Tool Time shows the audience a few useful household tips, such as using a razor to find a wall stud, which Tim demonstrates with Al's razor that he stole, and Al shows how to remove broken light bulbs from light sockets using a potato. Or rather, before he can demonstrate, Tim jumps the gun and shoves the potato into the light socket, getting a well- deserved shock. Because before you can do any maintenance on an electric appliance, you must first check to make sure it's unplugged. At home, Tim proves to be a very shoddy housekeeper by way of letting dishes overflow the sink before he puts them in the dishwasher, and in lieu of washing out a coffee cup, he opts to drink right out of the creamer. Unfortunately for him, Jill just got a big research project at the magazine, which means Tim will have to run the house daily. She gives him the breakdown, you know, how to do the laundry, when to make the boys' lunches, what color sponge is for the floor and which is for the counter, in every, single, minute detail. Plus, he'll have to help Mark make a gingerbread house, or as Tim sees it, a gingerbread auto garage. Tim also tells Jill to relax, because he's going to do things HIS way. First with the laundry, because he "fixed" the washing machine.
He actually did improve it, by installing a timer system that know when to load bleach and softener. Jill is almost speechless. Wait 'til you see what he does with the dryer. Meanwhile, on to Tool Time, annoying producer Maureen tries to nix Tim's idea on a sheet rock installation show in favor of doing The Bachelor Corner with Al, and how single guys can solve little household problems. Tim isn't in favor of that and insists on sheet rock, but the answer is no. Why? Pro-DUCE-err! On top of that, Jill's working prevents her from picking up Randy, so now Tim has to do that too. It seems running the house won't be as easy as he originally thought. However, he's still determined to do it HIS way, no matter what the cost. That evening, Tim and the boys get to making that gingerbread service center, with Tim using a paint pan cleaned in turpentine to cook the batter in, but naturally he underestimated the size of the oven, and thus the paint pan doesn't fit. He manages to wedge it in nonetheless, and from there, Murphy's Law kicks in, as Brad and Mark start fighting and the batter makes the oven catch fire. Jill comes home to the chaos and chastises Tim for not following her list to the letter. He protests that he actually tried, and that he at least got the laundry right. Remember when he talked about souping up the dryer? It now literally spin dries, but even that goes pear-shaped. Tim and Jill bicker some more, and he actually makes her realize that despite all the mishaps, Tim isn't the worst housekeeper, and he did get some things right, so maybe he can be trusted. And despite his best efforts, Tim finally built the world's first sunken gingerbread auto garage.
So... Tim minds the house...chaos to follow. That's about how I'd sum up this one. The washing machine improvement carries until the end of the series, and it is among the many improvements Tim made that actually works. The message this episode was trying to convey doesn't seem to be whether women are better at running a house than men, but rather all it takes is know-how, patience and careful planning, which is why Jill's way was more effective than Tim's, who seemed to do things on a whim, and he was very inexperienced at maintaining a home because his wife was always there to do it for him. I'm sure many audience members can relate to this story. So, if you're a fan of the show, I'd say this one is worth checking out. Oh, and as for Maureen Binford, you'll be happy to know that after the next episode, she's never seen or heard from again. Good, what an annoying character she turned out to be. Constantly saying "Pro-DUCE-err!" like a cheerleader and constantly undermining Tim for no reason other than the above was a very shallow gimmick.
He actually did improve it, by installing a timer system that know when to load bleach and softener. Jill is almost speechless. Wait 'til you see what he does with the dryer. Meanwhile, on to Tool Time, annoying producer Maureen tries to nix Tim's idea on a sheet rock installation show in favor of doing The Bachelor Corner with Al, and how single guys can solve little household problems. Tim isn't in favor of that and insists on sheet rock, but the answer is no. Why? Pro-DUCE-err! On top of that, Jill's working prevents her from picking up Randy, so now Tim has to do that too. It seems running the house won't be as easy as he originally thought. However, he's still determined to do it HIS way, no matter what the cost. That evening, Tim and the boys get to making that gingerbread service center, with Tim using a paint pan cleaned in turpentine to cook the batter in, but naturally he underestimated the size of the oven, and thus the paint pan doesn't fit. He manages to wedge it in nonetheless, and from there, Murphy's Law kicks in, as Brad and Mark start fighting and the batter makes the oven catch fire. Jill comes home to the chaos and chastises Tim for not following her list to the letter. He protests that he actually tried, and that he at least got the laundry right. Remember when he talked about souping up the dryer? It now literally spin dries, but even that goes pear-shaped. Tim and Jill bicker some more, and he actually makes her realize that despite all the mishaps, Tim isn't the worst housekeeper, and he did get some things right, so maybe he can be trusted. And despite his best efforts, Tim finally built the world's first sunken gingerbread auto garage.
So... Tim minds the house...chaos to follow. That's about how I'd sum up this one. The washing machine improvement carries until the end of the series, and it is among the many improvements Tim made that actually works. The message this episode was trying to convey doesn't seem to be whether women are better at running a house than men, but rather all it takes is know-how, patience and careful planning, which is why Jill's way was more effective than Tim's, who seemed to do things on a whim, and he was very inexperienced at maintaining a home because his wife was always there to do it for him. I'm sure many audience members can relate to this story. So, if you're a fan of the show, I'd say this one is worth checking out. Oh, and as for Maureen Binford, you'll be happy to know that after the next episode, she's never seen or heard from again. Good, what an annoying character she turned out to be. Constantly saying "Pro-DUCE-err!" like a cheerleader and constantly undermining Tim for no reason other than the above was a very shallow gimmick.
