Tires Review | Netflix’s Anti-Woke Comedy Has Bounce but Grows Tiresome

Summary

• Shane Gillis fans (and people who enjoy the bawdy humor of
  Cumtown
  , etc.) will enjoy
  Tires
  , a comedy with Gillis’ signature humor and charm.
• Tires
  is very well cast (Stavros Halkias is specifically good) and has an authentic blue-collar vibe, but it gets a little repetitive and tiresome after a while.
• While pretty niche in its type of comedy,
  Tires
  provides enough humor and absurdity for those who enjoy Gillis’ style or just want something different.

Shane Gillis fans will love Tires. The new Netflix comedy, which the comedian self-financed, can be a thigh-slapping, bust-out-loud funny experience. Likewise, lovers of Cumtown and the charming Stavros Halkias will likely enjoy the series. For everybody else… not so much. It’s bound to suffice as far as bromedies go, though. There’s a gaggle of mostly straight, white, angsty, misogynistic, probably racist, talk-too-loud fellas bouncing ideas around in a beleaguered tire shop, but like the tread on a set of wheels reaching the 50,000-mile mark, the humor and the premise eventually wears thin.

Clearly, this is Shane Gillis’ moment, and it will be curious to see how much traction the comic gets here. Netflix has already renewed Tires for a second season, banking on Gillis’ rising celebrity, which began after the comic was notoriously fired from Saturday Night Live before he even began the show. (He later wound up hosting to mixed reviews; again, some love him, others don’t, without much in between.) All this due to offensive jokes that were made on Matt and Shane’s Secret Podcast, which Gillis cohosts with stand-up comedian Matt McCusker. That podcast boasts about 80,000 Patreon subscribers, in fact, and the duo reportedly take in about $180,000 a month.

In 2024, that’s enough to greenlight a series, apparently, and while Tires doesn’t hold enough universal humor to make it as appealing as other modern workplace comedies like The Office, Abbott Elementary, or Brooklyn Nine-Nine, it has a fine mix of absurdity and idiocy that makes it either bearable, enjoyable, or delightful, depending on one’s comedy preferences.

It’s The Bear Without All the Great Ingredients

Tires (2024)

2.5/5

A man inherits his father’s auto repair chain and tries to turn it around despite torture from his cousin and now-employee, Shane.

Release Date May 23, 2024

Cast Shane Gillis , Steven Gerben , Chris O’Connor , Kilah Fox , Stavros Halkias

Directors John McKeever

Pros

• Shane Gillis is a charismatic lead and easy to roll with.
• The cast and setting are natural and feel like realistic reflections of working class life.
• Stavy Baby is great.

Cons

• It’s a boorish kind of humor that’s not for everyone.
• Tires gets repetitive and feels pointless.

“We’re going to make a woman lug tires into the back?” crows one confused male employee to his boss, Will (Steve Gerbin), at Valley Forge Automotive. Shortly afterward, Will tells his employees to just focus on a new initiative designed to bring in more female clientele. Will says, “It means that women feel comfortable coming here, and the idea is…” “We make ‘em comfortable coming?” laughs Shane (played by, well, Shane Gillis).

Related: These Are the Best Workplace TV Comedies of All Time

And so it goes in the first episode of Tires, entitled “The Initiative,” which finds our team crafting ways to interact with everyone from Asian customers to corporate politicos. Each of the season’s six episodes chronicles one singular theme — if you can call it that — and every one of them takes delight in showcasing Gillis’ brand of humor, which is a kind of laid back approach to life, love, and labor. And anything. Created by Gillis, Gerben, and John McKeever (Gilly and Keeves, also starring Shane), the series quickly establishes itself as a bawdy guys’-guy workplace comedy in the vein of The Bear. It’s just that The Bear has so much more depth, nuance, and conflict that make it so much more well-rounded.

Like The Bear, Tires has two cousins at the forefront of the frenzy. Will, a befuddled people-pleaser lacking confidence, is now running one of the branch offices. Cousin Shane becomes a forever nail in Will’s tire, as it were, constantly challenging him. Will wants his tire titan father’s seal of approval, and there’s always more than a hint that something bad may go down for the company. Enter: Dave (Stavros Halkias), Will’s supervisor, a harried guy who is seen on calls or occasionally popping in to course-correct. Will emerges as the show’s main protagonist, but Gillis’ presence and comedy style leave notable treadmarks from beginning to end.

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A Show About Blue Collar Angst

Blue-collar glumness is a good premise for a series, and Tires certainly lands its mark there. Its setting and aesthetic feel natural and realistic, using handheld photography and a muted color palette that contrasts with so many more artificial shows. However, there doesn’t seem to be much investment or desire for deeper exploration of this or any character development in this series. It’s all about the fuss. Which can be fun, but you may wonder how many miles this show can run for, and to what end.

Related: 10 Raunchiest Comedy Movies of the ’80s and ’90s

Tires is a niche comedy, but if you’re watching closely, you may ask yourself what niche that is. Upon deeper inspection, you may wonder if the beaten-down, weary bro-y stereotype came before Gillis and he continues feeding into it, or if Gillis is inventing his own purposely not-woke bro. The angst is cranked up high in Tires. Underneath, most of the men featured here seem pissed off about something. That’s something interesting to explore, but this isn’t that kind of series.

Tires may have the comically heightened anxiety of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, but it doesn’t have that series’ ability to concoct hilarious situations and create likable characters. Be a bigot and misogynist if you want, but show us a little more than just that. It’s one of the reasons audiences embraced the character of Archie Bunker on All in the Family, the Norman Lear show that boldly addressed heated issues of the day.

Like Shane Gillis’ Outlook, Tires Rolls Along Easily Enough

Still, there’s something appealing here, and Gillis has the spark and appeal of a star — a 2020s star within a shape-shifting entertainment industry influenced by social media influencers. There’s a hint of more expansive storylines in later episodes, though the series seems resistant to creating too many story arcs. For now, it’s all about Will getting a handle on this Philadelphia branch office and keeping his team in check, however disastrous that becomes.

The cast, including Andrew Schulz, Chris O’Connor, Kilah Fox, and especially Stavros Halkias are on the mark, creating a solid posse. It will be interesting to see how this show expands in season two. In the meantime, it’s easy to lazily roll with it. Tires has enough bounce to satisfy. Tires is streaming on Netflix. You can watch it below.

Watch Tires

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