Shifting Gears Trailer: Tim Allen and Kat Dennings Have Rocky Reunion

A new glimpse into Shifting Gears proves it’s Tim Allen‘s way — or the highway.

In Us Weekly‘s exclusive first look at the ABC sitcom, Allen’s character, Matt, tries to find common ground with his onscreen daughter, Riley, played by Kat Dennings. Matt finds himself living with his estranged daughter again, and it isn’t all smooth sailing.

“I’m broke and I need a place to stay until I figure out what the rest of my life looks like,” Riley tells Matt, who quips, “So a couple of days.”

The sneak peek clip shows Matt explaining that he has a “certain way of doing things,” which Riley points out is just his way or no way. Riley scores some advice from family friend Gabriel (Seann William Scott), who works in Matt’s classic car restoration shop.

“Your dad loves you — and cars. You and cars,” Gabriel notes. “The order isn’t important.”

According to the promo, Matt and Riley are in for a wild ride as “the wheels are coming off” amid their tense reunion. The synopsis for the show revealed that Riley’s kids with her ex will also play a large role on Shifting Gears. In addition to Allen, Dennings and Scott, the main cast includes Daryl “Chill” Mitchell, Maxwell Simkins, Barrett Margolis and Jenna Elfman in a recurring role.

Allen, 71, has his fair share of experience in the sitcom realm after playing Tim “The Toolman” Taylor on ABC’s Home Improvement from 1991 to 1999. He later appeared as Mike Baxter on Last Man Standing, which ended in 2021 after a nine-season run.

“The word that keeps me alive is ‘grateful.’ I love what I do. I get far more enjoyment out of entertaining people than anything monetary,” Allen exclusively told Us in 2020. “I love the live audience we have. I tell them every night, ‘This is old-school stuff, what television and broadcast started with.’ I don’t know the future, but this [show] is rare.”

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Allen reflected on the elements that make a show successful, adding, “We did the same thing as we did with Home Improvement. It’s all about the relationships — we don’t get into topical stuff. But [now], I’ve just got girls, so you see how a man differs in his perspective when he has so many strong women around him.”

He continued: “We never make fun [of each other]. It’s an affectionate family. I like the fact that we honor and make fun — at the same time — marriage, institution, kids, babies, people. But in the same way, we honor it. We’re not being snarky about it.”

Dennings, 38, also has a history with network TV, playing Max on CBS’ sitcom 2 Broke Girls from 2011 to 2017. Shifting Gears marks Scott’s third series regular role after he starred on Welcome to Flatch and Lethal Weapon.

Shifting Gears premieres on ABC Wednesday, January 8, at 8 p.m. ET before streaming the next day on Hulu.