The most positive thing I can say about “Shifting Gears,” ABC’s latest sitcom starring Tim Allen, is that I expected it to be worse than it actually is.

After an eight-year break since his previous show, “Last Man Standing,” was canceled by ABC (though it later aired on Fox until 2021), Allen returns to the network. This time around, he plays a widowed father owning a classic car shop, faced with the challenges of raising a daughter, portrayed by Kat Dennings. Quite a shift!

“Shifting Gears” (Wednesdays, 8 EST/PST, ★½ out of four), created by Mike Scully and Julie Thacker-Scully (“The Simpsons”), is neither groundbreaking nor particularly thrilling; rather, it is a bland collection of generational stereotypes and annoying exchanges between Allen and Dennings. The two episodes available for review feature such uninspired dialogue that it feels like it could have been created by an AI. Though they lack excitement, they also avoid being painfully awful. Given Allen’s past experiences and the current lineup of disappointing sitcoms aired on the network, this is actually a small victory. It’s all about expectations.

This sitcom features Matt, played by Allen, who is a widower and embodies the everyman with conservative views. His calm existence is disrupted when his daughter Riley (Dennings) returns home with her children amidst a costly divorce. Now he has to navigate life with these new-age kids who prefer rideshares over driving, alongside his free-spirited daughter, all while juggling the responsibilities of his business, which includes mechanics Stitch (Daryl “Chill” Mitchell) and Gabriel (Seann William Scott). How much can Matt endure?

The humor is largely predictable, aiming at a broad audience looking for familiar laughs. The kids (Barrett Margolis and Maxwell Simkins) embody the stereotype of today’s youth, engrossed in their devices with exaggerated worries. Despite being in her thirties, Dennings’ Riley still speaks like a teenager. While Matt occasionally falters, he consistently maintains his moral superiority. He’s not the type to welcome new ideas. The show even manages to deliver the cringe-worthy gag that Riley and Matt are often mistaken for a couple, which is quite unsettling.

In the end, the quality of “Gears” may not be very impactful, as it’s categorized distinctly as a Tim Allen show. There are those who adore Allen and will happily tune into any project he is involved in, while others find him utterly unappealing and won’t even give “Gears” a glance, even if it were critically acclaimed. Personally, I am not a huge fan of Allen, but I can tolerate him in small doses; some of his performances I find enjoyable, while others can be pretty hard to handle. A TV show based on “Santa Clause”? A complete chore to watch. A mediocre sitcom? Generally bearable.

It hasn’t crashed just yet.