You may remember Taran Noah Smith as the sweet little Mark, the youngest of the Taylor crew on Home Improvement. Throughout the series, Mark was often the target of his older brothers, Randy (Jonathan Taylor Thomas) and Brad (Zachery Ty Bryan). But in season 7, Smith surpassed his on-screen brothers in height and a change was needed.
Smith opened up during an appearance on The Best Show with Tom Scharpling podcast, where he revealed what that change was and where he believes the idea sprung from.
“So, it wasn’t mine,” Smith shared. “The whole storyline of the older brothers beating up on me or teasing me didn’t really work anymore because now I was taller than both of them.”
At this point in the series, which was between seasons six and seven, Smith was about 13 years old. When he returned for the show’s seventh season, his character was very different: Mark Taylor had become a goth, sporting a dog collar, black-painted nails, a shaved head and a much darker wardrobe.
Why did Mark go goth?
The actor wasn’t always sure of the reason for this dramatic change, as it was completely out of character for Mark Taylor, given he was often considered the dorky younger brother. However, Smith learned a bit later the possible cause for his character’s shift.
“I found out later the head writer on the show, he had a son that was right around my age,” Smith explained, adding, “and after about halfway through the season, I’m in wardrobe, black fingernails, and dog collar and all the stuff on, and I went backstage and came face to face with his son, who was not in wardrobe, but looked just like me, and we had this very awkward moment of like, ‘Oh, I’m your dad’s way of kind of dealing with you, sorry.’”
While this move was very unexpected for the character, it wasn’t out of character for his age group, as new teenagers often experiment with their looks and clothing choices while they figure themselves out. The goth phase didn’t last for very long, however, as it began to fade during season 8 and was officially gone by season 9.
Could there ever be a ‘Home Improvement’ reboot?
Despite being a part of one of the biggest sitcoms of the ‘90s, Smith did not go on to become a major star like his on-screen brother, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, or his TV dad, Tim Allen. Instead, Smith decided to leave the industry. Alas, a Home Improvement reboot might be a bit difficult.
Thomas, too, has slowed down on the acting front, but he did reunite with on-screen parents Tim Allen and Patricia Richardson, in an episode of Allen’s show, Last Man Standing (2011-2021).
In 2023, Allen opened up explaining he still keeps in touch with his on-screen sons and that the possibility of a reboot has come up before.
“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,” Allen said. “Like if all of them had children, and I’m a grandparent. Home Re-Improvement or something like that. It’s come up.”
