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SHIFTING GEARS: Episode 1.1: “Restoration”

"A Roaring Start to a New Comedy"

What You Need To Know:

SHIFTING GEARS is an entertaining family comedy on ABC starring Tim Allen as Matt and Kat Dennings as Riley. Though Matt and Riley have a strained father-daughter relationship, they must support each other and reconcile their differences when Riley moves back home with her father as her life falls apart. Her two children add to the chaos and reveal just how different Matt and Riley are. The pilot episode, titled “Restoration,” introduces the family dynamics and the two main employees at Matt’s shop.

 The pilot episode of SHIFTING GEARS teaches strong positive values. It stresses the importance of family, love, forgiveness, and reconciliation. Also, father uses an overt winsome reference to Jesus when discussing life with his teenage grandson. Despite their differences, the grandfather and his daughter still love each other and want the best for one another. They also bond over the loss of their wife/mom and remember her as a remarkable woman who kept the family together. However, the pilot episode of SHIFTING GEARS has some relatively light foul language and other issues. So, MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for older children.

Content:

(BB, CC, CapCap, LL, S, A, Fe, M): 

Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements:
  Strong moral, redemptive worldview in the pilot episode for a family sitcom, with an overt positive reference to Jesus where the father and grandfather uses Jesus in a winsome way to encourage his grandson to learn how to drive and promoting giving Jesus control of your life, stresses the importance of family, forgiveness and reconciliation, plus the father and grandfather had a strong, faithful relationship with his late wife, whom he calls the love of his life, plus some strong pro-capitalist, free marked content where the father and grandfather owns and runs a car restoration shop;

Foul Language:
  Moderate foul language with rive light profanities and 10 obscenities, including four “d” words, four “h” words and two “a” words;

Violence:
  No violence;

Sex:
  Riley references getting pregnant at 18 to her boyfriend 15 years ago, but they eventually got married but are now separated;

Nudity:
  No nudity;

Alcohol Use:
  No alcohol use shown but a character mentions going to bars for happy hour;

Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse:
  No smoking or drugs; and,

Miscellaneous Immorality:
  Matt and Riley often portray negative examples of family dynamics as they argue and yell at each other, Riley’s son admits he stole his mom’s car and lied about breaking their fence, Riley recalls slashing someone’s tires to get revenge, the grandfather makes a joke about the granddaughter watching the BARBIE movie and “tearing down the patriarchy” but the granddaughter says she now wants to be a billionaire like Lori from SHARK TANK, the TV program about wealthy businessmen funding and working with new businesses, and Riley talks about divorcing her husband.

More Detail:

SHIFTING GEARS is an entertaining family comedy airing and streaming on ABC starring Tim Allen and Kat Dennings. In the pilot episode, after not speaking to each other for years, Dennings’ character, Riley, shows up unannounced at her father, Matt’s, auto shop. With her life crumbling around her, she asks her father to let her back into his life and allow her and her two children to live with him while she gets her life together. 

The pilot episode, “Restoration,” opens with Matt bantering with two of his employees before an old-school Ford GT rolls into the shop. Matt immediately recognizes the car, as he rebuilt it from the ground up before Riley, pregnant at 18, stole it to run away 15 years ago with her boyfriend, a musician. Unsurprisingly, Riley gets out of the car, confessing to her father her life’s falling apart soshe needs a place to stay for a little while. 

Though Matt and Riley have a strained relationship and haven’t spoken to each other in years, Matt is a good man who will not turn down his daughter and her two children. Immediately after they get to the house, tensions rise as Matt and Riley yell at each other during a disagreement. 

The next morning, Matt takes the family back to the auto shop, where he shows his grandchildren around the shop before asking if they want to go on a joyride in one of the classic cars that Matt has fixed up. They both say yes and soon leave the auto shop while Riley stays behind. While the rest of her family is out, Riley catches up with the employees who work there, whom she knew from childhood. Both employees remind her that her father loves her, even if he does poorly showing it.

Meanwhile, Matt and the children are out on the town, and Matt pulls over into an empty parking lot before asking his grandson, Carter, if he wants to take a spin behind the wheel. Carter is extremely hesitant, because his mother doesn’t want him to drive. In fact, she hires an Uber to take him places. Matt keeps pressing the issue and Carter’s little sister says she’d like to drive. In fact, she knows which pedal is the “goey” and which pedal is the “stoppie.” So, Carter realizes Matt isn’t going to let the issue go and agrees. They go to an empty parking lot nearby, and Carter enjoys driving the car. However, when they take the alley to return to the shop and park there, Carter accidentally drives the car into the shop’s back wall with a loud crash, upsetting Riley who’s talking in the shop. 

Riley is furious with her father for forcing Carter to drive, but Matt yells back at her that Carter should be learning these things now that he’s old enough. Just as their argument hits its peak, Carter butts in to resolve the dispute, admitting he’s afraid to drive because he “borrowed” his mom’s car a few months back and crashed into their fence. Though his confession does ease the tension, Riley and Matt are still upset with each other.

Later that night, Matt and Riley talk things over and realize that their relationship has been extremely strained ever since their wife/mom died. She was the glue that kept the family together and bridged Matt and Riley’s strong opinions. They both miss her and realize they’re the only family left. They make up and resolve to try to love each other better. Riley also apologizes for leaving her dad abruptly and for not being there for him after her mom died. 

SHIFTING GEARS is a strong comedy that has legs for multiple seasons. Allen and Dennings deliver strong performances in the pilot episode, and the episode is funny and entertaining overall. Furthermore, the story is relatable to most families while providing a strong example of forgiveness and reconciliation in an age where many family members foster resentments of one kind or another.

The pilot episode teaches strong lessons on the value of family and caring for one another, even when you disagree. Furthermore, Matt portrays a loving husband who still misses and cares for his wife years after she has passed away, calling her the love of his life. Also, Matt makes a positive reference to Jesus in a winsome way when discussing with his teenage grandson how people should live their lives.

However, the pilot episode of SHIFTING GEARS features moderate foul language, including five light profanities and five relatively light obscenities (see our CONTENT section). Also, there are some light moral issues sprinkled throughout the episode. So, MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for older children.


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