Tim Allen revealed why he found it challenging to be a mentor to his TV sons on Home Improvement.
“It was new to me and it took a while for me to be that [father figure]. I felt like more of a funny, mischievous older brother for quite a while — especially to the boys on Home Improvement,” Allen, 72, exclusively told Us Weekly about working with Zachery Ty Bryan, Jonathan Taylor Thomas and Taran Noah Smith.
Allen addressed the lessons he learned at the time.
“It’s difficult because I said when it was easy to be a TV parent, it’s easy. When it’s difficult to be a TV parent, you really are of no value,” he noted about how some of his former costars went through “personal, horrible trauma” in their lives. “[For example with the] Home Improvement kids, it was so long ago and I was brand new at that and it was very difficult for me to be anywhere near a mentor or guide.”
Allen continued: “It was very difficult to step in and it wasn’t until later that I became more of a mentor. But they all had great parents.”
Allen got his sitcom start on Home Improvement, which ran from 1991 to 1999 and also starred Thomas, Patricia Richardson, Smith, Bryan, Richard Karn and Debbe Dunning. The comedian continued to find success playing Mike Baxter in Last Man Standing from 2011 to 2021 before returning to TV alongside onscreen daughter Kat Dennings in Shining Gears.
“On Last Man Standing with Kaitlyn Dever, I was a mentor because I aligned myself with her comedy style,” Allen continued. “I really was all about encouraging her the best I could. She listened and I didn’t know that she was picking it up until every now and then in her scenes.”
After playing a sitcom dad on multiple shows, Allen continued to remain in touch with his TV kids, telling Us, “What we do is holidays, birthdays, weddings and unfortunately funerals. Their lives have moved on [but] I’ve done the Buzz Lightyear voice for [my costars’ kids].”
Allen previously teased whether his former onscreen kids could appear on Shifting Gears.
“Everything is a possibility,” he shared in January 2025 with Us before addressing a possible appearance from Thomas after he took a step back from the spotlight. “He just came back [to the last episode we filmed]. He showed up on the set.”
Allen said he would love nothing more than to share the screen with Thomas again. “He’s literally my kid. I raised that kid for eight years on Home Improvement,” he added. “All of these are my kids, and I’m kind of sick about this.”
At the time, Allen recalled the close bonds he formed with his onscreen kids throughout the years.
“[My former onscreen wife] Nancy Travis once told me [something] after I called her during Last Man Standing. I said, ‘Have you talked to the girls [who play our daughters] over the summer?’ Then there’s this long pause and she goes, ‘Tim, these aren’t our daughters and I’m not actually your wife,’” he quipped. “She was so wonderful about it because sometimes when they were having trouble on the show, I’d go, ‘How do you think they feel?’ And she would respond, ‘Tim, they’re actors. We just read [what is on the page but] she’s not really that sad.’”
Shifting Gears airs on ABC Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET before streaming the next day on Hulu.
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