Going Dutch Succeeds In 1 Big Way Where Shifting Gears Fails

Shifting Gears is Tim Allen’s new sitcom, which is built on his character’s contentious relationship with his daughter. Shifting Gears has garnered high viewership numbers because of Tim Allen’s established sitcom goodwill. However, most of Shifting Gears’ critical reviews are poor, criticizing the father-daughter clash as too straightforward a premise that lacks originality. Allen as Matt and Kat Dennings as his daughter Riley lead the cast of Shifting Gears, but the focus of the show is on Matt and Riley’s fraught relationship after Riley moves home 15 years after running away with her now ex-husband.

Matt and Riley’s constant bickering feels circular after only three episodes of Shifting Gears, but by contrast, another freshman sitcom, Going Dutch, presents a charged father-daughter relationship with fresh energy. In Going Dutch, battle-loving Colonel Patrick Quinn (Denis Leary) is assigned as a punishment to America’s peaceful service base in Stroopsdorf, Netherlands, where his estranged daughter serves as Captain. While Shifting Gears feels repetitive in its central conflict, Going Dutch benefits from characters with clearer objectives, allowing each episode to explore a new dimension of their ongoing tension, supported by a memorable ensemble cast.

Tim Allen And Kat Dennings’s Shifting Gears Characters Are Aimless Compared To Colonel & Captain Quinn In Going Dutch

Leads Having Clear But Opposing Goals Brings A Narrative Thrust To Going Dutch

Shifting Gears has high viewership numbers but poor reviews because there is a lack of momentum. Riley is generally trying to get her life together and find her new purpose, while Matt was content at work and at home before Riley interrupted his solitary widower life. Because there is no overarching plot or goal, the episodes depend entirely on the main characters, and Matt and Riley are perpetually in conflict. As a result, the episodes of Shifting Gears blend together without any specific element really standing out.

New episodes of Going Dutch air Thursdays 9:30 ET on Fox, streaming next day on Hulu/Disney+. New episodes of Shifting Gears air Wednesdays at 8p ET on ABC, streaming next day on Hulu/Disney+.

Conversely, in Going Dutch, Denis Leary’s Colonel Quinn desperately wants to get out of Stroopsdorf while his daughter, Captain Maggie Quinn, is fiercely guarding the bonds she has built with the Dutch community and stands vigilantly against her father’s attempts to turn the service base into a combat base. Because Col. Quinn and Maggie each have an ideology, every episode feels like a move on a chessboard. With four episodes of Going Dutch released, each installment feels like a distinct piece of a larger story, with small victories marking incremental changes in Quinn and Maggie’s relationship.

Going Dutch’s Supporting Characters Are More Memorable Than Shifting Gears’

Community’s Danny Pudi & The Office’s Catherine Tate Play Small But Fun Roles In Going Dutch

Shifting Gears has introduced a handful of supporting characters, like the mechanics at Matt’s shop, but the show has been a true two-hander, with other characters used more as set-ups for jokes. The only secondary character who has been given enough screen time to feel three-dimensional is Brenda Song’s character Caitlyn Baker, Riley’s old classmate. Shifting Gears could benefit from fleshing out their supporting characters to alleviate pressure from Matt and Riley carrying the show. Many of TV's best sitcoms take time to develop, and with only three episodes released, Shifting Gears has time to find its footing.

Going Dutch Cast List
Character	Actor	Best Known Role
Colonel Patrick Quinn	Denis Leary	Tommy Gavin in Rescue Me (2004-2011)
Captain Maggie Quinn	Taylor Misiak	Ally in Dave (2020-2023)
Executive Officer Major Abraham Shah	Danny Pudi	Abed Nadir in Community (2009-2015)
Master Sergeant Dana Conway	Laci Mosley	Jayla in Florida Girls (2019)
Corporal Elias Papadakis	Hal Cumpston	Zach Marconi in Nine Perfect Strangers (2021)
Private Anthony Chapman	Dempsey Bryk	Airk Tanthalos in Willow (2022-2023)
Dr. Katja Vanderhoff	Catherine Tate	Donna Noble in Doctor Who (2006, 2008), Nellie Bertram in The Office (2011-2013)

On the other hand, Going Dutch makes each supporting character vibrant and memorable, giving Quinn and Riley dynamic personalities to play off of together and apart. Going Dutch gives sitcom veterans like Community’s Danny Pudi or The Office’s Catherine Tate room to shine, with Tate delivering a standout performance as a particularly eccentric character, Dr. Katja Vanderhoff, a local Dutch woman who Quinn thinks runs a brothel but actually runs an immigration office for sex workers. Even the featured soldiers have distinct personalities creating a stronger base to feature Quinn and Maggie’s evolving relationship in Going Dutch.

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