More than 25 years later, The Tool Man is attempting to make an onscreen Taylor family reunion happen.
Tim Allen recently gave an update on a potential Home Improvement followup, noting that the actors who played his sons on the 1991-’99 ABC sitcom are too preoccupied dealing with “their own issues” to reprise their roles.
“They keep talking about how it could move forward, but they get stuck [because] there are some personality problems right now with the boys,” Allen told Us Weekly. “They’ve got their own issues. 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.”
Allen’s comments come as Zachery Ty Bryan, who played his oldest son Brad, is currently serving 16 months in a California prison, due to several probation violations, after which he is sentenced to 19 months in an Oregon prison. Bryan was arrested on his second felony DUI charge in 2024, followed by a second-degree domestic violence charge in 2025.
Meanwhile, actress Patricia Richardson, who played Tim’s wife Jill, has said their onscreen son Jonathan Taylor Thomas “hasn’t acted since he left the show,” in which he played middle child Randy. “He’s not an actor anymore. Jonathan’s not really interested in acting, he wants to direct and write,” she explained on the Back to the Best podcast in 2024.
Zachery Ty Bryan, Patricia Richardson, Taran Noah Smith, Tim Allen and Jonathan Taylor Thomas in ‘Home Improvement’ (Bob D’Amico/Touchstone Television/Courtesy Everett Collection)
Taran Noah Smith, who played youngest son Mark, hasn’t appeared onscreen since the 1999 season finale either.
Richardson noted “it was so weird” hearing Allen say in the press that the cast was all onboard for the reboot, despite him never coming to her, noting she “would not want to” return regardless.
In 2023, Allen said that he and his onscreen sons “keep talking” about a potential offshoot that would be in the vein of Fuller House.
“It’s funny, one of the conversations we’ve had recently is how weird it would be if Home Improvement would be about the kids’ kids,” Allen told The Messenger. “Like if all of them had children, and I’m a grandparent. Home Re-Improvement or something like that. It’s come up.”
Despite the cast not being secured for a reboot, Home Improvement stars Richardson, Richard Karn and Debbe Dunning reunited with Allen on Season 2 of ABC’s Shifting Gears.
