Home Improvement [TV Series] (DVD)

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In 1991, Tim Allen joined the ranks of stand-up comedians who took their acts on the TV sitcom road, modifying his "macho" brand of humor to create a show that featured real guy stuff: tools.

The Buena Vista marketing people have all but destroyed the adage that you can't judge a book by it's cover, because the packaging for "Home Improvement 2: The Complete Second Season" gives a pretty good indication of what's inside. There's a grinning Tim "The Toolman" Taylor (Allen), whose solution to everything is "more power," holding a gigantic Binford drill. And there are eight imprecise holes drilled in the front cover, exposing the discs. On the flipside, there are three screenshots: one of the helmeted "Tool Time" host with that "must have more power" gleam in his eye, another with Tim pranking his faithful (and, in this case, blindfolded) assistant, Al (Richard Karn), and a more sedate family portrait of Taylor with his wife and three sons.

Because of Tim's "power trips" and the show's emphasis on tools and cars, the show was appealing to dads, while moms could identify with Tim's long-suffering wife, Jill (Patricia Richardson), and the kids could revel in the antics and misfortunes of the three mischievous sons. Brad (Zachery Ty Bryan) was the young teen who was trying to figure out girls, while Randy (Jonathan Taylor Thomas) was the try-anything experimenter, adventurer, and athlete, and Mark (Taran Noah Smith) was the picked-on runt of the litter.

For all Tim's interest in "power," the show's focus was often on subtle (and not-so-subtle) power struggles. As much as Tim thought or felt like he was in control, life was a constant struggle for him. On the show, he had to stay one step ahead of his assistant, the flannel-wearing and bearded Al (who, this season gets his own fan club and the admiration of the Andretti car-racing team), and wrangle at home with his wife and sons. It didn't help that Tim was also a bit of a klutz around those power tools he loves so much. Helping him along the way is know-it-all neighbor Wilson W. Wilson Jr. (Earl Hindman), who is never seen full-faced. Most of the time audiences saw half his face over the dog-eared wooden fence that separated his yard from the Taylors', with Wilson philosophizing and talking about Plato or giving his neighbor practical advice on how to handle wives, sons, and various other problems. Most of the time, his advice was spot-on.

"Home Improvement" was no doubt helped by a good time slot its first year, airing at 8:30 on Tuesday nights opposite two hour-long shows—the short-lived legal drama "Ill Fly Away," and Bill Shatner's reality-style "Rescue 911." "Home Improvement" finished the year tied with "Cheers" for the #4 spot just behind "Murphy Brown." The second year, when it went up against tougher competition ("Melrose Place" and "Seinfeld"), "Home Improvement" fared even better, finishing at #3, and its third season the show was the top-ranked comedy (#2, following "60 Minutes," and ahead of #3 "Seinfeld"). In fact, "Home Improvement" showed its long-term popularity by finishing in the top-10 every year of its eight-season run.

This season is fairly typical, and if the episodes vary it's not because of quality. Rather, the shows vary by tone and focus. Sometimes the slapstick dominates, while other times the episodes can be quite poignant and serious. In some, the kids get the spotlight, while in others it´s the adults. Balance seems to have been a key to the show's wide appeal, and this season is no exception. There are no bad episodes, but several that fans might consider classics are those where famous guests pop up—like "This Old House" guru Bob Vila and racing superstar Mario Andretti and his son (and fellow driver) Michael. And, of course, there's Lisa, the Tool Time Girl (Pamela Anderson) to look at.

Buena Vista is trusting that fans of the show have great memories, because there's only a list of the episode titles and writing/directing credits—no annotated summaries. But here's a rundown on the 25 episodes contained on the three discs:

1) "Read My Hips"—A male-female communication episode, with Jill fuming because Tim didn't come home for a special dinner, and Jennifer sending Brad mixed signals.

2) "Rites & Wrongs of Passage"—Wilson gives over-the-fence advice on how to help Brad, who's grounded from a monster truck rally, make it through puberty. But the slapstick comes when Tim dons a kilt and tries to take part in a cabertoss event.

3) "Overactive Glance"—When Jill sees Tim checking out a female guest's behind on the show, she bets it won't take him long to look again when they have dinner at the restaurant—something complicated by an adoring woman autograph seeker. On the home front, Tim tries to help Randy get over his fumblitis by concocting a "safe" glue.

4) "Groin Pains"—Tim pulls his groin when Jill asks him to move a heavy trunk, but keeps it secret because she tells him how turned on she got by his strength. Randy gets the role of Peter Pan in a school play, and Tim's injury gets exposed when he insists on building a flying machine and trying it out.

5) "Heavy Meddle"—Put it this way: fixing up a hot rod isn't much fun when the guys you invite over end up bringing their wives, for various reasons. The boys, meanwhile, feud (and get feudal) with the McGurn brothers, and construct a catapult to launch water balloons.

6) "The Haunting of Taylor House"—This Halloween episode finds Brad having a party for his friends and Tim and Wilson and Al providing the basement haunted house. But the real scare is a relationship one, as Brad gets blindsided by Jennifer, who brings another guy to the party and sets up Brad to dress like Raggedy Andy.

7) "Roomie for Improvement"—A pox falls on the Taylor house (chicken, that is) and Tim has to move in with Al until the quarantine is lifted. Talk about an odd couple! On the show, meanwhile, Mario and Michael Andretti put in guest cameos, and Al bonds with them because of his superior knowledge of cars.