Earl Hindman Movies
Supporting actor Earl Hindman was best known among fans of the long-running ABC sitcom Home Improvement for playing the over-educated, enigmatic but wise neighbor Wilson. Ask those fans if they would recognize Hindman's face and they would be at a loss, for he never showed his full countenance upon the show.Hindman was a pipeliner's son and had a peripatetic upbringing that took him to various Southwestern locales. He attended high school in Tucson, AZ, where he was a natural athlete. At the same time, he became interested in drama and then still photography. Following time at Phoenix Junior College, he enrolled in the University of Arizona where he renewed his interest in drama.
Hindman's first professional acting job was to perform in a Shakespearean play at San Diego's Globe Theatre. The experience was such that Hindman dropped out of school to become a full-time actor. He learned his craft as he went, performing in countless repertory theaters. Eventually, he made it to New York, where he appeared on and off-Broadway. He made his feature film debut in the obscure Two Into Three Won't Go (1969). Hindman's subsequent film appearances were sporadic.
Hindman was a cast member on the daytime soap opera Ryan's Hope for several years before gaining prominence on Home Improvement. Four years after the hit sitcom left the airwaves, Hindman succumbed to lung cancer at the age of 61. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1969
- R
American actor Rod Steiger adopts a British accent to keep apace with his co-stars in Three into Two Won't Go. Steiger plays a prosperous salesman, married to Claire Bloom (Steiger's real-life wife at the time). While on a business trip, the salesman falls for a sexy 19-year-old hitchhiker (Judy Geeson). He thinks he's in control of his philanderous situation -- until the teenager insists upon moving in with him and his wife. Dame Peggy Ashcroft also stars as Claire Bloom's mother, whose neurotic interference only makes things messier. Three into Two Won't Go was based on a novel by Andrea Newman. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rod Steiger, Claire Bloom, (more)
- 1971
- PG
Death of a Hooker was the spell-it-out alternate title for Ernest Pintoff's unorthodox murder mystery Who Killed Mary Whats'ername. At first, Red Buttons seems an illogical choice for a hero, especially since he plays a diabetic ex-boxer who isn't all that quick on the uptake. But Buttons gradually grows on the audience as he investigates the murder of a Greenwich Village prostitute whom he barely knew. With the help of his daughter Alice Playten, Buttons unearths a great many clues that we either overlooked or ignored by the cops. The film ends abruptly and somewhat tragically, which may have resulted in poor word of mouth when it was first released. Only after it became a Late Late Show perennial did Who Killed Mary Whats'ername? finally find its audience. The largely New York-based cast includes Sylvia Miles, Sam Waterston, Conrad Bain and, in an uncharacteristically repulsive "heavy" role, David Doyle. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1972
Wanna bet that Key West was a TV pilot film? You win! Stephen Boyd plays ex-CIA agent Steve Cutler, now happily running a boat service in-where else?--Key West. Cutler is forced to go back into action when he is marked for extermination by vengeful tycoon Ford Rainey. He is also kept busy trying to track down evidence that might compromise US senator William Prince. Old John Ford regular Woody Strode co-stars as Cutler's sidekick Candy Rhodes. Originally slated for a March 10, 1973 TV debut, Key West remained on the shelf until December 10. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1973
Pueblo is a 2-hour videotaped special, originally telecast March 29, 1973 on ABC Theatre. Hal Holbrook stars as commander Lloyd M. Bucher, who in January of 1968 was forced to surrender the USS Pueblo to North Korea. The drama is staged in an impressionistic manner, with dramatized transcripts from Bucher's subsequent Naval Review Board testimony flashing back to isolated moments of terror and torment during the Pueblo crew's 11-month sojourn in a North Korean prison camp. Despite network restrictions of the era, Pueblo is refreshingly frank, right down to the first-ever TV display of a familiar obscene gesture (which the American prisoners explain away to their captors as a "salute"!) Written by Stanley R. Greenberg, Pueblo was later adapted to a stage play, starring Shepperd Strudwick as Bucher. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
- R
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On a quiet midday in New York, along the Lexington Avenue subway line, the train designated "Pelham One Two Three" -- so named for its station of origin and time of departure -- makes its way down the East Side of Manhattan. One by one, three men board the train, and at 28th Street, a fourth man approaches the motorman (James Broderick) and points a pistol at him, ordering him to unlock the door to his cab and admit the man waiting there; meanwhile, another man points a gun at the conductor and threatens to kill him unless he holds the doors open and then closes them when the man talking to the motorman is aboard. Once on board, "Mr. Blue" (Robert Shaw) and "Mr. Green" (Martin Balsam) halt the train between stations, while "Mr. Brown" (Earl Hindeman) and "Mr. Gray" (Hector Elizondo) seal off the lead car. With Mr. Green at the controls, the front car is separated and isolated in the tunnel with 17 passengers aboard, and then Mr. Blue presents their demands over the radio: one million dollars in cash, within one hour, or they will start shooting one passenger each minute. On the other end, Transit Police Lieutenant Zachary Garber (Walter Matthau) must overcome his initial disbelief to deal with this threat, amid the confusion of a subway system that's chaotic even when it's running normally. With the mayor reluctantly aboard to pay the ransom, Garber must keep the hijackers from carrying out their threat while the money is transported, and keep the hotheads around him and on the police force under control -- and figure out how they intend to get away with a million dollars from inside a subway tunnel with police on all sides. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw, (more)
- 1974
- R
In this police melodrama, a maverick cop catches and kills a petty thief during a purse snatching and casually saunters on. The thief's widow sues the cop for a million bucks, but the cop isn't worried; after all there were no witnesses and no proof. Unfortunately for him, someone saw and filmed the cold-blooded killing. To make it worse, the young filmmaker continues to follow him to make a damning documentary of the renegade's misdeeds. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
While the Watergate scandal filled the headlines, Alan J. Pakula's 1974 thriller took its inspiration from the conspiracy theories surrounding the Kennedy assassination. Journalist Joe Frady (Warren Beatty) misses witnessing the assassination of a senator at Seattle's Space Needle, but his newswoman former girlfriend Lee Carter (Paula Prentiss) was there. Even after a government commission concludes that it was a freak lone assassin, Lee tells Joe that she fears for her life since other witnesses keep dying. After she too turns up dead, Joe investigates, travelling to the small town where another witness has mysteriously expired. Stumbling on a corporate identity for the killers, Joe decides to dig deeper by infiltrating the Parallax Corporation as one of their hired assassins. As Joe becomes increasingly isolated in his assumed identity, he discovers what Parallax is all about -- but Parallax knows all about Joe too. Made between Klute (1971) and All the President's Men (1976), The Parallax View was the second film in Pakula's "paranoia" trilogy; it proved too dark even for a 1974 audience that embraced such other challenging films of that year as The Godfather, Part II and Chinatown, making The Parallax View the sole flop of Pakula's trilogy. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Warren Beatty, Hume Cronyn, (more)
- 1977
- PG
Based on the life story of NASCAR auto racing champion Wendell Scott, this film, starring Richard Pryor as Scott, covers his struggles -- from the end of World War II to 1971-- to overcome racism and gain the freedom to demonstrate his winning auto-racing skills to everyone. He is not without support: he has Mary Jones (Pam Grier), his loving wife, a sense of humor, and quite a few good friends, including the white race-car driver Hutch (Beau Bridges). Filmed in the Atlanta area, this movie features performances by folksinger Richie Havens, Julian Bond (later a Congressman), and Maynard Jackson (at one time Atlanta's mayor). ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Pryor, Beau Bridges, (more)
- 1978
- PG
In 1950, a Brink's armored truck in Boston was robbed by a highly organized gang decked out in Halloween masks. The Brink's Job is an occasionally humorous account of that "perfect crime." Peter Falk stars as the mastermind behind the robbery, who assembles a bunch of two-bit hoods who in any other circumstance would be written off as born losers. The success of the caper hinges upon Brink's rather arrogant assumption that its trucks are unassailable and their guards are always on their toes. Wrong on both counts! This comic suspenser was based on The Big Stick Up at Brink's, a book by Noel Behn. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Falk, Peter Boyle, (more)
Devery Freeman's novel Father Sky was the inspiration for the far-fetched but convincingly acted and directed Taps. When an exclusive military school is threatened with demolition by a rapacious real-estate company, the students, headed by Timothy Hutton, take drastic action. Utilizing every bit of military know-how at their disposal, the boys take over the school, arm themselves to the teeth, and prepare to do battle against the "invading" developers. General George C. Scott, the head of the academy, tries to quell the rebellion, but soon he too is swept up by the students' to-the-death determination when the Army is called in to rout the boys. Whenever the action of Taps begins to flag, we recommend that you keep an eye on the show-stopping performances of Sean Penn (in his movie debut) and Tom Cruise as two of the cadets. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George C. Scott, Timothy Hutton, (more)
- 1983
Based on actual events from 1948 and made into a TV movie in 1983, this story concerns a corrupt Georgia businessman (Andy Griffith) who murders an employee and thinks he has gotten away with it. The local lawman (Johnny Cash) has other plans, but needs to gather enough evidence to prove his case. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
Lawrence Kasdan's Silverado is a fond hark back to the all-star, big-budget westerns of the 1950s and 1960s. The various plotlines converge at the town of Silverado, held in thrall by crooked sheriff Brian Dennehy and his behemoth "deputies." The four disparate heroes--Kevin Kline, Kevin Costner, Scott Glenn and Danny Glover--prepare to do battle against Dennehy for personal reasons ranging from mercenary to altruistic. Sidelines characters include duplicitous, dandified gambler Jeff Goldblum, frontier widow Rosanna Arquette and gimlet-eyed saloon owner Linda Hunt. The film is stolen hands-down by Kevin Costner, playing an irresponsible young gunslinger who never speaks when hootin' and hollerin' will do. A classic, High Noon-style showdown caps this rousing retro western. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kevin Kline, Scott Glenn, (more)
- 1986
Robert Conrad stars in One Police Plaza as a New York homicide detective. A case on which he's working, involving the murder of a beautiful woman, is ordered closed by Conrad's superiors. Refusing to give up, the detective probes deeper, and unearths a hotbed of crooked cops, dirty "brass" and illegal weapons. Made for television, One Police Plaza was initially telecast on November 29, 1986, easily outrating a Jack Paar "comeback" special. The film was based on the bestselling novel by William J. Caunitz. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Three Men and a Baby is an Americanized remake of the 1985 French comedy hit Three Men and a Cradle. Tom Selleck, Ted Danson and Steve Guttenberg play three upwardly mobile New York bachelors who share an apartment. Their even-keel lifestyle is thrown out of whack when a young woman leaves a baby on their doorstep, suspecting that film director Danson is the father. The balance of the film is devoted to milking as much humor as possible out of the situation of three urbane young men trying to play nursemaid with nary a clue of what they're doing (at one point, a desperate Selleck offers Guttenberg a thousand dollars if Guttenberg will change a diaper). A subplot involving drug dealers is thrown in to sustain audience interest after our trio of heroes become accustomed to a baby around the apartment. "Urban legend" aficionados please note: That cardboard cutout of Ted Danson briefly glimpsed in one scene of Three Men and a Baby is not the ghost of a little boy who died in the bachelors' apartment before filming started. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Selleck, Steve Guttenberg, (more)
Monologist Eric Bogosian's one-man theatre piece Talk Radio, co-written by Bogosian and Ted Savinar, is searingly brought to the screen by Oliver Stone. Bogosian plays a provocateur radio talk-show host, whose constant espousal of his inflammatory views and ceaseless hectoring of his callers and listeners reaps equal parts love and hate. As his program rolls on, Bogosian is revealed to be just as screwed up as any of his fans, if not more. And then he pushes one caller just a bit too far. In co-adapting the play for the screen, Oliver Stone interweaves elements of Steven Singular's factual book Talked to Death, the story of a liberal Denver radio personality who was murdered at the behest of a militant right-wing hate group. One word of warning: if you're not a fan of the sort of radio depicted herein, chances are you won't warm up to this film. Talk Radio was the indirect inspiration for the 1990 TV series Night Caller. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eric Bogosian, Alec Baldwin, (more)
- 1988
In this crime drama, a Manhattan police detective looks into the strange death of a peer who was ritually killed in Chinatown. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1990
Brian Dennehy stars in this made-for-cable drama about a blue-collar family man laid off from his auto-industry job who learns that his resentful son plans to drop out of medical school. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
A Cuban woman who escapes to America finds herself in political, financial, and romantic jeopardy in this taut drama. Cuban refugee Isabel (Greta Scacchi) flees her country and makes her way to Miami after her husband, Nestor (Jimmy Smits), a political activist, is sentenced to a long stay in a Cuban jail. In their dangerous voyage to the United States, Isabel and her daughter are rescued by Sam (Vincent D'Onofrio), a fisherman from Miami; Sam helped Isabel find her way in her new home, and a romance blossoms between the two. However, when Nestor is finally released from prison eight years later and escapes to Miami to be with his wife, he discovers that Isabel's affections are now divided between himself and Sam, while his daughter barely remembers or recognizes him. Danger faces all three sides of this romantic triangle; Sam is asked to use his boat to smuggle Cuban dissidents into Miami, Nestor falls in with a radical fringe group hoping to stage an armed invasion of Cuba, and Isabel, who has become involved with a numbers racket, is in deep trouble after several massive payments were made to someone who never placed a bet. Fires Within was also shown under the title Little Havana; it premiered in Miami, appropriately enough, in its short-lived theatrical release. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Greta Scacchi, Jimmy Smits, (more)
The first season of Home Improvement drew heavily upon the standup comedy routines of series co-creator Tim Allen, herein cast as Tim Taylor, star of the Detroit cable-TV series "Tool Time" -- sort of a low-rent version of Bob Vila's do-it-yourself opus This Old House (Vila in fact guest-starred on the episode titled "What About Bob"). Allen's humor relied upon barbed but affectionate digs at his wife and kids, and his ever-increasing ineptitude in dealing with the follies and foibles of everyday life. In Home Improvement, Tim Taylor was affirmatively master of his domain on "Tool Time" -- even though he relied a bit too extensively on his all-purpose solution to any mechanical problem, "More Power! More Power!" -- but at home he was all thumbs with the household appliances, and a stumbler-bumbler supreme when dealing with his wife, Jill (Patricia Richardson), and three sons, Brad (Zachery Ty Bryan), Randy (Jonathan Taylor Thomas), and Mark (Taran Noah Smith). As for Jill, she spent much of season one fighting a losing battle to imbue her oafish husband with sensitivity and culture (specifically, trying to get him to accompany her to the opera), but loved him all the same. Jill also yearned to find a job of her own, finally landing a position on a high-profile magazine.
The Taylor youngsters were typically mischievous and sometimes irksome but basically good kids, though youngest son Mark (age 6) tended to be victimized by the prankery of ten-year-old Brad and nine-year-old Randy. During the first season, Brad began squiring a classmate named Jennifer Sudarsky (Jessica Wesson), resulting in a variety of amusing and all-too-human "puppy love" situations. Also in the cast was Earl Hindman as the Taylors' philosophical, advice-dispensing neighbor Wilson, whose face was never clearly seen behind the backyard fence that separated the two neighbors' houses. Showing up on a recurring basis was Tim's long-suffering "Tool Time" assistant, Al Borland (Richard Karn), and the show's pulchritudinous "tool girl" Lisa (Pamela Anderson). Likewise making sporadic "Tool Time" appearances were Rock (Casey Sander), Peter (Mickey Jones), and Dwayne (Gary McGurk), the guys from K&B Construction. Initially telecast on ABC's Tuesday evening schedule, Home Improvement ended its first season as the nation's fifth highest-rated program. The series also earned an Emmy award for Achievement in Lighting Direction (the statuette went to director of photography Donald A. Morgan). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The Taylor youngsters were typically mischievous and sometimes irksome but basically good kids, though youngest son Mark (age 6) tended to be victimized by the prankery of ten-year-old Brad and nine-year-old Randy. During the first season, Brad began squiring a classmate named Jennifer Sudarsky (Jessica Wesson), resulting in a variety of amusing and all-too-human "puppy love" situations. Also in the cast was Earl Hindman as the Taylors' philosophical, advice-dispensing neighbor Wilson, whose face was never clearly seen behind the backyard fence that separated the two neighbors' houses. Showing up on a recurring basis was Tim's long-suffering "Tool Time" assistant, Al Borland (Richard Karn), and the show's pulchritudinous "tool girl" Lisa (Pamela Anderson). Likewise making sporadic "Tool Time" appearances were Rock (Casey Sander), Peter (Mickey Jones), and Dwayne (Gary McGurk), the guys from K&B Construction. Initially telecast on ABC's Tuesday evening schedule, Home Improvement ended its first season as the nation's fifth highest-rated program. The series also earned an Emmy award for Achievement in Lighting Direction (the statuette went to director of photography Donald A. Morgan). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim Allen, Patricia Richardson, (more)
This first film directorial effort of actor Simon Callow is based on a novel by Carson McCullers -- which, in turn, was adapted for the stage by Edward Albee in 1964. Vanessa Redgrave plays a powerful Southern matriarch who, sequestered in her café/general store, holds her home town in the palm of her hand. Redgrave's benevolent despotry is threatened by the arrival of her hunchbacked cousin, Cork Hubbert (in the role played on stage by dwarf actor Michael Dunn), and her jailbird husband Keith Carradine. Unable to remove this threat to her authority by her usual means, Redgrave is reduced to challenging Carradine to a bare-knuckle fight! Carson McCullers' fascination with the disintegration of the Old South coupled with her preoccupation with the grotesque requires delicate handling (as witness Heart Is a Lonely Hunter). Callow works overtime keeping things controlled and tasteful; unfortunately, this results in a very mannered and stilted production, all too obviously betraying its stage origins. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vanessa Redgrave, Keith Carradine, (more)
- 1992
"Based on the Georgia case that shocked the country" (or so said its ad copy), the made-for-TV Stay the Night was originally telecast in two parts in April of 1992. Part One introduces Barbara Hershey as a predatory middle-aged woman who seduces feckless teenager Morgan Wessler. Before this two-hour installment has run its course, Barbara has talked Morgan into murdering her husband and taking sole blame for the deed. In part two, first seen April 27, 1992, Morgan's mother Jane Alexander turns the tables on Barbara, using several of the villainess' own dirty tricks. While Stay the Night is rough sledding during the first half, its denouement is well worth the wait. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Inasmuch as Home Improvement had closed out its first season as the nation's fifth highest-rated TV program, neither its producers nor the ABC network saw the need to make anything but superficial changes for the series' second season on the air. ABC moved the program from its Tuesday night slot to an even better Wednesday-night berth, while one of the recurring characters, long-suffering "Tool Time" assistant Al Borland (Richard Karn), was promoted to "series regular" status. Otherwise, things remained pretty much the same as they'd been during season one. Protagonist Tim Taylor (Tim Allen) was still a fount of wisdom and expertise on his Detroit-based "do it yourself" cable TV series, "Tool Time" but a momument to ineptitude and insensitivity in his own home. Tim's wife, Jill (Patricia Richardson), now employed at a Detroit magazine, continued in her efforts to force culture and class upon her husband, all the while struggling to prevent him from "repairing" the household appliances. The Taylors' three sons -- eleven-year-old Brad (Zachery Ty Bryan), ten-year-old Randy (Jonathan Taylor Thomas), and seven-year-old Mark (Taran Noah Smith) -- persisted in causing trouble for themselves and their parents, though it was clear that there was a lot of love and mutual respect in the family's household. Of the remaining characters, ubiquitous neighbor Wilson (Earl Hindman) continued to dispense advice and philosophy to Tim and his brood -- and also continued to remain a somewhat shadowy figure, never showing his face to anyone. Buxom "tool girl" Lisa (Pamela Anderson) was still a fixture of Tim's TV series, seldom saying much but certainly making a big impression whenever she wriggled into camera range. And in a new development, Maureen Binford (Vicki Lewis), ditzy daughter of "Tool Time"'s primary sponsor, became the series' producer, saddling Tim with all manners of idiotic format changes to boost his ratings. Moving from fifth to third place in the real-life ratings, Home Improvement was the second most popular sitcom of 1992-1993, beaten out only by another ABC offering, Roseanne. And for the second year in a row, an Emmy award was bestowed upon the series' director of photography, Donald A. Morgan. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim Allen, Patricia Richardson, (more)
Tim Taylor (Tim Allen), self-assured authority on all things mechanical while starring in his own cable-TV series "Tool Time," continues to be an all-thumbs prophet without honor in his own home as Home Improvement enters its third season. With Tim's on-air "Tool Girl" Lisa having left for greener pastures (much like the actress who played her, Pamela Anderson), Debbe Dunning joins the regular cast as new Tool Girl Heidi, every bit as voluptuous as her predecessor. In another season-three development, Tim's "Tool Time" helper, Al (Richard Karn), a lifelong bachelor, begins yearning for a wife and kids on the occasion of his 35th birthday, thus Tim's helpful missus, Jill (Patricia Richardson), fixes Al up with her friend Ilene Markham (Sherry Hursey) -- whereupon the overwhelmed Al proposes to Ilene during a "Tool Time" broadcast! Finally, Robert Picardo joins the cast as Tim's explosive new neighbor Joe Morton, as does Mariangela Pino as Joe's wife, Marie Morton. Even as Heidi, Ilene, and the Mortons come on board, another recurring character passes from the scene: Mr. Binford, Tim's boss, sponsor, and friend. The death of Binford culminates in a touching (but still very funny) episode in which Tim is afraid to cry upon hearing the news. For the third year in a row, the series' season finale finds Tim locked in deadly competition with rival do-it-yourself TV host Bob Vila, playing "himself" for the last time (on this show, at any rate!) in "The Great Race II." Also for the third year in a row, the series' lighting director, Donald A. Morgan, picked up an Emmy award. Home Improvement closed out season three as America's second most popular series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim Allen, Patricia Richardson, (more)
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, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim Allen, Patricia Richardson, (more)
A lot of water has passed under the bridge since do-it-yourselfer Tim Taylor (Tim Allen) hosted his first episode of cable TV's "Tool Time" in the opening season of Home Improvement. As the series enters its fifth season, Tim's son Brad (Zachery Ty Bryan), ten years old when the series started, is just about to begin his first year in high school, where he is destined to excel as a hockey player (and also to lose his trademarked ponytail). Season five also introduces a new recurring character: Tim's new boss, Bud Harper (Charles Robinson), who takes an instant dislike to Tim's on-air assistant, Al (Richard Karn). Additionally, more screen time is allotted to Irene Markham (Sherry Hursey), Al's off-and-on fiancée. Down from third place in the 1994-1995 ratings, Home Improvement still closed at a strong seventh place at the climax of its fifth season. And, for the fifth year in a row, and Emmy award was bestowed upon the series' lighting director, Donald A. Morgan. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim Allen, Patricia Richardson, (more)
