‘Shifting Gears’: Kat Dennings & Seann William Scott on That Shocking Kiss & Season 2 Hopes

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for the Shifting Gears Season 1 finale.]

Shifting Gears, the Tim Allen-led comedy about a widowed father who runs a car repair shop, Matt (Allen), whose daughter Riley (Kat Dennings), and grandchildren (Maxwell Simkins and Barrett Margolis), move in with him, just aired its Season 1 finale. There has been no word on Season 2 yet, but the show’s stars are hopeful.

In the finale, titled “Kiss,” Riley’s estranged husband, Jimmy (Lucas Neff), comes back to town and tells her he wants to make their relationship work, but Riley gives him divorce papers instead. Riley and Gabriel (Seann William Scott), Riley’s friend from childhood and her dad’s coworker, drink too much at a party, and Gabriel almost tells Riley how he feels, but she falls asleep on the couch before he can. Matt and his rival Eve (Jenna Elfman) leave the party after everyone else, but not before they share a shocking kiss.

TV Insider spoke with Dennings and Scott to talk about that kiss, their characters’ relationship, what they hope for Season 2, and more.

Disney/Raymond Liu

The finale is titled “Kiss.” When you first read the script for it, did you think that it was going to be a kiss between Gabriel and Riley? Did you not expect the Matt/Eve kiss? What were your thoughts on that?

Kat Dennings: I was tipped off by the writers, so I knew it wasn’t going to happen between us, but I didn’t really realize it was going to be this sweet confession moment between [Matt and Eve]. So that was a fun surprise. I thought it was a really cute scene.

Sean William Scott: Yeah I was told that it might be between me and Kat, but apparently, I didn’t read the whole script because I didn’t know that Jenna and Tim kissed in the episode, so spoiler alert!

Dennings: That is my favorite thing ever.

With the way Season 1 ended, what are your feelings on the finale? Do you think since it has not yet been renewed for Season 2, it will satisfy fans in case that’s it?

Dennings: No! Everyone’s going to be furious. [Laughs] Then, we’ll have to make it into a web show and we’ll all have to take a massive pay cut, but it’ll be worth it.

Scott: Yeah, no one’s going to be satisfied if that’s the last episode.

Where do you see Riley and Gabriel going in a hopeful Season 2, romantic and non-romantic-wise? Or what are your hopes for your characters? What are your hopes for Season 2 in general?

Scott: That there is one. [Laughs]

Dennings: I mean, same. I also hope there is a Season 2, and if there is, I hope we see Riley do some exploration of who she is now because she doesn’t really know who she is now without the ex-husband relationship and back living at home as a mom with two kids and have her discover her personality without the things that she is used to. I think that would be cool.

What is it like working with Tim Allen? Do you have any stories you can share or any advice that he gave you?

Scott: It’s just amazing. It’s so surreal. There wasn’t one day where I was like “This is a normal thing.” It was always cool. I’ve watched him for so long just crush it. Even before we started shooting the show, I was watching The Santa Clause with my daughter every night for a month. Then the show came into my life, and I was like, this is incredible. He’s really funny and fun. He takes it so seriously. It’s not just a job to him. He’s not just showing up. If there’s anything in a scene that he has questions about or he’s just trying to understand the logic behind something, he’s always working on it. I really appreciate that. You can see why he’s had so much success. He works hard. He loves the process. He loves what he does and you can see it.

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Speaking of Tim, throughout this show, he’s had cameos from costars from his previous sitcoms. Jay Leno and Nancy Travis from Last Man Standing appeared on Shifting Gears. Could we see any cameos from your past work (2 Broke Girls, American Pie, etc) appear on Shifting Gears? Or Kat, maybe an appearance for you on the last season of The Neighborhood with Beth Behrs?

Dennings: That’d be incredible. The fun thing about Shifting Gears is that we have this car shop set. And anyone could walk in. So yeah, of course, I would love anyone to pop by. And I would love to appear on The Neighborhood if they wanted me. They’re about to have their eighth and final season, so kudos to them.

Sean, what do you think about Stifler’s mom (Jennifer Coolidge) re-earning legendary status from The White Lotus?

Scott: It’s just incredible. We were just talking about it. It’s not surprising. She is so talented and a one-of-a-kind artist. And the same with Eugene [Levy]. It’s so cool to see these two incredible stars totally crushing it.

Dennings: Jennifer Coolidge in The White Lotus is one of the best performances in the history of television. In her final scenes, I was weeping. She’s so f**king incredible, and I am so happy for her. She’s amazing.

Shifting Gears, Streaming, Hulu