Posted in: ABC, Preview, TV | Tagged: ABC, kat dennings, preview, Shifting Gears, tim allen
Shifting Gears: Kat Dennings Pilot with Tim Allen Gets Series Order
Kat Dennings & Tim Allen's Shifting Gears has gotten a series order from ABC - but without the original writers and executive producers.
Because dealing with The Santa Clauses actually being a thing that exists in our reality wasn't bad enough, Tim Allen (Home Improvement, Last Man Standing) will be returning to the network sitcom universe in ABC's just-greenlit comedy Shifting Gears. That said, there is a silver lining in all of this in that Kat Dennings (Dollface, WandaVision) will be starring alongside Allen – more Dennings is never a bad thing. But the project is going through some serious major changes as it makes its way from pilot to series. Though they will listed as executive producers of the pilot, Mike Scully and Julie Thacker Scully have exited the series and will no longer write and executive produce the series (with a series reportedly already underway for a new showrunner). With the original writers and showrunners having parted ways with the project, it will be interesting to see what differences there will be between what made it to pilot as opposed to what we end up seeing when it officially debuts. Even if The Santa Clauses does receive a Season 3 green light, Allen's new series stems from the same studio, so filming conflicts shouldn't be an issue (we'll leave it up to you to determine if that's a good thing or not).
In addition, while Daryl "Chill" Mitchell (Stitch), Maxwell Simkins (Carter), and Barrett Margolis (Georgia) are also set to appear, Froy Gutierrez's role in the pilot as Nick is being recast as it heads toward becoming a series. Originally given a pilot order back in March of this year, the upcoming laugh-fest sees Allen playing Matt, a stubborn, widowed owner of a classic car restoration shop. When Matt's estranged daughter (Dennings) and her teenage kids move into his house, the real restoration begins. Stemming from 20th Television, executive producers for ABC's Shifting Gears include Allen, Marty Adelstein, Becky Clements, Richard Baker, Rick Messina, and John Pasquin (who also directed the pilot) – with Dennings producing.