Patricia Richardson is alleging that her former hit 90s sitcom Home Improvement ended after a pay dispute with Disney and ABC.
Richardson, who co-starred in the series with Tim Allen from 1991-1999, is claiming that she wasn’t treated the same way that Allen was. The actress portrayed the loving TV mother Jill Taylor in all eight seasons of the show.
During an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Richardson says her demand for equal pay was her attempt to stick it to the network after she felt mistreated.
She adds that she and Allen knew it was time to end the show and she made it clear during Season 8 that it would be her last.
However, with only a couple of months left to go in Season 8, the network tried to convince the stars to return for a ninth season with an offer of 25 episodes where Allen would make $2 million per episode and Richardson would make $1M per. Richardson says Allen was game but she declined, creating tension between her and Tim.
Patricia says her way of turning down the offer was to ask the network for the same pay as Allen which she knew they’d never agree to.
Producers decided to end the show instead and she admits that she still has a complicated relationship with Allen because of it.
Richardson says she thinks Allen’s politics have done damage to the show’s Hollywood legacy. She does, however, defend Allen in certain respects like when Pamela Anderson claimed he flashed her, adding that’s not the Tim she knows.
To leave $25 million on the table though, Richardson must have really felt bitter towards the network.
