Disney DVD Request: "Home Improvement: The Complete Series"

[stevearino]

Dear To Whom It May Concern,

I have a proposal for The Walt Disney Company: in honor of its impending 30th Anniversary next year (2021), it's my humble suggestion that Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment (bannered as "Disney") issue, for the first time EVER on Blu Ray, "Home Improvement: The Complete Series," showcasing all 204 half-hour episodes of the hit '90s Disney sitcom "Home Improvement" 100% Complete, 100% Uncut, AND 100% Unedited, just the way that each episode originally aired on the ABC Television Network, with each episode lovingly restored from the original ABC Network Prints.

For those unfamiliar with the show (doubtful, but just in case), here's the inside information.

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

During the Summer of 1990, Tim starred in his own Showtime cable network stand-up special known as "Men are Pigs," a special that attracted the attention of then-Disney CEO Mike Eisner and his right-hand man, Jeff Katzenberg, at The Walt Disney Company, both of whom offered Tim his own TV sitcom on the spot; joining Tim in the cast by January 1991 for the sitcom pilot ("Hammer Time," named after M.C. Hammer, which eventually became "Home Improvement" by Spring 1991) were a slew of veteran actors and performers--among them veteran actress Pat Richardson as Tim's wife of 12 years, Jill, with whom Tim had 3 boys--Brad (Zachery Bryan), age 9, Randy (Jonathan Thomas), age 6, and Mark (Taran Smith), age 6; Earl Hindman as Wilson Wilson, Jr., Taylor family neighbor who often offered Tim advice whenever Tim had a problem (usually with Jill); and future "Baywatch" babe Pam Anderson as Binford "Tool Girl" Lisa (later replaced by Debbe Dunning as Heidi, the new "Tool Girl," when Pam left after the 2nd season).

The Pilot for "Home Improvement" was Videotaped at Stage 4 at The Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California on April 19, 1991 and was immediately picked up by ABC (itself eventually owned by Disney) for the Fall 1991 TV season; shortly afterwards, a tabloid threatened a major revelation about Tim Allen's past: in October 1978 (per his "E! True Hollywood Story" episode originally telecast in 2005), Tim, then age 25, was arrested for attempting to sell Cocaine at a local Kalamazoo, Michigan airport, pleading Guilty to criminal charges in connection with the arrest; while awaiting sentencing, in early 1979, Tim worked at a local sporting goods store, and later that year made his stand-up comedy debut on a dare.

9 months later, in November 1979, a local Michigan judge sentenced Tim to a maximum of 8 years in Prison, to be served at Sandstone Federal Prison in Minnesota, during which Tim was a Model Prisoner, eventually paroled in March 1982 after 28 months (2 1/2 years) behind bars; upon his release from Prison, Tim worked full-time at a local Detroit ad agency, as well as having worked briefly as a Commercial Male Model for local Print Ads e.g. AT&T.

While working by day at the agency, Tim spent his nights pursuing stand-up comedy, eventually marrying college sweetheart Laura Deibel in early 1984; in December 1984, just before Christmas, Tim and Laura became 1st-time parents to a girl, Katherine Deibel "Kady" Dick.

Meanwhile, on September 17, 1991 at 8 P.M. ET on ABC (right after the Season 5 debut of "Full House"), "Home Improvement" made its series debut and immediately climbed to the top of the ratings, eventually tied with NBC/Paramount Television's "Cheers" at #4 in the Nielsens by year's end.

For its 2nd season, ABC moved "Home Improvement" to Wednesday nights at 9 P.M. ET opposite the then-struggling NBC/Castle Rock Entertainment sitcom "Seinfeld," with "Home" regularly beating "Seinfeld" in the ratings to the point where midseason, NBC moved "Seinfeld" to Thursday nights at 9 P.M. ET just to give it a chance--a move making "Seinfeld" an eternal classic forevermore.

Meanwhile, in 1994, "Home Improvement" moved back to Tuesday nights that September--this time at 9 P.M. ET for the next 4 years, during which time Disney's Buena Vista Television began Syndicating the show to local Independent Stations via reruns of earlier episodes with an all-new first-run syndication episode telecast on September 11, 1995 that was later included on the ABC Network lineup in early 1996; in September 1998, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, by this time a bona-fide teen idol, decided to leave "Home Improvement" to focus on his real-life Education Career, making his final regular appearance on September 29, 1998 with his character Randy written out of the show by relocating for a year to Costa Rica as an exchange student; Thomas returned twice after his departure, first for the 1998 Holiday episode when Randy was furloughed for the Holidays from Costa Rica and again via clip and blooper footage for the 2-Hour Series Finale in May 1999.

On January 11, 1999, after both he and Pat Richardson turned down an offer for a 9th and final season, Tim Allen announced that Season 8 of "Home Improvement" would be its last; ABC celebrated with a 2-Hour Series Finale telecast on May 25, 1999 at 8 P.M. ET (with several ABC stations airing the Season 3 "Spin City" finale at 9:30 P.M. ET that night). In the 2-Hour Finale, among other things, Tim quit "Tool Time" after 10 years after a heated discussion with new boss Morgan Wandell (Danny Zorn); Jill was offered a Psychology position in Bloomington, Indiana; and Al got married to divorcee Trudy (Megan Cavanagh) after a season-long courtship, after which Tim and Jill jacked up their house, taking it with them to their Bloomington property.

In the years since, reruns have continued to thrive in Syndication, as well as on U.S. Cable channels e.g. Nickelodeon, TV Land, CMT, and Up TV, as well as the Digital OTA network Laff; tentatively, Disney shall release "Home Improvement: The Complete Series" on Blu Ray on September 8, 2020 at a cost of only $99.99 wherever Home Video is sold in a Blu Ray box set, as well as all 8 individual seasons the same day for those who can't afford the box set; though Disney has issued between 2004 and 2008 all 8 seasons on DVD, the Studio has yet to issue the series on Blu Ray, hence why I believe that should change this Fall to commemorate "Home Improvement's" 30 years.

Many a guest star appeared on "Home Improvement" over the course of its original ABC run--among them Bob Vila (of course) in 3 appearances playing himself as a recurring guest-star; Jay Leno (twice), both as a local car dealer named Jay and as himself as the "Tonight Show" host; Mario and Michael Andretti; the Al Unser trio (Al Unser, Al Unser, Jr. and Al Richard Unser, respectively); and (albeit uncredited in the "Home Improvement" episode "What About Bob?" with Bob Vila) Kirk Cameron and Ken Ober (both of whom appeared in the "Tool Time" audience in the said episode).

"Home Improvement" was produced by Wind Dancer Productions, Inc. in association with Walt Disney Television and is Distributed and Syndicated by Disney's Buena Vista Television; on a personal note, I'd love it if, for the Complete Series boxset on Blu Ray, a plethora's worth of exclusive Bonus Features were included--among them a tribute to Earl Hindman (who died of Lung Cancer in 2003 at age 61 after a 6-month battle with the disease), with his surviving "Home Improvement" cast members offering their fond remembrances of Earl e.g. Tim Allen and Pat Richardson among them.

Sincerely,
Steve Arino

[MA]

There’s already a 20th Anniversary Complete Collection.

[MA]

I'm locking this thread.