Toy Story 5 star Tim Allen says a Home Improvement reboot is unlikely at this time due to “character issues” with the actors who played his sons on ABC’s classic sitcom.
“They keep talking about how they can move forward, but right now they’re stuck because the boys have character issues,” Allen said in an interview with US Weekly magazine published Wednesday.
“Home Improvement” aired for eight seasons from 1991 to 1999, with Allen starring as Tim “The Toolman” Taylor. The show followed Tim’s career as a home improvement television personality and his family life with his wife Jill (Patricia Richardson) and their three sons, Brad (Zachery Ty Bryan), Randy (Jonathan Taylor Thomas), and Mark (Talan Noah Smith).
Brian, who was 9 years old when Home Improvement started and 17 when it ended, has been arrested multiple times, most recently in 2025 on charges of second-degree domestic violence. In February 2021, he was charged in Oregon with felony assault, third-degree robbery, and assault. He was arrested in 2020 for allegedly strangling his then-girlfriend, Johnny Faye Cartwright.
In addition to Bryan’s multiple arrests, another complicating issue surrounding a potential reboot is the fact that Jonathan Taylor-Thomas is no longer “interested in acting,” according to a 2024 podcast interview with Richardson. Thomas hasn’t appeared on screen since a guest appearance on Allen’s sitcom Last Man Standing in 2015, and Smith (who played the youngest son) hasn’t had an acting credit since 1999 when he had a voice role in Batman Beyond.
“They have their own problems,” Allen told US Weekly. “I always thought it would be great if the story was about them. It’s a little difficult right now, to say the least.”
