There’s Music In The Air, and At The Door, for Kat Dennings in SHIFTING GEARS

By BILL HARRIS Special to The Lede Kat Dennings’ character Riley in the sitcom SHIFTING GEARS has an estranged husband who is a bass player, and she has not been shy about taking sharp comedic shots at him, or the rock-star-wannabe lifestyle that led to their separation. Of course, in real life, Dennings (2 BROKE GIRLS) is married to singer and musician Andrew W.K., so does she find herself having to assure her husband that the jibes aren’t really about him or his friends? “Totally – I was like, ‘you know my husband plays the bass, right?’ ” said Dennings, recalling her conversations with the writers. “It’s pretty funny. He thinks it’s so funny. I mean, I feel like any musician will think this is hilarious, but yeah, they know I’m married to a musician.” In a new episode of SHIFTING GEARS airing Wednesday, Feb. 5 at 8 p.m. ET on CTV, CTV.ca, and the CTV app, viewers get to see Riley’s husband Jimmy for the first time. He’ll be played by Lucas Neff (RAISING HOPE), and when Jimmy suddenly shows up trying to win back Riley, he doesn’t exactly get a warm reception from Riley’s dad Matt, played by comedy legend Tim Allen. The setup of SHIFTING GEARS is that Riley and her two kids have moved in with Matt (how permanent that arrangement is remains to be seen). Riley has described herself as the stereotypical popular kid who peaked in high school before running off with the cool guy to have an exciting and successful life, which didn’t quite pan out. “First of all, I couldn’t believe that they wrote I was popular in high school, so I really appreciated that, because I was not in real life,” Dennings said. “So I tried to put myself in that scenario. What would that feel like, to have people really think you’re going places, and then your life just doesn’t go at all? She got pregnant really young, she got married really young, and it all kind of stalled. Now she’s getting a divorce, she has no money, she’s back living with her dad, who she doesn’t get along with. I feel as if there are moments in everyone’s lives when it all comes crashing down, and everything is just completely different than we thought it would be. I absolutely relate to that feeling.” Here’s something that is very admirable about SHIFTING GEARS: in a less ambitious show, it would have been very easy to make Riley a bad mom, and to take all the comedic shortcuts that come with that. But Riley is actually a good mom – in fact, her deep concern for her two kids was the driving force in her extremely tough decision to leave Jimmy and move away. “Absolutely, and that’s because we have wonderful writers, many of whom are parents,” Dennings said. “There is a strange complexity to Riley, in that she’s still somewhat the same high school version of herself, but it’s also very important for her to put her children first, especially when it comes to separating from their dad and moving them to a different state. She feels a lot of guilt about that. And I know from a lot of my friends who are mothers, there is this thing that happens sometimes where you fear losing yourself, and your identity. So I’m trying to bring a lot of different things to it. She’s just pouring herself into these kids, and maybe trying to distract herself from what she’s really going through. So, yeah, she’s got a lot going on.” When Riley and Matt comically bicker, they stubbornly insist to each other that neither has softened. But through the performances of Dennings and Allen, the audience can sense that isn’t true. Both characters have changed, especially following the death of Riley’s mom/Matt’s wife, which occurred less than two years ago. “That’s awesome, thank you for saying that, it means a lot to me,” Dennings said. “Certain people come into the show over these episodes that make Riley realize even more that she has changed, and that maybe she wants different things than she thought she wanted. You know, it’s pretty multi-dimensional for what people might think of as, ‘oh, it’s a sitcom.’ Yes, it is. But we really go into some pretty substantial acting places with this. And Tim Allen, we all know he’s amazing, but really, I think people have never seen him like this. It’s like a whole new version of his thing. In a way, this is almost him at his best. And I like to think that I bring that out of him a little bit, but I don’t know … I mean, he’s just very talented.” Fans of SHIFTING GEARS should take note that beginning next week, on Wednesday, Feb. 12, the series moves to a new timeslot, at 7:30 p.m. ET on CTV, CTV.ca, and the CTV app. billharristv@gmail.com @billharris_tv