Tim Allen’s ‘Shifting Gears’ Revs Up Mid-Season Return Date for Extended Season 2

ABC has officially confirmed the release date for Shifting Gears Season 2’s mid-season premiere. The network has announced that the Tim Allen and Kat Dennings-led sitcom will return on Wednesday, January 7, 2026, at 8 pm. New episodes will begin streaming on Hulu the following day after they air on ABC.

Shifting Gears Season 2 premiered on October 1, and it will close up shop after Episode 6 on November 5 before it returns next year. This comes as part of a much larger announcement, where ABC has confirmed return dates for many of its flagship properties, including The Rookie, 9-1-1, High Potential, and more.

Shifting Gears took the world by storm when it premiered at the start of this year on January 8. There was no mid-season break in Shifting Gears Season 1, which consisted of only 10 episodes, but Season 2 conforms much more to traditional network television models, with more episodes and a two-month break in the middle of the season.

The series follows a headstrong widower, Matt (Allen), who owns a classic car workshop. However, the real restoration begins when his recently separated daughter moves back home with her teenage kids.

Shifting Gears star Tim Allen will always be famous for voicing Buzz Lightyear in the Toy Story movies. He was briefly replaced by Chris Evans in the Lightyear spin-off movie, but he will return next year when Toy Story 5 hits theaters everywhere on June 19.

His Shifting Gears co-star Kat Dennings is known for playing Darcy Lewis in the MCU, dating back to the first Thor movie. She most recently voiced the character in the third and final season of What If…?

Will There Be a Third Season of ‘Shifting Gears’?

ABC has yet to announce if there will be a third season of Shifting Gears. This likely won’t come until the end of Season 2, when the network has had time to analyze how it performed compared to expectations. However, it would be a bit surprising to see the show killed off so early, especially considering it’s become so popular in such a short period of time. Shifting Gears was written and created for television by Mike and Julie Thacker-Scully, with Feraz Ozel, Mike Carreon, Chris Martin, Justin Mooney, and more all working in the writer’s room.

Stay tuned to Collider for more updates and coverage of Shifting Gears Season 2, and watch all available episodes on Hulu.