Home Improvement Turns 20; Where Are They Now?

[simmytbone]

Hey guys,

20 years ago this fall, we were introduced to the popular 90's Family Sitcom Home Improvement

The series stars Famed Actor/Comedian Tim Allen as The Tool Man Himself Tim Taylor

The series also stars Famed Actress Patricia Richardson as his No-Nonsense Army Brat Wife Jill, Zachery Ty Bryan as the oldest son Brad, Jonathan Taylor Thomas as the middle son Randy, Taran Noah Smith as the youngest son Mark, the late Earl Hindman as the Next Door Neighbor Wilson, Richard Karn as Tim's Sidekick Al Borland, Pamela Anderson as the original Tool Time Girl Lisa and Debbe Dunning as The NEW Tool Time Girl Heidi Keppert

The series lasted 8 consecutive seasons and now, after 20 years since its debut, Home Improvement can now be seen on TBS and syndication

But what are the cast of Home Improvement up to these days?

That's the Question!

Here's the story:


Monday, October, 10, 2011, 8:10 PM

"Home Improvement" bid adieu after eight wildly successful, laugh-filled seasons over a decade ago, but the show's leading man -- Tim Allen -- is set to resurface on the small screen in ABC's new sitcom "Last Man Standing," which premieres October 11. Click through the slideshow to see what the former Tool Man and the Taylor clan are up to these days.



While living in Detroit in the early '80s, Tim Allen began his comedy career on a dare from a friend. While at Motor City's Comedy Castle, Allen started to cultivate his act: dissecting the differences between men and women. By the mid-'80s, Allen moved to Los Angeles and became a regular at the famed Comedy Store on Sunset Boulevard. Allen's crowd-pleasing performances caught the attention of Hollywood, earning him his own sitcom, "Home Improvement," which premiered on ABC in the fall of 1991. Following a well-deserved reign atop the ratings and seven consecutive People's Choice Awards for favorite male TV performer, the show ended in the spring of 1999. During his tenure on the series, Allen also starred in a handful of blockbuster films, including the first installment in the lucrative "Santa Clause" series and Pixar's first, groundbreaking motion picture, "Toy Story." Six months after leaving the scripted sitcom world, Allen starred in two additional box office hits, "Toy Story 2" and "Galaxy Quest." In the years since, he has had a few hits ("The Santa Clause 2," "Wild Hogs," "Toy Story 3") and a few misses ("Who Is Cletis Tout?," "Joe Somebody," "The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause"), and he returned to his roots as a stand-up comedian. In ABC's "Last Man Standing," Allen plays Mike Baxter, a guy's guy fighting to preserve his masculinity in a world dominated by the women in his life.



Before being cast as Tim's wife, Jill Taylor, Patricia Richardson had a successful stage career. When she embarked on a TV career, her first three series failed to connect with critics or viewers. NBC's "Double Trouble" (1984-1985) lasted less than two seasons, while CBS's 1988 dud "Eisenhower & Lutz" and NBC's equally absurd "FM" (1989-1990) lasted 13 episodes each. Fortunately for Richardson, she soon found herself on TV's top-rated program, "Home Improvement." She appeared in 203 of the show's 204 episodes, from 1991 until 1999. She was nominated four times for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series Emmy. Richardson has maintained a successful Hollywood career since the show wrapped. From 2002 to 2005, she headlined 59 episodes of Lifetime's hospital series "Strong Medicine," alongside Rosa Blasi. From 2005 to 2006, Richardson played Sen. Arnold Vinick's (Alan Alda) chief of staff on "The West Wing." During the past two years, Richardson has starred in the highly rated made-for-TV movies "The Jensen Project" and "Bringing Ashley Home," and she recently wrapped up shooting on another film, "Beautiful Wave," co-starring Aimee Teegarden of "Friday Night Lights."



Zachery Ty Bryan -- who turned 30 on October 9 -- was born and raised in Aurora, Colorado. After finding success as a young model, Bryan and his family moved to Los Angeles in the late '80s so he could pursue an acting career. TV ads quickly came his way, and within a few years he had secured the role of dimwitted Brad Taylor, Tim and Jill's eldest son, on "Home Improvement." During his time on the sitcom, Bryan also appeared in other primetime shows, such as "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air," and movies, including "First Kid." Unlike his TV brothers Jonathan Taylor Thomas and Taran Noah Smith, Bryan aggressively pursued acting after "Home Improvement," guest-starring in everything from "ER" to "Veronica Mars" to "Burn Notice." He also played Clay in the big-screen hit "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift." These days, the actor -- who married his wife, Carly, in 2007 -- keeps busy behind the scenes, running his own production company, Vision Entertainment Group.



Jonathan Taylor Thomas was living in Sacramento, California, when he started to book TV commercials for Mattel, Kellogg's, and Burger King. He and his family headed to Hollywood in search of bigger roles for Thomas. The year they arrived in Los Angeles, Thomas landed the role of Greg Brady's son, Kevin, in CBS's disastrous "Brady Bunch" continuation series, "The Bradys." Luckily for Thomas, the show ended and he soon won the role of Randy Taylor, Tim and Jill's middle son, on "Home Improvement." Thomas was also able to film a number of movies between 1991 and 1999, most notably Disney's 1994 blockbuster "The Lion King," which featured the then-13-year-old as the voice of Young Simba. With the releases of "Man of the House" and "Tom and Huck" in 1995, "The Adventures of Pinocchio" in 1996, and "Wild America" in 1997, he found himself gracing the covers of every teen magazine. But as JTT mania swept the nation, Thomas started to withdraw from Hollywood. He wanted to experience life away from a sound stage and -- to the shock of many -- he left "Home Improvement" at the start of the show's eighth and final season to pursue his education. In the years since, Thomas graduated from Columbia University and has appeared in a handful of shows, including "Ally McBeal," "Smallville," and "8 Simple Rules." Thomas has recently stated that he'd like to get back into acting and possibly try his hand at directing.



Taran Noah Smith was barely 7 when he landed his first (and only) major role as Tim and Jill Taylor's youngest son, Mark, on "Home Improvement." Smith was nominated for four Young Artist Awards, earning top honors in 1992 and 1994. Since the show ended, he has married and divorced a woman 16 years his senior, battled his parents in court for control of his multimillion-dollar trust fund, dropped out of USC film school, and started a vegan restaurant. Smith was in attendance at the 2009 TV Land Awards when "Home Improvement" was honored with the Fan Favorite trophy. He was also featured -- along with his former TV family -- in Entertainment Weekly's Reunion Issue, which hit newsstands only a few days ago.



After earning a drama degree from the University of Washington in 1979, Richard Karn moved to New York City. For the better part of the next decade, he appeared in numerous TV commercials (notably a Michelob beer spot during the 1980 Super Bowl) and a handful of Off-Broadway productions. Nearly 10 years later, Karn and his wife, Tudi, headed west. While attending traffic school in Los Angeles, Karn met a Hollywood agent who mentioned that a new show, "Home Improvement," was holding auditions. When another actor -- who had already been cast to play Tim Taylor's "Tool Time" assistant -- had to depart the production, Karn accepted the role of Al Borland. Life after "Home Improvement" has been kind to Karn, who -- in recent years -- has found considerable success as a game show host. From 2002 to 2006, he headlined a syndicated version of "Family Feud." Since 2008, he has hosted GSN's "Bingo America."



Long before he popped up behind a fence on "Home Improvement" as the Taylors' philosophical neighbor Wilson, Earl Hindman had carved out a rewarding career in Hollywood. In 1974, he starred in two successful thrillers, Joseph Sargent's "The Taking of Pelham One Two Three" and Alan J. Pakula's "The Parallax View." Less than a year later he began a long-running stint as police officer Bob Reid on ABC's "Ryan's Hope," appearing in 459 of the soap opera's 3,515 episodes between 1975 and 1989. After "Home Improvement," Hindman guest-starred in "Law & Order" and "Law & Order: Criminal Intent." He died of lung cancer in 2003. He was 61.



Pamela Anderson gained national attention when she landed on the cover of Playboy in October 1989. Soon she began dating former "Happy Days" idol Scott Baio, who in 1990 asked her to guest-star in his syndicated show, "Charles in Charge." The following year, the model-turned-actress appeared in "Home Improvement" as Lisa, the original "Tool Time" girl. But Anderson's star didn't soar until she assumed her next role as scantily-clad lifeguard C.J. Parker on "Baywatch," a show that would make Anderson a household name. At the height of her fame in the mid-'90s, she married Motley Crue rocker Tommy Lee and starred in the box office bomb "Barb Wire," but those missteps didn't stop casting agents from knocking down her door. In 1998, Anderson kicked off a successful, four-year run as the lead of her very own action series, "V.I.P." During this time, she became engaged and unengaged to model Marcus Schenkenberg and married and divorced musician Kid Rock. Since then, she has released a best-seller, voiced the lead character in the cartoon "Stripperella," starred in the failed Fox sitcom "Stacked," and allowed a documentary crew to capture her every move for E!'s "Pam: Girl on the Loose." More recently, Anderson partnered with Damian Whitewood on Season 10 of "Dancing With the Stars." These days she's busy raising her two teenage sons, Brandon and Dylan, making promotional appearances, and advocating for animal rights.



Debbe Dunning replaced Pamela Anderson as the new "Tool Time" girl in 1993. A native of Burbank, California, Dunning -- like Anderson -- started out as a model, appearing in ads for Miller Brewing Company, Foot Locker, and Taco Bell. During her 145-episode run on "Home Improvement" (between 1993 1999), she gained considerable notoriety, which led to the booking of additional commercials and the release of her own calendar. Dunning has appeared sporadically on TV since then, with spots on "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch" and MyNetworkTV's "Wicked Wicked Games." Currently, the 45-year-old is a spokesperson for a variety of consumer products.

credit: tv.yahoo.com

NOTE: When Home Improvement Debut in the Fall of '91, Full House moved to Tuesday Nights and it was followed by Home Improvement and both shows went head to head with CBS' Rescue 911 w/William Shatner and Season 5 of Full House and Season 1 of Home Improvement cracked the Nielsen Ratings Top 10 for the very 1st time

Home Improvement also had a TV Spin-off called Soul Man Starring the Soul Man Himself-Famed Comedian/Actor Dan Ackroyd

and for those of you that are wandering about their age:

Timothy Allen Dick better known as simply Tim Allen is 58, Patricia Castle Richardson is 60, Zachery Ty Bryan is 30, Jonathan Taylor Thomas whose real name is Jonathan Taylor Weiss is also 30, Taran Noah Smith is 27, Richard Karn Wilson better known as simply Richard Karn is 55, Pamela Denise Anderson is 44 and Debra Dunning is 45

Home Improvement and Soul Man are both Produced by Wind Dancer Productions, Inc. In Association With Touchstone Television and is Distributed by Buena Vista Television and later Disney/abc Domestic Television

and BTW, during the 91/92 Season, we were also introduced to The Golden Girls Spin-off Nurses Starring Stephanie Hodge and Arnetia Walker and Sisters Starring Swoosie Kurtz and Sela Ward and we were also introduced to Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?

and so, here's to 20 years of Home Improvement

and now, here's the Video Clip to all of the openings to Home Improvement

Check it out:

[retrofan05]

Richard Karn hasn't changed at all! LOL

[Blackout]

nope lol