60 best sitcoms of all time

44. Home Improvement

If you were around in the 1990s, you’ve seen at least one episode of Home Improvement. The Tim Allen-led show was one of the top-rated sitcoms for almost the entire decade (it ran from the fall of 1991 to the spring of 1999). It also either made you want to build something or made you afraid of power tools, because Tim Taylor (Allen’s fictional counterpart) usually caused some huge accident with them.

Home Improvement launched the TV careers of a number of people, including Allen, Patricia Richardson, Richard Karn and Pamela Anderson. Karn, who played Tim’s show-within-a-show sidekick Al Borland, made his first major sitcom appearance of any kind when he was hired for Home Improvement. The series provided some new talent that was a breath of fresh air at the time.

At the same time, the show was awesome when it either roped well-known names into a joke or wasn’t afraid to skewer them. Tim’s rivalry with real life home improvement pro Bob Vila was a great running gag (Vila later said Tim was based on him). Several NASA astronauts and former President Jimmy Carter also turned up. And aside from the unseen Maris on Frasier, Wilson (Earl Hindman) might have been TV’s best obscured character; for a guy we only saw half of for eight seasons, he sure had an impact. Then again, that summed up Home Improvement: It was a sitcom that wasn’t afraid to go away from the blueprint just for the fun of it.

Next: 43. Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist