Home Improvement: Season 04 (1994)

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Home Improvement enters its fourth season with do-it-yourself expert Tim Taylor (Tim Allen) continuing to hold court on the cable-TV show "Tool Time," but with his wife, Jill (Patricia Richardson), being laid off from her job. Jill subsequently decides to go back to college, opening a whole new realm of story possibilities as Tim begins to worry that his wife will become "too smart" for him (which, truth to tell, she's been all along!). In other developments, Blake Clark becomes a semi-regular in the role of Harry, a hardware-store owner whose heart attack at age 40 sets his contemporary Tim a-worrying about his own wellbeing. Eventually, Harry sells his store to Tim's TV assistant, Al (Richard Karn), who becomes so obsessive about his job that he nearly breaks up his engagement to Ilene Markham (Sherry Hursey). In previous years, Home Improvement's season finale would concern itself with the ongoing rivalry between Tim Taylor and real-life home-improvement expert Bob Vila. This year, however, the season's last episode involves Tim's always-heard, never-seen neighbor Wilson Wilson (Earl Hindman), who upon deciding to go on his first date in 20 years, falls into the clutches of irrepressible matchmaker Jill Taylor. Ranking number three in the Nielsen ratings throughout its fourth season, Home Improvement also brought home a fourth Emmy award for the series' lighting director, Donald A. Morgan. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi