The Handiwork of Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor Quiz

Answer: The washing machine, Jill's bedroom closet, Jill and Tim's bathroom

Tim successfully remodeled Jill's closet and their bathroom, in the episodes "Bell Bottom Blues" and "Bubble, Bubble, Toil and Trouble". Both projects had their moments, but they ended well and Jill was pleased with the final results. In "Abandoned Family", Tim rigged the washing machine to automatically dispense laundry detergent and fabric softener at the correct times during the wash cycle, and the gadget actually worked as he intended. Tim was less successful with his modification to the clothes dryer; after he installed a Binford 20-amp electric motor, the dryer spun wildly out of control across the garage floor.

During the teaser of the episode "Alarmed by Burglars", Tim installed a Binford 6100 Commercial Vacuum Hood in the Taylor kitchen. Unfortunately, he also added a 20-horsepower motor, twenty times more powerful than the original. The exhaust suction was so intense, it literally sucked food right out of the pots on the stove, and Jill made him remove the hood. As for the fate of the Taylors' dishwasher, it was Tim's first celebrated disaster. He destroyed it during the pilot episode of "Home Improvement" by installing a "Finley two-stage, five-horsepower, Blastmaster compressor, with a stainless steel diaphragm". Tim's modified dishwasher exploded the first time he tried to use it, blasting shattered dishes across the living room.

Answer: The Man's Bedroom

The fifth season episode "High School Confidential" gave us the Man's Bedroom, arguably Tim Taylor's tour de force. The hidden pool table in the Man's Bedroom emerged from the wall behind the headboard of the bed. It wasn't too practical for shooting a real game of pool, but it was rather handy for concealing that the Man's Bed hadn't been made.

Naturally, Tim also provided cue sticks delivered by remote control, which shot upward from holes in the floor.

Answer: Molten Lava

The Man's Kitchen was highlighted in the third season episode "Fifth Anniversary", and the Binford Macrowave was designed to cook a man's food FAST. It had three power settings: High, Really High, and Split Your Own Atoms. The oven was so powerful, Tim and Al had to wear lead vests while it was operating, and Tim warned the studio audience, "Don't look directly at the potato." The Man's Kitchen also offered a variety of other "manly" conveniences, including a built-in butcher shop (with Benny, one of Tim's buddies from the hardware store, serving as the butcher). Jim Labriola played the recurring role of Benny.

Answer: Lingonberry jam

Tim chose lingonberry jam in honor of his Swedish guests. Unfortunately, like most of Tim's inventions, the Waffle Buddy didn't work exactly as he intended. It did dispense lingonberry jam, but sprayed the sticky syrup across the "Tool Time" set, drenching one of the visiting Swedes.

The lingonberry (sometimes spelled "lingenberry") is the edible fruit of the lingonberry plant, native to northern regions of Europe, Asia, and North America. The berries are red, tart, and similar in appearance to cranberries. Lingonberries are a popular food item in Scandinavian countries. The berries are typically cooked and sweetened, then prepared as a jam, syrup or sauce.

Answer: Lake Michigan

In the seventh season opener, "Quest for Fire", Tim was experiencing a mid-life crisis. As the episode began, Tim and Al were filming a "Tool Time" segment, and Tim wanted to prove he could light a barbecue faster than anyone on record, so he used volatile rocket fuel to stoke his charcoal.

A few seconds after Tim lit his coals, the barbecue launched itself into orbit. The Taylor family spent the remainder of the episode vacationing at a Lake Michigan resort, and Tim announced to Jill that he wanted to quit "Tool Time" and move the entire family to the country. With a little help from Wilson, Jill was able to show Tim the folly of his thinking.

The barbecue finally came hurtling down into Lake Michigan as the episode ended.

Answer: It propelled Tim through Wilson's fence

When Tim tried to demonstrate the chair in action, he crashed directly through Wilson's fence. In this episode, "Knee Deep", Brad initially blamed Tim for his injury, rationalizing that he wouldn't have been hurt if "Tool Time" hadn't been filming in the house. After chatting with Wilson, Brad realized his accident was just that, an accident. The comic magicians Penn & Teller made a "Tool Time" cameo appearance at the beginning of this episode, using Tim and Al in one of their illusions.

If you answered that the chair raced backwards into the house, you might be confusing this classic Tim Taylor mishap with a similar scene from the second episode of the series, "Mow Better Blues". In that episode, Tim installed a 150-horsepower engine into a riding mower. When Tim showed off his "improved" lawn mower for Jill and the boys, it raced straight backwards and crashed.

Answer: He borrowed it

Tim's mower was on loan from the U.S. Lawn Mower Racing Association. The mower, nicknamed "Chopper", was equipped with the jet engine from a Chinook helicopter. It was capable of a top speed of 62 miles per hour, or 94 miles per hour if Tim "re-geared it". When Jill learned Tim was going to race a jet-powered lawn mower, she said, "... after they pry you out of this with a crowbar, I'll turn to the crowd and say, 'He was a nice man, a good man, but NOT a bright man.'" This episode marked the second of three cameo appearances made by Bob Vila over the run of the series.

There actually is a U.S. Lawn Mower Racing Association, dedicated to organized lawn mower racing. The enthusiasts of this unique sport race stock and modified riding mowers equipped with regular gasoline engines, but not jet-powered mowers! If you're interested in learning more, visit the USLMRA web site at www.letsmow.com.

Answer: Doc Johnson

Although Doc Johnson never appeared as an on-screen character, Tim's long rivalry with him was mentioned during several Christmas episodes of "Home Improvement", beginning with the first season ("Yule Better Watch Out"). In the third season ("'Twas the Blight Before Christmas") we learned that Doc Johnson had won the lighting contest for the previous nine straight years.

In the fifth season ("'Twas The Flight Before Christmas") Tim and Al were stranded at the Alpena airport on Christmas Eve, but Tim's boys actually beat Doc Johnson and won the contest in Tim's absence.

By the seventh season ("Bright Christmas") the lighting displays had became so outlandish, new restrictive rules were imposed for the contest, known as the "Tim Taylor Clause".

In the eighth and final season only ("Home for the Holidays") Al was Tim's decorating rival.

Answer: It burst into flames

In the episode "Games, Flames and Automobiles", Al invested his entire life savings to produce and market the "Tool Time Game", and promised his customers a "double your money back" guarantee. He hoped sales of the game would insure his financial future, so he'd be able to propose to Ilene and offer her a comfortable married life together.

Unfortunately, the first time Jill, Tim and the boys played the game, it burst into flames. Tim discovered the game's wiring was flawed, and organized a marathon session to rewire all of the games in Al's inventory, sparing Al from financial ruin.

This was one of three episodes in which Keith Lehman appeared in the guest role of Al's look-alike brother, Cal Borland. Sherry Hursey also appeared as the recurring character Ilene Markham, Al's girlfriend of the era.

Answer: Removing their back yard fence

In the finale, "The Long and Winding Road, Part III", Tim and Wilson removed the fence dividing their back yards, to make room for Al and Trudy's wedding ceremony. As filmed, it appeared to be the first time Tim ever saw Wilson's entire face (although the audience did not).

Earl Hindman portrayed the Taylors' faceless neighbor, Wilson Wilson, the Renaissance man of the Detroit suburbs. Tim Allen devised the "hidden face" concept for Wilson's character, based on his real-life childhood experiences looking up at his adult neighbor, whose face was always partially obscured by their back yard fence.

Very sadly, Earl Hindman died of lung cancer on December 29, 2003, at the age of 61. A talented performer, Mr. Hindman enjoyed a successful career in television, film, and on the stage. Rest well, Wilson; your sage wisdom will be sorely missed.