The midseason returns of ABC’s comedy slate boosted “Shifting Gears” and “Abbott Elementary” to several ratings wins across both delayed linear and multiplatform figures, TheWrap can reveal exclusively.
As “Shifting Gears” returned on Wednesday, Jan. 7, the midseason premiere tallied up 6.88 million total viewers after seven days of viewing on ABC, Hulu, Hulu on Disney+ and digital platforms, per live-plus-seven-day figures from Nielsen and Disney.
Rising 58% over the initial live-plus-same-day viewership of 4.36 million, the midseason return marked the show’s biggest total audience since the season’s debut in October 2025.
As “Abbott Elementary” returned on the same night at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT, the midseason premiere earned 5.81 million total viewers after seven days of multiplatform viewing, soaring 112% over the intial live-plus-same-day viewership of 2.74 million.
The return, which saw the teachers grapple with their new mall school while Abbott is under construction, scored the sitcom’s biggest audience in five weeks.
The sitcoms stood out as the two top rated shows of the night, with “Shifting Gears” earning a 0.57 rating in the key demo among adults 18-49 and “Abbott Elementary” earning a 0.56 rating. The series dominated linear programming the No. 2 and No. 3 scripted shows of the week in the 18-49 demo, respectively, behind only ABC’s “High Potential.”
Next week’s episode of “Shifting Gears” will see Jesse Williams and Luke Macfarlane guest star, with Williams’ Andy hitting the wrong notes for Riley (Kat Dennings) with his singing. The new episode of “Abbott Elementary” will feature a picture day that catches the teachers at Abbott by surprise.
