It’s safe to say that the ABC sitcom Home Improvement was one of the pivotal parts of the ’90s. Not only did the show air from literally 1991-1999, but across its eight seasons, it was one of the most-watched TV shows in the entire country.
Viewers loved watching comedy genius Tim Allen play Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor. He was just your everyday family man in Detroit with a wife and children and his own home improvement show, Tool Time. Over the years, the show won numerous awards including a Golden Globe for Allen, and People’s Choice Awards every season it was on the air.
Over 20 years since the beloved series ended, what are its main cast members currently up to?
1. Tim Allen
Zachery Ty Bryan
Tim Taylor hosts Tool Time with his friend Al, who has to regularly remind him of safety regulations when he is demonstrating tools on the air. Prone to accidents and mishaps, Tim is fun to watch despite his “know it all” tendencies.
Allen is still making it happen in Los Angeles where he has been filming the second sitcom he’s led, Last Man Standing since 2011. Nearly all of his former costars have made appearances on the show. He’s also well known for continuing to voice Buzz Lightyear in Disney’s Toy Story franchise.
2. Earl Hindman
Who could forget the neighbor Wilson who you could never get a good look at on the other side of that picket fence? Sweet Wilson, and that is Wilson Wilson, Jr, doesn’t show his face a single time during the show’s run until the very final curtain call.
Hindman appeared on Law & Order and Law & Order: Criminal Intent before he sadly passed away from lung cancer in 2003.
3. Taran Noah Smith
Mark Taylor is the youngest of the family and relates much better to his mother than his father and brothers. He frequently gets Randy and Brad in trouble and even goes through a “goth” phase when he enters high school.
The role of Mark was Smith’s only experience as a series regular. His last IMDB credit is a voiceover role in Batman Beyond. Smith literally grew up on camera and decided that he didn’t want to be an actor. When he was just 17 he married Heidi van Pelt, who is 16 years his senior, and he officially retired from the screen. The couple divorced in 2007.
According to a 2017 interview with Inside Edition, the former child star — much like his fictional father — went on to fix houses in real life. Smith spent time living in a camp outside Corpus Christi, Texas, helping to repair and clear buildings damaged by Hurricane Harvey.
4. Zachery Ty Bryan
Zachery Bryan plays the oldest brother in the family, Brad Taylor. Brad is the most athletic of the three boys and gets into the most trouble. Tim relates to Brad the easiest, which is probably why he’s the only son to ever co-host Tool Time.
The Aurora, Colorado native (outside of Denver) went on to appear on a slew of TV shows — Family Law, Boston Public, Cold Case, Touched by an Angel, Knight Rider, Veronica Mars, Burn Notice, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and the TV movie Code Breakers. He’s also appeared in the films Thor: Hammer of the Gods and The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.
5. Patricia Richardson
zachery ty bryan
The matriarch of the family, Jill Taylor, keeps everything together. She even goes after her Master’s degree in Psychology because she decides she doesn’t like her career. She has a strong personality (probably due to her military upbringing) that sometimes clashes with Tim. But in the end, they always prove they are a great match.
Following her Home Improvement days, Richardson continued appearing in successful TV shows including Strong Medicine, The West Win, and various TV movies, including the recent A Very Vintage Christmas.
6. Richard Karn
zachery ty bryan
Al Borland is Tim’s best friend and co-host of Tool Time. He’s a little less hip than Tim, but he’s also the more responsible of the two. He makes less money as Tim’s assistant, but somehow, their relationship works.
Karn has continued to be a successful working actor over the years. He has appeared on The Rosie O’Donnell Show, That ’70s Show, The Bold and the Beautiful, and PEN15 on Hulu. He was also the host of Family Feud for multiple years.
7. Jonathan Taylor Thomas
Jonathan Taylor Thomas was one of the biggest child stars of the ’90s. He was the voice of Simba in Disney’s Lion King after all. Middle child Randy Taylor is not only the smartest of the bunch but the most mischievous. Thomas left the TV series early in season 8 but made appearances through the end of the series.
Though Thomas mostly retired from acting, he appeared in Veronica Mars, An American Town, Smallville, and Tim Allen’s Last Man Standing.
