Shane Gillis Stars in “Tires”

The coolest thing about Tires, the Netflix comedy series set in the workplace, is that one of its creators wasn’t supposed to get this opportunity. Shane Gillis, a comic from Philly, was canceled in 2019 and subsequently fired before his SNL debut. Comics rallied behind him, he continued doing his stand-up, and today joins comedians Mark Normand and Ari Shaffir on the Joe Rogan Experience to host “Protect Our Parks.” Last year, his second comedy special, Beautiful Dogs, premiered on Netflix, and earlier this year, he hosted SNL. His popularity is just undeniable. The idea for Tires has existed since 2019 when a pilot dropped on Shane’s YouTube channel. He created and wrote the show, now a six-episode series on Netflix, alongside frequent collaborator John McKeever (who directed all the episodes) and Steve Gerben, who stars on Tires with Shane as his cousin Will. Together, they created the show they wanted, and thanks to Shane’s deal with Netflix, they got their show to stream on a huge platform. The announcement of a second season in 2025 came out before they even delivered the first season. I think this is a celebration of where hard work and talent can take you, even when people try to take you down. 

Shane has his own successful podcast with Matt McCusker, Matt and Shane's Secret Podcast (the same one where a clip was taken that got him canceled and is now one of the most subscribed to podcasts on Patreon), and a sketch show, "Gilly and Keeves" that he does with McKeever. Now he has Tires. The show is set in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, and filmed in West Chester. Both places are about an hour from where I live, which is really exciting because we don’t have a lot of cool things like that. It follows employees (some competent, some not) at a struggling auto-repair chain, “Valley Forge Automotive,” managed by neurotic but well-intentioned Will, whose dad runs the chain. Will has been working there for two months, and when we meet him, he’s trying to fix his blunder of ordering too many tires. If you’re into the comedy scene, you’ll recognize some other actors: Chris O’Conner, McKeever, McCusker (all from Philly), Andrew Schulz, Tommy Pope, and Stavros Halkias. I didn’t know Kilah Fox, who plays Kilah and works in the front welcoming customers. She’s also a stand-up from Philly and is really funny in the show. There’s a hilarious scene where a “white trash” customer cons her by giving her his Dave & Buster’s card to pay and skirts out of the shop with his girlfriend, whose brother Kilah is pretty sure she stabbed. I thought Chris O’Conner did great as Zen mechanic Cal, although I wish they had used him more. Stavros sold it as District Manager Dave. Stavros is a successful comic who’s appeared many times on some of the biggest podcasts, but it took me watching Tires to see how funny and talented he is. Andrew Schulz, I love, so it was just great seeing him on screen. Everyone was really funny, though.

While the show went number one on Netflix, I saw a lot of bad reviews. I understood, though; even my husband wasn’t impressed. We don’t follow the characters anywhere; the show takes place primarily at Valley Forge Automotive. Albert joked that Stavros shot all his scenes in one day inside the four walls we see him in for most of the show (he eventually leaves the confines of his office and makes it to the shop). The primary focus on Will and Shane’s dynamic jettisons any possible storylines around the other employees. I would’ve loved to see Kilah and Cal with side plots and seriously make this an ensemble cast. In this age of golden television, Tires isn’t as good as it should be, especially for a short season with episodes that clock in at twenty to twenty-three minutes. My answer to the latter, and why I disagree with the show not being good, is that we’re seeing the evolution of a series with funny comedians. I laughed out loud so many times and rewatched it in one sitting. Shane also invested in making this show so things could be different next season with a Netflix budget. I remember rewatching Seinfeld and not loving that first season. Most shows take a little time to find their footing. But Tires is funny. I’m expecting growth as the seasons come and the budget gets bigger. Although Seinfeld always said comedy worked best when it was small and cheap. It’s just about the jokes, and Tires has that. You’ll find some heart in it, though, like when Will’s dad comes down and tells him, “I gave you a job, and now you’re making mine harder.” We started seeing wisecracking Shane’s genuine efforts to help his cousin, but he takes it further when he shows his uncle Will’s new marketing strategy to sell the tires. 

I read criticisms that the story was loose and the show wasn’t groundbreaking. Maybe that’s true, but as a woman who hates going into garages and car shops for oil changes, I found it amusing that Will wants to spearhead this initiative to make female customers more comfortable coming in. As Kilah is the only female employee who doesn’t do much while on the clock, it’s hilarious that she has to be the face of the shop’s message of women's inclusion. I found it interesting that in an article for The Hollywood Reporter, the writer viewed the jokes in Tires as offensive; however, in The Australian, that writer’s opinion was that “Shane Gillis takes viewers to the edge of humor’s acceptability.” To them, the jokes weren’t offensive enough. It’s fascinating how different cultures interpret things. I didn’t think the jokes were offensive, although I worried about Shane playing with an accent in one of the scenes and getting canceled again. But I don’t think that will happen. His fan base is too loyal, and he’s not trying to be offensive. He’s offering his brand of comedy, and it’s entertaining.  

In The Office, another comedy set in the workplace, the employees try to manage their boss, who doesn’t want to work. In Tires, the boss tries to manage his employees who don’t want to work. When Will orders one of his oldest employees to do an oil change within the hour, the old man dies on the job. That’s how bad of an employee he is. What’s relatable about the show are these employees who get paid shit to do work they don’t want to do. It’s funny that they don’t care about their job and would rather do anything except work. I didn’t go into Tires expecting an amazing show. I just wanted to laugh. But we’re getting the start of something good. For me, this is a celebration of how far you can go and what you can achieve when you don’t stop creating. Shane Gillis lost everything when he got canceled, but in these last few years, it’s been so fun seeing his star rise as he’s built this career for himself on his terms. He’s working with his friends, bringing them up with him on his come-up. It doesn’t get better than that.