

Indeed, when Fox revived it, it ran for three more seasons. However, he still had a long-running hit sitcom, Last Man Standing, which saw a controversial cancellation that led to many wondering if his political opinions led to his show being unfairly axed. Soon, he was making over a million bucks an episode for Home Improvement and leading family comedies like Jungle 2 Jungle, the Santa Clause sequels, and the vastly underrated, legit sci-fi classic Galaxy Quest.Įventually, Home Improvement ended, and Allen’s big screen outings, such as Zoom, started to underperform. The following year, he voiced Buzz Lightyear in the first Pixar movie, T oy Story, adding another family classic to his resume. The film was a total smash, making him a movie star overnight. However, his career hit a turning point in 1994 when he signed on to star in Disney’s The Santa Clause, where he played an everyday businessman who becomes the heir apparent to Santa’s mantle. It wasn’t a critical darling, but families loved it, with Allen becoming a household name.

The show, where he played Tim “The Toolman” Taylor, became one of the biggest shows of the nineties, regularly ranking near the top of the Nielsen ratings. This led to ABC building a sitcom around him, Home Improvement. Beginning his career as a stand-up comic at the Comedy Store, his brand of family-friendly, relatable comedy made him stand out from his contemporaries.

In the 1990s, Tim Allen was one of the biggest family comedy stars in the game.
