Warning! The following contains spoilers for the Shifting Gears Season 2 episode "Scary." Stream the episode with a Hulu subscription and read at your own risk!
Shifting Gears Season 2 is blazing through its run in the 2025 TV schedule, and this latest batch of episodes has been full of cameos and references to past shows. More often than not, the references are tied to stuff Tim Allen has done, so I was thrilled to see Kat Dennings get the nod for a change.
Obviously, Dennings doesn't have quite as prolific a television career as her veteran co-star, but that doesn't mean the ABC series can't have some fun with her past projects. Fortunately, it did just that in "Scary," and referenced her CBS sitcom that put her on the map.
Shifting Gears Made A 2 Broke Girls Reference
Riley met Gabe, Stitch, and Amelie out at the bar for Halloween, only to find the world at large confused by her "Mama Bear" costume. Stitch left the conversation to talk to two women in the corner, who just so happened to be wearing Williamsburg Diner outfits, the same uniforms Kat Dennings and Beth Behrs wore on 2 Broke Girls.
It's not quite as substantial as having Behrs appear in a guest role, and maybe now that The Neighborhood is ending, there's a chance that will happen in the future. For now, it's cool to see a nod to her beloved CBS series in the meantime, and hopefully, we get more stuff like that in the future.
Tim Allen's Past Shows Have Already Gotten A Nod In Shifting Gears Season 2
As mentioned, Shifting Gears has already made a couple of references to Tim Allen's past projects and welcomed both Last Man Standing and Home Improvement stars in the Season 2 premiere. This season has also been pretty heavy on celebrity cameos, with everyone from athletes like Mookie Betts to former late-night host Lilly Singh appearing on the ABC sitcom.
Shifting Gears Fixed My Biggest Problem With Season 2 Thus Far With A Big Change For Riley
With so many cameos happening with people from Tim Allen's circle coming into the show, I'm wondering when Kat Dennings and Disney will start to funnel in people from former and upcoming Marvel movies. After all, we can't forget about her time in the Thor franchise! I would love to see anyone from those movies make an appearance, though it may be a bit much to ask for Chris Hemsworth or Natalie Portman to appear on ABC primetime.
I'm hoping that someone working on Shifting Gears is already on the case, and working to ensure we get more references to Kat Dennings' past in Hollywood in future episodes. Who knows? Maybe the 2 Broke Girls nod was just the start of some much bigger references to come. I'd love to see it, but truth be told I'm just enjoying the ride at the moment.
Shifting Gears airs on ABC on Wednesdays at 8:00 p.m. ET. I'm enjoying the direction that Season 2 is headed in so far, though am wondering if there's some major drama on the way as Amelie gets suspicious of her friendship with Gabe.