Tim Allen previously told the media about his plans to bring back ‘The Tool Man’ and the Taylor family. He mentioned that all his ex-co-stars agreed with the idea. But, according to Patricia Richardson, Allen was ‘lying.’
The actress recently appeared on the ‘Back To The Best’ podcast and said she wasn’t interested in a ‘Home Improvement’ comeback:
“In fact, I think [that’s] the reason that Tim is now going on to do another show, which is the same plot as ‘Jungle Cruise’ and many of the movies that he’s done where he’s lost his kid, and he has to get his kid back. Yada, yada… But I noticed this time, he doesn’t have a wife. He’s divorced.”
No Plans To Return
Richardson revealed that Allen never reached out to her or other cast members about a reunion:
“I would hear on Twitter (or whatever) that he was coming out publicly and saying this stuff about how everyone was on board to do a ‘Home Improvement’ reunion. But he never asked me, and he never asked Jonathan [Taylor Thomas].”
She explained:
“I called Jonathan one day and I said, ‘Has he asked you about this?’ And he went, ‘No. Why is he going around telling everyone that we’re on board when he hasn’t talked to you or me?’ I think that’s weird. He was lying to people and telling them that I was on board, and I didn’t know anything about it.”
The Cast Moved On
Thomas played the Taylor family’s middle child Randy for eight seasons. Zachery Ty Bryan and Taran Noah Smith joined him as the oldest and youngest, respectively.
Patricia Richardson noted that the main cast’s life changed a lot after ‘Home Improvement’ ended:
“I would not want to. I mean, Zach [Ty Bryan] is now a felon… Taran [Noah Smith] hasn’t acted since he left the show… Jonathan is not really interested in acting… and we don’t have Wilson. So if we did it without [the late] Earl [Hindman], and also we have just two kids — probably, if that — it’s not going to be the [same] show at all.”
Allen’s Wish For A Comeback
‘Home Improvement’ received significant acclaim during its run. It was nominated for several Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor/Actress and Outstanding Comedy Series.
TVLine asked Tim Allen about possibly reviving the show after the ‘Last Man Standing’ finale a few years ago. He shared:
“I always think about it, because I still talk to everybody involved. The question I have is, ‘Is it still relevant? Is Tim Taylor relevant in the Mike Baxter world?’ Because Mike Baxter is like a real version of Tim Taylor; he’s not such a joke. And the [Outdoor Man] vlogs are like Mike’s version of ‘Tool Time’ done as a web series.”
The actor’s comeback idea read:
“I like the idea of doing it as a one-off, like a one-hour movie [versus a full-fledged revival series]. I like the idea of finding out where the boys are now, and where… ‘Tool Time’ would be in today’s world.”
Allen, Richardson, Thomas, and Richard Karn had a mini-reunion on ‘Last Man Standing.’
