Patricia Richardson, best known for playing Tim Allen’s wife, Jill Taylor, on Home Improvement, slammed rumors of a potential reboot of the 90s sitcom.
The 73-year-old actress said she had no interest in reprising her Emmy-nominated role, additionally accusing Allen of outright ‘lying to people’ regarding the possibility of a revival during her appearance on Thursday’s Back to the Best podcast.
‘It was so weird, I would hear on Twitter or whatever that [Allen] was coming out publicly and saying this stuff about how everyone was on board to do a Home Improvement reunion,’ she recalled.
‘But he never asked me, and he never asked Jonathan [Taylor Thomas, who played middle child Randy]’ she continued.
‘I called Jonathan one day, I said, ‘Has he asked you about this?” And he went, ‘No,’ and I was like why is he going around telling everybody that we’re all on board when he hasn’t talked to you or me. I think that’s weird.’
said she had no interest in reprising her Emmy-nominated role, additionally accusing Allen of outright ‘lying to people’ regarding the possibility of a revival during her appearance on Thursday’s Back to the Best podcast
‘It was so weird, I would hear on Twitter or whatever that [Allen] was coming out publicly and saying this stuff about how everyone was on board to do a Home Improvement reunion,’ she recalled; Allen in 2022
As for a rumor of a separate reboot featuring Jill Taylor as the main character, Richardson shot that down as well, saying Allen was ‘lying to people and telling them that I was on board and I didn’t know anything about it.’
She added: ‘I wrote a big thing on Twitter and said I’m not involved in any series with Jill and I’ve also never been asked to do another Home Improvement reunion thing — but I would not want to.’
Richardson then broke down why she thought a new version of the sitcom, which ran for eight top-rated seasons from 1991 to 1999, would not work today.
‘I mean, Zach (Ty Bryan, who played oldest son Brad) is now a felon,’ she said, referencing Bryan’s recent arrest on charges related to domestic violence and driving under the influence.
‘Taran (Noah Smith, who played youngest son, Mark) hasn’t acted since he left the show; he’s not an actor anymore. And Jonathan’s not really interested in acting. He wants to direct and write.
‘… 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.’
The cast also featured Richard Karn portraying Tim’s best friend Al Borland, along with Debbe Dunning, who succeeded Pamela Anderson, as the Tool Time Girl on Tim’s show within the show, Tool Time.
During her time on Home Improvement, Richardson received five Emmy Award nominations for outstanding lead actress in a comedy series and two Golden Globe Award nominations.
Despite her reluctance to participate in a reboot and her criticism of Allen, Richardson showered praise on her former co-star last year.
During her time on Home Improvement, Richardson received five Emmy Award nominations for outstanding lead actress in a comedy series and two Golden Globe Award nominations’ pictured in 2023
Allen received five Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Actor in a Comedy Series for his portrayal of Tim Taylor, clinching the award once in 1995
‘But he never asked me, and he never asked Jonathan [Taylor Thomas, who played middle child Randy]’ she continued; Thomas in 2013
‘I mean, Zach (Ty Bryan, who played oldest son Brad) is now a felon,’ she said, referencing Bryan’s recent arrest on charges related to domestic violence and driving under the influence; Bryan in 2013
The cast also featured Richard Karn portraying Tim’s best friend Al Borland, along with Debbe Dunning, who succeeded Pamela Anderson, as the Tool Time Girl on Tim’s show within the show, Tool Time
Home Improvement ran for eight top-rated seasons from 1991 to 1999
‘People don’t give Tim enough credit for the acting that he was doing,’ the former New York City theater actress told Fox. ‘He had never acted before. He was getting acting lessons on the side.’
‘He’s better than a lot of actors I’ve worked with that are really actors in New York who don’t even look at you, you know?’
Allen received five Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Actor in a Comedy Series for his portrayal of Tim Taylor, clinching the award once in 1995.
Additionally, the Toy Story actor garnered an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series in 1993.