Shifting Gears closed out Season 1 with a shocking kiss and many questions, but fans are still waiting to see if ABC will renew the sitcom for another season. The good news is that all the episodes are up to stream for those with a Hulu subscription, and I would recommend a rewatch, especially after hearing Kat Dennings talk about meeting Tim Allen for the first time.
Dennings spoke at length about her co-star in a few interviews recently and was very honest about working with the veteran actor. It's interesting to see what the former 2 Broke Girls star had to say about stepping into a sitcom with Tim Allen, and I'm pleased to report that her thoughts were largely positive.
Kat Dennings Opened Up About Meeting Tim Allen For The First Time
Shifting Gears has a solid number of fans, thanks to its nostalgic sitcom feel and the dynamic of Kat Dennings' Riley and Tim Allen's Matt. It would be a shame to hear they don't get along so well when the cameras aren't rolling, but fortunately, the actresses' comments to Deadline about meeting him for the first time make it sound like they became fast friends:
I had no idea what I was walking into because you also just never know how people really are. But I was so pleasantly surprised with his behavior toward me. He’s been so open and caring and just very accepting, and he really wants this to feel good for everyone. What’s nice, too, is that so much of the crew came with him from Last Man Standing, and some people are even from Home Improvement. So there are crew members that have been working with him for 25 years, which is really rare. My makeup artist met her husband on the pilot of Home Improvement, and he’s the sound guy, so they’re both here on our show. They’re all very loyal, and he treats the crew really well, and he treats us really well, and he loves making sitcoms.
Hearing how much of the crew has followed Tim Allen in his career has me thinking that the Home Improvement reference Shifting Gears recently made was more for them than it was for the fans. It's impressive to hear he's amassed such loyalty in Hollywood, and now I'm beginning to wonder what other actors in the business have gained that following.
Kat Dennings added that Allen's following isn't limited to his cast and crew either, the fans show up in the live studio audience. She said the tapings of episodes were unlike anything she'd experienced before, even on 2 Broke Girls:
This guy is born for this, and it’s really fun to watch someone be in their element like that. And his fans love him. The audiences we’ve had on Shifting Gears I’ve never experienced anything before. I know that they’re there to see Tim, and that’s the beauty of the whole thing. They are so raucous. They have to turn down the volume of the audience in these edits because they’re screaming and laughing and it’s almost like a sporting event. It’s really something. I wasn’t used to it on 2 Broke Girls. We had a lot of variables with the audience. Sometimes it would be amazing and sometimes it would be completely silent, crickets really. So this has been a real treat.
I'm not sure if that says more about Shifting Gears or 2 Broke Girls, but I'm glad to hear the audience is hyping up the stars of the ABC sitcom. Hopefully, that means a renewal for Season 2 isn't too far off, and the showrunner's recent thoughts on that happening sound promising.
Kat Dennings On Why Tim Allen Is So Great To Work With
Kat Dennings also sang Tim Allen's praises on Not Gonna Lie with Kylie Kelce, where she discussed playing a television mom for the first time. She talked about the dynamic of Riley and Matt always getting into politics and other relevant and sensitive issues and how challenging that can be. Fortunately, she said she has a great partner in her co-star, who she credited as being a great actor:
We are dealing with brief and real issues on this, and it feels kind of crazy to be raw and emotional in front of an audience like that. It's this incredible combination of like theater and burlesque or something like that, but as soon as I look at Tim Allen's little face, I'm in there. I forget about everything else because he's a very present actor and he's really feeling these things...He's so in the moment and he's such an amazing actor that he will just be there with you. I experience these feelings without having to think.
It's easy to believe this, as CinemaBlend wrote about how the show nailed Tim Allen's character. Writing can only go so far, however, and it takes a talented actor to bring the words on the page to life. So far, he's done a great job, but what else should we expect, given his past success in primetime television?
As mentioned, Shifting Gears Season 1 is over at ABC, but the entire season is up on Hulu right now. We'll continue to wait for updates on whether it'll return on the 2025 TV schedule for Season 2 and follow up on those shocking moments we saw in the season finale.
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