Product Details

• Actors: Tim Allen
• Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 3
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: ABC Studios
• DVD Release Date: November 23, 2004
• Run Time: 566 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (71 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0002W4SWW
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,927 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #1 in

  Movies & TV > Comedy > Television > Home Improvement

• For more information about "Home Improvement - The Complete First Season" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

• This is item 1 in The Home Improvement Series.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

There's no more reliable engine for comedy than the differences between men and women; Home Improvement puts that topic front and center. Launched from the stand-up comedy of Tim Allen (The Santa Clause, the voice of Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story), this sturdy sitcom rests on the endearing, befuddled machismo of Tim Taylor (Allen), the host of a how-to-build-stuff show called Tool Time, who finds raising three sons and being a supportive husband isn't always as easy as sanding down a door frame. In the show's first season, the tried-and-true domestic plotlines (for example: wife wants to have a romantic dinner, husband wants to watch the big game--the fodder of every family sitcom since the dawn of television) are given a fresh spin by Home Improvement's embrace (and gentle mockery) of the men's movement that flourished in the early '90s. Tim's neighbor Wilson (Earl Hindman), whose face is always obscured by the fence between their yards, proves to be a font of Iron John-style wisdom--wisdom that Tim comically garbles when he puts it into practice. Allen and Patricia Richardson (as Tim's prickly but tolerant wife, Jill) immediately established a cozy but smart banter with enough bite to rise above the bland bickering of too many sitcoms. Some jokes degenerate into schtick--Tim's manly grunting becomes rote by the second episode--but Allen and his writing team consistently found surprises in this familiar territory. The capable supporting cast also includes Tim's sensitive and woefully single assistant Al (Richard Karn), his three cute sons (Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Zachery Ty Bryan, and Taran Noah Smith), and Tool Time's eye-candy (future Baywatch sex bomb Pamela Anderson). --Bret Fetzer

Product Description

An immediate hit with both fans and critics, this classic family comedy earned an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Comedy Series in its very first season and soon found its place among the most popular and acclaimed sitcoms in television history. Tim Allen ratchets up the laughs as Tim "The Toolman" Taylor in HOME IMPROVEMENT'S landmark first season. Relive every hilarious moment with the accident-prone TV show host and the original "Tool Time" girl Pamela Anderson, in this comprehensive 3-disc set, including all 24 episodes and exclusive bonus features. It's the show you love -- with "more power" than ever!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Does Everybody Know What Time It Is?, August 18, 2004

By	Chris (UK) - See all my reviews

I've only recently started to watch Home Improvement in syndication for the first time, and as soon as I got into it it has become one of my favourite sitcoms. The humoar is very original and the concept was very bright and fresh when it came along on ABC in 1991.
It wasn't just that that made it one of the most popular shows of the 90's, it was also the strengh of the characters. Tim Allen's portrayel of accident proned chauvanistic tool man Tim Taylor helps make the show along with his sidekick Al, wife Jill and three kids Brad, Randy and Mark.

This show also provided more realism than a lot of other shows of its kind, for example the relationship between the boys and their regular fighting seems a lot more true to life than other shows that often represent people as constantly loving and everything always patched up by the end of the show. Home Improvement still has many tender moments that are always well acted.

As well as the 24 episodes on this DVD set, you also get a gag reels of jokes from the show and a commentary by the creators. It's good to see that a lot of these sets now have extras and that the companies are going to the trouble of adding nice touches to the tv shows we know and love.

So overall, this set is one that you should definetly add to your collection, whether you want to re-discover the classic first season once again or watch this show for the first time and introduce it to your family who may not have been around then; either way you are very unlikely to be diassapointed! "I don't think so Tim!"
Highly recommended!

48 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Beginning, October 9, 2004

By	Ryan Anonymus "Ryan" (Olympia, WA) - See all my reviews

I liked this show, but the family values issues did get on my nerves a lot, and how Jill (the wife) would always jump down Tim's back about the littlest things - it seemed.

The neighbor, Wilson, was pretty cool, always with some wise information for Tim and the others. And this first season, possibly the next one too, had Pamela Anderson in it as the Tool Time girl. Here's a description of the episodes on this set:

"Pilot" - Tim wrecks the dishwasher, while trying to give it more power; Jill gets a job interview
"Mow Better Blues" - Mark breaks a tool of Tim's, which Jill was told to stay away from
"Off Sides" - Tim hires a magician as a babysitter
"Satellite on a Hot Tim's Roof" - Tim installs a satellite dish; one of Jill's teachers visits
"Wild Kingdom" - Tim hears some weird noises in the basement
"Adventures in Fine Dining" - Tim bets Jill that he can teach their kids some table manners
"Nothing More Than Feelings" - Tim tells his Tool Time audience that his wife drove with the oil light on; the other guys say that their wives don't respect their tools
"Flying Sauces" - The K & B Construction guys show how to make hot gourmet meals while on the job, on Tool Time; Brad and Randy tell Mark that Brad, Randy, and their parents are aliens
"Bubble, Bubble, Toil and Trouble" - Tim puts another sink in their bathroom
"Reach Out and Teach Someone" - Tim does a Tool Time episode for women to teach plumbing; Brad worries that he's going to do bad on a test at school
"Look Who's Not Talking" - At a presentation for the Library Association: Jill gets stage fright
"Yule Better Watch Out" - Tim competes in a neighborhood Christmas light competition; Brad and Randy tell Mark that Santa Claus is dead
"Up Your Alley" - Tim and Jill go bowling; the kids get in trouble at a local arcade
"For Whom the Belch Tolls" - Jill doesn't want an old college friend of Tim's to stay with them
"Forever Jung" - Karen comes to visit; Jill teaches Brad to dance
"Jill's Birthday" - Tim buys Jill a lifetime membership to a health club; after wasting all their money, Brad and Randy put together a scheme to get Mark's money
"What About Bob?" - Tim competes against Bob Vila in a trivia game; Randy pulls a prank on a nerd at school
"Baby, It's Cold Outside" - Tim's boss has Tim and Jill go camping to promote some new camping gear. The problem is that they had a romantic weekend planned instead
"Unchained Malady" - Tim throws away a chain letter; Randy gets dared to do a trick on his bike
"Birds of a Feather Flock to Taylor" - Jill tells Tim that he's a bad listener (happens to me all the time); Brad and Randy try to get Mark to eat a worm
"A Battle of Wheels" - Tim lets Al host Tool Time; Tim accidently breaks some of Jill's pottery
"Luck Be a Taylor Tonight" - Jill's sister and Al ruin Tim's poker night
"Al's Fair in Love and War" - Tim wants to read Jill's old diary; Al tries to ask a girl out
"Stereo-Typical" - Tim and Jill argue over stereo volume

So buy this set, my favorite segments were always the Tool Time scenes of the episodes. There should be an option of the DVDs to view only the Tool Time scenes, oh well.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Klaus, some music please, May 3, 2005

By	Joshua Spaulding "Television God" (Ossipee, New Hampshire) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Home Improvement was on the air at a time when sitcoms were a good source of bread and butter for network television. During its prime, Home Improvement made its share of money for ABC, as the show appealed to a broad audience, from kids to adults.

The complete first season of Home Improvement takes us back to the very beginning of the show. We meet Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor, the host of a local cable home improvement show, his wife Jill and their three kids. While much of the show dealt with the television show, the prime focus was on the family aspect of Tim's life and how it affected his work and vice versa.

Stand-up comedian Tim Allen brought the character of Tim Taylor to life. His observations about everyday life, along with his penchant for getting himself into fine messes, usually involving "more power," made for some interesting situations. While Tim is by no means a stupid guy, he quite often misinterprets advice given to him by his neighbor Wilson, or the meaning of any number of things that his wife says. Somehow he always manages to get everything to work out the way it needs to. If only life were so easy.

Patricia Richardson stars as Tim's wife Jill. She is the perfect co-star for Allen. While she can stay in the background as he goes off on his antics, she is also quite capable of stepping into the spotlight with some great jokes of her own. As the only woman in a house full of males, she finds herself constantly outnumbered, but usually manages to get her way.

Zachery Ty Bryan, Jonathan Taylor Thomas and Taran Noah Smith star as the Taylors' three kids. Through the years viewers got to watch the kids grow and got to see how their parents influenced them as they grew up. Looking back, the kids look incredibly young in this very first season. It is amazing just how much older they look at the end of the show. The kids have some great moments, mainly with the older two picking on their younger brother, but the focus of the show is the family, and if the kids do something wrong, the parents are there to try to teach them right from wrong.

Richard Karn stars as Al, Tim's assistant and Earl Hindman stars as Wilson. Both characters provide some great supporting parts and it is interesting to see all the ways that the show's powers that be find to hide Wilson face, which is never fully visible. The show also started the career of Pamela Anderson, who was Lisa, the original Tool Time girl.

Two of the show's producers provide commentary on a number of episodes, and the commentary is quite interesting and a good addition to the set. This set is worth the purchase for anyone who remembers the good days of television sitcoms.