Aman Goyal
The filming of Tim Allen’s highly anticipated sitcom ‘Shifting Gears,’ which recently received a series order from ABC, will start in Los Angeles, California, in the fall. Allen will star alongside Kat Dennings, Daryl Mitchell, Maxwell Simkins, and Barrett Margolis. The showrunner of the series has not been announced yet, following the exit of the writers Mike Scully and Julie Thacker Scully.
‘Shifting Gears’ follows Allen as Matt, a widowed, stubborn owner of a classic car restoration shop. His routine life is turned upside down when his estranged daughter, Riley (Dennings), moves in with her teenage children. Matt’s son, Nick, soon puts his life aside and joins the family to help his father at the shop. The series will combine the classic dysfunctional family trope with the trendy workplace comedy formula.
Allen appeared as Mike Baxter in the long-running sitcom ‘Last Man Standing.’ The seasoned actor and comedian is also widely recognized for his iconic role as Tim “The Toolman” Taylor in another sitcom on the network, ‘Home Improvement,’ which aired throughout the 1990s with over 200 episodes. Additionally, he is recognized as the voice of Buzz Lightyear in Pixar’s beloved ‘Toy Story’ franchise and is expected to return in the upcoming fifth installment, despite not being featured in the 2022 spinoff ‘Lightyear.’ Allen’s other recent projects include his dual role as Santa Claus and Scott Calvin in Disney+’s ‘The Santa Clauses,’ in which he reprised his character from the ‘The Santa Clause’ franchise.
Dennings also has an impressive track record in television, having starred as Max Black in CBS’s popular sitcom ‘2 Broke Girls,’ which concluded in 2017. She reprised her role as Darcy Lewis in the MCU movie ‘Thor: Love and Thunder‘ and the TV show ‘What If…?’ and played Jules Wiley in ‘Dollface.’ Her comedic background spans two decades and includes roles such as Leah Birch in ‘Big Mouth’ and Maria in ‘The 40-Year-Old Virgin.’
Mitchell, who plays Ed in ‘Shifting Gears,’ is best known for his roles as Wendell in ‘Fear the Walking Dead‘ and Patton Plame in ‘NCIS: New Orleans.’ His previous major role in a television comedy was Eli Goggins in ‘Ed’ in the early 2000s. Simkins and Margolis appear as Carter and Georgia, respectively. While Margolis is making her screen debut with the sitcom, Simkins can be seen in ‘The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers‘ as Nick Ganz, ‘Bizaardvark’ as Zane, and the live-action rendition of ‘Kim Possible’ as Lil Drakken.
‘Shifting Gears’ will most likely be filmed in a Los Angeles studio and feature a live audience in an old-school way. Allen, one of the few committed to keeping this format alive, previously expressed his love for the particular form of filming in 2020, stating, “I love the live audience we have. I tell them every night, ‘This is old-school stuff, what television and broadcast started with.'” The project will also join a roster of recent sitcoms filmed in the City of Angels, including ‘That ’90s Show,’ ‘That Girl Lay Lay,’ ‘The Villains of Valley View,’ and ‘How I Met Your Father.’
