While “Seinfeld” and “Home Improvement” couldn’t have been more different, they shared some great sitcom DNA. They both premiered around the same time — “Seinfeld” coming first in 1989 on NBC and “Home Improvement” arriving two years later on ABC in 1991 — during an era when sitcoms were part of the upper echelon of entertainment, highly regarded for their influence on popular culture. Believe it or not, one show influenced the other in an indirect but significant way.
Here’s the story: The later seasons of “Seinfeld” ended up in somewhat experimental territory, and the writers considered doing an animated episode for the last season of the show.
“Heading into [the show’s] ninth season, we didn’t yet know that it was the final season, but being that it had been on for that many years, I got most excited by any idea that broke format,” David Mandel explained in an oral history about the backwards episode of “Seinfeld.” “For example, during Season 9, Jerry [Seinfeld] and I met with Will Vinton, who did the California Raisins, about making a Claymation episode.”
Things ended up going in a different direction — one without animation entirely.
Television Influence
Mandel went on to reveal that “Home Improvement” was actually the reason why the episode was never made.
“The deal fell apart when one of the guys who worked for Vinton mentioned that they did something similar for ‘Home Improvement.’ If ‘Home Improvement’ had already done it, obviously Jerry wasn’t going to follow them, so we didn’t go through with it,” the writer added. “I’m also guessing that guy was fired as soon as we left the room.”
The scene in question came from the 10th episode in Season 6 of “Home Improvement,” titled “The Wood, the Bad, and the Hungry.” It originally aired on November 26, 1996, and served as the season’s Thanksgiving episode. It revolved around one of Tim’s (Tim Allen) friends, Benny (Jimmy Labriola), who was seen as a moocher. That behavior kept him from being invited to Tim’s family’s holiday plans, but when Tim saw him in line at a soup kitchen, he had a vision, filmed in stop-motion, of himself giving gifts to those in need.