A pilot episode was ordered in March 2024 made by 20th Television and written by Mike Scully and Julie Thacker Scully.[14] The project was given a series order by ABC in July 2024. It is from the studio 20th Television and starring Tim Allen and Kat Dennings. Mike Scully and Julie Thacker Scully were involved in the pilot but left the project. Allen executive produces with Marty Adelstein, Becky Clements, Richard Baker, Rick Messina and pilot director John Pasquin.[15] Michelle Nader joined as showrunner and executive producer in September 2024.[16] Dennings is also a producer. Jim Patterson, Bob Daily and John Amodeo also executive produce.[17]
Seann William Scott joined the cast of the series in October 2024. Also in the cast for the series are Daryl "Chill" Mitchell, Maxwell Simkins and Barrett Margolis.[18] In November 2024, Brenda Song was cast to guest star.[7] In December 2024, Jenna Elfman joined the cast in a recurring role.[6]
The series premiered on ABC on January 8, 2025.[1]
Reception
Critical response
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 42% approval rating with an average rating of 3.3/10, based on 12 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Shifting Gears has a formidable pair of sitcom stars in Tim Allen and Kat Dennings, but flavorless characters and flat jokes keep their new comedic vehicle stuck in neutral."[20]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 49 out of 100 based on 11 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[21]
Ratings
The premiere of Shifting Gears on January 8, 2024, set an audience record for ABC, amassing nearly 17 million multi-platform viewers in its first seven days across ABC, Hulu, Hulu on Disney+, and digital platforms.[22][23] This marks a 173% increase over its same-day audience of 6.2 million.[24] The episode also garnered around 12.5 million viewers without counting linear encores, still up 101% from the same-day audience, making it ABC's strongest series debut since The Conners in 2018 and the broadcaster's most-watched streaming debut to date.[25]
Viewership and ratings per episode of Shifting Gears
_logo.svg){kind=logo}
