Shifting Gears’ Kat Dennings Shared Why She Was Iffy About Playing A Mom For The First Time, And I Love How Her Real Life Helped Her Get Comfortable

Shifting Gears has been one of the best shows on the 2025 TV schedule, and it’s not just because Tim Allen has a knack for doing sitcoms. Kat Dennings is also crushing it in her role as Riley, a newly-divorced mother just trying to do the best for her kids. Playing a parent is a first for the actress, and Dennings recently revealed she was a bit iffy about taking on this new role in her career.

Those who haven’t had a chance to catch the ABC sitcom should make use of their Hulu subscriptions and catch up, as Dennings is great in her return to network television. The actress was a guest recently on Not Gonna Lie With Kylie Kelce, and talked about why she initially thought it was wild to play a mom in a Hollywood role:

That’s a first for me, that I’ve never played a mom. I didn’t know what to do next career-wise. I’m 38, I’m in this area where I could play a mom, but, me?! How could I play a mom? I’m 12 like, that’s crazy [laughs]! Obviously, the math, maths, but I was excited about the idea. Doing something I’ve never done before and playing up this side of my life.

Much like Tim Allen dove into his personal experience with grief in Shifting Gears, Kat Dennings is able to lean into her life as well. While Riley has a lot on her plate in the sitcom that we hope she’ll figure out, she seems to navigate the whole mom thing pretty well.

The actress talked about her personal journey as a mom with her husband and party rocker Andrew W.K., to whom she became engaged in 2021. She talked about her experience as a mom through her marriage with him, as well as other children she’s acted as a mother to over the years:

I am a stepmother. I have two stepchildren. I’m a godmother, I have nieces and nephews that are like my own children and so I have this big side of me where there are a lot of children involved in my life so I was really excited to do that.

Not only is Kat Dennings playing a parent, Riley is also juggling reconnecting with her father, from whom she’s been estranged for years. The series has a real 90s sitcom feel in addressing and tackling various issues, and I don’t say that as a bad thing. Hell, it seems like the series intentionally strives to be that, especially after Jay Leno appeared in an episode and referred to Home Improvement.

Of course, Shifting Gears also references Tim Allen’s previous ABC sitcom Last Man Standing, which was canceled and ended its run on Fox. With Kat Dennings back on network television, I know there are hopes people will see her reunite with her former 2 Broke Girls co-star Beth Behrs. Maybe now that The Neighborhood is ending on CBS, she’ll get a chance to team-up with Dennings again?

We’ll have to wait until Season 2 to see if that happens, because Season 1 of Shifting Gears draws to a close on ABC on Wednesday, March 19 at 8:00 p.m. ET. Here’s hoping for a surprise before the season signs off, and given the surprises we’ve seen with guest stars this season, I wouldn’t rule it out.

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