There was a time when Home Improvement was the biggest show on television. That might seem like a far off year. For those of us who lived through it, it’s almost depressing to think about how long ago that was. Tim Allen may have been the star of the show and the only one who would go on to be a pop culture staple but the show wasn’t his alone. Home Improvement was as strong as it was because of the family dynamic. Just as many episodes, if not more, were about the Taylor household than Tim blowing things up. Ironically, it’s the kids themselves that according to Tim, have blown up the chances of a revival.
Those Meddling Kids
Not long ago, we did an article about whatever happened to the kids from Home Improvement and it told three very different stories. In a recent interview with US Weekly, Allen was asked about the show coming back. He said, “They keep talking about how it could move forward, but they get stuck [because] there are some personality problems right now with the boys.” That’s a generous way of putting it for one of the kids and a potentially disingenuous one for the other two.
The actor who played Brad, Zachery Ty Bryan has a lot more going wrong than “personality problems.” Bryan has had numerous legal charges pressed against him including ones tied to fraud, domestic assault, and substance abuse. He’s also, as of this time, serving a prison sentence. That’s a bit more than a personality problem in our opinion at least.
Beyond the Kids
As for Randy, played by Jonathan Taylor Thomas and Mark played by Taran Noah Smith, they just seemed to fade out of wanting to act. Smith was’t invested much in acting after Home Improvement ended and JTT eventually focused his energies on education. Unless Tim knows more than we do about his former onscreen sons (which to his credit he might) it seems like they just don’t want to be acting. But even if they were all game and out of incarceration, it would be hard to do a reunion without Wilson. Earl Hindman, who played the “faceless” neighbor, died in 2003. It’s depressing to imagine a world where the Taylor’s don’t have their faithful neighbor next to them.
Still, it’s interesting to hear that maybe it could’ve been in the works if something was different. It’s also reassuring to know that Tim Allen realizes the show was not just about him. If only Kelsey Grammer knew that about Frasier and its reboot…
