Tim Allen and Kat Dennings are both network sitcom royalty — he from “Home Improvement,” she from the surprisingly long-lasting “2 Broke Girls.” (It’s hardly a classic, but that show made it to 138 episodes. That’s well within the syndication zone!) With the sitcom “Shifting Gears,” a midseason debut that brings Allen back into the ABC primetime fold, the two actors join forces to form a dynasty, playing a father and daughter reunited after more than a decade of estrangement. Both receive rapturous applause from the multi-camera half-hour’s in-studio audience upon entry. Most new shows have to sell themselves to a prospective audience; “Shifting Gears” enjoys a hefty head start to offset its early stumbles.
Allen — also an executive producer — stars as Matt, the proprietor of a classic car restoration shop. (Dennings produces as well.) This setting has proven potential as a workplace comedy, as demonstrated by the success of Shane Gillis’ “Tires” on Netflix. But the two episodes of “Shifting Gears” screened for critics instead focus heavily on family dynamics. When Dennings’ Riley drives up in Matt’s stolen GTO with her two kids in tow, it’s to ask for a place to stay in the wake of her divorce. A classic odd couple scenario ensues, except these roommates already share decades of emotional baggage.
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Created by husband-and-wife team Mike Scully and Julie Thacker Scully (“The Simpsons”) and run by Michelle Nader (reuniting with Dennings after a stint on “2 Broke Girls”), “Shifting Gears” can be clumsy with its exposition. (Scully and Thacker Scully departed the show before it was ordered to series.) “When I build stuff, it’s built to last,” Matt blusters. “Except our relationship!” Riley replies. This lack of subtlety extends to obvious attempts at intergenerational humor. Riley’s preteen son Carter (Maxwell Simkins) resolves to make over Matt’s Instagram presence, while when Matt’s granddaughter Georgia (Barrett Margolis) announces her intention to become a billionaire, he warns her men won’t be comfortable with a wife who out-earns them.
As that anecdote suggests, Matt shares Allen’s real-life conservatism, albeit a cuddlier version with the edges sanded off. He idolizes Reagan, but makes no mention of the current president-elect, even when tariffs come up in the news; Riley defends Nancy Pelosi, though a woman who dropped out of college to run off with a bass player seems more like the Bernie type. Matt is meant to be more of a loveable crank, prone to kids-these-days rants about school accommodations that soon resolve in mutual understanding.
Matt’s prickliness is more convincing in the context of his relationship with Riley, a case of two hard-headed people who’ve recently lost their longtime buffer in Matt’s late wife. There’s a bit of bittersweet slapstick in the premiere where Matt, taken aback by Riley’s show of vulnerability, awkwardly pats her foot. The good news is that there’s a lot more for “Shifting Gears” to mine in this arena: we still haven’t met Riley’s brother, who could offer more context on her childhood, or ex-husband, with whom she’ll presumably have to co-parent.
In the meantime, “Shifting Gears” could more smoothly integrate Matt’s personal and professional spheres. (Riley has vague aspirations of becoming a lawyer, but it’s Matt’s interests that define the show from the title on down.) There’s a forced-feeling B-plot in the second episode in which Riley tries to set Matt’s employee Gabriel (Seann William Scott) up with her high school classmate Caitlyn (Brenda Song), an arc that shows the ensemble’s seams even as it’s blatantly buying time for a protracted will-they-won’t-they between Gabriel and Riley. “Shifting Gears” is about a family stitching itself back together. Perhaps it’s fitting that it doesn’t yet feel like a cohesive whole.
“Shifting Gears” will premiere on ABC on Jan. 8 at 8 p.m. ET, with remaining episodes airing weekly on Wednesdays.