Home Improvement | |
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Series logo as it appears on the cover of its video game tie-in | |
Created by | Carmen Finestra David McFadzean Matt Williams |
Based on | The stand-up comedy of Tim Allen |
Starring | Tim Allen Patricia Richardson Earl Hindman Taran Noah Smith Jonathan Taylor Thomas Zachery Ty Bryan Richard Karn Debbe Dunning |
Theme music composer | Dan Foliart |
Opening theme | 'Iron John's Rock' |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language(s) | English |
No. of seasons | 8 |
No. of episodes | 204 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producer(s) | Carmen Finestra David McFadzean Matt Williams(entire run) Bob Bendetson (Seasons 3–5) Elliot Shoenman (Seasons 3–8) Bruce Ferber (Season 4, Episode 6–Season 8) Charlie Hauck(Seasons 6–7) Tim Allen (Seasons 6–8) Laurie Gelman(Season 8) |
Producer(s) | Gayle S. Maffeo (entire run) Alan Padula (Seasons 4–8) John Pasquin(Seasons 1–2) |
Production location(s) | Walt Disney Studios Burbank, California |
Editor(s) | Marco Zappia(entire run) James Spach (Season 8) Richard Russell (Season 6–7) Roger Ames Berger (Seasons 3–5) Alex Gimenez (Seasons 1–2) |
Camera setup | Videotape; Multi-camera |
Running time | 22 minutes |
Production company(s) | Wind Dancer Productions Touchstone Television |
Distributor | Buena Vista Television |
Release | |
Original network | ABC |
Picture format | 480i (SDTV) |
Original release | September 17, 1991 – May 25, 1999 |
External links | |
Website |
Character | Actor/Actress | Episodes | Season |
---|---|---|---|
Timothy 'Tim' Taylor | Tim Allen | (204 episodes, 1991–1999) | starring seasons 1-8 |
Jillian 'Jill' Taylor | Patricia Richardson | (204 episodes, 1991–1999) | starring seasons 1–8 |
Bradley Michael 'Brad' Taylor | Zachery Ty Bryan | (202 episodes, 1991–1999) | starring seasons 1–8 |
Randall William 'Randy' Taylor | Jonathan Taylor Thomas | (177 episodes, 1991–1998) | starring seasons 1–8 (until episode 3, guest star thereafter) |
Marcus 'Mark' Taylor | Taran Noah Smith | (201 episodes, 1991–1999) | starring seasons 1–8 |
Wilson W. Wilson, Jr. | Earl Hindman | (202 episodes, 1991–1999) | starring seasons 1–8 |
Albert 'Al' Borland | Richard Karn | (201 episodes, 1991–1999) | recurring season 1; starring seasons 2–8 |
Heidi Keppert | Debbe Dunning | (148 episodes, 1993–1999) | recurring seasons 3–6; starring seasons 7–8 |
Character | Actor/Actress | Episodes | Season |
---|---|---|---|
Martin 'Marty' Taylor | William O'Leary | (30 episodes, 1994–1999) | 4–8 |
Harry Turner | Blake Clark | (24 episodes, 1994–1999) | 4–8 |
Lisa | Pamela Anderson | (23 episodes, 1991–1993, 1997) | 1–2, 6 |
Benny Baroni | Jimmy Labriola | (16 episodes, 1994–1999) | 3–8 |
Dr. Ilene Markham | Sherry Hursey | (16 episodes, 1993–1997) | 3–6 |
Pete Bilker | Mickey Jones | (13 episodes, 1991–1999) | 1–8 |
Dwayne Hoover | Gary McGurk | (11 episodes, 1991–1999) | 1–8 |
Rock Flanagan | Casey Sander | (10 episodes, 1991–1999) | 1–8 |
Trudy McHale | Megan Cavanagh | (5 episodes, 1998–1999) | 7–8 |
College or University | City (of main Campus) | Episode | Season |
---|---|---|---|
Albion College | Albion | My Dinner with Wilson | 4 |
Alpena Community College | Alpena | Engine and a Haircut, Two Fights[16] | 5 |
Aquinas College | Grand Rapids | Crazy For You [17] | 3 |
Baker College | Flint Township | No Place Like Home[18] | 6 |
Bay College | Escanaba | Her Cheatin' Mind[19] | 5 |
Calvin College | Grand Rapids | Eve of Construction[20] | 3 |
Central Michigan University | Mount Pleasant | Blow-Up[21] | 3 |
Cleary University | Howell | You're Driving Me Crazy, You're Driving Me Nuts | 2 |
Cornerstone University | Grand Rapids | Talk to Me[22] | 4 |
Davenport University | Grand Rapids | Room Without a View[23] | 5 |
Eastern Michigan University | Ypsilanti | To Build or Not to Build[24] | 2 |
Let Them Eat Cake[25] | 5 | ||
Believe It Or Not[26] | 7 | ||
Ferris State University | Big Rapids | Be True to Your Tool[27] | 3 |
Grand Valley State University | Allendale | What You See is What You Get[28] | 3 |
Henry Ford Community College | Dearborn | A House Divided | 4 |
Hillsdale College | Hillsdale | The Naked Truth[29] | 4 |
Hope College | Holland | Talk to Me | 4 |
Shopping Around[30] | 5 | ||
Kalamazoo College | Kalamazoo | When Harry Kept Delores | 5 |
Kellogg Community College | Battle Creek | Future Shock[31] | 6 |
Jill and Her Sisters[32] | 6 | ||
Lake Michigan College | Benton Township | Eye on Tim | 5 |
Lake Superior State University | Sault Sainte Marie | Brother, Can You Spare A Hot Rod[33] | 4 |
Lawrence Tech | Southfield | High School Confidential[34] | 5 |
Madonna University | Livonia | Oh, Brother[35] | 5 |
Marygrove College | Detroit | The Route of All Evil[36] | 4 |
Michigan State University | East Lansing | Frozen Moments[37] | 3 |
It Was the Best of Tims, It Was the Worst of Tims[38] | 3 | ||
Michigan Tech | Houghton | A Hardware Habit to Break[39] | 8 |
Mott Community College | Flint | Wilson's World[40] | 6 |
Northwood University | Midland | A Sew, Sew Evening[41] | 3 |
Northern Michigan University | Marquette | Swing Time[42] | 3 |
Northwestern Michigan College | Traverse City | Chicago Hope[43] | 5 |
Oakland University | Rochester Hills | Slip Slidin' Away[44] | 3 |
Owens Community College | Toledo, Ohio | The Wood, the Bad and the Hungry[45] | 6 |
Saginaw Valley State University | University Center | The Eyes Don't Have It[46] | 4 |
University of Michigan | Ann Arbor | Borland Ambition | 4 |
Super Bowl Fever[47] | 4 | ||
A Marked Man | 4 | ||
Advise and Repent[48] | 5 | ||
The Vasectomy One | 5 | ||
Family Un-Ties[49] | 6 | ||
An Older Woman[50] | 7 | ||
Room at the Top[51] | 7 | ||
Walsh College | Troy | Dollars and Sense[52] | 3 |
Wayne State | Detroit | Olde Shoppe Teacher[53] | 4 |
Burnin' Love[54] | 6 | ||
Western Michigan University | Kalamazoo | It Was the Best of Tims, It Was the Worst of Tims[55] | 3 |
That's My Momma | 5 | ||
Future Shock[56] | 6 | ||
A Night to Dismember[57] | 7 | ||
Taylor Got Game[58] | 8 | ||
Wofford College | Spartanburg, South Carolina | Workshop 'Til You Drop[59] | 6 |
Season | Episodes | Originally aired | Nielsen ratings[69] | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
First aired | Last aired | Rank | Rating | Tied with | ||||
1 | 24 | September 17, 1991 | May 5, 1992 | 4 | 17.5 | Cheers | ||
2 | 25 | September 16, 1992 | May 19, 1993 | 3 | 19.4 | N/A | ||
3 | 25 | September 15, 1993 | May 25, 1994 | 2 | 20.4 | N/A | ||
4 | 26 | September 20, 1994 | May 23, 1995 | 3 | 19.5 | N/A | ||
5 | 26 | September 19, 1995 | May 21, 1996 | 7 | 16.1 | N/A | ||
6 | 25 | September 17, 1996 | May 20, 1997 | 9 | 14.0 | N/A | ||
7 | 25 | September 23, 1997 | May 19, 1998 | 10 | 12.0 | Frasier | ||
8 | 28 | September 22, 1998 | May 25, 1999 | 10 | 11.0 | N/A |
DVD Name | Ep# | Release dates | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Region 1 | Region 2 (Germany) | Region 4 | ||
The Complete First Season | 24 | November 23, 2004 | July 14, 2005 | June 28, 2005 |
The Complete Second Season | 25 | June 7, 2005 | October 13, 2005 | July 20, 2005 |
The Complete Third Season | 25 | November 22, 2005 | January 12, 2006 | January 16, 2006 |
The Complete Fourth Season | 25 | June 6, 2006 | December 6, 2007 | December 5, 2007 |
The Complete Fifth Season | 26 | November 14, 2006 | March 6, 2008 | April 2, 2008 |
The Complete Sixth Season | 25 | May 15, 2007 | November 13, 2008 | December 3, 2008 |
The Complete Seventh Season | 25 | August 7, 2007 | April 2, 2009 | March 18, 2009 |
The Complete Eighth Season | 28 | June 10, 2008 | August 13, 2009 | December 2, 2009 |
20th Anniversary Complete Collection | 204 | May 10, 2011 | N/A | N/A |
Richardson was offered $25 million to do a ninth season; Allen was offered double that. The two declined, and Home Improvement ended after eight seasons and 203 episodes.
Tim originally envisioned the show as This Old House combined with a Myrna Loy-type wife to a William Powell-type husband from 'The Thin Man' movies from the forties.
Vila: The Disney people contacted me before Home Improvement premiered. I think there was some concern in the legal department about whether I was being ripped off. The fact is, it’s a sitcom based on me and Norm, you know?
In the mid-1990s the ABC sitcom Home Improvement featured Tim Allen as a bumbling version of Bob Vila and Richard Karn as his able, flannel-clad assistant, a thinly veiled Norm Abram.
Colleges and universities in Michigan sent Tim sweaters and T-shirts to wear on the air, and he did.
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