“I'm amazed that they're able to do this,” Tim Allen said recently, answering the clearest question about Jenna Elfman's future on Shifting Gears after she signed onto Fox's The Interrogator: she will still be on the ABC sitcom for most of its third season.
Allen, who stars opposite Elfman on Shifting Gears, said the production has been arranged so Elfman can continue to appear even while taking on her new series. He added, plainly, that they have “set it up so Elfman will be in most of the season,” and the show — which resumes production in late July — is structured around keeping her present.
The detail that matters most to fans is one Elfman herself raised. Last month she told a magazine that the crossover would only work if she could commit to a limited run on Shifting Gears. “Now this is gonna only work for them if I can do eight episodes with you,” she said — a floor she set for balancing both jobs. Allen punctuated that exchange with a laugh and a quick, “God, I'm glad that you said this.”
Those two lines — Elfman's eight-episode threshold and Allen's pledge that she's already been slotted into most of the season — are the factual spine of what comes next. Shifting Gears' third season begins filming in late July and will premiere on ABC in 2027. Until episode counts are finalized in production, that pair of commitments is the clearest signal that Elfman will remain a recurring and visible part of the series.
On Shifting Gears, Elfman plays Eve Drake, the love interest for Allen's Matt Parker. Allen has been emphatic about the chemistry and the tonal shift her casting brought to the show: “She's so fun to be around and it's brought out a whole different part of the show,” he said, adding that Elfman's presence “brought a different audience to that show.” He noted that the romance thread has landed with viewers — “the flirting and the actual activity between these two characters is working” — and suggested the writers will allow the relationship to breathe rather than rush to a conventional step like moving in together.
Elfman has been equally vocal about her enthusiasm for Shifting Gears in recent interviews. “I'm loving doing the show. I love working with everybody on it. I love the showrunner. It genuinely is like I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop because I can't believe how good it is,” she said, later adding, “I have to say I'm blown away by the writing this year. They're writing for each actor and for their character so well. The stories are sincerely hilarious. Like, at work, we're all doubled over laughing repeatedly.” She also told the interviewer she planned to remain on Shifting Gears in some capacity after her casting on The Interrogator was announced and that, in her words, “I can go play on Shifting Gears.”
The friction in this tidy exchange is practical: one actress, two network shows, overlapping production schedules. Allen acknowledged the unknowns himself, posing the lighthearted plot question he and the writers have yet to settle for the season: “My question is — and we haven't talked about it yet because we'll start in late July to do our new season — is Jenna going to move in with me or am I going to move in with her [on the show]?” He added a creative preference: “I don't know. I'd like to stretch it out where we're just dating a little bit.”
For viewers wondering whether Elfman's new Fox gig will hollow out her role on ABC, the answer is straightforward now: not likely. Allen's production-side assurances and Elfman's own eight-episode condition point to a continued, sizeable presence on Shifting Gears, even if the exact episode tally remains unannounced. The concrete next steps — production starting in late July and a 2027 premiere — mean the final plan should become public once filming begins and episode assignments are pinned down.
