ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, January 17, 1996 TAG: 9601170024
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: PASADENA, CALIF.
SOURCE: MIKE DUFFY KNIGHT-RIDDER/TRIBUNE
It's good to be the king.
And Tim Allen, despite a recent slide in the ratings for ``Home Improvement,'' is still the reigning King of ABC.
Call it the synergy of the mouse.
Disney unloaded bags of money to buy Cap Cities/ABC in the most spectacular mega-media merger of the past year. And ``Home Improvement'' just happens to be a Disney production, through its Touchstone Television subsidiary.
That's not all. Tim Allen also is a Disney big-screen titan, having made an impressive movie debut in the magic money kingdom's 1994-95 hit ``The Santa Clause.'' And he followed up that success with his lively vocal strut as Buzz Lightyear in ``Toy Story,'' Disney's current family blockbuster.
So how does Disney take care of its versatile comedy MVP?
``What they've done to make me happy is they actually bought me Guam,'' Allen joked during a luncheon visit with TV critics last week.
``I am now the Prince of Guam, which is all I ever really wanted to do in my life. I'm carried around on those sticks and those chairs.''
King or prince, the affable comic with the strong Detroit roots is certified, Disney-approved chucklehead royalty.
Even the ratings dip for ``Home Improvement'' isn't seen as a major concern. ABC entertainment president Ted Harbert, other industry observers and Allen himself cite the hugely successful launch of ``Home Improvement'' reruns in syndication last fall as a key explanation for the ratings erosion for the show's prime-time Tuesday telecasts on ABC.
In its fifth season, ``Home Improvement'' has dipped to No. 5 or No. 6 in the ratings most weeks. It had spent several seasons at or near No. 1.
``There's no question that we're getting fire from all sides,'' Allen acknowledged. And doing a family oriented show opposite more adult fare like ``Frasier'' is tricky business for ``Home Improvement.''
``You can't compete on an adult level and you can't be totally'' for children, either, Allen said, crediting the show's writers and producers with pulling off a very difficult sitcom balancing act. ``We're still smart enough for adults, and cool enough for kids.''
Even with his film success, Allen has no plans to abandon the original source of his immense celebrity and success.
``The films are fun, but my first love is `Home Improvement,''' he said.
There are still lots of possibilities for mining the comic mother lode of that first love.
Allen said he'd like to do an animated ``Home Improvement'' Christmas special.
And he'd like to try a stand-alone ``Tool Time'' special, referring to the show within a show that is part of ``Home Improvement.''
``I'd love to do a one-hour `Tool Time' where we'd have a studio audience, we'd get guests on, we'd actually finish a project,'' Allen said.
Another example of Allen's clout: His own production company will produce a ``Home Improvement'' spin-off for ABC.
It will be set in the hardware store that is seen on the show, and it will be called either ``Harry's Hardware'' or ``Cranbrook Corners,'' a Detroit-flavored name for the strip mall in which the hardware store operates.
Though some stars might resent having to share popularity with a kid supporting player, Allen jovially makes wisecracks about the phenomenal pre-teen idol success of Jonathan Taylor Thomas (seen currently in ``Tom and Huck''), who plays Tim and Jill Taylor's middle son, Randy, on ``Home Improvement.''
``We're not actually allowed to speak to him,'' Allen quipped. ``You can't make eye contact with him anymore; you actually have to talk to his people.''
In reality, Allen added, ``He's really a sweet kid. Nothing's really changed except the mail load.''
LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) Allen.by CNB