Shifting Gears (TV series)

Shifting Gears is an American television sitcom created by Julie Thacker Scully and Mike Scully for ABC through 20th Television. The series stars Tim Allen, Kat Dennings, Seann William Scott, Daryl "Chill" Mitchell, Maxwell Simkins, and Barrett Margolis. It premiered on ABC on January 8, 2025.^[1] In April 2025, ABC renewed the series for a second season which is slated to premiere on October 1, 2025.^[2][3]

Shifting Gears
Genre	Sitcom
Created by	Julie Thacker Scully & Mike Scully
Showrunner	Michelle Nader
Starring	Tim Allen Kat Dennings Seann William Scott Daryl "Chill" Mitchell Maxwell Simkins Barrett Margolis
Music by	Tony Kanal
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	10
Production
Executive producers	John Pasquin Richard Baker Rick Messina Marty Adelstein Becky Clements Tim Allen John Amodeo Julie Thacker Scully Mike Scully Michelle Nader Bob Daily Jim Patterson
Producers	Anastasia Stanecki Kat Dennings
Cinematography	Donald A. Morgan
Editors	Pamela Marshall Scott Ashby
Production companies	Shaky Gun Productions Lost Marbles 20th Television
Original release
Network	ABC
Release	January 8, 2025 (2025-01-08) – present

Premise

Still mourning the death of his wife, a gruff widower who runs an auto restoration shop reluctantly takes in his estranged daughter and his two grandchildren.^[4]

Cast and characters

Main

• Tim Allen as Matt Parker^[5]
• Kat Dennings as Riley Parker, Matt's daughter^[6]
• Seann William Scott as Gabriel
• Daryl "Chill" Mitchell as Stitch
• Maxwell Simkins as Carter, Riley's son
• Barrett Margolis as Georgia, Riley's daughter

Recurring

• Cynthia Quiles as Frankie^[7]
• Jenna Elfman as Eve Drake^[a], Riley's boss
• Lucas Neff as Jimmy, Riley's estranged husband

Guest stars

• Brenda Song as Caitlyn Baker (season 1)
• Nancy Travis as Charlotte (seasons 1 & 2)^[9]
• Jay Leno as himself (season 1)
• Patricia Richardson (season 2)^[9]
• Richard Karn (season 2)^[9]
• Debbe Dunning (season 2)^[9]

Episodes

No.	Title [10]	Directed by	Written by	Original release date [10]	Prod. code	U.S. viewers (millions)
1	"Restoration"	John Pasquin	Julie Thacker Scully & Mike Scully	January 8, 2025 (2025-01-08)	1ZHF01	6.10[11]
2	"Accomodations"	John Pasquin	Bob Daily	January 15, 2025 (2025-01-15)	1ZHF03	4.56[12]
3	"Job"	John Pasquin	Jim Patterson	January 22, 2025 (2025-01-22)	1ZHF02	4.61[13]
4	"Grief"	Danielle Fishel	Morgan Murphy	January 29, 2025 (2025-01-29)	1ZHF04	4.28[14]
5	"Jimmy"	Victor Gonzalez	Kevin Hench	February 5, 2025 (2025-02-05)	1ZHF05	4.32[15]
6	"Valentine's"	John Pasquin	Feraz Ozel	February 12, 2025 (2025-02-12)	1ZHF06	4.53[16]
7	"Picnic"	John Pasquin	Michelle Nader & Saladin K. Patterson	February 26, 2025 (2025-02-26)	1ZHF07	3.44[17]
8	"Career"	John Pasquin	Maya Ayele & Clea DeCrane	March 5, 2025 (2025-03-05)	1ZHF08	3.71[18]
9	"Gummies"	Victor Gonzalez	Bob Daily	March 12, 2025 (2025-03-12)	1ZHF09	3.82[19]
10	"Kiss"	John Pasquin	Teleplay by : Jim Patterson Story by : Ekaterina Vladimirova	March 19, 2025 (2025-03-19)	1ZHF10	3.77[20]

Production

A pilot episode was ordered in March 2024 made by 20th Television and written by Mike Scully and Julie Thacker Scully.^[21] The project was given a series order by ABC in July 2024. It is from the studio 20th Television and starring Tim Allen and Kat Dennings. Mike Scully and Julie Thacker Scully were involved in the pilot but left the project. Allen executive produces with Marty Adelstein, Becky Clements, Richard Baker, Rick Messina and pilot director John Pasquin.^[22] Michelle Nader joined as showrunner and executive producer in September 2024.^[23] Dennings is also a producer. Jim Patterson, Bob Daily and John Amodeo also executive produce.^[24]

Seann William Scott joined the cast of the series in October 2024. Also in the cast for the series are Daryl "Chill" Mitchell, Maxwell Simkins and Barrett Margolis.^[25] In November 2024, Brenda Song was cast to guest star.^[26] In December 2024, Jenna Elfman joined the cast in a recurring role.^[8] In January 2025, Nancy Travis was cast in a guest star.^[27] In February 2025, Jay Leno joined the cast as a guest star.^[28] In August 2025, it was reported that Patricia Richardson, Richard Karn, and Debbe Dunning are set to appear as guest stars for the second season premiere episode.^[9]

Shifting Gears is filmed at Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California.^[29] The series premiered on ABC on January 8, 2025.^[1] On April 3, 2025, ABC renewed the series for a second season which is scheduled to premiere on October 1, 2025.^[2][3]

Reception

Critical response

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 47% approval rating with an average rating of 3.3/10, based on 15 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Shifting Gears has a formidable pair of sitcom stars in Tim Allen and Kat Dennings, but flavorless characters and flat jokes keep their new comedic vehicle stuck in neutral."^[30] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 51 out of 100 based on 12 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.^[31]

Ratings

The premiere of Shifting Gears on January 8, 2025, set an audience record for ABC, amassing nearly 17 million multi-platform viewers in its first seven days across ABC, Hulu, Hulu on Disney+, and digital platforms.^[32][33] This marks a 173% increase over its same-day audience of 6.2 million.^[34] The episode also garnered around 12.5 million viewers without counting linear encores, still up 101% from the same-day audience, making it ABC's strongest series debut since The Conners in 2018 and the broadcaster's most-watched streaming debut to date.^[35]

Viewership and ratings per episode of Shifting Gears

No.	Title	Air date	Rating/share (18–49)	Viewers (millions)	DVR (18–49)	DVR viewers (millions)	Total (18–49)	Total viewers (millions)	Ref.
1	"Restoration"	January 8, 2025	0.7/8	6.10	0.2	1.28	0.8	7.38	[11]
2	"Accomodations"	January 15, 2025	0.4/5	4.56	0.2	1.59	0.6	6.15	[12]
3	"Job"	January 22, 2025	0.5/6	4.61	0.2	1.95	0.7	6.56	[13]
4	"Grief"	January 29, 2025	0.4/5	4.28	0.2	1.57	0.6	5.87	[14]
5	"Jimmy"	February 5, 2025	0.4/5	4.32	0.2	1.50	0.6	5.82	[15]
6	"Valentine's"	February 12, 2025	0.4/6	4.53	0.2	1.62	0.6	6.16	[16]
7	"Picnic"	February 26, 2025	0.3/4	3.44	0.2	1.60	0.5	5.05	[17]
8	"Career"	March 5, 2025	0.3/4	3.71	0.2	1.60	0.5	5.31	[18]
9	"Gummies"	March 12, 2025	0.3/5	3.82	0.2	1.52	0.5	5.35	[19]
10	"Kiss"	March 19, 2025	0.3/4	3.77	0.2	1.41	0.5	5.18	[20]

Footnotes

1. Elfman is credited as "Special Guest Star" but is a recurring cast member.^[8]