Shifting Gears is discovering its footing in its sophomore season. Audiences flocked to Tim Allen’s newest sitcom, however critics didn’t find much to love about Shifting Gears season 1. Nevertheless, it’s frequent for sitcoms to wish a while to search out their rhythm – like how Parks & Recreation didn’t add a few of its greatest characters till season 3.
Allen’s character Matt Parker finds a better balance in Shifting Gears season 2, nonetheless bringing Allen’s signature old-school, gruff however lovable everyman persona in a manner that doesn’t punch down. His relationship together with his daughter Riley (Kat Dennings) has modified shifted from adversarial to extra like teammates – though this may certainly change now that Matt is relationship her boss Eve.
ABC’s multicam sitcom feels prefer it has extra endurance in every episode, discovering recent methods to utilize a restricted variety of units. The title of the present is a play on the auto restore store Matt owns, and ABC has unlocked a superb use of the distinctive setting of an auto store in Los Angeles: visitor stars.
Shifting Gears’ Distinctive Setting Permits For The Finest Visitor Stars
Jay Leno & Mookie Betts Have Cameoed Enjoying Themselves
An upscale auto store primarily based in L.A. is a good car to introduce visitor stars, as new prospects are consistently coming via Parker Customs. Jay Leno’s appearance in Shifting Gears season 1 is the proper instance of a cameo by a widely known automotive fanatic taking part in himself.
In season 2, episode 2, former Dodgers All-Star Mookie Betts performs himself as a buyer in Matt’s auto store. For Shifting Gears followers who don’t comply with baseball, everybody in Parker Customs fawned throughout Betts to underscore the present’s get. These are simply two examples thus far, but it surely feels just like the present has cracked one thing particular about its setting.
There was an enormous and unexpectedly sad Home Improvement reunion in the Shifting Gears season 2 premiere, the place Matt receives classes on transferring ahead as a substitute of dwelling prior to now from his former co-stars now taking part in a bereavement help group. The Shifting Gears solid has deep sitcom roots, however future cameos will hopefully be lighter.
Who Else Can Seem In Shifting Gears
Allen & Denning’s Former Co-Stars Could Cameo, Alongside Automobile Fanatics Enjoying Themselves
A lot of Allen’s former co-stars from House Enchancment and Final Man Standing have already made cameos. Jonathan Taylor Thomas (Randy Taylor in House Enchancment) hasn’t appeared but, however could possibly be a nostalgic cameo, probably taking part in a model of himself – a former youngster star.
Given Disney’s good synergy, if Shifting Gears season 3 overlaps with the discharge of Toy Story 5, they may get a dream cameo from Allen’s voice performing costar, Tom Hanks. Hanks acquired his begin in cancelable-by-today’s-standards sitcom Bosom Buddies, and it’s straightforward to image America’s dad taking part in a buyer with a sentimental attachment to an outdated automotive.
Kat Dennings additionally has sitcom roots in 2 Broke Ladies, and her former co-star Beth Behr may simply slip again into her socialite persona as a belief fund lady who wrecked a boyfriend’s automotive. Nevertheless, ABC isn’t incentivized to do the identical kind of reunion because it’s a special community, and Behr remains to be saved busy by CBS starring in The Neighborhood.
Dennings can also be well-known for her function because the MCU’s Darcy Lewis from Thor and WandaVision. Marvel’s calendar is more likely to be in flux than Pixar’s, so it will be onerous to time a cameo to advertise a particular undertaking, however Disney’s masterful cross-promotion may nonetheless attempt to get Randall Park and even Chris Hemsworth himself.
Between Jay Leno and now Mookie Betts, Shifting Gears additionally has the choice of inviting identified movie star automotive aficionados to play themselves for an episode, a simple ask because the sitcom movies in LA. Dax Shepard involves thoughts instantly as a lover of automobiles – he even had the fact TV collection High Gear America.
Jerry Seinfeld has an enormous automotive assortment, but it surely’s onerous to think about him popping right into a sitcom. Patrick Dempsey owns his profession to ABC’s Gray’s Anatomy, and he truly has a powerful race automotive driving resume. The choices are infinite in an thrilling manner for Shifting Gears, which felt so static at instances in its freshman season.
- Launch Date
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January 8, 2025
- Administrators
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John Pasquin, Victor González
