AllMovie

Not so much a retrospective as a celebration of the vintage sitcom Home Improvement, this one-hour special is, at its core, a comedy concert, performed by star Tim Allen (aka Tim Taylor, handyman hero of the fictional do-it-yourself TV show "Tool Time") before a live audience on a mockup of the series' familiar set. With the help of former co-stars Richard Karn (who played Al) and Debbe Dunning (Heidi, the "Tool Time Girl"), Allen fondly recalls just what made Home Improvement great, with humorous reminiscences, choice clips, outtakes and bloopers. Curiously, several of the old series' regulars are conspicuous by their absence -- none more so than Patricia Richardson, who valiantly portrayed Tim Taylor's wife Jill throughout the series' eight seasons (1991-1999). And no, we still never get to see the face of the Taylors' mysterious next-door neighbor Wilson (Earl Hindman).