Tim Taylor Quotes From Home Improvement That Haven't Aged Well

"Home Improvement" gifted audience members with countless laughs, heartfelt moments, and an overall pleasant story. However, given that the series ran eight seasons, from 1991 to 1999, it wasn't, to say the least, always politically correct, especially for viewers tuning in now. Though Tim Taylor (Tim Allen), the show's main character, had plenty of charming moments, he also had a plethora of lines that, for better or worse, have not aged well.

If you've watched a good part of the series, you know it's no secret that Tim is proudly a man as he constantly makes jokes about wanting more power — his catchphrase, in fact, is "more power." His show within a show, "Tool Time," revolves around doing things that supposedly only men would relate to, such as building or fixing household items. With that said, Tim isn't afraid to make fun of himself, and the sitcom pokes fun at itself and its characters. Though these jokes aren't for everyone, it is worth remembering that Tim Taylor is a fictional character. Nevertheless, here are Tim Taylor quotes from "Home Improvement" that haven't aged well.

Though Tim Taylor has plenty of laugh-out-loud zingers, he also has a bad habit of being one-dimensional, as he seems to think men should act and live a certain way. Unfortunately, this also means he presumably believes that women should act a certain way.

That brings us to the Season 1 episode "A Battle of Wheels." In the episode, Tim tells his wife, Jill Taylor (Patricia Richardson), that he's, more or less, always thinking about her, even when he's watching football. After all, if she were around while he was sitting on the couch and watching the game, then Jill could grab him another beer.

Clearly, this show takes place during an out-of-touch era when men were supposedly expected to bring in the money and their wives did the housework. At the very least, that's how these "social norms" were portrayed in the show. However, modern audiences will undoubtedly recognize that kind of this small-minded thinking is degrading, whether Tim is joking or not.

As the show's writing tends to hammer home, Tim Taylor is supposed to be the definition of a man. For lack of a better explanation, he considers himself masculine because he works with his hands and is no stranger to a toolset. Therefore, Tim makes perpetual jokes about what it means to be a man.

In the Season 2 episode, "May the Best Man Win," new "Tool Time" producer Maureen Binford (Vicki Lewis) tries to change the show and, naturally, Tim doesn't take too kindly to her suggestions. He takes the biggest issue with her idea to create a breakfast nook. "Are you crazy? This is 'Tool Time.' Men don't eat in a nook," Tim says in the episode. "You never, ever hear 300-pound construction workers going, 'Charlie, John, stop by the house. I just made fresh muffins. We'll eat it in the nook.'"

Whether he's right or wrong, there's no one-size-fits-all way to be a man, woman, human, or otherwise. People are allowed to have differing likes and interests, no matter what their gender is, yet the show continuously misses the point. Perhaps just as offensive is that Tim doesn't want Maureen to control the show, yet he handles this issue by telling her what a "real man" does and doesn't do. In Tim's defense, however, he states that they already bought the materials for the project that Maureen wants to change, but he could have led with that instead of making fun of her ideas.

Whether you take this quote from the Season 1 episode "Birds of a Feather Flock to Taylor" out of context or not, it's not hard to see why it could be considered offensive and hasn't aged well. While defending a sexist remark he made on "Tool Time," Tim says, "And besides, why would a woman look under the hood of a car? We don't look under the washing machine, do we?" 

At the time, these types of jokes might have seemed harmless, but society has come a long way since the '90s. Tim believes men should work on cars and women should do housework. This logic is out of touch as men aren't the only people allowed to work on cars. Likewise, if a man desires to do laundry, no rulebook should say otherwise.

Time and time again, "Home Improvement" is stuck in an outdated box in which men and women are supposed to be distinctively different –– and they should also follow the social standards of the time, which is, by all accounts, incorrect on so many different levels.

In the Season 1 episode "Yule Better Watch Out," Tim has a conversation with his son Mark (Taran Noah Smith), who is asking if Santa is alive, and Jill, who says she met Santa at the mall. Mark questions how Santa can be at every mall, and Tim chimes in with, "He's really fast for a fat guy."

Though Tim and his family are talking about a fictional character, the quote still doesn't age well. Tim is not only saying that people who are overweight aren't fast, and he's also making fun of people's bodies for good measure, something he tends to do on a routine basis throughout the series' run. Tim isn't a perfect character –– no TV character is –– and he's allowed to make mistakes, which tend to add comedic elements to the series. 

However, Tim habitually says inappropriate things to get a laugh out of people without actually thinking about the consequences of his actions. The problem with some of the show's humor is that the jokes can be hurtful and they're at the expense of people who are different from Tim.

Again, Tim Taylor has a small-minded definition of what it means to be a man, and all trails tend to lead back to toxic masculinity.

In the Season 1 episode "Stereo-Typical," Jill offers to go to the store to buy speakers for Tim. Tim responded, "Jill, please, please stay here. You go, you'll end up getting matching wood grain and a soft decor to go with carpets, chairs, and linoleum. Men's speakers, that's what I'm after. Speakers with attitude. Speakers that haven't shaved in a couple of days."

Time and time again, Tim believes there's a certain way men should function, even when it comes to buying speakers. He presumably believes that all men should love tools, sports, and cars –– yet his sometimes thoughtless jokes aren't for everyone. Many men don't want their speakers to have "attitude," and that doesn't make them any less of a man than, say, Tim Taylor.

Though Jill takes her fair amount of shots at Tim and can go joke for joke with him, Tim routinely undermines his wife. Not to mention, he makes fun of her for the sole purpose that she's a woman. In Season 1 episode "Up Your Alley," he says, "You can't help you're a lousy bowler, you're a woman." As if that wasn't enough, Tim then decides to take it even further, continuing, "The point I'm trying to make is, it's not fair for women to compete with men. Heck, men –– we're stronger, we throw the ball harder. Uh — we're stronger, so we throw the ball harder."

Tim has a sensitive side to him, but, for the most part, he's full of himself and makes inappropriate jokes without thinking about how his words affect other people since all he's chasing after is a laugh. Tim's jokes might seem harmless on the surface, especially when the other characters shrug his words off, but when viewing some of his quotes with a modern lens, it's not hard to notice how insensitive he can be and how poorly some of his jokes have aged.

When it comes to Tim Taylor's jokes, no one's off-limits. In "Reach Out and Teach Someone," Tim and Jill's son, Randy (Jonathan Taylor Thomas), tells his dad he doesn't want to help him work on his car after he's done with his homework. Tim responds by asking, "Where did I go wrong with him?"

Though this joke might seem innocuous to some viewers, Tim is virtually saying that he failed his kid because he doesn't want to work on cars, which is, according to Tim, a hobby all men should want to partake in. Though not wanting to work on cars certainly doesn't make Randy any less of a man, there are countless reasons why he might refuse his dad's offer. For starters, his dad can be insufferable. Randy might have something else he wants to do at that particular time. And, well, maybe he doesn't want to work on a car, nor does he need to work on a vehicle to make him feel like a "man."

Thankfully, Jill hits Tim with the final zinger, "Don't worry about it. He's not yours."

In the Season 1 episode "Luck Be a Taylor Tonight," Jill wants to join a poker game, yet she gets the Tim Taylor joke treatment in response when he says, "Sorry, Jill, but to join this game, you need to be able to bench-press 150 pounds." Al Borland (Richard Karn), who is also part of the game, stands up (insinuating he can't bench press that much weight), and then Tim tells him to sit down.

Again, this joke might have seemed harmless when it aired –– and there were more insensitive jokes throughout the show's run –– but it still didn't age well. Tim is pretty much telling his wife that she can't join because she's a woman and that women apparently can't bench press 150 pounds, according to Tim. Yet, instead of telling her that he presumably doesn't want her to play poker with the guys, he makes a joke at her expense. He could have just as easily told her that he wants time alone to play with his friends, but we digress.

There are times when it appears Tim Taylor doesn't have a filter. In Season 1, Episode 24, "Stereo-Typical," Tim goes off on a lengthy tangent, where he says, "To most people, saws just mean noise, wood chips. And maybe a missing finger or two. Not to me. To me, a saw says the sound of power, something a man can relate to. Yeah, this bad boy is raw power. This is a 3.5-cubic-inch chain saw. Automatic oil, manual chain style. Yeah, you won't have this thing around too long before you hear the wife going, 'Are you sure you're supposed to have that running in the bedroom?' You want to cut down on the noise, put some tape across her mouth. I'm kidding. Al, the women know I'm kidding, right?"

There's a lot to unpack here. First and foremost, you don't need to be a man to relate to power, from a machine perspective or otherwise. Secondly, taping your wife's mouth so she can't talk is abusive, to say the least.

Not every joke, despite a comedian believing otherwise, is funny. There's a myriad of tasteless jokes throughout "Home Improvement," and Tim Taylor is no stranger to making them. Ultimately, "Home Improvement" had a successful run on television, and, for all it's worth, the series did have many entertaining moments. "Home Improvement" is still worth the watch, but you should be aware that there are many scenes that didn't age well.