Patricia Richardson: Tim Allen Has Been ‘Lying to People’ About a Home Improvement Revival

Tim Allen’s former sitcom wife is calling BS on the alleged Home Improvement revival.

Even before Fox pulled the plug on Last Man Standing in 2021, Allen spoke to TVLine about his desire to revive “The Tool Man” and check in with Tim Taylor’s family. “I just think it’s a marvelous idea,” he said at the time, adding: “All the actors think it’s a great idea.”

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But in a new podcast interview, Patricia Richardson — who for eight seasons played Tim Taylor’s better-half Jill — plainly states that she has no desire to reprise her Emmy-nominated role. What’s more, she accuses Allen of flat-out “lying to people” about a potential revival.

“No,” Richardson answers when asked on the Back to the Best podcast if she’d be interested in a comeback. “In fact, I think [that’s] the reason that Tim is now going on to do another show” — the ABC sitcom pilot Shifting Gears — “which is the same plot as Jungle Cruise and many of the movies that he’s done where he’s lost his kid, and he has to get his kid back. Yada, yada…. But I noticed this time, he doesn’t have a wife. He’s divorced.” (Editor’s Note: We believe Richardson is referring to the 1997 cinematic masterpiece Jungle 2 Jungle.)

“I would hear on Twitter (or whatever) that he was coming out publicly and saying this stuff about how everyone was on board to do a Home Improvement reunion,” she recalls. “But he never asked me, and he never asked Jonathan [Taylor Thomas, who played middle child Randy]. I called Jonathan one day and I said, ‘Has he asked you about this?’ And he went, ‘No. Why is he going around telling everyone that we’re on board when he hasn’t talked to you or me?’ I think that’s weird. He was lying to people and telling them that I was on board and I didn’t know anything about it.

“I would not want to,” Richardson reiterates. “I mean, Zach [Ty Bryan, who played oldest son Brad] is now a felon… Taran [Noah Smith, who played youngest son Mark] hasn’t acted since he left the show… Jonathan is not really interested in acting… and we don’t have Wilson. So if we did it without [the late] Earl [Hindman], and also we have just two kids — probably, if that — it’s not going to be the [same] show at all.” (TVLine has reached out to Allen’s rep for comment.)

Home Improvement Reunion Photos

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Home Improvement ran for eight seasons (and a total of 204 episodes) on ABC, from September 1991 to May 1999. During its run, it was nominated for seven Primetime Emmy Awards, including a nod for Outstanding Lead Actor (for Allen), four nods for Outstanding Lead Actress (for Richardson) and two nods for Outstanding Comedy Series.

When TVLine previously asked Allen about potentially reviving Home Improvement once Last Man Standing came to an end, he answered: “I always think about it, because I still talk to everybody involved. The question I have is, ‘Is it still relevant? Is Tim Taylor relevant in the Mike Baxter world?’ Because Mike Baxter is like a real version of Tim Taylor; he’s not such a joke. And the [Outdoor Man] vlogs are like Mike’s version of Tool Time done as a web series.”

As for how he’d like to see Home Improvement return? “I like the idea of doing it as a one-off, like a one-hour movie [versus a full-fledged revival series],” Allen said. “I like the idea of finding out where the boys are now, and where… Tool Time would be in today’s world.”

Allen previously reunited with Richardson, Thomas and Richard Karn on his second sitcom, Last Man Standing, which wrapped its nine-season run in 2021. That was followed by Disney+’s The Santa Clauses (which is still awaiting word on Season 3) and the ABC pilot Shifting Gears, which is being eyed for the 2024-25 TV season.

Watch Richardson give her full answer about a hypothetical Home Improvement revival below, then hit the comments with your reactions.

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