Is A Home Improvement Reboot On The Table? What Tim Allen Has Said About Bringing Back The Series

One of the most popular sitcoms of the 1990s, "Home Improvement" ran for eight seasons on ABC, welcoming viewers into the home of Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor, his wife, Jill, and their three sons. After other '90s shows like "Malcolm in the Middle" and "Full House" have gotten their own reunions, fans of "Home Improvement" have been hoping they could see the Taylors together again. But according to Allen, fans shouldn't hold their breath. Talking to Us Weekly, Allen opened up about the main problem that would keep a "Home Improvement" sequel series from happening, explaining that "There are some personality problems right now with the boys. They've got their own issues." 

The primary issue that Tim Allen was alluding to is the personal life of Zachery Ty Bryan, who played the oldest of the three Taylor boys. The former TV star has faced a number of legal issues, starting in 2020 when he was arrested in Oregon on assault charges. In March 2026, Bryan was sentenced to 19 months behind bars for violating his parole. On top of that, Taran Noah Smith, who played Mark Taylor, walked away from acting and ended up in court in 2002, battling his parents for the $1.5 million he made on the hit show. And while "Home Improvement" turned him into a teen idol, Jonathan Taylor Thomas has since stepped away from the spotlight. Now an adult, Thomas did come out of his semi-retirement in 2015 to join his TV mom Patrica Richardson in a semi-reunion on Allen's show "Last Man Standing," however. Richardson is also a major hurdle that a "Home Improvement" reunion would need to overcome.

Before he said that there wasn't going to be a "Home Improvement" reunion anytime soon, Tim Allen was openly discussing what a sequel series would look like. In 2023, Allen told The Messenger (via Taste of Country) that talks had been happening, "It's funny, one of the conversations we've had recently is how weird it would be if 'Home Improvement' would be about their kids' kids. Like if all of them had children, and then I'm a grandparent. 'Home Re-Improvement' or something like that." But his former TV wife, Patrica Richardson, has made it clear she would not return to the show. Richardson appeared on the "Back to the Best" podcast in 2024 to squash any rumors about her involvement in a possible reunion, saying "We've all changed quite a bit, I think, since then, and the show would just be ... it would be very weird." 

The former TV mom also holds a bit of a grudge against the show, and was the primary reason "Home Improvement" was canceled after eight seasons. Along with becoming a single mom after divorcing her husband and wanting to spend more time with her children, Richardson was angry about the pay gap between her and Allen, telling the Los Angeles Times "I'd been there all this time, and they never even paid me a third of what Tim was making, and I was working my a** off. I was a big reason why women were watching." While the studio refused to match what Richardson wanted, they also knew the show wouldn't work with her and decided to end it instead of trying to recast the role or write the character out.