The early seasons of Home Improvement, the series where Tim Allen played Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor, were filled with one-off episodes where Taylor tried to supercharge his cars, barbecue grills, and household appliances while keeping his family happy. As the series went into its final seasons, the actors wanted to work with juicier material. They were tired of goofy episodes and wanted to work on substantial stories which is why the plotlines in the final seasons of Home Improvement are so heavy.
The emotional episodes of Home Improvement began before its last seasons, with plotlines about cancer and guilt seeping into the Seasons 5 and 6, but it was really Seasons 7 and 8 where the Taylor family was beset with real world problems that couldn’t be fixed with a manly grunt or a power drill with more RPMs than a Ford Mustang.
