From 1991 to 1999, Home Improvement was a smash hit for ABC. Tim Allen was one of the biggest stars in the country. His character of Tim “The Toolman” Taylor was a pop culture icon. Often times the show is unfairly remembered for him blowing things up and arguing with his wife. That’s a very reductive take on the show. Home Improvement was always about the family dynamic and trying to make things better, day by day. The misadventures of the Taylor’s frequently involved their three sons, Brad, Randy, and Mark. So, 35 years later, whatever happened to them?
Zachery Ty Bryan – Brad Taylor
Maybe it’s best to get the bad out of the way first. Zachary Ty Bryan played Brad, the oldest of the Taylor boys. Bryan had arguably the most extensive post Home Improvement career. In films, he made appearances in The Rage: Carrie 2 and The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift amongst others. In television he had guest spots on several shows like, Boston Public, Touched by an Angel, ER, Smallville, Veronica Mars, and Burn Notice. None of these really made headlines for him.
Instead, Bryan made headlines in a much worse way. He has been involved in a number of criminal proceedings since the start of the decade. He has been involved in at least two domestic violence cases against his partners. He was also accused of fraud in an agricultural startup and film production company. More recently he’s pled guilty to DUI. Unfortunately for him he did this while under probation for his other offenses. As of the time of this writing he’s currently serving a 19-month prison sentence.
Adding extra tragedy to this story is that Zachery Ty Bryan is the father of eight children across two different marriages. It’s pretty clear that he needs some help to get himself back on the right path. We can only hope that he’s able to find that.
Jonathan Taylor Thomas – Randy Taylor
Aside from Tim Allen, Jonathan Taylor Thomas was the breakout star of Home Improvement. He played the middle child, Randy Taylor. He became a teen heartthrob and quickly landed movie deals. He was the voice of young Simba in The Lion King and was also in Man of the House, Tom and Huck, and I’ll Be Home for Christmas before the ’90s were over. There was tension between him and Tim Allen though. Thomas stated he was going to leave Home Improvement during its final season. He did so stating he was going to focus on school. Allen was supportive of this until finding out Thomas was doing more films after leaving the show.
This part of his career didn’t last very long. He would actually follow through with going to college and later made amends with his TV dad. JTT would eventually appear on Tim’s show, Last Man Standing and direct several episodes too. This makes him the only one of the kids to reunite with Tim on another acting project. For the most part though, Thomas has led a pretty quiet life. Compared to what Zachery Ty Bryan was up to though, quiet isn’t a bad thing.
Taran Noah Smith
For a few years after Home Improvement ended, it seemed like he was going to be the problem child. In 2001 when he was still only 17, he married a woman who was 16 years older than him. He then started making accusations about his parents trying to take money out of his trust fund. The marriage didn’t last and Smith later reconciled with his parents. He admitted that his actions towards them were born more out of teenage rebellion than anything else.
Now he’s out of acting and doing other things with his life. His father used to construct boats and Smith has been involved in submersibles. Seems like things are going okay for him with just a pretty normal life. He didn’t leave behind much of an acting portfolio outside of Home Improvement. People with a good ear for voices can pick him out of a Batman Beyond episode. He also popped up in a 7th Heaven episode too. But that’s about it. He decided he didn’t want to act any more and that’s that.
Life After Stardom
Fame is fleeting. Very, very, few people stay at the top of their star power forever. In the case of Home Improvement, only Tim Allen found continued, widespread success. In fairness to the kids, they didn’t fare much better or worse than the adult cast after the show wrapped up. If there’s one big takeaway from this group though, it’s that Zachary Ty Bryan has a tough road ahead of him. Taran Noah Smith and Jonathan Taylor Thomas seem like their lives have gone pretty well and we’re happy for them. Plus, they made it out of Tim’s mishaps alive and well! That’s a victory unto itself!
