Patricia Richardson shoots down Tim Allen’s Home Re-Improvement dreams: “I mean, Zach is now a felon”
Richardson says neither she, nor Jonathan Taylor Thomas, have been consulted about the idea of bringing Home Improvement back
Aux News Richardson
A few months back, Tim Allen did what dreamers do, and whispered a hope into the heart of the world: Home Re-Improvement, a potential reboot of his classic ABC sitcom that would see Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor reunited with his adult sons (and, presumably, their parole officers) for more “What if a washing machine was capable of obliterating your entire family” fun. Although Allen mentioned at the time that he still keeps in touch with “the boys”—i.e., co-stars Zachery Ty Bryan, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, and Taran Noah Smith, and still works somewhat regularly with Richard Karn, one name he didn’t list while spinning fantasies was co-star Patricia Richardson, who played his wife Jill on the series. Possibly because she would have asked him what the hell he was talking about.
Certainly, that’s the stance Richardson—who, we should note, has typically spoken pretty well of Allen in the past, describing how they both fought to keep quality on the series up even as it descended into utter silliness in its later seasons—took in a recent podcast interview when asked about Allen’s reboot dreams. “It was so weird,” Richardson told the Back To The Best podcast this week. “I would hear he was coming out publicly and saying this stuff about everyone was on board to do a Home Improvement reunion, but he never asked me and he never asked Jonathan. I called Jonathan one day and said, ‘Has he asked you about this? He went, ‘No.’ So why is he saying everyone is on board when he hasn’t talked to you or me?”
Richardson went on to enumerate the many reasons a Home Improvement reboot is pretty damn unlikely, even outside her own clearly stated lack of involvement—starting with the fact that Earl “Wilson” Hindman died in 2003. “Taran hasn’t acted since he left the show,” she added. “He’s not an actor anymore. And Jonathan’s not really interested in acting. He wants to direct and write.” And, of course the big one: “I mean, Zach is now a felon,” Richardson noted, referencing Bryan’s long litany of arrests and convictions in the years since the show ended.
So, yeah: Probably not going to happen.
187 Comments
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Tim Allen is a coke snitch, always worth remembering, really sad the reaper took John Ritter instead of him
I’m no big fan of Allen’s, but I’m confused as to what you’re criticizing here. We should dislike him because *checks notes* he got caught smuggling drugs and cooperated with law enforcement 45 years ago?
He was a jailhouse snitch, being a rat is bad enough but now he’s Mr. Moral Majority, and there are several accounts of him being a terrible person and terrible to work with, particularly to women, so which of those do you want to pick?But yeah, being a coke snitch is worth criticizing, plus I bet he even got his deal because he’s white with coke not black with crack.
I’m on board with disliking him for his politics and misogyny, in fact those are the reasons I dislike him. I’m just a little baffled by the whole “snitches get stitches” attitude here. Like, I fully understand the systemic problems with law enforcement in our country, so maybe that’s where you’re coming from? Fuck the police, ACAB, no one should ever cooperate with law enforcement under any circumstances? Sure, I guess, I just have trouble with being real mad about a 25-year-old talking to the police in 1978.
The problem with jailhouse snitching is that there is often a lack of other evidence to support the testimony and the snitcher is often being bribed in order to get them to lie, as in, “We’ll reduce the charges against you if you help us convict someone who is possibly innocent.”
Oh, for sure, from the point of view of social policy, I get that. I just don’t think ANOF’s position was “jailhouse snitching is bad social policy and Tim Allen should have known the full sociopolitical ramifications of it in 1978.”
That’s not on him, that’s on the defense attorney for the person he’s informing on to bring that up in trial. You are responsible for you, and your safety. If someday you find yourself in prison, you are responsible for *your safety* not anyone else’s. You also have not even considered the possibility that he was telling the truth, not lying. Again: if you’re in prison someday and you have an honest way to get out early? TAKE IT. You are not responsible for everyone else in there.
Ojhhhh, so the problem is an assumption that you made with nothing to support it.Cool cool cool.
That’s the problem, dirtside! Tim NEVER got any stitches!
To be fair, the cops will often just lie about you cooperating. Figuring if you have nothing left to lose you might as well, since they are going to tell everyone you did anyway. They would often combine that with “drop the charges, but keep the drugs’ ensuring you were right back on the street presumably owing somebody money.
Yeah he got busted, cooperated with law enforcement, and when he came out and didn’t go back to being a crminal. What an asshole.
Sorry if you were in prison you wouldn’t take an opportunity to get out early? Tim Allen’s a not very large white guy with a smart mouth. Of COURSE he cooperated with law enforcement. If you were him you’d hang around to get beat up and worse by the bigger, more hardened felons?
“now he’s Mr. Moral Majority”Citation, please.
People that complain about snitches are idiots. Watch the Boondocks episode about that. Such a stupid stance to take, that there is some sort of honor in protecting criminals.
There are WAY more people that have good things to say about Tim Allen, than bad. Apparently, he wasn’t that hard to work with on the Santa Clause series as Disney/ABC has ordered a pilot from him for another show.
Maybe if you took his cock out of your ear you’d hear all the people who say he’s an asshole, and you’d think that: if you are a person with next to no integrity, not sending people to jail who are doing what you are doing so that you can get out of jail is like the one thing you are supposed to do if you are a drug dealer not to be a completely irredeemable sack of shit, have some form of integrity whatsoever.
So eloquent. I am sure you are a shining example of integrity in your life.
Ummm…I am! What a dumb fucking rejoinder. That’s like something Trump would say, “who amongst us hasn’t stolen millions of dollars?” Look, maybe you’re scum, but I’m not.
Except you’re not. Look at the way you converse. The things you say. Decent people don’t talk like that. You’re trash. And from my experience, trash isn’t known for their integrity. You can try to claim whatever you like on here, but everything else you say, tells another story.
You see, the thing about reality is that…reality is reality. I’m living in it and you’re not. So you should try to find a mirror and walk through it, tiger.
“There are WAY more people that have good things to say about Tim Allen, than bad.”There are?Not counting fans, who don’t count because they don’t actually know celebs — is your statement true?
Not snitching isn’t about protecting criminals. lol It’s about acknowledging your role in whatever the criminal enterprise was and taking your punishment and not getting other people in trouble just to get out of your own punishment. That’s in the custodial context.In a regular street context, it’s somewhat about protecting criminals, but look and how that developed. It’s because the criminals (or gangs) were more dependable than the police, who in many of these neighborhoods were just as bad.
All that said, were I in the situation I’d sing like a songbird (if it were a last resort, because my first resort, as always, is to not say anything to police at all ever), because I’m a punk, but I wouldn’t act like I was taking the moral high road.
Cooperated with law enforcement to save himself and now complains about whistleblowers, snowflakes, convicts, and how liberals can’t be good without god. We don’t need to dislike him for that, but we should point out the hypocrisy of it.
yes. he snitched out guys who spent years in prison while he went on to make millio ns. he’s never apologized to them or tried to make amends. Tim Allen is a scumbag
he got caught smuggling drugsI think being a former drug smuggler is enough to make him unlikeable.
Yeah, every Tim Allen article on AVClub has the obligatory “he’s a drug snitch” comment as if the person posting it wouldn’t have done the same thing had they been in Allen’s position.
What throws me for a loop is that they’re mad at him for snitching, but not for smuggling cocaine.
Indeed.
I think it was the Screen Junkies/Honest Trailers crew that pointed out that scene in the Santa Clause where he refuses to crack under interrogation from the cops is surely his attempt to pretend he wasn’t a snitch and that thought sticks with me every time I see it.
“and that thought sticks with me every time I see it.”Imagine having that little going on in your own life….
it’s like Trump’s courage, we’ve never got to see it because he has always run away!
That could be part of the new show! Works perfectly with Zach’s new career as a multiple felon.
Episode 1: Tim visits his son Brad in prison. Also snitches on him to the resident cartel members, for old time’s sake.Episode 2: Wacky hijinks ensue at Brad’s funeral.
Traci Lords saidy the same thing 30 years ago
Yeah, because we here on AVClub all know that facing a lengthy prison term, you’d keep your mouth shut and do a long sentence rather than “snitch” on your fellow low-life dealers.
The neighbor is dead, one son is a felon, one son doesn’t want to be involved, one son wants a bigger role.That’s literally a month’s worth of scripts!
If they can get Rosanne Barr as the female interest the plan will be complete. Glad to see you back; thought the AV-Club comments were gone.
Same here. Glad the comments are back on! Emailed Biden to say I’m withholding my vote until he gets Kinja to restore our profile pics.
Well since Paste bought this site, don’t expect it to be attached to Kinja for a lot longer.
Depends on whether the Kinja IP was part of the sale. That’s why we got ported to it in the first place despite being probably the worst-organized commenting format I’ve ever seen.
Cast the new neighbor as, you guessed it… Frank Stallone.
This comment made me snort out loud laughing
The son who wants a bigger role can play all three sons. Problem solved!
Make it a dark comedy where at the end of season 1 it’s revealed the Wilson Tim has been talking to on the other side of the fence is his severed head on a pike. Season 2 explore’s Tim’s insanity and whether he killed Wilson or someone else.
No need to pay me, ABC, the idea’s free.
I really don’t see how being a felon prevents you from starring in Home Improvement.
Or starring in ’70s porn. Nice ‘stache!
Like he could get it up with all the coke he was doing.
Well, maybe the table saw will agree to come back.
The table saw got caught with child porn. That whole cast is pretty screwed up.
I’m imagining the Feds busting into the shop and the table saw enacting it’s new saw stop to make it’s escape.
Man, isn’t that just like Sal the Table Saw though?
I heard it took both of its cellmate’s hands off in a dispute over contraband cigarettes. Screwed-up indeed.
“Cross the saw, lose your paw” as the saying I just made up goes.
“I mean, Zach is now a felon”This quote is enough reason not to do it.No reason to put more money in this cunt’s bank account. Hopefully she continues to be as irrelevant as she has been since the show ended.
Recasting is done all the time
But Richardson was so integral and brings star power. Her agent says.
or After Tim’s family suddenly died in a mysterious tool accident , he moves to NY take the TOOL Time Show National
Oof. I’m sure Allen will figure out a way to make the cash grab happen.
They offered him a ton of money to keep the show going originally and he turned it down so I’m guessing this isn’t just a money play. I can only imagine what he’s made from the Toy Story movies alone. Also, Richardson was integral to the show. Recasting could happen but I can’t imagine it would be anywhere as good.
I was happy when she showed up in later seasons of The West Wing, like when Matthew Perry had a solid guest turn in earlier seasons.
But it’s not like she got that job because she’s “Patricia Richardson”. Dollars to donuts she had to audition for it. Also, as an avid WW watcher, it was nice to see her appear in the show.
I love that there are people on this planet who have thoroughly digested all 8 seasons of fucking Home Improvement and want to continue the adventure.
The reboot worked for Full House, and I would say Home Improvement was a little better than that in the silly family sitcom department.
In absolutely no world was home Improvement better than Full House. That is blasphemous and ridiculous and you should feel bad for saying it.
LOL. Full House was garbage!
The overlap of these people and people who think Star Trek is suddenly woke is a perfect circle.
Oh Allen’s just talking about a reboot so he can rant about “woke Hollywood” when it inevitably doesn’t happen.
Hollywood isn’t “woke”? lulz
Which is bonkers, because Tim Allen has no trouble at all getting work. He just did 10 years of Last Man Standing & 2 years of The Santa Clauses.
It’s still what he’s best-known for so I can see him at least milking it for some publicity (even if the likelihood of an actual reboot / revisit is effectively zero).
And he has a brand new show premiering soon
“I know I’ve watched them recycle the exact same plot over almost ten years of television, but I’d sure watch it some more!”
It’s interesting to see the retroactive summation of home improvement as some sort of right-wing manifesto because of its lead’s later revealed political leanings. I was a 90s kid and remember it being pretty in line with all of the other family sitcoms of the time, and the toxic masculinity was more often than not the butt of the joke (granted the consequences were often zany and not a finger-wagging lecture about overpowering a leaf blower)
*perplexed grunting noise*
A reboot wouldn’t need Richardson, because it’s obvious that at least some time in the intervening 25 years, Jill Taylor 100% would have wised up and left her asshat of a husband. Tim Taylor in 2024 is definitely a divorced sad dad living bitterly alone, unable to grasp how his current state of a affairs is a direct result of his decades of living like an entitled man-baby.
“Now I’m not just about making your home great again!”
Now that’s a sitcom I’d watch!Maybe JTT can write it! And they can replace faceless Wilson with the faceless voices if his sons who never want to visit but feel guilty about cutting free from their bitter old dad.
JTT can direct it too.
Amen.
Yes. I love that she’s like, “I did Strong Medicine, Grey’s Anatomy, a lot of stuff, why would I go back to THAT?”
The only man-baby in this equation is your fanfic comment, bro.
I think a 2024 reboot would be Tim playing the neighbor over the fence you never see but instead of sage advice he would just rant about anti vaccine covid theories and democrat pedophile rings
Jesus, yes, absolutely this would be it.
The main reason I never liked that show was just how mean he was to everyone. I couldn’t understand why his wife put up with it. I wanted her to walk out every time he spoke to her, and I wanted her to take those kids with her. He was just a nasty, horrible person.
I ask this question about so many sitcoms where the wife was clearly a good and smart woman paired up with a schlubby loser husband: Home Improvement, Everybody Loves Raymond, King of Queens, According to Jim, etc. Why would any of these women stay in these marriages where they are at best, put upon, and at worst, emotionally abused?
Couldn’t agree more. Why were there so many sitcoms with an intelligent, talented, capable woman paired up with a mean loser who just insults her all day? And the women were always wayyy out of these guys’ leagues, too— just by intelligence alone, but usually also with looks. I don’t get it, I’ve never got it. I couldn’t watch any of those shows. They were all the same, and I’d just spend the whole time wishing the women would just stab these horrible men and walk away.
I’d love to see a ‘Birdman’ like take here. Tim slowly being radicalized into being a Jan 6th terrorist. This could 100% work.
Given how readily sitcoms will kill off wives, I don’t think it would take much to write around Richardson’s absence. And it’s easy to recast kids as grown adults.
Actual criminality aside, I felt a little bad for ZTB for being typecast as a high school bully right up to his mid-20’s.
Seems to fit his personality
Congrats on outlasting your namesake btw
Right!? No clue what to do with my life now. I went through so much paperwork for the name change.So much.
I fear it’s a short-lived victory. With Paste buying AV Club, they’re going to do the same pay-to-comment scheme that they did with Jezebel, I fear. It’s a shame. I’ve liked being part of the discussions here, but the quality of writing for Jezebel and AV Club doesn’t justify a subscription fee. Maybe 10 years ago it did. But not anymore. I’ll be said to lose commenting here on AV Club.
I gave the new jezebel a shot. Oddly, the articles are WAY better now. Like the old days. The bad news is everything else sucks. There’s no dialogue/conversation to be had between the commenters. If you reply to someone, or someone replies to you, there’s no way to know. They don’t send notifications. You also can’t include meme’s or gifs, or even bold/underline/use italics.
Paste is charging eight fucking US bucks a month! Look, I like commenting here, but not for $96 per annum. Maybe – maybe – $8 a year, if they have the content to justify it, but that’s doubtful considering they’re buying 2024 AVC and not 2014 AVC. I’d be willing to bet that the vast, vast, vast majority of value in terms of traffic for most, if not all, G/O sites is the comments. It certainly ain’t the articles.I wonder if that’s why comments got turned off, and then turned back on: site traffic imploded like the Titan submersible.
Any sympathy you have for ZTB disappears once you do 30 seconds of research into the guy. He was arrested for assaulting his wife, and mother of his four kids a couple years back. Turns out he was cheating on his wife with another woman, who he got pregnant. The wife files for divorce, he immediately gets engaged to the baby-mama, and less than two years later he gets arrested for beating her. And when he isn’t spending time in the pokey for beating the mothers of his children, he splits his time between driving-while-intoxicated, shilling cryptocurrency, and making pro-Trump appearances on Fox News, NewsMax and The Daily Wire.Dude’s pretty gross.
Sounds like Allen would welcome his back to the cash grab with open arms.
That’s a hell of a resume.
It’s a mixed bag. You have to have a ‘type’ or it’s hard for casting to want to bring you in for an audition. If ZTB wanted to break the typecasting, there are ways to do that: do a play. Do a one-man show. Get on an improv team.
I know that sounds harsh but I worked for a talent manager and later a talent agency. If people did the work I’d go see them, I’d pitch them. I’d invite people to their shows. But if you’re not taking classes or doing anything on your own – indie films, etc – like how is casting going to know to bring you in for that? They’re under a time crunch for a lot of this stuff.
That couple’s relationship just never felt right. No chemistry. I kept wanting her to walk out. Allen’s tv ‘husband’ was considerably disrespectful, for one thing.
I kinda felt the same when it came to Everybody Loves Raymond.
Yes! As I recall, the tension between the in-laws wasn’t the kind of comedic or dramatic tension that served very well (for Patricia’s character).
How about a couple of shows about two women divorcees?
The last time that happened was 1984.
I never saw that. Any good?
I watched on the mid-day syndication runs in the 1980s/90s as a child. It’s great, I wish it were on somewhere that I consume media. The 1980s is where everyone’s parents seem to get divorced, so mom could relate a lot to the women on that show. Jane Curtain is a comedy legend who doesn’t get enough recognition, IMHO. (I’ve unfortunately reached the nostalga-brain stage of human development.)
These days I think we’re all looking to some part of the past for comfort. The next eight months aren’t going to be fun.
I just checked and Amazon is selling the seasons separately or the series for $58, if you decide you’re still interested. And thanks for the feedback 🙂
If I recall it was somewhat progressive, you know, for it’s time. Not near as much as the creators wanted it to be though.
Now I’m curious but I just checked and it isn’t available on any streaming platform, although I can get the series for $58. Hmmm.
It wasn’t so good that I remember any particular episode or plotline, but considering that 80’s TV was full of nuclear family sitcoms (Family Ties, Cosby Show, Growing Pains, etc), it was refreshing.
Raymond was kind of a selfish idiot but didn’t just drop random insults on his wife. And Heaton’s character had plenty of her own hang-ups so it wasn’t as one-sided. I felt like Mrs. Tool Man wondered what the fuck she’d done and was waiting for the kids to all go off to college so she could bolt.
It was one of those classic “why the hell is this attractive, successful woman with this spoiled manchild” sitcoms that were so popular in the nineties.Give that guy a gray t-shirt and a flannel shirt and you’re ready to go!
Nah, doesn’t fit that mold other than Tim being a bit of a man-child. He wasn’t fat, had a good sense of humor, was good looking, and was successful in his own right (having a TV show in Detroit in the 90s is nothing to scoff at… just looked it up and according to the show, Tool Time was the 4th most popular cable-based tool show in all of Michigan)
Finally you will understand why I left your father, BreadnMaters.
Same. I hated the show– he was so nasty to everyone, but especially her. He was just mean.
Have they ever heard of “recasting”?
The Santa Clauses involves him trying hard to make his daughter an actress so I assume that would also be the case on a Home Improvement reboot. But IDK if the nostalgia factor would get eyes on it without at least the promise of a JTT sighting.
“The Santa Clauses involves him trying hard to make his daughter an actress so I assume that would also be the case on a Home Improvement reboot.”Why? Why would you assume a HI reboot would be in any way related to a completely different project he worked on? He didn’t create or write either of them. Your suggestion makes as much sense as a HI reboot following Tim Taylor’s adventures as a toy spaceman.
Richardson has not apparently.
If they cast Chris Evans in Allen’s role, I’m in.
Kinda defeats the point of a reunion, doesn’t it?
What is Michael Pitt doing these days? He could easily be recast as Zach, they look identical.
Close enough for a cash grab.
I’m seein’ double! FOUR Michael Pitts!
Yeaaaah, editing your post gets messy when you’re trying to dodge 50 pop up ads on mobile.
Freaking people out, if I had to venture a guess.
They did a crossover/wrap up/reboot of Home Improvement on Last Man Standing so I don’t get why we need to see it.Last Man Standing
Season 9 Episode 2 Dual Time if you are wondering.
Why would anyone be wondering?
Maybe Tim can be divorced and now married to Pamela Anderson or Debbe Dunning in the reboot instead. Or he can be married to one and Al to the other. Maybe they can get JTT to write and direct since that’s what he wants to do. Then they can CGI/AI Richardson as the rebooted Wilson character and we only see top of her head and hear her solid advice to Tim when he fux up again.Taran barely ‘acted’ in the original so no biggie there. And felons are allowed to work, right? This is all gold. And if it’s my last comment before they’re disabled I stand by it.
Isn’t Tim Allen a felon too?
He did felonious things and got caught doing them, but I think he’s technically not a felon because he snitched.
Yes, but he was a felon BEFORE he became a star, as opposed to ZTB.
Of all the 90s sitcoms that don’t need revivals, Home Improvement is right next to The 5 Mrs. Buchanans in last place.
Here’s what the headline should have been:Patricia Richardson on Home Improvement reboot: Uuuuahhhhhhhhh?
Tim realizing he kept forgetting to call her in between Trump donations: “OHHH NOOOOO”
But they’ve forgotten to mention the all important tool girl (Heidi?).
And what about Pamela Anderson?
Maybe Allen can expose himself to her on set again
Since he is currently filming a new pilot for ABC, a Home Improvement reboot is probably not likely at the moment. Richardson(along with several HI cast members) made several appearances on Allen’s Last Man Standing. It was alluded to that she was the widow of someone that was essentially Tim Taylor. If his new show gets picked up and does well, they may even get offers to appear on that.
I’m looking forward to the new show. My wife and I really enjoyed Last Man Standing.
Yes, their appearances seem to at least suggest they don’t hate him or anything. I guess they coulda thrown a bunch of cash at them, but doesn’t sound like they’d be desperate enough if they had real problems with the guy.
I don’t think the comments are “back on”. I suspect that GM is in fact trying to fire sale everything. This borked comment section is partially why it’s all gone down hill.
In the 90s, the popularity of Home Improvement (and Garth Brooks) completely baffled me on. I remember seeing articles of how it, once again, topped the tv ratings and it confused me so much.
The only reason I could think of was that it was the most American of tv shows. The show only works for US humor and lifestyle (the home depot dad crowd, so to speak). Even in the 90s, it was just terribly corny and the appeal was confusing outside the US.
My Dad was a big handyman and car guy, so he loved the show. Me and my brother were in our early teens, and enjoyed the antics of the kids. So after my parents divorced, pizza night with Dad at his condo was always on Home Improvement night. It was something we watched together and I have fond memories of that.
Exact same. (Minus the divorce stuff).
I understand this sentiment. I also think that it’s a good example of my point that this show just catered to baseline American culture that the rest of us didn’t get.
I remember being in fifth or sixth grade when a promo for Home Improvement dropped and my dad said, “Hey, it’s that guy we saw, honey!” to my mom. They’d seen his standup before, and my dad thought he was hilarious.Needless to say, Home Improvement became a staple in our home. Unfortunately, my dad, like Tim Allen, hasn’t really left the 90s in his worldview and ideas about women.But still, as repetitive as it got, I appreciate the gags with Wilson, the way Tim would paraphrase Wilson to Jill by uttering some comical nonsense, all of the antics on Tool Time, and “More Power!”Tim Allen is a doofus and Home Improvement was hardly peak TV, but there are far, far worse shows that aired during that time.
I once had a roommate who loved Kevin James in “The King of Queens.” Not ironically. Not while stoned. I mean, actually, genuinely enjoyed the show. That always baffled me!There were tons of these shows in the 90s. The awful man somehow has a smart, hot wife. The jokes are just the cheesiest, like you’d want to tear the ears off your head. The shows would be hugely popular, so they’d make more clones of it to saturate all the channels.
BREAKING NEWS! Local man baffled as to why others don’t like the exact things as only he does. Film at 11.This is a developing story, do not touch that dial.
At least The King of Queens had an equalizer; Carrie (Leah Remini’s character) was the loony of the two, so it was a match of big dude-sane guy, hot girl-kinda off her rocker.
I think because being the number oneso prime time show (and consistently for years) held much more weight in the 80’s and 90’s especially when only the three (or four) networks had everyone’s attention.
My teenage self might not be into some of them but I could see that shows like Roseanne, The Cosby Show, The Simpsons, Cheers, Seinfeld, and Friends had quality writing and production. Home Improvement (to me) just looked like a Nickelodeon show with cheesy writing.
As much as “schlub somehow lands hot wife” was a widespread sitcom trope, the King of Queens one was always a bridge too far for me.
A… Queensboro Bridge, if you will.
Oh yeah and I hate that stupid song too. Thanks for the reminder.
You probably never got to watch the PBS show ‘This Old House’ which is the basis for much of Home Improvement’s humor. Ever heard of Bob and Norm?
I did not. That show was before my time and, later on in the 80’s, only the popular US shows made it to my part of the world.
I still watch This Old House, although Bob is long gone and Norm retired a couple of years ago.
I still don’t get the appeal of Garth Brooks, but Home Improvement had a couple of laughs per show, it was good for the whole family, and it had some cute teenage boys to bring in the teen girl demographic. The top-rated show doesn’t have to involve deep thinking.
I agree. I should add that this was my perspective in the 80’s and 90’s, when being the top rated prime time show was a massive deal and it was hard to ignore Home Improvement because they were number one for so long. I also enjoyed fun sitcoms that weren’t so deep or understood the appeal of them. It was just the show was so huge that it even catapulted Tim Allen into being a giant movie star and my teenage brain couldn’t understand it.
What’s with all the Garth Brooks hate in this thread. You folks clearly don’t have friends in low places.The 90s was probably the worst era for sitcoms. There were a few standout shows and a handful of good ones, and everything else was terrible. Home Improvement was probably above average against its competition, but its competition was literally giant dinosaur puppets
This is actually a good explanation. Alf those dinosaurs were not.
Yeah Brooks was serviceable sing-along arena country at a time when the genre was ramping towards its peak. His popularity is hardly a mystery (and Low Places is pretty undeniable).
There were a couple sitcom classics in the ‘90s – Seinfeld and golden-age Simpsons – but yeah. In the pre-streaming age you had to sit through a lot of average-to-ugh shows before they started.
Yeah, Frasier and Seinfeld sucked.
Do you even realize that local humor is par for the course in other parts of the world? What hits in France will not be understood in Chad.
I though the show was a lot of fun. I was younger, but I definitely found it had a little more to offer than some of the other “family sitcoms.” It was making fun of not just home improvement shows, but the kind of regular guys who liked to see themselves as knowing tools and cars, etc. Obviously all humor is subjective anyway, but I could see the appeal being lost outside the US.
It is definitely not the level of sitcom around those times such as Cheers, Seinfeld, etc. It was usually always very silly. And again, it was popular because of the family aspects, but the comedy was adult enough you can watch without kids. Especially in comparison to the lamer kind of shows like Full House.
I probably should’ve mentioned that I grew up outside the US, but also in a country that was heavily influenced by US shows and pop culture. So, even shows with distinctly US humor or subculture like Murphy Brown or Mad About You would make prime time slots, but Home Improvement was only known because of magazine articles or on deep cable.
It filled the same hole that people like Andrew Tate fill today. Entertainment for deeply insecure men.
Might involve getting outside what appears to be a pretty significant bubble, but the “home depo dad crowd” (which also includes women, to be clear) is an enormous demographic in this country. I am baffled as to how you are baffled by the appeal of a show designed squarely to hit that demographic.
I guess I meant that I was baffled by how consistently huge the ratings were. Because the sets and the dialogue seemed mediocre to me. I certainly understand the demographic that it was targeting, but I also mentioned that the show’s popularity seemed very limited to within the US unlike other popular US sitcoms. Outside the US, it was clear that no one was aware of the show unlike other tv shows which is a unique situation. It was easier to find someone familiar with, say, The Highwayman than Home Improvement.
My mom was real big on traditional gender roles, and my father was somewhat handy and not as outrageously incompetent as Tim Taylor (but still had plenty of bluster), so it was an easy laugh for her and family-friendly comedy for the rest of us. I, meanwhile, was watching it solely for JTT.
JTT and I share an exact birthday. That is my only good celebrity trivia.
WTF are you on about? “This quintessential American TV show was so popular in America.” Well fucking DUH. Why are you acting like this is a 90s phenomenon, too? Sorry, did you watch Big Bang Theory? Not exactly the height of wit. Every decade has its dross.Bitching about Home Improvement as though it was an outlier of American sitcom culture is ridiculous.And I better not see shit talk about how much better it is elsewhere. The Brits, the Canadians, the Aussies… Every country that produces TV shits out bad comedies that the citizens thereof love for unknown reasons.
Calm down, son. It’s not that serious. You don’t have to love Tim Allen that hard. And no, I’ve never seen Big Bang Theory and I’m not from any of those countries.
Outside of Galaxy Quest I could take or leave Tim Allen. I just think it’s weird of you to fully admit that you’re not American, that Home Improvement was quintessentially American, and then act “befuddled” by the popularity of the show. And I also think you add unnecessary coloration by making it remotely about the 90s when mainstream sitcom dreck has been around since TV was invented and continues to hang around to this day. Plenty of bad sitcom shit on streaming services in the year 2024, too. Home Improvement was not and is not unique in that respect.
I’m actually hesitant about giving my background details, but thought it was good to give context on why I felt this way. I’m actually American (and so are two generations of my family before me), just not, if I may, with the traditional American background that the show caters to.
I only used the 80’s and 90’s because that was before cable tv and streaming blew up. By then, the number one show no longer had as many viewers. I’d be off my point if I used the 70s (I wasn’t around) or the post 2000’s (again cable tv, etc.).
Of course, bad shows existed. More bad than good, in my opinion. I just think the pre-2000s, things were different with the cultural weight and viewers a #1 show had.
I share the same opinion with Galaxy Quest. Great movie. But I also adore Toy Story and I’ve learned to separate his excellent work as Buzz from what limited info I know of him.
The Biden crime family are all felons and they seem to be doing fine.
Anyone remember “Ulee’s Gold?” She had one of those thankless romantic interest roles but displayed the kind of quiet authority and warm screen presence that always made her watchable even in work that was beneath her talent (case in point). Much like Bonnie Bedilia a few years before her she never got as many good parts as she deserved. Happy to see she has no interest in this. Also, I thought I read somewhere that the schmuck already has yet another put-upon-old-white-guy show in the works. Trying to reanimate this rotted corpse after the nineties revival fad has already run its sad course reeks of desperation.
As long as there is a Tim Allen, there’s no reason Home Improvement can’t be rebooted.
I would watch reruns of that show when I had real bad insomnia. Its not a very good show and does not hold up well in comparison to other big shows of its era.
Nah, they can use Zachery Brian’s felony to promote the show. “Come watch the show you watched in the 90s, but now 2 of the main cast are played by felons! It’s twice the felons and twice the fun!”
Not that I expect or am looking for such a thing….but widower with the grandkids is an easy pull.
Please NO! So tired of reboots & remakes. Come up with something new and leave the old shows ALONE!
Allen’s leaning more in conservative political stuff is definitely evident in what I saw of his latest show. The main difference I saw was that the audience is supposed to be more on his side now. In Home Improvement he was meant to be likable but you were also supposed to see him as the butt of the jokes most of the time and he ended up “learning his lesson” by the end.
Maybe I’m remembering wrong, but Jill Taylor died of breast cancer on the show. Patricia Richardson was written out of the show at her request.
You are misremembering. Jill was there to the end.
A 90s sitcom star has nothing of interest to say.The AVClub is on the case once again.
“I would hear he was coming out publicly and saying this stuff about everyone was on board to do a Home Improvement reunion, but he never asked me and he never asked Jonathan.Lol, that part is giving me some Galaxy Quest/Jason Nesmith selfishness, disgruntle cast like vibes.
Tim Allen run out of money spending it on MAGA Super PACs and booger sugar?