Just one episode into Season 2 of Shifting Gears and the ABC sitcom starring Kat Dennings, Tim Allen, and Seann William Scott has welcomed guest actors ranging from Allen’s Home Improvement cast members to Jay Leno to Brenda Song. It isn’t stopping there.
Sitting down with DECIDER to talk about the sophomore season, Scott shared that not only does Season 2 feature previously announced names like Mookie Betts, Lori Greiner, and Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias, they still have big hopes for future guest stars, ones with connections to multiple cast members.
“We’ll never get her because she’s probably booked for the next 30 years but Jennifer Coolidge. Just because she’s awesome,” Scott told DECIDER of who he’s dreaming will swing by the auto body shop where the series is set. “Kat worked with on her show [2 Broke Girls], and we worked together [in American Pie], but we never actually worked together. I think that would be amazing.”
In the ladder project, Scott played Steve Stifler while Coolidge played his mother, Jeanine. Despite appearing in the first two movies and playing mother and son, the pair never shared a scene. Dennings, however, acted alongisde The White Lotus Emmy winner in many a scene in 2 Broke Girls, which also starred Beth Behrs and ran on CBS from 2011 to 2017.
Shifting Gears‘ showrunner, Michelle Nader — who also served as a writer and producer on 2 Broke Girls — said something similar when she was asked about their dream guest stars for Season 2 and beyond. “I want to get Jennifer Coolidge in the show. I want to get some of those people to come around. We have a lot up our sleeve,” Nader told Us Weekly in September.
As for whats ahead in the nearer future on the show and what Scott is enjoying the most about stepping into the world of live-audience taped sitcoms, check out DECIDER’s full interview with the actor below.
DECIDER: I feel like I’m catching you during maybe the greatest year ever, because I am a huge Righteous Gemstones fan, and you had an incredible run on this last season.
SEANN WILLIAM SCOTT: Thanks so much. I really appreciate that. Yeah, that was great. Thank you. I’ve just been thinking about how blessed I’ve been to have two wonderful opportunities, both totally different. With Gemstones, it’s HBO and these guys are just legends. Danny didn’t tell me. I mean, when they approached me for the part, all I really got was the character was a pig farmer. I was like, “Okay.” I mean, that’s all you need to hear. Once I got there, that’s when someone in wardrobe was like, “Did you know what you do in the finale?” I was like, “Nope.” And then she told me about the Michael Jackson outfit and how the character goes on a shooting spree wearing a Michael Jackson outfit. And then I got the script and was like, “Oh my gosh.” So it was just a huge gift.
I do have to say, I think “pig farmer” is generous. If Danny McBride called me, I wouldn’t even need a description: “Put me in, coach, I’m ready.”
That’s so true. Because I had met Danny, gosh, like 2004, maybe and David Gordon Green. We were trying to work together then and they had written one of the funniest scripts I’ve ever read, and then David wanted to direct it and Universal was like, “I don’t know.”And then it wasn’t long after it didn’t happen for us. I was like, “Oh no.” So we’ve been wanting to work together since then and you’re so right, I didn’t need anything. When I got the call, I said, “I’ll be your water boy, your assistant, whatever it takes.”
Well, another show that you could not miss out on is one we’re here to talk about: Shifting Gears. I know we’re on Season 2 but talk to me about how it came to you?
It was while I was working on Gemstones. And so to be totally honest, there was like one month where I was away from my daughter and I never want to be away from her ever. For Righteous Gemstones, it was a little bit easier, but I was like, “I never want to do this.” My agent called me and said “There’s a sitcom shooting in L.A.,” and I said, “I don’t know, I’ve never thought about a sitcom,” and then he was like, “It’s with Tim Allen,” and I was like, “Okay, I love Tim Allen, he’s a legend.” But I don’t think the character [of Gabe] was fully fleshed out yet.
The cast on Gemstones, I was like, “Hey, this thing, this amazing show came around.” They were like, “Do it, you’ve got to do. If you want to be a dad, you want to, like, have time with your kid, it’s the best schedule.” Then I spoke to Michelle Nader [the showrunner] who was amazing and she was just so open to talking about the character. And then I just had really no idea how much fun it was going to be. Going to work now — I don’t even want to call it work — not only do we just go in and have fun and laugh, but then I’m going to be done in time to go see my daughter at school. I mean, that’s such a gift.
It seems like it’s been a lifechanging experience for you.
It’s incredible. And then just experience and doing something completely different at this stage in my career and feeling challenged like this, that is the whole process. Shooting in front of a live audience and having to kind of adjust your timing, you know, to kind of figure out when you come in, when you fly out when they’re laughing at the whole thing. It’s like, it’s been incredible. I mean, the whole cast is just so wonderful. And I just sit back and watch Tim. The crazy thing is, before this came around, I was watching The Santa Clause with my daughter. Like, you don’t feel like it running. We’re watching it almost every night. And then about a month after, I was like, “Oh my gosh, I get to work with him.” I brought my daughter to set one day for one of the live performances in the first season. And my daughter, seeing Tim, you could just see her mind was blown. She couldn’t figure it out, she was like, “This is Santa.”
Was your daughter like, “Dad, I have to be good around this guy, he sees me when I’m sleeping, he knows when I’m awake.”
Exactly. Now, she’s like, “Are you working with Santa today?” “Yes, I am,” And she’ll say, “Oh, I better watch my behavior.”
Is your daughter watching? Has she seen all the episodes?
It’s funny, I’ve been trying to show her — well, there’s a lot of stuff I’ve done that I just hope she never watches, she’ll be horrified. But there’s been scenes from movies or even clips from Shifting Gears where she’s just not impressed with it. It’s classic, like, “Oh, you’re an actor? Okay.” This is not really Shifting Gears related but I did show her the other day the scene in the third American Pie movie where I do a dance off and she laughed so hard. Seeing her cackling is one of the greatest feelings, to make my daughter laugh like that, it’s my job.
Maybe she’ll come around to Shifting Gears. There’s so many things to love about the show, including the relationship between Gabe and Riley, Kat Dennings’ character. Is your chemistry as seamless as it seems?
Yeah, it is easy. It is genuinely just truly wonderful. You’re supposed to say nice things about people when promoting something but I actually like to tell you, on a personal level, I just adore her. She’s so funny. I’m in awe of her, literally just her timing and everything. We clicked right away. There’s so many scenes where she does stuff and I just get totally taken out of character, laughing or smiling and I think it’s okay because it’s just so funny. I think if you see chemistry, it’s pretty realistic.
Well, Episode 1 of Season 2 ends with maybe a sidestep for those hoping Gabe and Riley get together. We know Gabe is now with Amélie, what are you hoping comes soon for these two?
I haven’t thought about it too much, to be honest. It’s such a fine relationship now that I think, you know, you probably wouldn’t want to rush it, like them getting together. My hope is that we get to do the show for more seasons so we have the chance to kind of keep that moment in front of us.
Let me wrap with this, you guys have already welcomed so many incredible guest stars in just two seasons. Who is on your dream list for future episodes?
Well, I would say, we’ll never get her because she’s probably booked for the next 30 years but Jennifer Coolidge. Just because she’s awesome. Kat worked with on her show [Two Broke Girls], and we worked together [in American Pie], but we never actually worked together. I think that would be amazing. But I do think she’s just a little busy.
I’m sure she can find time for a quick guest appearance.
I would love that. Oh my god, she’s amazing.
The first episode of Shifting Gears is now streaming on Hulu. New episodes air on ABC Wednesdays at 8 p.m. and stream next day on Hulu.
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