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“Home Improvement” star Taran Noah Smith sheds new light on why the hit 1990s sitcom ended.
The 42-year-old former actor was seven years old when he landed the role of Mark Taylor, the youngest son of Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor (Tim Allen) and his wife Jill Taylor (Patricia Richardson) in 1991.
The sitcom, based on Allen’s stand-up comedy persona, centered on Tim, a television host known for his home improvement show, “Tool Time”, and his family life with Jill, Mark and his older sons Brad (Zachery Ty Bryan) and Randy (Jonathan Taylor Thomas).
“Home Improvement” star Taran Noah Smith explained why the hit sitcom ended. (Patricia Richardson Instagram/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images)
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“Home Improvement” became one of the highest-rated shows of the 90s and lasted for eight seasons and aired 204 episodes. However, the series ended in 1999 after Richardson declined to return for a proposed ninth season.
During a recent appearance on Tom Scharpling and Julia Vickerman’s “Outgrown” podcast, Smith reflected on his time on the show and weighed in on the reasons for Richardson’s departure.
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Smith recalled that Richardson joined the cast as Jill just days before the pilot was to be recorded after producers replaced Frances Fisher, the actress originally cast as Tim’s wife, during rehearsals.
“Home Improvement” was one of the highest-rated shows of the 1990s and ran for eight seasons from 1991 to 1998. (ABC Photo Archive/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images)
“When they brought in Patricia, there was a lot better chemistry,” he said. “And she had a child of her own. She had just given birth to twins and she had an older child who was about my age. She really brought a lot more realistic maternal energy to it, and she fought throughout the series to keep the show more realistic.”
“She would tell the writers, ‘A mother would never say that,’ and make them change it,” he added.
Smith said he was “all in” with Richardson’s input, although he acknowledged that he and the show’s other child stars weren’t really involved in conversations about the storyline.
“They would go through the script on Monday and then the kids would usually go to school and continue discussing the script,” he said.
Smith recalled that there were creative disagreements on set after a new creative team replaced the show’s original writers and producers.
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The show followed television host Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor (Tim Allen) and his family life with his wife Jill Taylor (Patricia Richardson) and sons Brad (Zachery Ty Bryan), Randy (Jonathan Taylor Thomas) and Mark (Taran Noah Smith). (Getty)
“The original creators only did the first two seasons, then they moved on and brought in a whole different group of writers/producers,” he recalls. “These guys, very few of them had kids, and the show started to go in a different direction, at least the scripts that we would get on Monday.”
“It was really Pat, the mom, who fought the good fight to make it more realistic because a lot of times it would just be something very unusual just to sell a joke, just to set up a joke,” he continued. “It’s like, ‘Wait, that’s not what the characters are about.'”
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Smith speculated that Allen was reluctant to appear too controlling after witnessing what happened on another sitcom, “Roseanne.” “Roseanne,” which became an instant hit after its premiere in 1988, was created by “Home Improvement” co-creator Matt Williams. Like “Home Improvement,” Roseanne was built around its star’s voice and acting persona.
However, Barr clashed behind the scenes with the producers and writers, including Williams, on the direction and tone of the series. Tensions between the two led to Williams leaving after the first season. Barr later gained more influence and was credited as a creator in subsequent seasons.
Patricia Richardson starred alongside Tim Allen in ‘Home Improvement,’ but is reportedly not interested in a reboot. (ABC Photo Archive/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images)
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“I think overall Tim was maybe a little worried about being a bully because the same creators created ‘Roseanne,’ and Roseanne took over the show and fired the creators, fired everyone,” Smith recalled. “Actually, our entire film crew had been fired in one day from ‘Roseanne’ and came to us. So, I think, Tim was always more neutral with it, not wanting to be tyrannical, which meant it was a lot more on Pat to push.”
“That’s one of the reasons the show ended up ending, because it just got tired of it, having to fight all the time to make it realistic,” he continued.
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“And Tim made a lot more money than her,” Smith added. “That was her real way of quitting. She said she would do a ninth season if she got paid the same amount as Tim, knowing they wouldn’t.”
Smith’s recollections of why Richardson left “Home Improvement” echo what the actress has said for years about her experience on the show and her reasons for leaving.
During an interview with the Los Angeles Times in May 2024, Richardson recalled that the creators emphasized the importance of Jill’s character and her relationship with Tim.
Smith said Allen took a more “hands-off” approach to creative disagreements with directors and writers, leaving Richardson to fight for character consistency. (ABC Photo Archive/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images)
“When I took the job, they said it wasn’t supposed to be Tim Allen’s show. It was supposed to be our show,” she said. “I’ve always said it, I don’t want to play the ungrateful wife.”
Richardson recalls having creative disagreements with male writers over how Jill would respond to specific situations, recalling one instance where she was told, “Pat, it’s not like we don’t understand women.” We are married to them.
The actress, who earned four Primetime Emmy Award nominations for her portrayal of Jill, told the LA Times that she made the decision to leave the series.
Richardson told the LA Times that she decided during the eighth season that it would be her last, citing her desire to spend more time with her children after her divorce and her belief that the sitcom had run its course, pointing to the departure of Jonathan Taylor Thomas and declining ratings.
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Smith said Richardson left the show after becoming “tired” of fighting to make the show realistic. (ABC Photo Archive/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images)
The actress also felt that Disney failed to recognize her creative contributions to the series, saying she helped shape her character and storylines but was denied a producer credit, even as Allen became executive producer.
“I told everyone there wasn’t enough money in the world for me to do a ninth grade. This show is over. It has to end,” Richardson recalled.
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Richardson recalled that ABC unexpectedly offered to continue the series with a 25-episode ninth season. She said the channel’s parent company, Disney, offered to pay her a salary of $1 million per episode, while Allen would receive $2 million per episode.
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Although she remembers Allen immediately accepting the offer, she said she responded with conditions she knew the studio would reject. Richardson told the outlet she asked for a salary equal to Allen’s and an executive producer credit.
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“I knew Disney would never pay me that much. It was my way of saying ‘no’ and it was a bit of a joke on Disney,” Richardson said. “I was there the whole time, and they never even paid me a third of what Tim made, and I worked my butt off. I was one of the main reasons women watched.”
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