Home Improvement [TV Series] (DVD)

Connect to Facebook/Twitter, recommend via email and much more.

---

8) "May the Best Man Win"—Maureen Binford (Vicki Lewis) announces she's the new producer and tries to change everything on the show. Tim's usual support network (Jill and Wilson) don't come through this time, so he turns to son Mark—and falls through the roof of a project house.

9) "Where There's a Will, There's a Way"—A poignant and more serious episode where Jill spurs Tim to sign a will so their boys would be provided for if something happened to them both, and Mark panics, thinking about his father dying.

10) "Let's Did Lunch"—One of the funniest gags that Tim plays on Al over the air occurs when he gives Al a smelling test to see if he can guess wood types, and places one of his own socks atop one board. On the home front, casual friends Dave (Tony Carreiro) and Karen (Betsy Randle) come between Tim and Jill when Dave cheats and expects Tim to cover for him.

11) "Abandoned Family"—With Jill going back to work, Tim has to take over her duties for a while, which includes making a gingerbread house for the PTA. Maureen Binford intrudes on the show again and tries to push a new segment, "The Bachelor Corner with Al."

12) "I'm Scheming of a White Christmas"—Brad and Randy, those borderline delinquents, collect money for a charity at Christmas and decide that charity begins at home. The jazz quartet Manhattan Transfer appears on Tool Time, and Al, dressed as Santa, gets stuck in a chimney.

13) "Bell Bottom Blues"—Brad gets razzed after kids at school see him hugging his dad, who of course has to explore the hugging phenomenon on his TV show. On the home front, it's a fight over closet space.

14) "Howard's End"—Puppy love goes belly up when Brad does a rotten job of taking care of Jennifer's fish while she's out of town. The adult parallel is a squabble over who owns what in the house, precipitated by Jill opening her own checking account.

15) "Love is a Many Splintered Thing"—Who's the dummy? It's hard to tell in this episode about Randy's ventriloquist act using a dummy Tim made to look like himself. Jill, meanwhile, makes the mistake of taking a compatibility test and discovers the couple should never have married.

16) "Dances with Tools"—Slapstick on the dance floor as Tim gives the two of them ballroom dance lessons as an anniversary present, but ends up disabling the teacher. Trouble with Tim's work relationship too, as Al sours when his name isn't included on a certificate of appreciation thanking the show for promoting safety.

17) "You're Driving Me Crazy, You're Driving Me Nuts"—A friend's bad luck at the altar rubs off on Tim and Jill as they get lost and end up in a ditch en route to the wedding.

18) "Bye, Bye Birdie"—A classic episode where a woodpecker annoys Tim so much he tries to get rid of it. Brad breaks up with Jennifer because she won't let him copy her homework anymore, and mom and dad turn out to be not terribly helpful.

19) "Karate or Not, Here I Come"—After Tim signs little Mark up for karate lessons instead of the gymnastics Jill wanted him to take, it results in plenty of trouble . . . for Jill and Tim, who mix it up with other parents.

20) "Shooting Three to Make Tutu"—It's supposed to be the guys watching the Pistons and the Bulls on TV, but Jill wants Tim to take Mark to ballet. And this time, Wilson's help lands Tim in more hot water, as the tickets he gives him end up enticing him to take Mark to the game after only a short while at dance lessons . . . and the other boys decide to try a cigar.

21) "Much Ado About Nana"—When Jill's mother comes for a visit and has lost some weight, she's the butt of Tim's jokes. But there's more tension between Jill and Nana (Polly Holliday) over a tea set that should have been an antique clock.

22) "Ex Marks the Spot"—A show about lies unfolds when Tim runs into his ex-girlfriend, Stacey (Kathleen Garrett), with whom he never "technically" broke up.

23) "To Build or Not to Built"—Tim is a build-it-for-any-occasion kind of guy, but ruffles Jill when presents from the boys that are supposed to come from the heart come instead under the direction of Tim and his "Man Central" garage. Randy winds up learning a magic trick instead, and it's Tim who's doing the disappearing.

24) "Birth of a Hot Rod"—Tim's project to build a hot rod has been building to this moment all season, but it's not working—neither is his relationship, which takes a blow when Jill hires a repairman to fix things that Tim has been neglecting because of the car.

25) "The Great Race"—Bob Vila appears on Tool Time when the audience votes him their favorite guest, though Tim left him off the ballot. The focus is on a lawn mower race where Tim challenges Bob, and, of course, has to go overboard with the power: he installs a Chinook helicopter jet engine and the mower goes crazy during the race.

Video: With an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 that looks fine stretched to fit a widescreen TV, "Home Improvement" looks pretty good. The brightness, contrast, and color saturation levels are pleasing, and there's just the slightest hint of grain.

Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo drives the sound, and there's no complaints here.

Extras: There's a gag reel that shows outtakes from the second season that's pretty typical of blooper collections—nothing terribly revealing or outrageous, but still entertaining little flubs for people who enjoy such things.

Bottom Line: It's not socially relevant, it's not a trailblazing comedy, and it's not one of the all-time great ensemble situation comedies. Still, "Home Improvement" brought Tim Allen's "macho" comedy to the airwaves and tackled typical family concerns in a mostly light manner. That's why it was so popular when it first aired, and why the show is still entertaining. "Home Improvement" is the kind of show that appeals to everyone in the family, and these days that counts for an awful lot.

---

Connect to Facebook/Twitter, recommend via email and much more.

---