Home Improvement fans are pretty giddy over the news that Tim Allen is working on a new pilot. The original ABC sitcom ran from 1991 to 1999, and Allen is now back on the lot where it all started for a new project. Last week, the actor shared a photo on X of himself smiling with a placard from the original show behind him.
The caption read, “Shot the new pilot last Friday here on the Disney lot where it all began.” It’s been quite a few years since Allen filmed on this same lot for his last series LAST MAN STANDING which ended in 2021. But this time around, he’s back as the star of the new comedy SHIFTING GEARS which will air on ABC in Fall 2024.
During the course of eight seasons, viewers watched the Taylor family grow, chuckled at Tim’s cable show Tool Time, and loved his mild-mannered assistant Al Borland (Richard Karn). The cast also included a camera-shy neighbor Wilson played by the late Earl Hindman, and his sage advice was often heard. It was a hugely popular show, and even though it never reached the heights of other ’90s sitcoms like Friends or Seinfeld, it still managed to find an audience of 34 million people per episode.
Jill Taylor was portrayed by actress Patricia Richardson, who some (okay, me) consider to be the best sitcom mom ever. She was married to the perpetually hapless Tim, and he looked up to her in many ways. Despite some strife on the set, the pair forged a close friendship, and the love between them was clear to all.
The show also featured a slew of talented supporting actors, including Richard
Karn, Casey Sander as the Taylors’ younger daughter Heidi, and the always-fun Debbe Dunning as the Tool Time girl. They even got together for a TV special called Home Improvement: A User’s Guide in 2003 (with the terminally ill Hindman doing voice-overs as the sage neighbor Wilson). But now, Richardson is calling BS on rumors of a revival. In an interview for the Back to the Best podcast, she says that a reboot is not happening without her involvement.