25 Years of "Home Improvement"

[bengay]

Frankly, I find this hard to believe, but this Fall (September 17) will mark 25 years since the debut of Disney's hit sitcom "Home Improvement" on ABC.

That being said, in light of this impending anniversary, yours truly is proud to present a COMPLETE Showography of Walt Disney Television's longest-running sitcom in Disney history (as far as number of episodes are concerned: 204).

The year is 1990. George H.W. Bush, age 66, is U.S. President; the War of the Gulf is in full effect; and stand-up comedian Timothy Allen "Tim" Dick (born on June 13, 1953 in Denver, Colorado) is the hottest comedy ticket in America.

During the Summer of 1990, veteran TV producers Matt Williams, David McFadzean & Carmen Finestra (who all met as staff writers for Bill Cosby on his '80s Carsey-Werner Productions sitcom juggernaut "The Cosby Show") conceived and created a situation comedy pilot for The Walt Disney Company titled "Hammer Time," a parody of Bob Vila's "This Old House" on Steroids.

Upon Disney Chairman Michael Eisner's suggestion, the trio of producers re-tooled the sitcom as a vehicle for Tim, eventually re-naming the series "Home Improvement." Joining Tim in the cast by January 1991 were a slew of veteran and character actors, including Patricia Richardson (born on February 23, 1951 in Bethesda, Maryland) as Tim's wife of 12 years, Jill Taylor; 9-year-old Zachery Bryan (born on October 9, 1981 in Aurora, Colroado) as Tim's eldest son, Brad; 9-year-old Jonathan Thomas (born Jonathan Taylor Weiss on September 8, 1981 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania) as middle son Randy; and 6-year-old Taran Smith (born on April 8, 1984 in San Francisco, California) as youngest son Mark, along with veteran stage actor Rick Karn (born Richard Karn Wilson on February 17, 1956 in Seattle, Washington) as Tim's "Tool Time" sidekick, Albert "Al" Borland, and character actor Earl Hindman (born on October 20, 1942 in Bisbee, Arizona; died on December 29, 2003 in Stamford, Connecticut of Lung Cancer) as Taylor neighbor Wilson.

The pilot was taped on April 19, 1991 at Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California and was immediately picked up by execs at the ABC Television Network for the Fall 1991 TV season; soon afterwards, a major tabloid was threatening to reveal something MAJOR about Tim's real-life past.

In October 1978, Tim, then aged 25, was arrested for attempting to sell Cocaine to an undercover cop at a local Airport; Tim pled Guilty to the criminal charges against him and cooperated with authorities, and while awaiting sentencing, Tim worked at a local Sporting Goods store and began straightening himself out. In November 1979, 9 months after his Guilty plea, Tim was sentenced to a Maximum of 7 years in Prison, serving that sentence at the Sandstone Federal Prison in Minnesota; fortunately, Tim was a Model Prisoner, released in March 1982 after serving 2 1/2 years in Prison.

In early 1984, after a 10-year Courtship, Tim married his college sweetheart, Laura Deibel, and in December 1984, just before Christmas, they became parents to a daughter, Katherine Deibel "Kady" Dick.

Tim briefly worked as a Commercial Male Model before finding work at a local Detroit ad agency, working as a stand-up comic on the side whenever he could--a career that led Tim eventually to "Home Improvement."

Tim decided rather than allow the tabloid to reveal the information about his past, to come forward with the info himself; the positive spin worked.

On September 17, 1991 at 8 P.M. ET/PT, right after "Full House," moving from Friday nights to Tuesday nights that season, "Home Improvement" made its debut on the ABC Television Network and became the #1 rated show, eventually tying with NBC/Paramount's "Cheers" at #4 in the Nielsen ratings at the end of its debut season.

In September 1992, ABC moved "Home Improvement" to Wednesday nights at 9 P.M. ET/PT opposite the struggling NBC/Castle Rock Entertainment sitcom "Seinfeld"; by mid-season, ratings for "Seinfeld" were so low, NBC moved "Seinfeld" from Wednesday nights at 9 to Thursday nights at 9 just to give it a chance--a move making "Seinfeld" the classic it forever is today.

Meanwhile, in September 1994, ABC moved "Home Improvement" to Tuesday nights at 9 P.M. ET/PT, and ratings continued to improve.

In August 1995, The Walt Disney Company announced its acquisition of the ABC Television Network and corporate subsidiary ABC Productions from its previous owner, the independent firm Capital Cities; the next month, on September 11, 1995, "Home Improvement" aired a very special episode, "Tanks for the Memories," exclusively in first-run Syndication to coincide with the show's entering Syndication by Disney's Buena Vista Television brand.

In August 1998, Jonathan Thomas, by this time age 16, announced he was leaving "Home Improvement" to concentrate on his real-life college studies, eventually graduating from Harvard in 2004 and resuming his acting career.

Jonathan's character, Randy, was subsequently written out of the show by spending a year in Costa Rick as a foreign exchange student.

On January 11, 1999, at the annual People's Choice Awards that year, Tim Allen announced that Season 8 of "Home Improvement" would be its last.

The decision was made to end "Home Improvement" after 8 years because Tim Allen and Patricia Richardson had BOTH turned down an offer to do a 9th and final season; ABC celebrated its 8-year success by airing a 2-hour Series Finale telecast on May 25, 1999 at 8 P.M. ET/PT.

4 months later, on September 7, 1999, Walt Disney Home Video released the "Home Improvement" finale on VHS Tape, with 10 minutes of Bonus Features not included on the original airdate of the finale, totaling the VHS to 90 minutes; since then, reruns have continued to thrive in rerun syndication.

TBS, WGN, Nickelodeon, TV Land and most recently Hallmark Channel have also aired reruns of "Home Improvement," proving its long-lasting Eternity as one of the longest-running family sitcoms in prime-time network TV history.

"Home Improvement" was produced by Wind Dancer Productions, Inc. in association with Walt Disney Television.

"Home Improvement" is Distributed by Buena Vista Television.

[JO Sweet Heart]

To me, this show is one of the best that has ever been put out there.

God bless you always!!!

Holly

[tooltime1987]

I hope Hallmark Channel will do a Home Improvement marathon to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the series this September.

[Itat1951]

Great show!