Entertainment
‘Home Improvement’ Star Patricia Richardson Unveils Equal Pay Sitcom
“I knew there was no way Disney would pay me that much. That was my way of saying ‘no’ and it was a bit of a slight to Disney,” the actress recalls.
June 9, 2024, published at 5:30 am ET
Sitcom star Patricia Richardson unveiled her hit ’90s TV series Renovation was canned by bigwigs after she demanded equal pay as the leading man Tim Allen, RadarOnline.com has learned.
According to a sensational report, the sitcom, which ran for eight seasons with more than 200 episodes, failed to meet equal pay demands!
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Richardson said she demanded equal pay as her on-screen husband.
The actress, who played Allen’s wife Jill Taylor, claimed that ABC and Disney wanted to run the show for a ninth season after 1999, but only offered her half of Allen’s $2 million per episode for 25 segments.
Hopes for a new season of Tim the Tool Man Taylor’s shenanigans were reportedly dashed when Richardson gave the networks an ultimatum!
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Hopes for a new season of Tim the Tool Man Taylor’s shenanigans were reportedly abandoned when Richardson gave the networks an ultimatum!
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Richardson said she demanded equal pay as her on-screen husband — and the season was scuttled, costing her the $25 million they originally offered, according to The Globe.
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In celebration of the show’s 25th anniversary, Richardson reflected on her fight for equal treatment on the beloved sitcom in an interview with the Los Angeles Times.
“When I took the job, they said it wasn’t meant to be Tim Allen’s show. It was meant to be our show,” Richardson said.
The show’s matriarch said she successfully negotiated her contract in the third season to secure four episodes focused on her character, as well as a profit share that entitled her to a backend percentage of the show’s revenue.
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Renovation
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The actress, who played Allen’s wife Jill Taylor, claimed that ABC and Disney wanted to run the show for a ninth season after 1999, but only offered her half of Allen’s $2 million per episode for 25 segments.
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“I knew the residuals were getting less and less, and I felt like I was ultimately going to be a big part of whatever this show is,” Richardson explained. “It’s going to work almost as well because of me as it does because of Tim.”
Although Richardson provided significant input on her character in the male-dominated writers’ room, she was not given producer credit, which she claimed was limited for fear of influencing other actors.
Meanwhile, Allen was credited as an executive consultant in the series’ debut season and became an executive producer in the sixth season.
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Although Richardson provided significant input on her character in the male-dominated writers’ room, she was not given producer credit, which she claimed was limited for fear of influencing other actors.
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Richardson revealed that both she and Allen agreed that the show should end after the eighth season, but the networks wanted to continue. So Richardson suggested she be paid the same as Allen and given an executive producer credit to sign on for a new season.
“I knew there was no way Disney would pay me that much. That was my way of saying ‘no’ and it was a bit of a slight to Disney,” the actress recalls. “I had been there all that time, and they didn’t even pay me a third of what Tim made, and I worked really hard. I was a big reason why women were watching.”
