Tim Allen Throws Former ‘Home Improvement’ Co-Stars Under the Bus

So many shows have been rebooted in the last decade that you wouldn’t seem out of sorts for claiming that Hollywood doesn’t have any new ideas. That isn’t an absolute, of course, and plenty of creative types have forced La La Land to try new things on occasion, even if they have to trick them into doing so. Still, reboots and legasequels are undoubtedly popular. However, that doesn’t mean everything needs to be redone, and I think Home Improvement is a good example.

I enjoyed Home Improvement quite a bit when I was growing up! As one of three brothers, I happily watched my family dynamic represented onscreen (even if they had significantly more money than we did). Tim Allen also cracked me up pretty consistently, and by the time I was watching it, I also knew him as Buzz Lightyear. Still, it’s undoubtedly a product of its time, and there’s nothing to be gained by putting Tim the Toolman Taylor in the modern world, since he spent plenty of time complaining about the old one.

Such a switch could work! We’ve seen it done very successfully with King of the Hill, and one of the main reasons that the reboot worked is that it wasn’t afraid to let Hank Hill change in the years since his show went off the air. They were trying to strike new ground in a way that was true and respectful to the characters. Maybe I’m wrong, but given that Allen’s show Shifting Gears feels like what he would be doing if there were a new Home Improvement, it would be more of the same, so it’s best left on the shelf.

However, if you ask Allen, the show has returned because of those darn on-screen kids of his. The Galaxy Quest star was recently speaking with US Weekly and, when asked about why Home Improvement hasn’t been revived, he blamed Zachery Ty Bryan, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, and Taran Noah Smith, who played his kids in the show. According to Allen, “They keep talking about how it could move forward, but they get stuck [because] there are some personality problems right now with the boys.” This was part of a wide-ranging interview, but I think he could have been a bit more careful in his choice of words.

The “personality problems” he’s talking about? Well, Smith has just retired from acting, which seems like a pretty reasonable move to make. Taylor Thomas, after spending many of his formative years as a teen heartthrob, wants to write and direct. Good for him! Why not explore different aspects of your career? Neither of those things sounds like a problem. Zachary Ty Bryan, however, is currently serving time in prison for a DUI, which will be followed by another prison sentence for a domestic abuse conviction. Not good at all, but referring to it as a “personality problem” feels more than a bit dismissive.

“They’ve got their own issues,” Allen continued, lumping in two people who want to live different and/or normal lives with a criminal. “I always thought it would be cool if it was a story about them. That’s a little challenging right now, to put it mildly.” We’ll keep that in mind, Tim.