Tim Allen has shared an update on the potential revival of Nineties sitcom Home Improvement, revealing that “personality problems” with his co-stars have stalled any plans.
Home Improvement ran for eight seasons on ABC from 1991 to 1999 and followed the Taylor family in suburban Detroit. Allen starred as Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor, a television home-improvement host whose confidence with power tools far exceeded his actual competence.
Patricia Richardson portrayed Tim’s wife, Jill, while Zachery Ty Bryan, Jonathan Taylor Thomas and Taran Noah Smith played their three sons: Brad, Randy and Mark, respectively.
“They keep talking about how it could move forward, but they get stuck [because] there are some personality problems right now with the boys,” Allen said in a new interview with Us Weekly.
“They’ve got their own issues. I always thought it would be cool if it was a story about them. That’s a little challenging right now, to put it mildly.”
open image in gallery
open image in galleryIn 2020, Bryan, 44, was arrested following an incident involving his girlfriend and later pleaded guilty to menacing and fourth-degree assault charges. He has since faced multiple arrests, including DUI-related offenses and probation violations.
Meanwhile, Thomas, 44, left Home Improvement before the final season to focus on his education and went on to attend Harvard University. Richardson said in a 2024 podcast appearance that he isn’t “interested in acting.”
At 17, Smith made headlines for marrying a woman 16 years his senior. They divorced in 2007 after nearly six years of marriage. Smith has not acted since Home Improvement.
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A reboot would also be without Wilson, the Taylor family’s quirky neighbor who peered over the fence to offer advice. Earl Hindman, who portrayed the character, died in 2003 at the age of 61 after being diagnosed with lung cancer.
“So if they did it without Earl and also just two kids, probably, if that, it’s not gonna be the show at all,” Richardson continued in the 2024 interview.
“People think we can just magically go back to who we were 30 years ago and do a show that was 30 years ago. And we’ve all changed quite a bit, I think, since then. And the show, it would be very weird. I think we did it, we did it well, we quit at the right time before it got really bad and it should just stay like it is.”
Allen is currently promoting Toy Story 5, in which he reprises his role as Buzz Lightyear for the fifth installment of Pixar’s beloved franchise.