Tim Allen's Shifting Gears Is Often On The Cancellation Bubble, But There Are Reasons I Have Hope For Season 3

Some spoilers about relationships on Shifting Gears can be found in this article, so if you haven’t caught the episode yet, don’t say I didn’t warn you!

Shifting Gears ended its second season this week with a slew of unexpected cliffhangers. Kat Dennings’ Riley ended up in a love triangle with Jesse Williams and Seann William Scott’s characters. Tim Allen’s Matt Parker literally left the country with Jenna Elfman’s Eve in an unexpected and definitely surprising twist of events. It was a real, “if that plane leaves the ground and you’re not with him, you’ll regret it” sort of moment.

Last season, rumors abounded that Shifting Gears was on the bubble, and this season the chatter surrounding the half-hour comedy has been equivalent. The show does pretty well on linear television, and it and Abbott Elementary both tend to explode on Hulu after the initial airing, as well. Though it is germane to point out that Abbott’s premiere this season saw an explosive increase of 134% in additional Hulu viewers, while Shifting was only up 73%.

Because of this, some online flak toward the Tim Allen show has persisted, but I do think there is some reason to have hope for Season 3.

Will Shifting Gears Get Renewed For Season 3?

ABC tends to make renewal decisions for most shows in the spring, though early renewals have come down the pipeline in recent years. Specifically, as a fan of the show, I am hoping for a renewal, but outside of my generally wanting to thing positive things about what’s next, there is some evidence that leans toward potential renewal.

• The first reason? The ratings on television are actually pretty good. In Season 2, it has averaged a consistent 3.5-4.5 million viewers on a weekly basis, and also ranks among the highest telecasts airing on TV on Wednesday nights – even doing better than programming like Survivor and Abbott Elementary. And it does add on quite a bit when it comes to Hulu.
• The second reason? ABC let the show end on two gigantic cliffhangers. This could be a go hard or go home play, or it could mean the showrunners are confident there will be more to come.
• A third intriguing note? The showrunner has spoken out about being excited about what's next. More below on that.

Showrunner Michelle Nader hasn’t spoken about the possibility of a renewal or not, but she did say the cliffhanger ending with Andy and Gabriel was not originally in the cards. However, the writing team got really excited about the possibilities with the characters because of how great Grey’s Anatomy alum Jesse Williams has been. (although CinemaBlend's own Mick Joest has a hot take about this.) Additionally, she told The Wrap she firmly feels the sitcom is going in a good direction and is what the audience wants right now.

Here’s looking at you, Michelle Nader.

Honestly, if we’re getting into the nitty gritty of the finale, and what’s potentially next, the most surprising thing about the finale was not where the two leads ended up in their romantic lives, but how. Gabriel and Riley have been teasing a will-they, won’t-they thing for two seasons, and I’m not sure we needed the extra scene with the love triangle between Gabriel, Andy and Riley tacked onto the end. (Though clarifying the show loves having Jesse Williams makes so much sense, now.) Per Matt and Eve, I long suspected Elfman would be back, but the idea that both Matt and Eve appeared at the same gin joint in the same town (in this case the hilariously large Los Angeles) on the same night was not how I expected that to play out.

So, I do think the finale had a little room for improvement, but I overall really, really enjoy Tim Allen and Kat Dennings’ verbal sparring. I enjoy that Tim Allen has committed to sticking with a live studio audience. I love pretty much all the characters, and I don’t think the series has reached its creative zenith yet. Honestly, it’s not even close.

So, please, won’t you play it [again], ABC?