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- July 1, 2020
- 6:00 pm
Decades after we first met the Taylor family, it’s impossible to picture Tim Allen’s overambitious handyman-slash-TV-host Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor married to anyone but his smart, cool, vest-wearing wife Jill, played by Patricia Richardson.
Years after the show’s end in May 1999, Richardson recalled that the pair’s chemistry on the show was instantly clear, telling HuffPostLive,
“Tim was so hilarious and we just clicked right away. It was a really fast five or six days [when] we did the pilot.”
Even after the Home Improvement series finale, the actress found it weird watching her co-star with his other on-screen wives. Richardson once joked,
“Whenever I see him with other people I think, ‘Well, he was mine first.'”
Bolstered by an actress with whom he had a natural rapport, Allen captivated audiences on Home Improvement, which served as his big Hollywood break, propelling him from stand-up comedian to the lead of the Christmas classic The Santa Clause in 1994. He went on to voice Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story a year after that, all while continuing to film the sitcom. Richardson became beloved amongst viewers of the time, and maintains a steady career to this day.
All this considered, one might assume that Allen and Richardson were the obvious perfect TV couple match from the get-go. But the truth is that Richardson wasn’t Tim Taylor’s first on-screen wife. Before ABC executives begged her to play Jill, they actually cast someone else in the role.
On paper, ABC’s first pick for Jill seemed sound. The first version of the Home Improvement pilot starred dramatic actress Frances Fisher as the Taylor family matriarch. At the time, Fisher’s most famous on-screen role was her five-year stint as Detective Deborah Saxon in ABC’s long-running crime drama soap opera The Edge of Night.
Off screen, for a time, she was best known in the headlines as Clint Eastwood’s girlfriend. Fisher dated the actor-turned-director for almost six years after meeting him on the set of the film Pink Cadillac in 1989, in which she had a small part.
Despite Fisher’s stellar dramatic record, her talents didn’t quite translate to the boisterous jokes of Home Improvement. Richard Karn, who played Tim’s long-suffering Tool Time co-presenter Al Borland, said the Home Improvement writers changed their minds about Fisher just three days into rehearsals. After the pilot didn’t fly with audiences, the creative team scrambled to replace Fisher with a different star.
And former Walt Disney Television President Dean Valentine told the Archive of American Television that Fisher’s comedic skills simply weren’t up to the task of competing with Allen. Keep watching the video as we answer the question: ever wonder why the mom from Home Improvement was recast?
Was there any backlash from fans or the cast about the recasting of Jill Taylor’s character?
Ever Wonder Why The Mom From Home Improvement Was Recast?
Home Improvement, a television sitcom that aired from 1991 to 1999, had a memorable cast of characters, including Tim Allen as the show’s lead, Tim Taylor, Richard Karn as his best friend and sidekick, Al Borland, and Patricia Richardson as his wife, Jill Taylor. However, some viewers may remember that the role of Jill was recast after the first season, leaving many wondering why the change was made.
The original actress to play Jill Taylor was Frances Fisher. Fisher, who had previously appeared in such films as Unforgiven and Titanic, was an established actress at the time. However, she only appeared in the show’s pilot episode, which aired on September 17, 1991.
Shortly after the pilot episode aired, Fisher was replaced by Patricia Richardson, who would go on to play Jill for the rest of the show’s run. Richardson was not nearly as well-known at the time, but she had appeared in a number of television shows and had even won a Drama-Logue Award for her performance in the play, “The Deer Park.”
According to Fisher, the decision to recast her role was not her choice. In a 2017 interview with the Associated Press, Fisher said that she was “shocked” and “hurt” by the decision, but that she was ultimately glad that it happened, as it allowed Richardson to take on the role and make it her own.
The decision to recast the role of Jill Taylor is still somewhat of a mystery, as neither the show’s producers nor Fisher herself have ever given a definitive reason for the change. Some speculate that it had to do with the chemistry between the cast members, while others suggest that Richardson was simply a better fit for the role.
Whatever the reason, it is clear that the decision to recast the role of Jill Taylor was a good one. Richardson’s portrayal of the character was beloved by fans of the show and helped to cement Home Improvement as a classic ’90s sitcom.
In conclusion, the reason for the recasting of Frances Fisher’s role by Patricia Richardson in Home Improvement is still a mystery. However, with Richardson’s portrayal of the beloved character of Jill Taylor, the show was able to become a staple of ’90s sitcoms and remains a fan favorite to this day.
