‘SHIFTING GEARS,’ SEASON ONE FIRST IMPRESSION: A CUTE COMEDY IS LATEST FROM FAN FAVORITE ACTOR
Stepping back into a familiar role and in continuing to work with ABC, Tim Allen is back in the sitcom game playing a role he does well. Here’s our Shifting Gears season one first impression review.
Shifting Gears Season One First Impression (2025) TV Review
Living alone and being on his own may be lonely for Matt (Allen), but the widower keeps busy with his car restoration business and his quirky employees. Things are fine or mostly so. Everything shifts when his daughter, Riley (Kat Dennings), whom he’s been estranged from for years, turns up at his doorstep.
Riley is going through a divorce, and she needs somewhere to go. So, with her two kids in tow, she winds up on the doorstep of the father she doesn’t really get on with, only to discover perhaps they have more in common that she’d wish.
LIST | MIDSEASON TV SHOW PREVIEW 2025: NEW COMEDY AND MYSTERY!
‘SHIFTING GEARS,’ SEASON ONE FIRST IMPRESSION: A CUTE COMEDY IS LATEST FROM FAN FAVORITE ACTOR. #TimAllen and #KatDennings star in ABC comedy. #ShiftingGears Share on X
A sitcom that did seem, from all I saw, to receive quite a lot of buzz, Shifting Gears is entertaining. A conclusion that probably should surprise anyone given the top billing. Tim Allen continues on in his long standing work with ABC or any parent company of the network which includes the original airing of Last Man Standing and also work on Disney’s The Santa Clause (franchise) and Toy Story (franchise). Then Kat Dennings too is no stranger to comedy. She’s fabulous in 2 Broke Girls and seeing her return to comedy is great fun. The interactions between Allen and Dennings are fun, made more so by the fact that their characters aren’t copasetic. The pair are also producers on the show. Rounding out the case is Seann William Scott and Daryl Mitchell (who we all loved in NCIS: New Orleans).
This is only the first episode so judging the show, either way (dud or fun) is not easy. All that to say, I did enjoy Shifting Gears. It has a likable group of characters and fun potential to be the kind of show we can watch when we need a pick me up. It’s also got a little more of an emotional backbone which of course is normal for most television shows.
Depending on where it goes, this is one I’m curious to continue. There is some relevant pop culture and political joking, but it’s all balanced because there are characters who have perspectives of both “sides.” Shifting Gears is worth watching if you like sitcoms or the cast.
Content: nothing to note outside of some thematic material and (if it bothers you) there are comments about someone being pregnant and young. The show is TVPG.
Photos: Disney
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