Frasier Reboot Almost Here, But This Is The Sitcom That Needs A Revival
It’s time to address the elephant in the room and recognize that Tim Allen has had a desire to reboot Home Improvement for a long time now. And with 90s sitcoms like Frasier and That 70s Show seeing their own revivals, maybe it’s time to see Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor strap on the tool belt one more time and bring Binford power tools back into the mix.
It goes without saying that the Frasier reboot won’t be the same without Niles or Marty, but in the case of Home Improvement, most of the cast is still actively working, and there have been hints at a revival over the past several years.
This October, we get to see Frasier Krane return to Boston for the Frasier reboot, but another popular 90s sitcom is also deserving of a revival, and that’s Tim Allen’s Home Improvement.
If you’ve ever watched Tim Allen’s most recent sitcom, Last Man Standing, you already know that there have been a number of cameos from former Home Improvement stars, including Patricia Richardson, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, and even Richard Karn.
Last Man Standing centers on Tim Allen’s Mike Baxter, who has three daughters instead of sons, but boasts similar beats to the hit 90s sitcom that simply can’t be ignored. In Frasier’s case, David Hyde Pierce has stated that he doesn’t want to revisit a past character he’s played, but in the case of Home Improvement, it’s evident that much of the cast wants to go back and revisit the glory days.
Tim Allen has stated that he’d love to explore what life would be like on the Home Improvement storyline if all of the Taylor boys have grown up.
Just like Frasier’s original run had several cameos from Cheers cast members, Last Man Standing loved to revisit Home Improvement whenever the opportunity presented itself.
In fact, Patricia Richardson had several cameos in the later seasons of Last Man Standing as Baxter’s neighbor, Helen Potts. Without directly saying it, it’s made clear that Potts is recently divorced after eight years of marriage (Home Improvement had eight seasons), and has a son named Randy who is portrayed by Jonathan Taylor Thomas himself. What’s more, Potts often alludes to the fact that her husband was an accident-prone handy man who often set things on fire.
Though the Frasier reboot is slated for an October 12 reboot on Paramount+, we’ve already seen what can be considered an informal “Tool Time” revival on the History Channel called Assembly Required. This do-it-yourself game show involves both Tim Allen and Richard Karn (Al Borland from Home Improvement) sitting in a setting that bears a striking resemblance to “Tool Time,” which was the fictional show-within-a-show on Home Improvement.
Each episode shows us three contestants who are tasked with using their own personal workshops to modify old appliances into flamethrowers and lawn-mowing easy chairs, and the banter and chemistry between Allen and Karn clearly came from their eight years working together on Home Improvement.
It goes without saying that the Frasier reboot won’t be the same without Niles or Marty, but in the case of Home Improvement, most of the cast is still actively working.
But just like Frasier, everybody from the Home Improvement cast has grown older, and an unfortunate reality is that Earl Hindman who famously portrayed Tim Taylor’s neighbor Wilson passed away in 2003. But since Wilson never truly showed his face in the series, there’s room for creative liberties on that front, or they can just reboot the series without the Taylor family’s knowledgeable neighbor making an appearance.
Tim Allen has said himself that he’d love to reboot the iconic series. The Frasier reboot will show us a grown up version of Frasier’s son, Frederick, and Allen has stated that he’d love to explore what life would be like on the Home Improvement storyline if all of the Taylor boys have grown up as well. If Allen didn’t have to commit his time to 10 seasons of Last Man Standing we could have very well seen a reboot years ago. It even got to the point where everybody was talking about reviving the series, but the timing just wasn’t right for everybody involved despite their willingness to give it another go.
