See the Cast of ‘Home Improvement’ Then and Now [Pictures]
Entertainment in the '90s was dominated by television sitcoms. Every evening, families would tune in to shows about American families — families like their own. The content was lighthearted and funny, and each episode included a lesson oozing with good family values.
For eight seasons, Home Improvement ran on ABC. The show premiered on Sept. 17, 1991, and aired 204 episodes until the finale on May 25, 1999. Based on the standup comedy of Tim Allen, the show focused on a fictional Detroit-based family: Tim Taylor (Tim Allen), his wife Jill (Patricia Richardson) and their three sons Brad (Zachery Ty Bryan), Randy (Jonathan Taylor Thomas) and Mark (Taran Noah Smith).
Tim Taylor is a local television personality who hosts a show called Tool Time alongside his co-host Al Borland (Richard Karn). Despite his know-it-all attitude, he's not the most knowledgeable or safety-minded tool man. In fact, he's quite accident prone. Cue humorous accidents.
Home Improvement centers around the lives of the Taylor family and their typical ups and downs: Brad is a jock who tends to get in trouble a lot, as does Randy, but his tactics are more calculated than Brad's. The youngest son, Mark, is a big mama's boy. With three boys and an adventure-seeking, power tool enthusiast father, what could possibly go wrong?
Tim tends to stick his foot in his mouth often, which leads him to seek the sage advice of their next-door neighbor, Wilson Wilson Jr. The humor of Wilson is that the audience never actually sees his entire face — it's just his eyes that peek over the fence.
The show launched the acting careers of many cast members, including Allen, Richardson, Bryan and Thomas. It also put Pamela Anderson in the spotlight after she appeared on the first two seasons. Allen would later reprise his role and bring back much of the cast for a mini reunion on his more modern show, Last Man Standing.
During it's eight-year run, the beloved Home Improvement consistently finished among the Top 10-rated sitcoms. The show won several awards, and its finale was one of the most-watched television finales of the decade.
Complete seasons of Home Improvement are now available to stream on Hulu.