When it was first announced that Jenna Elfman was joining a new Fox series, I had to wonder what it meant for Shifting Gears. Season 2 ended with her character, Eve Drake, and Tim Allen's Matt getting back together, but did this new series put that in jeopardy? Even Allen wasn't sure about the answer, but he ultimately had good news for fans.
Had the Shifting Gears team known Elfman would join a new show, they might've kept Matt and Eve split up in Season 2. Fortunately, Tim Allen caught up with Us Weekly ahead of Season 3's return in 2027 and said he was shocked they'd be able to feature Eve most of the season:
I just saw Jenna. We went to see No Doubt with a whole group of people at The Sphere in Vegas. She said, 'Now this is gonna only work for them if I can do eight episodes with you.' And I said, 'God, I'm glad that you said this.' I'm amazed that they're able to do this. But they've got it set up that she'll be in most of the season.
Shifting Gears Season 2 consisted of 13 episodes, and while an episode count for Season 3 has yet to be announced, history suggests it could be about the same. This may essentially indicate that Jenna Elfman is hoping to be in two-thirds of the upcoming season. That would (theoretically) be plenty of time to cover next steps for Matt and Eve's next steps, which may include moving in together. I'm sure Riley would love Matt getting out of his house more, especially now that the younger Parker is juggling her own relationship issues.
As a fan of Shifting Gears, I'm glad we'll still get more of Jenna Elfman as Eve. It's wild to hear that she didn't feel hopeful about returning to TV to do a sitcom, because she's really one of the best parts of the show. Losing her and watching Matt Parker back out on the dating scene would've been a painful experience, so I'm glad that arc is presumably over.
Of course, I still expect plenty of tension between Matt and Eve, as they look for compromise between his conservative lifestyle and her more liberal leanings. Before they were a couple, they butted heads quite a bit on that, and she hasn't been around a ton since their breakup. Could Season 3 be where we start to see more of those issues spring up?
Fortunately, Matt has a sounding board in Riley, who seems to align with Eve on a lot more issues than her dad. She may end up keeping her father out of more arguments than not, though Matt can be pretty stubborn when it comes to sharing his opinion on things.
I think I can speak for many SG fans when I say that I'm just grateful the show escaped the cancellation bubble once again. It's been right on the edge in its first two seasons, so here's hoping the ABC sitcom finds more legs and more eyes as it settles into Season 3 and brings back Jenna Elfman and co. for more.
Be on the lookout for Shifting Gears to return to ABC when the 2027 TV schedule gets underway. In the meantime, readers can catch up on the show by streaming episodes with a Hulu subscription.
