The Home Improvement Show was an American television sitcom starring actor/comedian Tim Allen, and loosely based on his stand-up comedy routine. It ran for eight seasons on ABC from September 1991 to May 1999. Reruns are currently on national syndication and on cable television stations such as TBS and WGN-TV in the US, the Seven Network in Australia, and can be seen on digital channel ABC1 in the UK. It will begin airing on Nick at Nite in Fall 2007.

Home Improvement Premise

Set in Royal Oak, Michigan (a suburb of Detroit), the series centers on the antics of the Taylor family, which, along with Tim, included his pedantic wife Jill (Patricia Richardson), and their three mischievous sons, the popular and athletic Bradley Michael "Brad" (Zachery Ty Bryan), comedian and intellectual Randall William "Randy" (Jonathan Taylor Thomas), and the youngest, innocent son Marcus Jason "Mark", (Taran Noah Smith), whose fictitious middle name was not mentioned in the series, but in a post-finale interview.

Additional focus was given to Tim's job as a television personality on his very own 'home improvement show', called Tool Time. On this show-within-a-show, Tim was joined by his friend and mild-mannered assistant Al Borland (played by Richard Karn). Although excellent as a salesman and TV personality, Tim was spectacularly accident-prone as a handyman, often causing hilarious disasters on and off the set, to the consternation of his co-workers and family. Many of Tim's accidents were caused by the application of his mantra, "More power!" to do-it-yourself situations.

Home Improvement Show
Genre	Sitcom
Running time	22 Minutes
Creator(s)	Matt Williams Carmen Finestra David MacFadzean
Starring	Tim Allen Patricia Richardson Earl Hindman Richard Karn Debbe Dunning Zachery Ty Bryan Taran Noah Smith Jonathan Taylor Thomas (1991-1998)
Country of origin	USA
Original channel	ABC
Original run	September 1, 1991–May 25, 1999
No. of episodes	204
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Home History of the Taylor Family

Much of the plot at home revolved around the boys. In the first few seasons, sons Brad and Randy would torment their youngest brother Mark (and each other) in ways that consistently presented a challenge to Tim and Jill. Mark always ended up believing what his siblings were telling him (examples including that the whole family but Mark were aliens and that Mark was not Tim and Jill's natural son), until Jill explained all.

Mark was initially presented as slightly naive and in constant admiration of his father. Brad was presented as being a character who often engaged fist before brain, a motion which regularly landed him in trouble. Randy was the comedian of the pack, the quick-thinking, sarcastic one who had more common sense than Brad but wasn't immune to getting caught out being up to no good.

As the series progressed, however, Mark grew up to be somewhat of a teenage outcast who dressed in dark goth clothing, while Brad became as heavily into cars as his father and took up soccer. Randy joined the school newspaper, before leaving for Costa Rica in Season 8. This was done to accommodate the then-budding film career of Jonathan Taylor Thomas, who became a teen icon during his years on the show. His last appearance on Home Improvement Show would be the 1998 Christmas episode, with Thomas either unable or unwilling to return to the show for the series finale.

Some time was spent dealing with the sometimes tense relationship between co-workers Tim and Al. Al was portrayed as a slightly geeky character, preferring to wear mostly flannel shirts, and whose catchphrase was "I don't think so, Tim." He also came up with many puns and giggles and snorts when a joke is made at Tim's expense. Taylor was always arrogant and prone to accidents and his "archenemy", so to speak, is the real-life Home Improvement Show specialist Bob Vila. Tim's projects on Tool Time usually go awry – such as using an oversized and overpowered Binford gadget. The cautious, insecure, and brighter Borland always bore the brunt of Tim Taylor's jokes and constant put-downs. A running joke was Tim's references to Al's overweight mother, who is usually referred to but is never seen throughout the series – although in one episode, she dies and the characters are at her funeral. Al has a "twin" brother named Cal who is a physicist, and unlike other siblings across the world, they have never gotten into a physical fight; instead, they settle their disputes over a cup of tea (until the day they have a disagreement over what type of tea tastes best, and they do indeed fight on-air during a shooting of Tool Time).

Many "special guests" made a "cameo" appearance on Tool Time. These guests included race car drivers Johnny Rutherford, Robby Gordon, Michael Andretti, and Mario Andretti, country artist Alan Jackson, rapper L.L. Cool J, golfer Payne Stewart, The Beach Boys, former Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway, and boxer Evander Holyfield. Numerous NASA astronauts appeared on the series, the most notable being Ken Bowersox, who made three separate appearances.

Throughout the series, Jill studied to become a psychologist. In one episode, Tim also received an honorary Ph.D. from his alma mater. Ironically enough, Tim received an award for "Safety" in one episode despite his accident record on Tool Time.

Running gags

Tim's souped up lawnmower. Tim often soups up appliance and machines, with them often injuring Tim, or destroying the family's home or the Tool Time set

The show featured a few unique gimmicks. During scene changes clever "wipes" were used to comically remove the current image from the screen. For example, the current scene could shatter like glass, fall over like a piece of wood, or deflate like a balloon. These "wipes" usually (though not always) included something shown or mentioned in the scene before.

Another gag included Tim banging his head on a large metal pipe every time he was walking down the basement steps. This never happened to any other character.

From season three onwards, every new power tool introduced by Tim on Tool Time was called the Binford 6100. Prior to this, each tool had a unique model number.

Tim holding up the address card for a change, when Al was host for the day, as seen in episode A Battle Of Wheels.

In the show's early years, Tim would often make remarks (usually involving women) that would cause offence to certain sections of the Tool Time viewership. Al would hold up the address card for viewers to write in and complain. Sometimes Tim would ask Al to destroy the card, but he would always have more. This was first seen in season one, on the episode, "Reach Out And Teach Someone".

A rude clerk that appears in several later episodes. They are all related, and all played by Tom Poston. Often they run several businesses at once: a rude clerk in an airport runs the ticket register, a gift shop, car rental, tourist information, and the Better Business Bureau, all from the same desk. All of the rude clerks operate on a "good news, bad news" basis:

Tim: Is there a gift shop here?

Rude Clerk: Of course. (turns around the "Car Rental" sign to show a Gift Shop sign)

Tim: You got any books?

Rude Clerk: Sorry sir (flips over a "Closed" sign) We're closed for the holidays.

• From the outset of Season 2, Tim and Al would make a theme of a particular home improvement project or item on Tool Time by hosting a week long "salute" to it. This would usually be evident with a banner that said "Salute to ____" or Tim or Al would say "...a salute" followed by a hand salute, thrusting the hand forward, having a sound effect that resembled the particular item being saluted (I.E. if it was a salute to lawncare, the sound effect would be of a mower), finishing with Tim or Al saying the particular item being saluted.

• Perhaps the show's most well-known gimmick was the character of Wilson (Earl Hindman), the Taylor family's sage advice-giving neighbor with many historical, philosophical, and literary works to quote. Tim often confusingly misquotes and re-words Wilson's advice when speaking to Jill or his sons, often prompting them to ask "have you been talking to Wilson?". Since Wilson was partly inspired by a neighbor that Tim Allen had when he was very little, half of Wilson's face was never seen on the show, and was instead constantly – and sometimes humorously – blocked by various props, such as fences, masks, trees, and unusual costumes. His face was fully revealed following the series finale episode while taking his final bow. When it came into question whether "Wilson" was the character's first name or last, he explained that his full name was actually Wilson Wilson, Jr.; his father's name having been Wilson Wilson, Sr. In the sixth season of the series, it would also be revealed that his cousins were a more famous family of Wilsons, namely those of The Beach Boys (However, Carl was the only Wilson brother to appear with the band). During the show, Wilson is usually working on an unusual project of some sort in his backyard. One of his projects included a self portrait, and when Tim asked to see it, Wilson showed it and only the upper half of Wilson's face was completed. His usual catchphrase is "Well! Hi-de-ho neighbor" when greeting Tim, "Hi-de-ho neighborette" when greeting Jill, and "Hi-de-ho Taylor lad" when greeting the three Taylor boys. Such devices further fueled the show's reputation for involving sometimes-simplistic humor.

• Yet another gag was whenever Jill told a story about an experience she had when she was a little girl. Tim and the boys always hated those stories, and would plead her not to tell them, walk away in the middle of the story, or both. Jill would often try to disguise these stories either by launching straight into it when the boys were off-guard (or willing to listen), or convert them from "when I was a little girl" stories to "when I was a little person" stories. Many times though, the boys saw straight though this as they matured.

• Another gag, though not as evident, stems from Jonathan Taylor Thomas' role in another Disney production. A Halloween episode sees a child dressed as Lion King character Simba, to which Randy makes a pleasing comment (Jonathan provided the voice of young Simba in The Lion King). In another episode when his Uncle Marty's daughters visit, a stuffed Simba toy is displayed, and Thomas makes a comment about it. A similar joke is made by Tim, in one episode, when he is playing with a Buzz Lightyear doll (the character he played in Disney film Toy Story). In addition, there is a scene in the Toy Story film with a toolbox labeled "Binford", referencing the fictional hardware company from the show.

• Throughout the show's tenure, the K&B Construction men would make periodic visits on Tool Time. One such appearance was when the K&B men demonstrated how they created a musical band using only tools. Another appearance that fueled demonstration, was when the K&B construction site men came and illustrated how they cook food using only tools.

• One infrequent gag was to have Tim (and in one occasion Al) perform or say something with a homosexual double entendre accidentally in front of a recurring black extra, who would reply with "Hey, I don't go for that sort of thing!" - Example: One case involves Tim covering Delores' 12-hour diner shift. When he serves two meals to two men, he says "You're the pancakes, and you must be the fruit," and then receives the usual reply.

Culture notes

• Many references are made to the "tri-cities" region of Michigan. This region includes the cities of Saginaw, Bay City, and Midland. The "K&B Construction" crew is also portrayed as from Bay City. What "K&B" actually stood for was never established - as late as January 2005 Tim Allen wrote on his official website forum[1] that he had "no idea" what K&B actually stood for.

• In one episode, Tim and Al are diverted to Alpena on their way to the Kinross airport. Kinross is a township, and the airport is used mainly as the closest airport to the city of Sault Ste. Marie.

• In one episode, Tim and Al go fishing on the Saginaw Bay.

• Allen commonly wore sweatshirts with the name and logo of Michigan universities on them.

• One Episode took place and was filmed, in part, in Traverse City, Michigan, on its West Bay.

Spinoff

There was a spinoff to Home Improvement Show, called The Soul Man, starring Dan Aykroyd (which is about Reverend Mike, a recurring guest character on Home Improvement Show), but the show was unsuccessful, so it only lasted one year. However, Tim Allen (Tim Taylor), Zachery Ty Bryan (Brad Taylor), and Richard Karn (Al Borland) crossed over to guest star in separate Soul Man episodes.

Related products

A Super NES game of the same name was based on the series. It had no manual; its splash screen explained, “Real men don't need instructions.” The game didn't sell in large numbers, and is hard to find today.

After the Tool Time game episode aired, a game company released the Tool Time game, which can still be ordered online today.

 

DVD Release Dates

DVD Name	Region 1	Region 2	Region 4	# Ep	Cover
The Complete 1st Season	November 23, 2004	June 27, 2005	June 28, 2005	24
The Complete 2nd Season	June 7, 2005	August 1, 2005	July 20, 2005	25
The Complete 3rd Season	November 23, 2005	January 9, 2006	January 16, 2006	25
The Complete 4th Season	June 6, 2006	N/A	N/A	26
The Complete 5th Season	November 14, 2006	N/A	N/A	26
The Complete 6th Season	TBA, 2007	N/A	N/A	25
The Complete 7th Season	TBA, 2007	N/A	N/A	25
The Complete 8th Season	TBA, 2008	N/A	N/A	28
Complete Seasons 1-3 Deluxe Edition	N/A	N/A	September 13, 2006	74
Home Improvement Show Bundle: Seasons 1-4	September, 2006	N/A	N/A	100

DVD Notes

The Region 1 DVDs are presented across three discs, whereas the Region 2 DVDs are presented across four discs. The Region 2 packaging and programme menus for Season 1 varies differently compared to the Region 1 releases. The Season 3 menus in Region 1 are in widescreen, but 4:3 in Region 2. The Region 1 releases of Seasons 2 and 3 consist of (deliberate) "holes" in the outer packaging - these do not exist in the Region 2 releases; in fact the Season 3 outer packaging is physically printed where the hole would be in the Region 1 packaging.

It has been mentioned on review sites about the lack of episode commentaries and bonus features on the DVDs. In an interview on about.com[2], Tim said that it was a done deal that the DVDs would not contain interviews or episode commentaries. Whether this was before or after somebody at Disney ordered the three commentaries available on the Season 1 DVDs is unknown.

Buena Vista will no longer release the show in Region 2 or 4 due to poor sales. Buena Vista also discontinued The Golden Girls in those regions, this is considered a part of The Great US TV on UK DVD Retreat.

External links

• Official Homepage of Home Improvement Show (Season 8 only)
• The Home Improvement Archive
• Home Improvement Pictures and Sounds
• UltimateDisney.com - Seasons 1-4 DVD Reviews
• Home Improvement at the Internet Movie Database
• News for Home Improvement

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia