In recent years, it’s become much more common for television shows from the past to return with all-new continuations. On multiple occasions, Tim Allen has teased that Home Improvement could be the next classic sitcom to get the revival treatment, suggesting that the other cast members would all be on board. However, per TVLine, Patricia Richardson claimed this is completely false, sharing that she has no desire whatsoever to reprise her role as Jill Taylor, the wife of Allen’s Tim Taylor. She explained on the Back to the Best podcast that she never spoke with Allen about the revival, adding that Jonathan Taylor Thomas was just as confused as she was.
When asked if she’d be up for a comeback, Richardson said, “No. In fact, I think [that’s] the reason that Tim is now going on to do another show, which is the same plot as [Jungle 2 Jungle] and many of the movies that he’s done where he’s lost his kid, and he has to get his kid back. Yada, yada…. But I noticed this time, he doesn’t have a wife. He’s divorced.”
“I would hear on [social media] that he was coming out publicly and saying this stuff about how everyone was on board to do a Home Improvement reunion,” Richardson went on to add. “But he never asked me, and he never asked Jonathan [Taylor Thomas, who played middle child Randy]. I called Jonathan one day and I said, ‘Has he asked you about this?’ And he went, ‘No. Why is he going around telling everyone that we’re on board when he hasn’t talked to you or me?’ I think that’s weird. He was lying to people and telling them that I was on board and I didn’t know anything about it.”
The Home Improvement Revival Isn’t Worth Doing, Patricia Richardson Says
Richardson would go on to share why she doesn’t think it’s worth pursuing a return to Home Improvement. She pointed to Zachery Ty Bryan’s recent legal troubles, which would likely count him out of consideration for a return. On top of that, the other former child stars of the show don’t seem to be interested in returning to acting. For Richardson, it seems to seal the deal that actor Earl Hindman passed away in 2003, as that would also remove Wilson from the equation. With what’s left, Richardson doesn’t think that it would even be worth it.
“I would not want to [do a revival],” Richardson said. “I mean, Zach [Ty Bryan, who played oldest son Brad] is now a felon… Taran [Noah Smith, who played youngest son Mark] hasn’t acted since he left the show… Jonathan is not really interested in acting… 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.”
