One of the major stories to come out about the first season of Tim Allen’s new show Shifting Gears had to do with the fact the longtime comedian had hired a lot of the same people he’d worked with in prior shows like Last Man Standing and Home Improvement. Not everything on the series has ties to the past, however. In fact, the ABC comedy also had to add a completely new department for Shifting Gears. And it’s all thanks to Matt Parker owning an auto body shop.
Why Shifting Gears Has A Whole Department Sitcoms “Normally Don’t Have”
The new department in Shifting Gears is fittingly called the “transportation department,” and the people in that department know a whole heckuva lot about cars. Production Designer Stephan Olson was the one who imparted this piece of knowledge in an interview with Indiewire, noting the department has to be there because characters like Matt, Stitch and Gabriel are supposed to be working on vehicles in varying states of development and repair.
We’re very lucky because Tim is a car guy, and he has his own collection of amazing vehicles. [So far] they’re Tim’s cars, and we have a transportation department and a car consultant team. And so they know what cars are going to come in each episode, and what will be the progression of [the characters’ repair] work, if any? That’s a whole department that you normally don’t have.
In an interview with CinemaBlend, Tim Allen actually confirmed he’d lent some of his own cars out for the show to use, but I’d never actually considered all of the logistics that need to go into that. First, I’d assume most of Allen’s cars are in pristine condition, but if they are going to be in the auto body shop, the show has to come up with some fake work to be done and then show a progression of that work being done while scenes are filmed in the garage.
Then, someone also has to be on hand to keep continuity tabs on the cars and make sure that nothing gets jacked up while they are on set. Honestly, it feels kind of brave to me that Tim Allen is willing to bring in his cars, his precious babies, and allow them to be faux “repaired.” Olson also admitted that it’s important the actor has the last word on everything, so he is finicky to an extent. (Which honestly makes it more impressive he's allowing the show to use his cars.)
Tim, he’s got the last word on everything. He’ll go through a dressed set, and he’ll go, ‘Not that, not that, I like that, move that over there.’
In short, it’s clear he doesn’t take anything lightly while filming, even though the sitcom itself is lighthearted.
The concept in general has resonated with fans and helped Shifting Gears to become the No. 1 comedy on the 2025 TV schedule; though surprisingly, at the time of this writing the sitcom has not been renewed for Season 2 yet. Spring sweeps are right around the corner, though. I very much have my fingers crossed we’ll be getting more episodes, and in extension, more cars.
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