Home Improvement star Tim Allen addresses a possible reboot of the show, revealing that he has ideas for it. Debuting on ABC in 1991 and lasting until 1999, for a total of eight seasons and 204 episodes, the sitcom centered around the Taylor family and gave a particular focus to Tim Taylor (Allen) and his wife Jill (Patricia Richardson). The series was immensely popular during its run to the point that Allen and Richardson were offered $50 million and $25 million, respectively, to do a ninth season. They declined, which led to Home Improvement coming to an end.
Speaking with The Messenger to promote The Santa Clauses season 2, Allen revealed that he’s had conversations with the cast about doing a Home Improvement spinoff. The actor, who received an Emmy nomination for his performance as Tim Taylor, even shared some ideas and a potential title. Read Allen’s quote below:
I see Richard Karn a lot. And I talk to the boys [Zachery Ty Bryan, who played Brad; Jonathan Taylor Thomas, who played Randy; and Taran Noah Smith, who played Mark]… and I’m there as one of their friends. We keep talking about [a spinoff].
It’s funny, one of the conversations we’ve had recently is how weird it would be if Home Improvement would be about the kids’ kids. Like if all of them had children, and I’m a grandparent. Home Re-Improvement or something like that. It’s come up.
Home Improvement Already Has Had A Clever Revival
Allen helped to stage something of a Home Improvement revival in the sitcom Last Man Standing, which featured him as a lead. In the episode “Dual Time”, which aired as part of Last Man Standing’s season 9, The Baxters see double when a home improvement repairman is hired that has an uncanny resemblance to Mike (Allen), who is struggling with an idea for his Outdoor Man 10th Anniversary vlog. The episode gets a fair bit of mileage from Tim Taylor’s guest appearance, even mentioning Tim’s neighbor Wilson.
Last Man Standing featured cameos from Home Improvement’s actors and guest appearances. Richard Karn guest starred in two episodes, while Jonathan Taylor Thomas recurred playing a character named Randy, in an ode to his time on Home Improvement. Thomas directed episodes of Last Man Standing, as well. Before the series ended in 2021, Patricia Richardson also made a guest appearance and even shared the screen with Thomas.
Richardson portrayed Helen Potts, the widowed neighbor of the central Baxter family in two episodes of the comedy. Even though it’s far from a Home Improvement reboot or spinoff, which has been discussed by Allen and Karn in the past, the cast has reunited in several projects since the show’s conclusion more than two decades ago.
