When Tim Allen returned to community TV the primary time — for “Final Man Standing,” 12 years after “Dwelling Enchancment” ended (and one 12 months after his characteristic directorial debut, “Loopy on the Exterior,” bombed) — he mentioned he’d been approached with quite a lot of gives. “However I’m no fool,” Allen claimed. “I mentioned, ‘Present me what you bought.’” So, per Allen, he and “Final Man Standing” creator Jack Burditt hashed issues out over a number of late-night writing classes, and ta-da, a sitcom worthy of Tim Taylor was born.
Now, I’m not going to sit down right here and argue the sequence was the second coming of “Software Time,” however I’ll concede it was a sitcom suited to its star. Amongst many conservative-courting dialog starters, “Final Man Standing” trotted out predictable jokes about PC language, excessive taxes, and wimpy children, all whereas Allen’s Mike Baxter routinely positioned himself because the sufferer (regardless of proudly owning a really profitable firm, having fun with a snug upper-class way of life, and usually doing no matter he desires). In 2018, it made good sense for Fox to revive the canceled present: Donald Trump was settling into his first time period, broadcast TV was dropping viewers, and there was a normal sense in Hollywood that they may churn out a number of hits by taking part in to the president’s fanbase. Not solely was Allen a identified conservative, however his sequence spoke to the identical sense of righteous indignation felt by the MAGA clan.
All too fittingly, now that Trump has returned, so has Allen, this time in a brand new broadcast sitcom, however one constructed from the identical engine. “Shifting Gears” is one other household comedy the place Allen’s well-off dad struggles to grasp what his children (and grandkids) are going by. His daughter, Riley (Kat Dennings), goes by a divorce, and he or she wants a spot to reside along with her two children, Georgia (Barrett Margolis) and Carter (Maxwell Simkins). After working away from her father at age 18, she returns determined and destitute, however nonetheless defiant, hoping her pricey ol’ dad will take her in — and that he’s softened a bit in her absence.
One out of two ain’t dangerous for Riley, beneath the circumstances, however “Shifting Gears” is a far cry from good over its first two episodes. This early within the run of a multi-cam sitcom, a scarcity of chemistry is comprehensible, as are redundant exposition dumps meant to assist the normal TV viewers sustain with what’s taking place throughout 22 fleeting minutes of story. But it surely’s much less tolerable to not end these tales, as an alternative tacking on a feel-good second fully disconnected from the episode’s central challenge, and these emotional gulfs are made all of the extra apparent when the jokes round them are this lazy and poorly delivered.
“Shifting Gears” has a quite simple, very broad, very acquainted premise — a grown youngster strikes again residence along with her personal younger kids — which ought to make all of it the simpler to ship stable set-ups and punchlines. As an alternative, assets are dedicated to Allen’s, oops, I imply Matt’s rants about no matter irritating peccadilloes he sees in at this time’s youth — and the rants aren’t that humorous both. Within the second episode, he’s upset that Carter’s college is giving him lodging for his doctor-diagnosed nervousness. “What a shock,” Matt says when he hears about his grand-son’s remedy. “Mo’ issues, mo’ cash.” Ha… ha? Within the pilot, Matt’s mad about quite a lot of issues — bass gamers who name themselves musicians, individuals who don’t drive, mocktails — however he kicks off with a traditional outdated man rant about how America doesn’t make issues anymore.
“We don’t even make handbaskets within the U.S.,” Mike says. “We do make excuses, quitters, and diabetes — and celebrities that use diabetes drugs to drop extra pounds. You need to drop extra pounds? This gap proper right here [motions to his mouth], greater than this gap proper right here [motions to his butt].”
Diabetes additionally comes up within the second episode, when Mike will get mad a few business the place folks with diabetes are dancing, however at the least then he admits he’s extra confused than indignant. “I simply don’t perceive why they’re dancing if they’ve diabetes,” Mike says a few business the viewers at residence has not seen and has not been described to them. Maybe that is an indicator that, within the weeks forward, “Switching Gears” will attempt to stability his vitriolic screeds with heat household moments, very similar to “Final Man Standing” did in its later episodes. However even when it does, the brand new ABC sequence has way more to easy out than ABC’s outdated sequence did. It wants higher jokes, higher timing, higher arcs, higher set design (the kitchen seems to be like a Dwelling Depot show room), and higher use of its stars. (Dennings appears to be rolling her eyes much less as Riley and extra as somebody who hates the dialogue she’s studying.)
All that makes it exhausting to consider Allen examined “Switching Gears” with the identical inventive rigor he gave “Final Man Standing” (not to mention no matter effort he put into “Dwelling Enchancment”). He should have lots to say, however this isn’t the best way to say it.
Grade: D+
“Shifting Gears” premieres Wednesday, January 8 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC. New episodes will probably be launched weekly and accessible to stream on Hulu.