Actor Patricia Richardson candidly explains why Home Improvement really ended after eight seasons. Premiering in 1991, the sitcom starred Tim Allen as Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor, a home improvement television show host. Richardson starred as Jill, his loving wife and mom to three mischievous boys, Brad, Randy, and Mark (Zachery Ty Bryan, Jonathan Taylor Thomas and Taran Noah Smith). The show aired for eight seasons on ABC, earning 7 Primetime Emmy Awards, and a loyal audience following.
Now, in a new interview with the Los Angeles Times, Richardson explains why Home Improvement really ended after eight seasons. The Jill actor reveals why she was ready to leave the show, and how the pay gap between her and co-star Allen helped her make that decision. Check out her reasons for leaving Home Improvement below:
“I told everybody, ‘There’s not enough money in the world to get me to do a ninth year.’ This show is over. It needs to end.”
But with just a couple of months left on the production, Richardson said, a surprise offer arrived: $1 million per episode for her and $2 million per episode for Allen to return for a 25-episode ninth season. Per Richardson, Allen jumped at the offer, but she held firm.
“All I really care about is having enough money to live on, get my kids to college and leave them some. I don’t need a plane. I don’t need a boat.”
Richardson came up with a proposition she was sure would be rejected. If the network would pay her $2 million an episode and give her an executive producer credit — the same deal they’d reportedly offered Allen — she would stay.
“I knew that Disney would in no way pay me that much. That was my way to say ‘no’ and was a little bit of a flip-off to Disney. I’d been there all this time, and they never even paid me a third of what Tim was making, and I was working my ass off. I was a big reason why women were watching. I was mad at Tim because he was leaving me alone being the only person saying no, which made me feel terrible and like the bad guy, and he was upset with me for leaving.”
Tim Allen & Patricia Richardson’s Relationship History Explained
Previously, it was thought that a mutual decision between Allen and Richardson to end the show was the reason why Home Improvement concluded. However, this new revelation by Richardson actually reveals that the show could have continued if Disney had accepted her proposal to pay her the same salary as Allen, $2 million per episode, and gave her the executive producer credit that Allen had. However, Disney was not willing to pay her the same amount as Allen, which is not surprising to learn, considering gender pay gap is a problem that still plagues the entertainment industry to this day.
It seemed the former Home Improvement co-stars were on good terms, up until recently. In 2015, Richardson made an appearance on Allen’s sitcom, Last Man Standing, starring as Helen Potts in two episodes of the comedy series, which was littered with Home Improvement Easter Eggs. However, it appears the two now have a more complicated relationship, as in March 2024, she appeared on Back to the Best podcast, denying rumors of a potential revival, claiming that Allen was lying about the development of one.
According to Richardson, she was never spoken to about any revival of the sort Allen was speaking about publicly, and that Allen hadn’t spoken to their former co-star, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, either, who confirmed Richardson’s sentiments. It seems Richardson and Allen’s relationship is now further complicated by her latest comments, as she admits to being “mad” at him for making her feel guilty about turning down the offer. The show won’t be making a comeback any time soon, but this is not necessarily a bad thing. Revivals normally tarnish a show’s legacy, and Home Improvement can keep its good reputation in sitcom history, despite the complicated relationship between its co-stars.
