Great American Family Request: "Home Improvement"

[stevearino]

Dear Bill Abbott,


I have a proposal for Great American Family: to make a deal with Buena Vista Television (a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company) for Great American Family to become the exclusive basic cable home of the hit '90s Disney sitcom "Home Improvement," lovingly showcasing all 204 half-hour episodes of the iconic Disney sitcom classic "Home Improvement" 100% Complete, 100% Uncut, AND 100% Unedited, just the way that each episode originally aired on the ABC Television Network (itself owned by The Walt Disney Company since 1995).

In case you aren't familiar with it, Bill, here's the Inside Information from an avid viewer since I was 12 years old, 26 years ago this April.

The year is 1990. George "Daddy" Bush, age 66, is U.S. President; the War of the Gulf is in full effect; and stand-up comedian Timothy Allen "Tim" Dick, known professionally as Tim Allen, is THE hottest stand-up comedy ticket in America.

During the Summer of 1990, Matt Williams, Carmen Finestra & David McFadzean pitched a sitcom idea to The Walt Disney Company titled "Hammer Time," a spoof of Bob Vila's "This Old House" on Steroids.

The following Fall, after seeing Tim's stand-up comedy special "Men are Pigs" on the Showtime Cable Channel, Mike Eisner's right-hand man at Disney, Jeff Katzenberg, decided to re-tool "Hammer Time" as a sitcom vehicle for Tim Allen, eventually re-naming the show "Home Improvement" and the fictional show-within-a-show "Tool Time."

By January 1991, Tim was joined by a plethora's worth of more experienced actors--among them Pat Richardson as Tim's TV wife, Jill Taylor, who'd been married to husband Tim and was the mother of their 3 boys: 10-year-old Brad (Zachery Bryan), 9-year-old Randy (Jonathan Thomas), and 6-year-old Mark (Taran Smith); veteran character actor Earl Hindman as Tim & Jill's neighbor, Wilson Wilson, Jr., who was barely seen outside the fence beyond his upper lip; and Rick Karn as Albert "Al" Borland, Tim's "Tool Time" sidekick who knew how to handle a tool. Ironically, Rick Karn's given surname is Wilson--Richard Karn Wilson, that is--the name he was given on February 17, 1956, 67 years ago next Friday, after being born in Seattle, Washington.

The Pilot for "Home Improvement" was Videotaped at Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California on April 19, 1991; soon afterwards, a tabloid threatened to reveal a major scoop about Tim Allen's past.

In October 1978, Tim (born on June 13, 1953 in Denver, Colorado), then age 25, was arrested for attempting to sell Cocaine--criminal charges of which he pled Guilty to and cooperated with local Police.

While awaiting sentencing, Tim started straightening his life out by working in a Sporting Goods store and steering clear of any sort of Drugs; in November 1979, a local Kalamazoo, Michigan judge sentenced Tim to a Maximum of 8 years in Federal Prison, where he served at the Sandstone Federal Prison in Minnesota. A Model Prisoner, Tim spent 2 1/2 years in Prison from November 1979 - March 1982, after which he was Paroled until around November 1987, during which time Tim found a Brief Career as a Commercial Male Model for Print Ads such as AT&T before later becoming a full-time Ad Agency Executive by day and Stand-Up Comedian by night.

Tim married college sweetheart Laura Deibel in early 1984, and in December 1984, Tim and Laura became parents to their only child, a girl named Katherine Deibel "Kady" Dick.

Rather than allow the tabloid to reveal his painful past, Tim decided to come forward HIMSELF with the truth about his Drug-Addicted Past.

The Positive Spin worked, and on September 17, 1991 at 8 P.M. ET after the Olsen Twins' hit '80s sitcom "Full House" (moving permanently from its long-time TGIF lineup), "Home Improvement" debuted on ABC and was immediately at the top of the ratings--eventually tying with NBC's "Cheers" at #4 in the Nielsen Ratings at the end of the season.

Despite the success, ABC moved "Home Improvement" for Season 2 to Wednesday nights at 9 P.M. ET opposite the then-struggling NBC sitcom "Seinfeld"; by mid-season, with still-low ratings for "Seinfeld," NBC moved "Seinfeld" permanently to Thursday nights at 9 P.M. ET just to give it a chance--a move making "Seinfeld" a classic forevermore.

Meanwhile, "Home Improvement," in September 1994, moved back to Tuesday nights at 9 P.M. ET on ABC, where it continued to be a hit--so much so that a special episode was taped and aired in first-run Syndication on September 11, 1995, later airing as part of ABC's lineup.

In September 1998, after 7 seasons on the show, 16-year-old Jonathan Thomas (by this time a Bona Fide Teen Idol) decided to leave "Home Improvement" to concentrate on his real-life Education, eventually graduating from Harvard University in New York City in 2004 and later Columbia University in 2011; his character Randy was written out as having become an Exchange Student in Costa Rica, though Jonathan did return TWICE that season after his departure--once for the 1998 Christmas show and again in the 2-Hour Series Finale in May 1999.

Simultaneously, ABC moved "Home Improvement" permanently from Tuesday nights at 9 P.M. ET to an Hour Earlier of Tuesday nights at 8 P.M. ET as the lead-in to the then-new D.L. Hughley sitcom "The Hughleys" (itself owned by Disney via its 20th Television division).

Before then, in Summer 1997, Tim Allen was Arrested for a DUI, pleading Guilty to Criminal Charges in connection to the said DUI; luckily for Tim, rather than go back to Prison, Tim instead earned a Year's Probation for the DUI, including Rehab in Summer 1998.

As of 2022, Tim Allen, who'll be 70 on his next Birthday, is 25 Years Sober; on January 11, 1999, after both he and Pat Richardson turned down an offer for a 9th and Final Season, Tim Allen announced at the People's Choice Awards that Season 8 of "Home Improvement" would be its last, thus ending one of Network TV's very successful sitcoms.

ABC celebrated the 8-year success of the show with a 2-Hour Series Finale telecast from 8-10 P.M. ET on May 25, 1999 on ABC (with SEVERAL ABC Stations airing the Season 3 Finale of Michael J. Fox's sitcom "Spin City" at 9:30 P.M. ET that night), during which a number of events occurred--among them Tim quitting "Tool Time" after 10 years, Al getting married after a year-long Courtship to wife Trudy (Megan Cavanaugh), and in the final scene, after leaving Detroit for Bloomington, Indiana, Tim and Jill took their house WITH them.

The 9:30 P.M. ET half-hour after the 90-Minute Finale featured a "Backstage Pass" clip show featuring Clips & Bloopers from the show with new interviews with Tim Allen, Rick Karn, Earl Hindman and more.

The Finale was presented and released in Full on VHS by Walt Disney Home Video on September 7, 1999; in addition, the entire 8-season run of "Home Improvement" was issued on DVD via Disney's Buena Vista Home Entertainment banner between November 2004 and June 2008.

Reruns of the show continue to flourish thanks to local TV stations across the world as well as most recently via cable networks such as TBS, WGN, Nickelodeon (as part of its Nick at Nite lineup from 2007-2012), TV Land, Up TV, CMT and Hallmark Channel, as well as currently on the Digital OTA TV network Laff since June 4, 2018.

"Home Improvement" was Produced by Wind Dancer Productions, Inc. in association with Walt Disney Television and Distributed in Syndication by Disney's Buena Vista Television.

On a personal note, I'm lucky to have all 8 seasons of the show in season sets as well as the Series Finale VHS Tape from Disney.


Sincerely,
Steve Arino

[icecream]

While GAC Family was good to sitcoms last year, you might not be aware of their format change. No sitcoms are left, it is all dramas when they aren't airing movies. Fortunately diginet LAFF has been good to Home Improvement. They air it Sunday-Thursday nights in primetime from 7-9PM and Friday nights in the 7PM hour, as well as morning blocks. Also you say despite the success, ABC moved Home Improvement in season 2. No it was because of the success, anchoring a night of four comedies at 9:00 is a lot bigger honor than a hammock show airing at 8:30. Also, the three part series finale did not air all in one night anywhere. Part 1 aired on May 18, 1999. Then parts 2 and 3 aired in the 8PM hour on May 25, followed by the half hour backstage pass at 9:00, not 9:30 (makes me mad the pass isn't part of the syndicated package.) Spin City season finale followed it nationwide at 9:30 on May 25.

[stevearino]

I must have been misinformed about the 3-part Finale airing in one night anywhere. I guess it's cause of the VHS Tape of the Finale that I assumed it all aired in one night like IMO it should have. Thanks, icecream