2025 is starting with two sitcom favorites returning to the genre. The MCU’s Kat Dennings, best known for her sitcom 2 Broke Girls, and The Santa Clause‘s Tim Allen, best known for his sitcoms Home Improvement and Last Man Standing, star in Shifting Gears, which premieres this week. The sitcom follows an estranged father (Allen) and daughter (Dennings), reuniting when the daughter returns home with her teenage kids. Now, Collider is thrilled to bring you an exclusive sneak peek ahead of the series premiere. The footage features Dennings, as Riley, along with Seann William Scott as Gabriel, a man working in the autobody shop owned by Allen’s character. Matt.
The official logline is as follows:
“Matt (Tim Allen) is the stubborn, widowed owner of a classic car restoration shop. When Matt’s estranged daughter and her teenage kids move into his house, the real restoration begins.”
In our sneak peek, Gabriel is praising Matt, to which Riley calls him out, saying Gabriel must still think that Matt “walks on water.” Gabriel claims it was anti-freeze, but Matt’s feet definitely weren’t touching the ground. Fans get the inclination that Riley and Gabriel go way back, and that Riley’s ex, Jimmy, was not Gabriel or Matt’s favorite person (which is likely what drew Riley to him more). Gabriel says that Jimmy got “the one [girl] he didn’t deserve,” meaning Riley, possibly hinting at a bit of something more to come between the pair?
Tim Allen Puts His “Dad” Hat Back On in ‘Shifting Gears’
In between Home Improvement and Last Man Standing, Allen spent a lot of hours lending his voice to Buzz Lightyear in the Toy Story franchise. He also would reprise his role as Santa Claus for two movie sequels and a television series on Disney+. In all of those, except for Toy Story, Allen plays a sarcastic but ultimately caring father and Shifting Gears seems to be no different. In the trailer, Riley tells Matt that she hasn’t changed, Matt says he hasn’t either, and there’s even a sign in the autobody shop that says it’s “Matt’s way or the highway.” The strong-willed daughter of the stubborn father dynamic seems to be a perfect fit for both Dennings and Allen, with their characters constantly challenging one another. With Matt’s wife (and Riley’s mother) having since passed, there’s no buffer to make their relationship workable, likely leading to Riley’s departure before the series began. Now the pair must learn to get along without that buffer.
Shifting Gears premieres on ABC on Wednesday, January 8. Stay with Collider for the latest updates.
