, many of its problems are rooted in the same things that could have made it great.
Shifting Gears Reuses Comedy Tropes Without Offering Something New
Tim Allen’s New Sitcom Has An Unexciting Premise
Family sitcoms have been a staple of network TV for decades. They tend to mirror real life, with more grounded storytelling that tackles day-to-day living with more serious arcs. Allen thrives in this type of project, with Home Improvement and The Last Man Standing under his belt. For those who missed him as Tim Taylor and Max Baxter, Shifting Gears will scratch that itch, as Matt shares the core values the actor’s previous small screen roles are known for. Unfortunately, that’s about it.
Beyond Allen and his role as the Parker patriarch, Shifting Gears is also stuck narratively. Its premise is a mix of various family comedy tropes, with forced proximity kicking things off. It also has a grieving storyline, as the pilot reveals that Matt has also just lost his wife, which, unsurprisingly, paves the way for a touching moment between the father and daughter after fighting on various levels since they moved back in together. Admittedly, the emotional moment doesn’t quite land as it could have, but at least it exists for the show to fall back on later.
In a world where there’s a plethora of sitcoms and comedy has evolved immensely, with shows like Abbott Elementary and even newcomer mockumentary like St. Denis Medical, Shifting Gears feels stuck in time.
Currently, Shifting Gears lives and dies with Allen. This means that its success is directly tied to how much the audience loves the actor and the role he is known for. In a world where there’s a plethora of sitcoms and comedy has evolved immensely, with shows like Abbott Elementary and even newcomer mockumentary like St. Denis Medical, Shifting Gears feels stuck in time.
Shifting Gears Is The Family Sitcom That ABC Needs (But It Needs To Be Better)
Shifting Gears Has Potential To Last
The good news for ABC is that Shifting Gears is a ratings winner for the sitcom — even surpassing viewership numbers for The Conners. This means that it still has time to fix itself before its current quality catches up to its popularity. While Shifting Gears’ main draw is Allen, and it’s clear the pilot wants to highlight that, there are smaller things that it can focus on to be better. Riley’s backstory with her abusive husband and seemingly burgeoning love story with Gabriel is an interesting subplot. Her children, Carter and Georgia, are also both great thus far.
Shifting Gears can lean on developing Matt’s relationships with his grandkids, with the pilot proving that it could be one of its biggest assets.
With this, Shifting Gears can focus on exploring other characters as well. Impressively, Dennings can go toe-to-toe with a sitcom icon like Allen, but while the show has their dynamic at the center of its storytelling, exploring her arc separately from her onscreen father may be beneficial to its long-term fate. Meanwhile, Shifting Gears can lean on developing Matt’s relationships with his grandkids, with the pilot proving that it could be one of its biggest assets.
Ultimately, with Allen at the forefront, ABC’s new sitcom already has a pre-built audience. Shifting Gears’ viewership numbers, despite its poor reviews, are a testament to that. The best thing the network can do now is to make sure that it is just more than another Allen series so it can sustain a longer run. Luckily, with its great ensemble cast, ABC has the ability to do it.
