Grunt Work 2: Pilot, Again

Season 1, Episode 1

Broadcast date: Sept 17, 1991

Starring: Tim Allen, Patricia Richardson, Richard Karn, Earl Hindman, Zachery Ty Bryan, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Taran Noah Smith, and Pamela Anderson

Guest Starring: John Cothran

Directed by: John Pasquin

Written by: Carmen Finestra, David McFadzean, Matt Williams

Episode Synopsis: In the inaugural episode of Home Improvement, we meet masculine cable TV handyman Tim Taylor (Tim Allen) as he struggles to balance his popular show "Tool Time" with his his rambunctuous nuclear family. Tim's wife Jill Taylor (Patricia Richardson) is on her way to a job interview and asks Tim to keep an eye on their boys Mark (Taran Noah Smith), Randy (Jonathan Taylor Thomas) and Brad (Zachary Ty Bryan) while she's gone. She also makes Tim promise not to try and upgrade the dishwasher with "more power" - a regular habit of his that often has disastrous results.

Instead, Tim tricks out the dishwasher with the Blastmaster Compressor, which Jill discovers when the dishwasher blasts a dinner plate across the room. She's furious at Tim for disobeying her - and her day doesn't get any better when she learns she didn't get the job. After some sage advice from his wise neighbor Wilson (Earl Hindman), Tim apologizes to Jill during the next day's episode of "Tool Time." Jill accepts his apology... And then locks him in the garage naked while she has a repairman install a new dishwasher.

This podcast episode was originally released: April 1, 2023

Grunt Count: 17

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