It’s been a long time since Tool Time, but break out your power tools and do a little grunt, because Home Improvement‘s Tim Allen and Richard Karn are reuniting for a new show. History announced Tuesday that the guys who played the co-hosts of the fictional Tool Time home improvement show will reunite in real life to host and executive-produce Assembly Required (working title), a reality competition show where the country’s best DIY builders try to repair and rebuild broken-down household items.
Per History, the show will “spotlight the best and brightest builders from across the country, at their home workshops, as they compete to breathe new life into everyday household items in desperate need of fixing.” The competition will test the contestants’ ability and ingenuity to not only rebuild the item, but to build it even better than before. Allen and Karn will also explore the history of these items to pay tribute to the craftspeople and techniques that made them.
“Let’s face it — we’re living in a throwaway society,” Tim Allen said in a statement. “We buy, break, replace… rinse and repeat. Whatever happened to repair and rebuild? There are some people who unfriend, unfollow, and dispose of anything that offends, annoys, or breaks – so I’ve created a show to remind people of the satisfaction and pride that comes from rebuilding something on their own. And who better to join me than my buddy from the old Tool Time days – Richard Karn! Now we’re talking More Power! Albert Einstein once said, ‘I’m not a genius, I’m just passionately curious.’ Well, let’s get curious! Even a chimpanzee would at least show interest, right? Wait – I think I just came up with another idea for the show! R-R-R!” (Wow, R-R-R is how Tim Allen spells out that one of his signature grunts! How does he spell the other one?)
Tim Allen and Richard Karn co-starred on the ABC sitcom Home Improvement from 1991 to 1999, which ran for 204 episodes and was one of the biggest shows of the ’90s. Allen currently stars on Last Man Standing.
Assembly Required (working title) is slated to premiere in 2021 on History. Home Improvement is currently available to stream (for purchase or rental) on Amazon.
