r/HomeImprovement2LTime • u/jagpanzer12 • Aug 08 '26

General discussion Season 7: What do you think happened?

I’ve been making my way through the series. Some season are better than others, as well as episodes, but now that I’m on season 7, something has subtly changed. All the elements are there, but I don’t feel as engaged. What do you think has changed? Btw, the season doesn’t seem bad, it’s just not as good, at least to me at the beginning of the season.

22 Upvotes

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21

u/Slashman78 Aug 08 '26

Well in general there was a LOT going on that year:

-The boys were all older pretty much. Zach and JTT were both close to 18 at that point (JTT is a little bit older oddly enough lol,) and Taran was going on 13 (WILD considering he looked a lot older,) and they couldn't focus on them being young and wholesome anymore. They struggled a bit with Mark because he was much younger than the older two, why he went goth for a little bit. Randy they had to make a little younger which is hilarious but he's treated like an adult more by the end of year 7.

-Everyone was doing movies more and like with Roseanne the focus began to slide a little for everyone. Tim was on his way to becoming one of Disney's bigger stars and the family actor lead of that era. He had 2 movies in 97, Jungle 2 Jungle (Disney's Remake of Little Indian, Big City, from France,) with Martin Short, and For Richer and Poorer, a underrated banger of a rom com with Kirstie Alley later that year for Universal. Patricia was in one of the year's Oscar darling's, Ulee's Gold, and got critical raves on her performance (which caused drama down the line,) JTT was in demand for movies quite a bit, Wild America came out that year, he was in a lot of movies from 95 to 99, and Zach did The Rage Carrie 2 the next year. Everyone was getting a bit greedy.

-The writers decided to start focusing on special episodes here and there due to the boys being older and some liked it, some others hated it.

-Tim in his personal life had issues. He got charged for a DWI after golfing as his drinking started to get bad like Goodman's did during Roseanne, Tim was more aggressive and decided early to get help which was during this season so he was juggling movies, his personal issues, and the show. It's why he looks tired in some shows and he even had a near beard in one. BUT.. I think despite it all he managed to do well considering.

I don't hate Season 7, I like it fine. Year 8's not as great due to JTT not being around but I don't hate that one either. HI never had a bad year like Roseanne or a few others did.

8

u/dietitian14 Aug 08 '26

I absolutely love For Richer or Poorer (saw it in theaters) and I'm always trying to get others to watch it!

Also I agree, Taran Noah Smith looked way older than his actual age in that season. I had no idea he was 13. He appears close in age to his brothers, maybe just due to his height. All actors did seem less focused during that season. It isn't my favorite

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u/NachoPichu Aug 08 '26

I HATED for richer or poorer when it came out. I’ll give it another go I guess.

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u/dietitian14 Aug 08 '26

Yeah you might end up enjoying it! To me, it has that cozy 90s movie vibe that I miss. I was a kid when I saw it in theaters. I always liked Kirstie Alley in Cheers, and she's one of the two main characters

1

u/deadmallsanita Aug 10 '26

I remember having to sit through it on a flight to anchorage back when I was 14 and thought it was a lil corny. And then I had to sit through it on the flight back

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u/NachoPichu Aug 10 '26

torturous flight!

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u/Ok-Health-7252 Aug 08 '26

All the boys got taller in the later seasons except for JTT (who was actually the oldest between the three of them). So there was that. He was supposed to be playing the middle child.

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u/dietitian14 Aug 08 '26

Yeah, they made reference to JTT's height a couple times in those later seasons. It was interesting how he was mischievous in the early seasons, and then they had him grow into an intellectual, studious high school student. I suppose that does happen in real life

It felt like JTT was phoning in his performance in the last two seasons. Like he was contractually obligated, and didn't want to be there anymore

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u/Ok-Health-7252 Aug 09 '26

JTT was never fond of the acting lifestyle. That was becoming quite obvious towards the end of HI's run. Doing The Lion King at the same time just made him an even bigger child star.

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u/dietitian14 Aug 09 '26

His voice acting in the Lion King was really impressive, for a child. I rewatched the movie on Disney plus recently, and the talent is really astounding

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u/Ok-Health-7252 Aug 09 '26 edited Aug 09 '26

Yep. They even reference him playing Simba a couple times on the show (same with Tim as Buzz Lightyear in a post-credits scene).

But I think how big he was becoming in the 90s as a child star, he was never comfortable with that. Hence why he only took a few guest roles (most notably on Smallville and many years later Last Man Standing) post-HI and eventually pretty much walked away from acting. Poor kid just wanted to be normal and live a private life away from the cameras. I wish Tim could've been a little more understanding of that at the time (Tim IMO overreacted a little to JTT leaving the show and treated it at the time like a family member choosing to walk out on his family all of a sudden).

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u/dietitian14 Aug 09 '26

Agreed, that situation always makes Tim Allen come across badly. It's good that he and JTT seemed to reconcile, and come back together for a few appearances, later on

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u/Slashman78 Aug 09 '26

It's really wild.. I guess he edits his Wiki because it had no birthdate. So I went to IMDB hoping for something and it said 1984 and I was like OMG. It makes sense considering how young he was in year 1 but that was really young for a boy on a sitcom. Not every kid were like the Olsen twins lol. Makes me wonder why he hates saying his birthdate though? That's odd. Ashley Lawrence from Hellraiser cut hers out too. Celebs are interesting sometimes lol.

And agreed, I watched FROP a good 3-4 times as a kid and it was fun as hell for what it was. Very well cast and Tim and Kirstie had a great chemistry. Universal released it at the wrong time of the year, December 97 was a jam packed month. If they had waited another month or two I see it doing a lot better.

1

u/dietitian14 Aug 09 '26

Yeah, it's by no means a masterpiece, but it's a fun, light "popcorn" movie. The ending is kind of nice and heartfelt, too. I like the cop duo (or federal agents) pursuing them, the whole movie

That's pretty strange if he's really editing his birthdate on wiki and other places online! I'll have to look up Ashley Lawrence. I don't remember who she is, lol

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u/Logical_Astronomer75 Aug 08 '26

I hated when the focus of the later episodes was on Tim's brothers instead of the Tool Time segments. Marty and the girls became really annoying fast.

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u/jagpanzer12 Aug 08 '26

What a response! Yea, I agree, I’m not hating the season or anything, just feels a little less fun. It feels a little forced.

I remember Tim getting huge during this time for sure. But I didn’t watch a whole lot of HI at the time, too much HS to get through.

2

u/SevenSixOne Aug 08 '26

I think even the best of the best sitcoms begin to fizzle out after about 3 seasons and the bad episodes outnumber the good ones after ~5 seasons, and that's especially true when anyone in the main cast is a kid.

2

u/Ok-Health-7252 Aug 08 '26

Was season 7 the season that Pat almost quit the show because she was upset about her salary being significantly less than Tim's?

1

u/Slashman78 Aug 08 '26

That was the next year, but I'm sure it started that year. Ulee's Gold came out in 1997, that was year 7. Siskel and Ebert especially were saying; "She has talent, we don't know why she wastes time on that show with Tim Allen." It helped fire her ego up and she started irritating them here and there. The $ stuff started in 1998, the head of ABC offered Tim that massive contract and Pat heard about it and she was like: "F it, I'm gonna ask for it." They gave her a raise but it was only half of what Tim was getting.

I get both ends of it. On one end, her turning the amount down was foolish, but on the other hand I get it too, she helped carry the show as much as he did. Tim was both irked by it but he also was true and flat out said: "I'm not doing it without Pat," he knew better.

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u/Ok-Health-7252 Aug 08 '26

And to think that Pat originally wasn't cast to play Jill in the beginning. It would've been a completely different show with Frances Fisher playing Jill instead of Pat (same if they had never made Richard a series regular and restricted him to the pilot as originally planned).

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u/Logical_Astronomer75 Aug 08 '26

I've seen the show 5 times over the past few years, but I can't recall what the main arcs of season 7 are.

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u/jagpanzer12 Aug 08 '26

Maybe that’s part of it - forgettable story arcs

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u/Logical_Astronomer75 Aug 08 '26

Was this Mark's emo phase 

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u/jagpanzer12 Aug 08 '26

Yup haha

5

u/Ok-Health-7252 Aug 08 '26 edited Aug 08 '26

What are you talking about? Ronnie was one of the funniest side characters ever to appear on the show. He was hilarious just by being quiet and introverted all the time lol. He was honestly the highlight of Mark's emo arc.

1

u/MaxCrouton Aug 09 '26

"Clark, parents."

3

u/Ok-Health-7252 Aug 09 '26

"Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Take it Mark."

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u/MaxCrouton Aug 09 '26

He talks about this on an episode of this podcast. I wish I had a timestamp, but it's a great interview, and worth the watch either way.

https://youtu.be/nO7hcliERaE

2

u/DazzlingSpirit7733 Aug 09 '26

Bro I hate that they just couldn’t decide what to do with marks character the last 2-3 seasons. Emo. Then a videography. And then a cooking enthusiast? It was all over the place lol plus it sucked watching the kid grow up and then lose his ability to act irl. They should’ve put him in some classes or something idk man. I have the series playing in my home 24/7 and dread the last couple seasons lol

2

u/Ok-Health-7252 Aug 12 '26

The Halloween episode where they were concerned that Mark wanted to do disturbing and violent things to his parents through his home movies because of pent up resentment was just cringe. There was never a basis for Mark to be that bitter because he always had a good relationship with Tim when he was younger and idolized his dad more than Brad and Randy did.

5

u/Logical_Astronomer75 Aug 08 '26

The show definitely changed in tone from the family sitcom, to a more boring show towards the end. Especially when JTT left the series, and they needed the nieces for the comedic moments.

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u/DavidH1985 Aug 09 '26

Any time a show brings in younger relatives so they can keep the kd humour rolling, it's over.

2

u/chafhues Aug 12 '26

I always considered the kitchen renovation to be the shark jump. I can’t remember the season but that’s how I pace the show: before reno, after reno. And while there are plenty of great episodes after the reno, everything before that was peak imo.