Tires Season 3 Review: Shane Gillis’ Hit Netflix Comedy Delivers Its Best Season Yet

Netflix’s hit workplace comedy series Tires has come a long way from its modest six-episode first season in 2024. Co-star and executive producer Shane Gillis took a large financial risk by taking out a loan to get his original Netflix series off the ground, which he co-created with Steve Gerben, his longtime friend who penned the pilot script while in college, and John McKeever, who directs every episode. Tires season 3 provides more than enough laughs, great writing, and strong performances to prove that Gillis’ big streaming gamble paid off.

Tires season 2 saw an evolution of season 1’s scrappy, low-budget, fly-on-the-wall camera style, which relied heavily on its punchlines, chemistry, and hilarious situations to demonstrate its true potential. After adding big-name guest stars like Vince Vaughn and Jon Lovitz, and making veteran actor Thomas Haden Church a series regular as Shane’s immature father Phil, Tires became the Netflix hit Gillis knew it could be, setting up a third season that finally has all the resources it needs to be not only popular, but a genuinely great comedy series.

Like all great comedy shows, particularly those set at work like The Office and Parks and Recreation, the characters in Tires each bring something unique and often comical to the table while also meshing together and bouncing off one another with great effect. Gillis is essentially taking a page out of the Larry David handbook by playing a familiar and maybe slightly exaggerated version of himself.

At the same time, Gerben maintains his signature Morty-like MO as the chronically nervous and hopelessly funny manager Will at Valley Forge Auto Shop. Their brotherly dynamic, even though they play cousins, sets the overall tone for Tires, in which insults are hurled, jabs are made, but at the end of the day, it’s all love. This sense of familial camaraderie is comparable to that immortalized in FX’s The Bear.

Tires Season 3 Proves It’s One Of Netflix’s Most Hilarious Comedy Shows

Tires season 3 marks a new high for Netflix’s original comedy series and deserves praise for its renewed focus on story and character. While season 2 tried to cast a wider net in viewership, banking on guest stars and Gillis’ rising superstardom, season 3 feels completely comfortable within its own pocket, allowing not only Gillis and Gerben but OG supporting characters like Stavros Halkias’ slimy Dave and Kilah Fox’s unfiltered Kilah to make meaningful impacts. Rather than tack on more A-list talent for short-lived cameos, Tires season 3 tripled down on its core cast and further established its identity as an original workplace comedy, not a showcase for famous comedians.

That said, some of the best developments in Tires season 3 come from new character arcs built around well-known figures in the comedy world, particularly Joe DeRosa, Andrew Schulz, and H. Foley, the latter of whom is a certified scene-stealer as unhinged tires salesman Pete Siedel. These comedians and podcasters do more than just chime in for a Netflix credit; they naturally become a part of the Tires world because it is so well-defined and easy to fall into. Other Netflix series made by big-name comedians, such as Tom Segura’s Bad Thoughts or Bert Kreischer’s Free Bert, don’t even scratch the surface of the degree of immersive world-building that Tires achieves.

As comedy is one of the most subjective art forms, Tires can admittedly be a polarizing series. While some may describe the brand of comedy as “old-school” and nostalgic, others may deem it inappropriate, even offensive, which will ultimately be its most common critique. As far as raunchy comedy series go, I personally didn’t find any of the jokes or situations to cross the line to the point of outrage. That said, its target audience certainly leans toward a certain demographic, as evidenced by its mostly male ensemble, and as such, the series’ perspective and sensibility also lean in that direction. At that point, it really becomes a matter of taste and tolerance, not so much quality.

Tires Season 3 Improves On Every Level & Adds Surprising Emotional Depth

Jessica Kourkounis/Netflix

Tires season 3 doesn’t plateau with its character development when it could have very well sunk into a classic yet predictable sitcom formula by now. Shane and Will face real stakes and pressures at Valley Forge, particularly from Phil’s bottom-line demands for sales, which does add tension and propel the drama forward. Interestingly, the unfolding plot further provides new stages for comedic play and never overpowers the series to the point where it would border on dramedy. Making viewers laugh is evidently the top priority for Gillis and his team, and much like the comic himself, things always stay light, inviting, entertaining, and mostly surface-level.

There is, however, a surprising degree of emotional growth within Shane’s protagonist that he reluctantly confronts, which is one of the best advancements seen in Tires season 3. It’s subtle, realistic, and presumably relatable to the show’s target audience, especially when dealing with matters of maturity, responsibility, and purpose in adult men. In fact, nearly every character, regardless of gender, is struggling with some sort of personal issue that frustratingly holds them back or silently eats them alive, whether it’s a general sense of failure or a crippling sex addiction. There is a deeper conversation to be had about that archetype seen throughout the Tires season 3 characters, even though it cautiously chooses not to raise its voice for fear of getting too real.

That said, Tires season 3 displays Shane confronting his lingering sense of immaturity, which he holds onto like a prized childhood toy, reluctant to actually take on life with full maturity and shielded by his happy-go-lucky middle school boy humor. Tires season 3 quietly provides Shane with a more complex character arc than past seasons as he deals with the inescapable realities of not only a single man approaching 40, but also someone who never really dared to apply himself beyond the bare minimum, or worse, never knew how to.

These existential themes never override the comedy in Tires season 3 but do add an intriguing human element to Shane’s character, particularly showcasing modern masculine repression, which makes him more well-rounded and reveals the face behind the funnyman mask. This is reminiscent of classic comedy shows like Louie, in which audiences see the often underwhelming realities of comedians outside of the spotlight. Tires isn’t really tracking towards something prestigious and thought-provoking, but these deeper emotional notes planted in season 3 are well appreciated and help elevate the series well beyond its humble beginnings.

All 12 episodes of Tires season 3 premiere on Thursday, August 13, 2026, only on Netflix.

Release Date

August 13, 2026

Network

Netflix

Episodes

12