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#REDIRECT [[Home Improvement (TV series)#Tool Time]] |
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'''''Tool Time''''' was the fictitious handyman [[Play-within-a-play|show-within-a-show]] in the television [[situation comedy]], ''[[Home Improvement]]''. It was hosted by [[Tim Taylor (fictional character)|Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor]] (played by [[Tim Allen]]) and [[Al Borland]] (played by [[Richard Karn]]). |
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{{r to section}} |
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The sponsor of ''Tool Time'' was Binford Tools, a fictitious tool manufacturing company. The show was said to be played on channel 112. Tool Time was said to be the 4th most popular cable-based tool show in all of Michigan. |
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An episode of ''Home Improvement'', entitled "Fifth Anniversary" (which aired in [[1994 in television|1994]]) celebrated ''Tool Time'''s fifth anniversary, thus revealing that ''Tool Time'' debuted in [[1989 in television|1989]]. Tim Allen has stated that he would like to host a real ''Tool Time''. <ref>http://bventertainment.go.com/tv/touchstone/homeimprovement/bios/allen.html</ref> |
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==The "''Tool Time'' girls"== |
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Part of the show's attraction was its token "''Tool Time'' girl", whose primary roles were to look good, be curvaceous, roll out various props and help introduce the two hosts. In the first two seasons, [[Pamela Anderson]] played ''Tool Time'' girl Lisa. After Anderson left the show, [[Debbe Dunning]] stepped in as her replacement, Heidi Keppert, who stayed until the show's end. |
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A fictional flashback to the first episode shows an elderly Mrs. Binford playing the part of the Tool Time girl. |
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==Format== |
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Most episodes start with the following dialogue: |
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*'''Lisa/Heidi:''' "Does everybody know what time it is?" |
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*'''Audience:''' "TOOL TIME!" |
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*'''Heidi:''' "That's right! Binford Tools is proud to present Tim 'The Tool Man' Taylor!" |
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*'''Lisa:''' "Binford Tools is proud to present 'Tool Time'!" |
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During ''Tool Time'', the hosts would teach audiences about home repair and renovations. However, Tim was more inclined to joke around, especially about Al's overweight mother and his affinity for wearing [[flannel]] shirts. Al would attempt to continue the show in a proper manner. |
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Invariably, whenever Al was about to demonstrate the use of a particular machine, Tim would bring out his own version of the same machine that had been rewired for ''more power''. The new machine would then backfire and cause the accidents for which Tim became famous. Sometimes, the accidents were not caused by overpowered machines but by Tim's negligence for safety precautions, though occasionally, the producers would surprise the viewers by Tim's overpowered machine actually working or Al being the one who makes the mistake. |
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Often Tim would unveil a project that had somehow been set-up to make Al look stupid, and Al would either fall victim to Tim (in the case of a "soundproof" booth), or discover the prank and turn it back on Tim himself (in the situation of Tim electrifying Al's toolbelt, and Al switching belts with Tim before the show). |
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===Tim's off-screen problems mentioned=== |
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Tim often mentioned his current off-screen problems during the show. If he had an argument with his wife [[Jill Taylor|Jill]] (played by [[Patricia Richardson]]), he would find an excuse to bring up the subject of the argument on ''Tool Time'' even if it had nothing to do with home improvement. A memorable episode involved Tim bringing up Al's claw hammer fetish on-air, much to the chagrin of Mr. Borland. In many episodes of the show he also used this time to apologize to Jill in a subtle way. |
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==Mailing address== |
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Tim would at times say something offensive to a certain group on the show (most likely women) to which Al would respond by reciting (and showing on a cue card) the show's mailing address: |
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:Tim Taylor |
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:c/o Tool Time |
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:P.O. Box 32733 |
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:Detroit, MI 48252 |
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Also, Al would sometimes hold up a cue card with the phone number of Tim: |
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(815) 555-TOOL, though this is curious, since [[Area code 815|815]] is an area code for Northern Illinois, not Michigan |
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On rare occasions Tim destroys Al's cue cards; on one occasion he cut the cue card in half with a chainsaw. |
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==Studio audience== |
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The audience for ''Tool Time'' was the actual live studio audience for ''Home Improvement.'' Before ''Tool Time'' starts, Al and Tim's humorous conversation is pre-recorded. |
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== Special guests == |
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Guests on ''Tool Time'' included a group of construction workers who started a band featuring music played on tools (the "boys from K&B Construction"), race car drivers [[Mario Andretti]] and [[Michael Andretti]], [[Rodney Dangerfield]], [[Robby Gordon]], [[George Foreman]], [[Evander Holyfield]], [[Grant Hill (basketball)|Grant Hill]], [[Al Unser Sr.]], [[Al Unser Jr.]], and [[Al Unser III]], the crew of the [[Space Shuttle Columbia|Space Shuttle ''Columbia'']] ([[STS-73]]), [[Drew Carey]] as a Road Kill Remover, [[Jim Breuer]], [[Dave Chappelle]], and real-life home improvement host [[Bob Vila]]. |
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Vila was typically portrayed as Tim's rival and Al's idol, and Tim refused to acknowledge Vila for his contributions to home improvement. Tim once even hit Vila in the head with a 4-by-8 (albeit by accident). Tim and Bob Vila raced in a Lawn Mower and a Hot Rod Race. Tim would have won the Hot Rod race but didn't want to ruin his engine by going over the red line. |
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In a [[1992]] Christmas special, Tim invited the vocal group [[The Manhattan Transfer]]. They sang two songs while Tim joked around in the background and tried to help Al (dressed as [[Santa Claus]], who got stuck in a fireplace. Also [[Alan Jackson]] appeared on the show and sang [[Mercury Blues]] while Tim was in a [[Mercury (automobile)|Mercury]] messing around. |
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== References == |
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* http://www.hiarchive.co.uk/ Home Improvement Archive |
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{{reflist}} |
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{{Home Improvement}} |
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[[Category:Wikipedia articles with off-topic sections]] |
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[[Category:Fictional television programming]] |
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[[Category:Home Improvement]] |
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Latest revision as of 06:54, 6 July 2019
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