It was the TV show that catapulted Tim Allen to stardom, started Pamela Anderson’s acting career, and transformed a guttural grunt into one of the nation’s favorite catchphrases. Yes, we’re talking about Home Improvement! Even if you watched every episode of Tool Time, we’re sure there’s a lot you don’t remember about the beloved family comedy. For instance, consider these 40 amazing facts…
Facts About Home Improvement That Producers Didn’t Want You To Know
Friends Didn’t Get It
There was no better achievement in the ’80s/’90s than getting the “Weird Al” Yankovic treatment. Unfortunately, the creators of Friends didn’t get it. The musical comedian had created a song that merged the melody of The Rembrandts’ theme song “I’ll Be There For You” with fresh lyrics about another successful show, Home Improvement. But Yankovic had to leave “I’ll Repair for You” off his Bad Hair L.P. after failing to get authorization from spoilsport Friends superiors.
Friends Didn’t Get It
Where’s Earl?
Do you ever wonder why you never saw Earl Hindman’s face over the whole eight seasons of Home Improvement? The character was inspired by Tim Allen’s childhood neighbor. And, since the child was so little at the time, he couldn’t see the guy over the garden fence posts.
Where’s Earl?
Not The First
It’s difficult to picture anybody other than Richard Karn as Tim’s cheerful Tool Time sidekick Al. However, the bearded actor was not the first option for the job. Producers sought acclaimed comedy actor Stephen Tobolowsky for the role, but the eventual Silicon Valley star was already engaged to another production.
Not The First
Buzz Lightyear
Tim Allen, as we all know, is the voice of Buzz Lightyear. Only the most astute viewers will see the other link between Home Improvement and Toy Story. In the 1995 Pixar film, Woody drops a red toolbox onto the floor while trying to defend Buzz from Andy’s next-door neighbor. And the branding on the box belongs to Binford Tools, the same company that Tim advertises on his show-within-a-show, Tool Time.
Buzz Lightyear
Different In Real Life
Throughout the course of Home Improvement, you may have seen Tim’s sidekick Al wearing a wedding band, despite the fact that the character is happily unmarried. This is due to the fact that the actor who portrays him, Richard Karn, is happily married in real life. In reality, the actor married a co-star in 1996. Karn and Tudi Roche, alias Jill’s sister Carrie, had a kid together as well.
Different In Real Life
Box Office Hit
Allen was so successful in the mid-1990s that he once had the number-one film, TV program, and book all at the same time. With The Santa Clause, the triple threat sat lovely at the top of the U.S. box office in November 1994. The following week, he topped The New York Times Best Sellers list with Don’t Stand Too Close to a Naked Man. And Home Improvement still had the highest ratings of any show.
Box Office Hit
Both Served
Allen and Patricia Richardson share a love of the military, with the latter’s father serving in the Navy. So, during the shooting of one specific episode, the on-screen husband and wife pair invited the Blue Angels to observe them practice. Jimmy Labriola, who portrayed Benny Baroni on the classic comedy, was entrusted with keeping the flight exhibition crew amused while Allen and Richardson performed.
Both Served
Five Or Eight?
Now, either someone forgot about Tim’s siblings, or three long-lost ones crept out of the woodwork during Home Improvement’s run. Lucille, the toolman’s mother, is shown to have five sons in one episode. In another, the number has risen to eight. The siblings were even given names: Jeff, John, Steve, Brian, Rick, Marty, and Danny.
Five Or Eight?
New Meta
During the ending scene of one specific show, Home Improvement became a little meta. Tim ‘The Toolman’ Taylor may be seen presenting a toy to a small girl as the credits roll. But not just any average toy. Buzz Lightyear, the spaceman for whom Allen memorably gave the voice in Toy Story, impresses the youngster.
New Meta
Real Softie
Allen turns out to be a real softie at heart. During the early days of Home Improvement, the ever-grunting actor would purposefully get his lines incorrect during shooting. This was done to make his on-screen children Taran Noah Smith, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, and Zachery Ty Bryan feels less nervous about mispronouncing their lines.
Real Softie
Wilson’s Girlfriend
Michelle Williams appeared briefly in Home Improvement many years before her big appearance in Dawson’s Creek. In the fourth season episode “Wilson’s Girlfriend,” Williams goes on a date with Ty Bryan’s Brad as Jessica Lutz. However, the fact that she does not appear again indicates that love did not grow between the couple.
Wilson’s Girlfriend
Karn
Karn was only scheduled to portray Tim’s Tool Time companion Al for four episodes of Home Improvement. As a consequence, the actor opted to keep working as an apartment manager while filming the show. Karn said his last farewell to his prior day job when his designated successor, Stephen Tobolowsky, dropped out.
Karn
Woman No. 3
Lucy Liu featured in Home Improvement three years before she won her breakout role as Ling Woo on Ally McBeal. But that was the definition of a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it part. In the fourth season’s “Bachelor of the Year” episode, Liu portrays “Woman No.3” in the Tool Time audience.
Woman No. 3
One’s Defeat Is One’s Gain
The fact that Wilson’s face was concealed for eight seasons of Home Improvement was what made the character distinctive. However, the guy who was originally cast as Tim’s next-door neighbor was not amused by this recurring gag. After finding that his face will never be shown, John Bedford Lloyd declined the part. And his defeat proved to be Hindman’s gain.
One’s Defeat Is One’s Gain
Ask Me Anything
Richardson disclosed some intriguing news in 2016 when she headed to Reddit for an Ask Me Anything thread. The actress said that two of her on-screen kids were collaborating again as writers on an R-rated pilot. But, with no new information, it doesn’t seem like Taylor Thomas and Ty Bryan’s efforts were fruitless.
Ask Me Anything
Ending On A High Note
Allen made sure that the last season of his other successful comedy, Last Man Standing, ended on a high note in 2021. In the first episode, “Dual Time,” a repairman who looks just like Allen’s Mike pays a visit to the Baxter home. That’s because the guy hired by his wife Vanessa is none other than Home Improvement’s Tim ‘The Toolman’ Taylor.
Ending On A High Note
Next Best Thing
We may not yet have a full-fledged Home Improvement reunion, but in 2021, Karn and Allen offered us the next best thing. The two guys are best known as Al Borland and Tim ‘The Toolman’ Taylor, and they have teamed up again to co-host a new program called Assembly Required. The History Channel series allows aspiring DIY gurus from throughout the nation to demonstrate their talents by creating and renovating different home objects.
Next Best Thing
Modest Profile
Taylor Thomas has maintained a modest profile in recent years. But that doesn’t mean he’s been sitting on the rerun royalties. The former teen star is an executive producer on the upcoming series Master of Ceremonies. The play, set in the 1980s, is an adaptation of David Henry Sterry’s identically titled autobiographical narrative of life in the Chippendales.
Modest Profile
Emmy’s Nomination
Given the show’s rapid popularity, Allen should have been a lock for an Emmy nomination in 1992. Despite this, his name was mysteriously omitted from the category of Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. That’s not because voters didn’t like Tim ‘The Toolman’ Taylor’s grunting. It’s just because Allen was unaware that you had to apply to be considered.
Emmy’s Nomination
Possible Reunion
Karn and Allen were interviewed by Today on the possibility of a genuine Home Improvement reunion while promoting their competitive DIY program Assembly Required in 2021. Fortunately for fans of the 1990s comedy, all sides seem to be amenable to the concept. Allen added, “I’d love to see where Al and Tim are, where Tool Time is right now, have the guys all grown up now with kids, I think it’s a terrific idea,” to which Karn simply replied, “Absolutely.”
Possible Reunion
Traffic School Benefits
Karn discovered that crime did, in fact, pay! That’s because a traffic infraction helped him earn the part of Tim’s closest friend Al. Here’s how it all went down. Karn was had to attend traffic school after ignoring a stop sign in Los Angeles. There, he met an agent who informed him about the Home Improvement auditions. And the rest, as they say, is television history.
Traffic School Benefits
Too Good For The Role
You’d think that being able to act would be a plus in the TV industry, but just ask Ashley Judd. She was rejected by the producer of Home Improvement because she was too skilled to portray the glamourous Tool Time girl. It was just a minor role, so we’re sure she wasn’t too upset. Pamela Anderson, on the other hand, got the job.
Too Good For The Role
Best Family Comedy
Home Improvement was one of the most successful family comedies of the 1990s. But its starring guy wasn’t afraid to scrimp on occasion. Some of Allen’s outfit was free because to the kindness and marketing savvy of institutions in his home state of Michigan.
Best Family Comedy
Live Audience
The makers of Home Improvement made the most of their live audience. Yes, individuals who were fortunate enough to get a ticket to a recording could also see the program inside the show. The sitcom’s live audience was utilized as a sounding board for Tim’s small-screen DIY instructional Tool Time.
Live Audience
Nationwide Craze
Home Improvement became such a nationwide craze that even First Lady Michelle Obama took note! That is according to a 1995 document that was discovered 20 years later. The memo reveals that Hillary Clinton’s press secretary inquired about the potential of a guest appearance, which tragically did not happen. We’d love to have heard what she and Tim were talking about…
Nationwide Craze
No Randy In The Finale
During the eighth season of Home Improvement, Allen and Taylor Thomas got into a fight. Why is this so? JTT informed his on-screen father that he was quitting the program to focus on his academics. But that wasn’t precisely what occurred. Instead, the young star went on to feature in a number of films. Oh no! You now understand why Randy was absent from the Home Improvement season finale.
No Randy In The Finale
1.5 Million Dollars
Noah Smith, who portrayed Tim and Jill’s youngest son Mark, was fighting his own parents behind the scenes. The 17-year-old even dragged his mother and father to court in order to get access to his trust money. Smith said that his family was squandering the $1.5 million he’d earned from the program. When he reached 18, he regained control of his earnings.
1.5 Million Dollars
The Longest Day
Randy’s cancer fear episode from the fifth season ended up being one of the top viewed episodes in Home Improvement history. However, if ABC had its way, “The Longest Day” may never have aired. Initially, network executives were hesitant about the program to address such a serious problem. They also anticipated that shifting the episode to a different time slot would keep it from falling in the ratings. So, it seems that the idea was successful!
The Longest Day
Cancelled After 8th Season
Allen demonstrated that he isn’t all about the money when he rejected down a whopping $50 million for the ninth season of Home Improvement. His on-screen wife, too, had a large sum of money dangled in front of her. Richardson was given a not-too-shabby $25 million, but she also rejected, resulting in the series’ cancellation after season eight.
Cancelled After 8th Season
Hammer Time
Both Home Improvement and Tool Time, the program inside a program, was originally titled Hammer Time. Yes, it is a homage to MC Hammer’s early 1990s song! Thankfully, the creators avoided using a moniker that would have immediately dated the series before it ever aired.
Hammer Time
Klaus
Tim’s friend Klaus, whom he sometimes invites to play music while shooting Tool Time? He does exist, despite the fact that we never see him. Klaus Landsberg is a sound engineer who has worked on both Home Improvement and Allen’s other successful comedy, the Last Man Standing.
Klaus
Bad Mouth
Home Improvement may have been a nice family sitcom. But it didn’t stop the show’s more mature stars from coloring the air blue once the cameras were turned off. Richardson stated in a 2011 interview that her on-screen boys heard a lot of languages they shouldn’t have during the show’s production.
Bad Mouth
A Warrant Of Arrest
The cast’s heavy usage of swear words wasn’t the only issue jeopardizing Home Improvement’s pristine image. There was also a period in the 1970s when its leader was arrested for drug trafficking. Yes, we are astounded as well! Allen was sentenced to almost two and a half years in jail for his crime, however, his sentence might have been far harsher if he hadn’t struck a plea bargain.
A Warrant Of Arrest
Mrs. Doubtfire
At one time, Home Improvement’s viewership was so strong that producers considered turning the comedy into a feature. Tim would have posed as a female nanny in this big-screen rendition to care for his children after he and Jill divorced. Does this sound familiar? That, too, is the storyline of Mrs. Doubtfire.
Mrs. Doubtfire
Arch Enemy
Tim and his bearded Tool Time sidekick Al were modeled on Bob Vila and carpenter Norm Abram from PBS’ This Old House, according to sources. The more you learn! And Vila must have been charmed by the spoof, for he later appeared in Home Improvement as Tim’s arch-rival.
Arch Enemy
Drag Race
Bob Vila was also a part of one of Home Improvement’s most exciting episodes. Remember the third-season episode “The Great Race II”? That’s the one in which the real-life DIY celebrity competes against Tim in a drag race. And the whole event was shot on a Hollywood Burbank Airport runway that had to be closed for this same reason.
Drag Race
Manly With Feminine Touch
Home Improvement was a rather manly program, but Richardson made sure her character was representing the females. Jill, in fact, was written in pretty one-dimensional terms until the actress who portrayed her came in. Richardson urged that the makers of the program make her character more interesting. Basically, she wanted to play a real, full-fledged lady on television. That seems reasonable!
Manly With Feminine Touch
Charisma
Richardson’s persuading skills become even more amazing when you hear she wasn’t the first pick to portray Jill. Frances Fisher, well known for her roles in Titanic and Unforgiven, was initially chosen as Tim’s wife. She was later removed, though, after failing to perform well with viewers of the premiere episode.
Charisma
Rejected Screentime
Richardson may have campaigned for her character to be given more screen time. She, on the other hand, was not used to being in the limelight. In a 2016 Reddit AMA, the actress revealed that she disliked conducting publicity, walking red carpets, and the notion of stardom in general.
Rejected Screentime
Nintendo Joined The Hype
At the height of the sitcom’s popularity, Nintendo released a video game called Home Improvement: Power Tool Pursuit as a tie-in. And we don’t blame you if you haven’t heard of it since the initiative was a complete failure. The first major blunder? There was an instruction booklet that simply said, “Real guys don’t need instructions.” Oh, and the game weirdly required you to combat mummies and dinosaurs – which weren’t particularly prominent in the program…
Nintendo Joined The Hype
The Andy Griffith Show
However, if you go back three decades, you will recall The Andy Griffith Show. It was a famous 1960s comedy due to its innocent and pleasant tone. The Andy Griffith Show set, however, was not as drowsy as its Mayberry surroundings. Here are 20 little-known facts about the famous series that you may be shocked to learn.
The Andy Griffith Show
Hole In The Wall
Andy Griffith had a quick fuse in real life, despite his placid on-screen attitude. During one outburst, he punched a hole in one of his own house’s walls, resulting in significant bandaging to the offending hand. On-screen, his injuries were described as the result of a fight with the Gordon brothers.
Hole In The Wall
Best Friends Off Air
Griffith and Don Knotts – a.k.a. clumsy deputy Barney Fife – enjoyed a close connection offset, much like their on-screen counterparts. Griffith, on the other hand, enjoyed teasing his co-star. The actor, in particular, would constantly refer to Knotts as “Jess” – a shortened form of his genuine first name, Jesse, and a nickname the latter despised.
Best Friends Off Air
On-Set Shenanigans
Griffith’s antics, however, did not just annoy Knotts. Indeed, the actor enjoyed playing practical jokes on the actors and staff of the program. Griffith, on the other hand, immediately became the subject of on-set shenanigans as a consequence of his antics. His spiteful co-stars once stole his shoes, forcing him to walk home in a rented pair from the wardrobe department.
On-Set Shenanigans
Frances Bavier
Though most of the cast members got along well, Frances Bavier was a different story. In reality, in contrast to her role Aunt Bee’s easygoing demeanor, Bavier was cold and refused to socialize with her co-stars. She also had a strong dislike to profane language, which led her to attack Mayberry R.F.D. co-star George Lindsey with an umbrella once.
Frances Bavier
Vivien Bavier
By all accounts, Vivien Bavier was a tough actor to deal with, but that doesn’t mean she wasn’t aware of her own hard personality. Indeed, Griffith, who bore the brunt of Bavier’s hostility, reportedly told Larry King that she had phoned him before her death in 1989 to apologize for her difficult conduct.
Vivien Bavier
No Guests In Her Burial
After her death, few people from the show expressed their condolences, and all of her co-stars refused to attend her burial. Despite her efforts to make atonement later in life, it seems that Bavier was unable to restore the bridges she had burned with the majority of her cast members.
No Guests In Her Burial
Tossing A Rock
The Andy Griffith Show famously opened with Ron Howard’s Opie tossing a stone into a lake in possibly the most remembered opening shot of all time. Nonetheless, the stunning picture was only possible thanks to certain studio tricks. Because Howard, who was six at the time, couldn’t throw the rock far enough, a props master hurled an identical volley off-screen.
Tossing A Rock
Floyd Lawson
Howard McNear, who portrayed local barber Floyd Lawson, had a severe, devastating stroke during the show’s third year. McNear’s future was unclear since he couldn’t talk or stand properly. Nonetheless, producers designed a custom stool to give the actor the impression of standing, allowing him to continue in his role until 1967.
Floyd Lawson