Comic Tim Allen will be back for a second season of his latest television sitcom Shifting Gears, it was announced yesterday.
The show features Allen as a widowed dad coming to terms with his estranged daughter when she has to move back in with him following the breakup of her marriage. The daughter is played by Kat Dennings, perhaps best known as one of the 2 Broke Girls.
Why do we care? Because Allen’s character Matt Parker owns a classic car restoration shop and cool cars feature prominently in all episodes.
In the pilot, daughter Denning returns in the “stolen” Pontiac GTO in which she stormed out of her dad’s life at age 18. In the shop are all manner of cool cars, from a 409 Chevy Bubble Top to a ’55 Chevy Bel Air, a ’68 Camaro, and even a Volvo 122S. Many of the cars in early episodes were from Allen’s personal collection.
“It’s all my classic cars,” Allen told an interviewer for NerdTropolis when the show debuted. “Some of the old Home Improvement stuff is in there in the background if anybody notices.”
The restoration shop is an analogy, too, for the restoration of the relationship with his daughter. Get it?
Having watched six episodes of the first season I can say all the elements are present for a successful show, but the characters need to get comfortable with themselves and each other for the comedy to feel more genuine. Here’s hoping everything gels.
Season 1 was on ABC and also available on Hulu, where you can watch all episodes from the first season. Season 2 will air on ABC and, a day later, on Hulu. No air date for Season 2 has been announced yet.
