Tim Allen Calls ‘Complex’ Decision to Join ABC’s Shifting Gears

After the success of a sitcom with Housing Improvement a The Last Man Standing, Tim Allen not exactly planning to return to network television, that is until Shifting Gears pull up

“It was a complicated decision. I was doing Disney+’s Santa Claus series at the time and I said, ‘I can’t think about this now,'” Allen, 71, whose name Zoom is a coincidence with Santa Clausmere revelation in the latest issue of Us Weekly. “Do I want to do linear TV? I was so depressed about how streaming has hurt TV. So if I were to do it, I want to elevate it.”

The actor pointed specifically to his previous experience on the small screen, adding, “I’ve done Mike Baxter (on The Last Man Standing) and Tim Taylor (ar Housing Improvement). So if I do this again, I proposed three things: I want a guy who recently lost his wife, so he’s dealing with grief; I want a guy with a family that doesn’t get along; And then he has a normal car shop.”

Allen enjoyed it play a character that was not “like the other guys” he came to life.

“He’s more like me. I’m more of an artist. I was a design student and a philosopher and my standup comedy is really about playing with people in a good way,” he pointed out to Us. “I came from a huge family run by women. So my point of view is very different about men. I don’t think we run things. So I want this to be that guy. He’s not a man’s man in that season, and he wasn’t trying to be anything but what he’s doing.”

Shifting Gearswhich premieres Wednesday, January 8, follows widowed father Matt (Allen) and his estranged daughter, Riley (Kat Dennings), as they find themselves live together and work to repair their relationship. The ABC series comes three years after Allen’s previous sitcom, The Last Man Standingwrapping up his nine-season streak. Before The Last Man StandingAllen was known for playing the role of Tim “The Toolman” Taylor on the ABC sitcom Housing Improvementwhich ran from 1991 to 1999.

“This is a new character and it’s much closer to (who I am). I have been through grief in my life with the loss of my father,” he shared. “I’ve been blessed to be a comedian and so that’s who this (character) is. If I were to do it again, I wanted to get that much closer to the (man) I am.”

Allen was also delighted to have the opportunity shared the screen with Dennings38.

“It was straight when we (met). The director wanted to see how we got on. He never stopped. The kismet was crazy. We were both born on the same day – many years apart,” he said. “We are different in so many ways. But our approach to comedy is very similar. She cracks me up and I’m not that easy. Kat can (deliver these lines) with a straight face. Her anger – which she played on 2 Broke Girls – is very similar to the clarity that Mike Baxter could go to now.

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He continued: “When we’re arguing on screen, it’s funny that we interrupt each other and it comes quite naturally. I don’t know where it comes from. I love this person already. She and her husband (Andrew WK) are great people. It’s like I’ve known her for scary years, the same as most of this cast.”

In addition to Allen and Dennings, Shifting Gears also stars Seann William Scott, Daryl “Chill” Mitchell, Maxwell Simkins a Barrett Margolis. Jenna Elfmanmeanwhile, cast in a recurring role as vivacious choreographer Eve Drake, who owns a dance studio across from the classic car restoration shop run by Allen’s character.

“From the very beginning, (the creative team has said) we’ve never seen Tim Allen in a sitcom with a romantic interest. And I said, ‘Well, I’ve just lost my wife so I don’t see him.’ So I love where we are,” Allen said Us about Elfman, 53, possibly playing his love interest. “I said, ‘If it happens over time and happens organically with two people who don’t get along, it’s fine. I’m just very careful about this. I want it to happen where it’s organic and appropriate.”

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