The official reason is Tim Allen and Patricia Richardson were done with the show and didn't want to continue despite all the money ABC threw at them. But I think they saw the show wasn't the same without Randy, and they did not want to go on for another season like that. If Jonathan Taylor Thomas had stayed, Tim Allen and Patricia Richardson might have been willing to go on longer. Although with Earl Hindman dying soon after Home Improvement ended, would have been strange needing to kill off Wilson.

I think that Home Improvement ended at the right time and Tim along with Patricia made the right decision.

The official reason is Tim Allen and Patricia Richardson were done with the show and didn't want to continue despite all the money ABC threw at them. But I think they saw the show wasn't the same without Randy, and they did not want to go on for another season like that. If Jonathan Taylor Thomas had stayed, Tim Allen and Patricia Richardson might have been willing to go on longer. Although with Earl Hindman dying soon after Home Improvement ended, would have been strange needing to kill off Wilson.
Mr. Hindman (Wilson) didn't go forward until late 2003 when the show ended in the spring of 1999 and so depending on how much longer the show could've gone for, I can't see a reason why his character would have to have been written out.

God bless you and his family always!!!

Holly

I think that Home Improvement ended at the right time and Tim along with Patricia made the right decision.

Plus, the show had already ran its course. There was no way the producers could get Jonathan Taylor Thomas back and many of the cast members wanted to pursue other things.

Plus, the show had already ran its course. There was no way the producers could get Jonathan Taylor Thomas back and many of the cast members wanted to pursue other things.

I agree with MA and Kyle. It was just time. Besides, nobody watched the show for Jonathon Taylor Thomas except maybe a few 12 year-old girls or a pedophile or two.

no it was time to go

show was fading

no it was time to go

show was fading

The plots were also starting to become less about the boys and more about the adult characters such as Jill and Tim.

I think the series could have run another season. HI was a top 10 hit when it left the airwaves, so people were still tuning in.

the show had run its course

No. I had never seen the later episodes until being rerun in syndication and cable, and I quickly saw why. The teenagers couldn’t act. Randy was my least favorite of the three as the series progressed, so he’s not missed in season 8. Besides, wasn’t Brad planning on going away to college? How would you work that into a ninth season? I also never liked the stories involving Tim’s younger brother and his daughters, who were becoming semi-regulars at that point.

Probably not. They did the right thing going out on top.

No. I had never seen the later episodes until being rerun in syndication and cable, and I quickly saw why. The teenagers couldn’t act. Randy was my least favorite of the three as the series progressed, so he’s not missed in season 8. Besides, wasn’t Brad planning on going away to college? How would you work that into a ninth season? I also never liked the stories involving Tim’s younger brother and his daughters, who were becoming semi-regulars at that point.

Agree on most counts here. I don't know exactly when the show decided the eighth season would be the last, but in retrospect the writers were setting that up for a while not only with Randy leaving, but the Brad/soccer/college storyline. To include Brad in a ninth season probably means getting rid of that story, maybe having him be injured and unable to play college soccer. That also was a storyline about midway through the season.
A ninth season also means coming up with another excuse for Randy not to be around. He would have come back from Costa Rica by then, so you'd have to figure out a way to keep him written out with at least one year of high school remaining.
Even the first episode of Season 8 minimized Randy's presence as much as possible, probably trying to prepare the audience for how things would be after he left.