‘Shifting Gears’ Season 2: Seann William Scott Talks ‘Home Improvement’ Reunion & Working With Tim Allen

[Warning: The following post contains spoilers for the Shifting Gears Season 2 premiere.]

Season 2 of Shifting Gears has just arrived, and Seann William Scott, who plays Gabriel, Riley’s childhood best friend/crush, is breaking it all down. The season opened with a Home Improvement reunion and a lot more screen time for Gabriel.

Episode 1 opens with him and Stitch (Daryl Mitchell) entering Matt Parker’s (Tim Allen) car shop, where they work. They thought Matt wasn’t there, but he was working under a car, and Stitch and Gabriel didn’t see him. After Matt goes into his office, Riley (Kat Dennings), Matt’s daughter, walks into the shop with a coworker from the dance studio she works at, asking for a screwdriver. While there, she introduces Amalie to the men.

Gabriel stops Riley from taking the screwdriver out of Matt’s shop, and they share an intimate moment where they look into each other’s eyes, probably still thinking about Gabriel’s feelings confession from the Season 1 finale. After Riley gets out of his stare, Gabe tells her he has something private he wants to talk to her about.

When Riley goes to Matt’s office to ask about borrowing the screwdriver, she tells him that Eve (Jenna Elfman) will be back tomorrow, and she needs to fix a mirror in the studio. Matt shared a kiss with Eve on the Season 1 finale and is still grappling with his feelings.

Meanwhile, back at the house, Matt’s grandchildren, Carter (Maxwell Simkins) and Georgia (Barrett Margolis), are dealing with a new school year. Carter wants to impress a girl named Lily, so he dresses up in a suit jacket.

The next day, Eve pulls up to her parking spot next to Matt, and he tries to hide in his car, but she finds him and confronts him, after he hadn’t contacted her for three months after their kiss. Matt shared that he wasn’t sure if he was ready to get into a relationship, but Eve said they didn’t need to be in a relationship.

Soon after, Matt shows up at his dead wife’s grave and tells her about Eve. Charlotte (Nancy Travis), who lost her husband, was also at the grave site, and she gave him advice on moving on. She offered to take him to a grief support group that helped her. The members of the group were Allen’s Home Improvement co-stars — Rachel (Patricia Richardson), Robbie (Richard Karn), and Debbie (Debbe Dunning). Matt was reluctant to listen to the members.

The next day, Riley tells Eve that his dad was on a date after she saw him coming in late from the support group, and he told her he was seeing someone. Eve thinks it’s another woman, but their conversation gets cut off when Gabe shows up at the dance studio and asks Riley if they can talk. Riley spills that she told Eve about Matt’s late night, and he got mad. However, they talk it out at Matt’s wife’s grave, and he confesses that him and Eve kissed.

Riley returns to the car shop to tell Gabe her feelings for him. As she starts to tell him, Amalie walks over and puts her arm through Gabe’s. He reveals that they were dating. After Riley says that they were great together, Gabe said it meant a lot to him that she approved because she’s important to him.

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Matt then went to explain himself to Eve and wound up kissing her, and they decided to be together. Matt says she has to give him some time since it has been 40 years since he has dated anyone.

The episode ended with Georgia bringing home Lily to tutor her in math, and Carter freaked out because he was in his Pokémon pajamas. After Lily and Carter walked into the kitchen, Riley, his mom, said, “Aww. He’s going to blow this.”

Read on to hear what Seann William Scott thought about the Home Improvement reunion, his character’s growth, and a possible relationship between Riley and Gabe.

Disney/Raymond Liu

What are you excited for fans to see in Season 2?

Seann William Scott: Lots of stuff, but mainly, this is my first sitcom, and so, a lot of this is new for me. What I’ve noticed in the second season, which I think happens sometimes… I love the first season. I’m obviously super biased, just the jokes, the writing, and I find the writing to be so funny — it seems kind of elevated compared to the first season. I’m sure, a lot of it, having the luxury of the writers figuring out what you know, how to write for each actor, and what seems to be working. So I think that was a long answer to your question, but it’s the comedy. I think it’s much funnier, and it’s pushing the envelope in a lot of different ways. Also, I think even the first episode, the reunion of Tim with all the cast from Home Improvement, and also with Nancy from Last Man Standing. That was a lot of fun.

I know you weren’t in that scene with the Home Improvement cast, but what did you think of it? Did you get to talk to any of them or meet any of them?

I did. This says about me as an actor, but I didn’t read the whole first script. I just read my stuff. What’s being asked of me in this episode? And so, I went to the table and I saw all the cast from Home Improvement, and I was like “What!?” I was starstruck, to be honest. I remember watching the show when I was younger. It was really exciting. And then I was like, “Oh, maybe I should read the full script from now on.” [Laughs.]

It seems like your character, Gabriel, gets a lot more screen time this season. What can fans expect from his character arc? How do you think he grows this season?

I don’t know if I would call it a growth. [Laughs.] I remember talking with [writer] Michelle Nader about the character, and I said, “I don’t do smart characters well.” I think I’m better at playing characters that aren’t as bright. And so, they put me in situations where you can see more of that. What they have written for me is so fun, and there is a lot of different, weird stuff that they have me saying and doing. I think people are really going to enjoy it.

Gabe is Riley’s brother’s best friend. Do you think fans will ever see him on the show?

I have no idea. I actually haven’t spoken to the showrunner about that. I know that they were talking about that in this season, but I haven’t heard anything.

Gabe gets into a relationship with the woman at the dance studio, but there still seem to be feelings between him and Riley. If they were to get into a relationship this season, what do you think Matt would say?

I think he would say to Riley that she could do better. I think his character loves Gabriel like a son, but knows that Gabriel’s got a few screws loose, so I think he’s like, “I don’t know Riley, I think there’s gotta be something better out there.”

You said that this is your first sitcom. What is it like working with Tim Allen, who has had three successful sitcoms?

Oh, man, it’s incredible. Honestly, it hasn’t worn off. It’s every day, whether it’s going to a table read or just rehearsing or when we’re filming, but especially when we’re doing the live performance, it’s just very surreal. I don’t think me being in awe will ever stop. Growing up watching him and being such a big fan of all of his movies, and it’s surreal. Let’s just put it that way, and it’s been so much fun. We have a lot in common, and to have conversations with him about just football or even just ask him questions about his movies, stuff like that. It’s been so much fun. I’m always like, even to the other cast, like, “Man, I really get to do this until December.” Usually, when you’re in a project, you’re like, “How many more days do we have left?” And this one is like, “I don’t want it to end. It’s just too much fun.” He’s obviously
the main reason for it.

Speaking of Home Improvement and Tim’s costars making an appearance. Could we see any of your old costars? Which one of them would you love to make an appearance on Shifting Gears?

I would say because Kat had worked with Jennifer Coolidge. That would make the most sense. Jennifer’s probably not available because she’s crushing it. But that would be very fun. Anybody that I’ve worked with would be great. But I think that makes the most sense, because if we’re bringing back people that we’ve worked with, it’d be a nice little crossover.

I know the show hasn’t been renewed for Season 3 yet, but what are your hopes for the upcoming season?

That we get to do it. It has been so much fun. Honestly, I think we shot like two episodes. I’m like, “Are you guys having as much fun as I am? Because this is just, it’s too much fun.” Not to mention, I get to take my daughter to school, I go drive to work, and get to work with these amazing people. All we do is just have fun and be silly. I can leave early enough to go pick my daughter up from school. It’s just one of the greatest jobs ever, but especially in my business. So I’m just hoping we get to keep doing it more and more.

This December is 25 years since Dude, Where’s My Car came out? What is your favorite memory from that time?

Honestly, I would have had a different moment if somebody had just not reminded me of that. [Laughs.] It does not feel that long ago. A quarter of a century ago? Thank you for reminding me how old I am.

I think just being on set with Ashton [Kutcher], and just laughing. We were both at the beginning of our careers and knew how lucky we were to be Midewestern young adults, and just having a ball.

I don’t know if we knew how well that movie was going to perform, but we had one of the best titles for a movie ever. We had that going for us.

Shifting Gears, Season 2, Wednesdays, 8/7c, ABC