The cast of Tim Allen and Kat Dennings‘ upcoming ABC sitcom Shifting Gears continues to grow.
Jenna Elfman is joining the show in a recurring role, according to Deadline. Elfman, 53, will play spirited choreographer Eve Drake who owns a dance studio across from a classic car restoration shop run by Allen’s character, Matt.
This marks Elfman’s return to multi-camera comedy after her five-season stint opposite Thomas Gibson on Dharma & Greg. After the ABC sitcom came to an end in 2002, Elfman starred on Courting Alex, Accidentally on Purpose, 1600 Penn, Growing Up Fisher and Imaginary Mary. She has also appeared on Fear the Walking Dead, Will Trent and Dark Winds.
Shifting Gears follows widowed father Matt and his estranged daughter, Riley (Dennings), as they find themselves living together and working to repair their fractured relationship. In addition to Allen, Dennings and Elfman, the main cast includes Seann William Scott, Daryl “Chill” Mitchell, Maxwell Simkins and Barrett Margolis.
The ABC series comes three years after Allen’s previous sitcom, Last Man Standing, wrapped its nine-season run. Before Last Man Standing, Allen, 71, was known for his role as Tim “The Toolman” Taylor on the ABC sitcom Home Improvement, which ran from 1991 to 1999.
“The word that keeps me alive is ‘grateful.’ I love what I do. I get far more enjoyment out of entertaining people than anything monetary,” Allen exclusively told Us Weekly in 2020. “I love the live audience we have. I tell them every night, ‘This is old-school stuff, what television and broadcast started with.’ I don’t know the future, but this [show] is rare.”
He added: “We did the same thing as we did with Home Improvement. It’s all about the relationships — we don’t get into topical stuff. But 1734138323, I’ve just got girls, so you see how a man differs in his perspective when he has so many strong women around him. We never make fun [of each other]. It’s an affectionate family. I like the fact that we honor and make fun — at the same time — marriage, institution, kids, babies, people. But in the same way, we honor it. We’re not being snarky about it.”
Dennings, 38, also has a history with network TV, playing Max in CBS’ sitcom 2 Broke Girls from 2011 to 2017. Shifting Gears previously brought on showrunner Michelle Nader, who worked with Dennings on CBS’ 2 Broke Girls and Hulu’s Dollface.
Nader replaced Mike Scully and Julie Thacker Scully, who served as writers and executive producers on the Shifting Gears pilot. The duo exited before the project was picked up to series at ABC.
Shifting Gears premieres on ABC Wednesday, January 8, at 8 p.m. ET before streaming the next day on Hulu.
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