When Tim Taylor (Tim Allen) and his sons Randy (Jonathan Taylor Thomas) and Brad (Zachary Ty Bryan) hear a noise in the basement, he figures it's a mouse. Jill (Patricia Richardson) freaks out at first, but when Wilson (Earl Hindman) suggests it could be a snake, it's Tim's turn to freak out - because Tim is terrified of snakes.

Tim tries to play it off like he isn't scared, despite ominous warnings from an exterminator (Stephen Root) who suggests that the snake could be anywhere in the house. Eventually, Tim discovers the snake hiding in a light fixture while Mark's Cub Scout troop is visiting the house. Determined to look tough in front of the boys, Tim conquers his fears and wrestles the snake into a bag. Or so he thinks - because when he's not looking, the snake emerges from the wall and crawls into his shirt!

Tim Taylor (Tim Allen) is trying to install a satellite dish on his roof while Jill (Patricia Richardson) has a meeting with Rondall Kittleman (Sam McMurray), an instructor from her job search seminar who wants to help her with her resume. Tim is suspicious that Rondall is trying to seduce Jill, but she insists he's being paranoid.

Throughout the afternoon, Rondall helps Jill with her resume while taunting Tim, who attempts to spy on them from the roof. Jill is frustrated - until Rondall makes a pass at her, proving Tim right. She kicks him out and shares a kiss with Tim, still dangling off the roof on several ropes.

Tim Taylor (Tim Allen) wants nothing more than to watch the big Detroit Lions game on TV, but he's made plans to take Jill (Patricia Richardson) out to a romantic dinner at a fancy restaurant. Throughout the dinner, Tim is more interested in following the game - either with a transistor radio or on TV in the restaurant's kitchen - than he is in talking to his wife.

Because Tim forgot to hire a babysitter, Mark (Taran Noah Smith), Randy (Jonathan Taylor Thomas) and Brad (Zachary Ty Bryan) have been left in the care of Sir Larry Houdini (Eric Christmas), an incompetent magician who locks himself in a box by accident. Tim and Jill return from dinner and set about trying to free Sir Larry, and Tim - thanks to some advice from Wilson (Earl Hindman) - apologizes to Jill and promises to try and break his addiction to sports.

Tim Taylor (Tim Allen) and his youngest son Mark (Taran Noah Smith) are at work adding "more power" to Tim's riding lawnmower. While Tim is out of the room, Mark accidentally breaks his father's prized torque wrench. Knowing how protective Tim is of his tools, Mark hides it in the drier.

When Mark confesses this to his brothers Brad (Zachary Ty Bryan) and Randy (Jonathan Taylor Thomas), the boys regretfully inform him that this means his parents will soon exchange him for a new son. Mark hides up a tree in the backyard, but Tim eventually finds him with some help from Wilson (Earl Hindman). Mark confesses, and with some heartfelt grunting, Tim accepts. Later, Tim finally tests out the supercharged lawnmower - which promptly goes out of control and runs him over.

In the inaugural episode of Home Improvement, we meet masculine cable TV handyman Tim Taylor (Tim Allen) as he struggles to balance his popular show "Tool Time" with his his rambunctious nuclear family. Tim's wife Jill Taylor (Patricia Richardson) is on her way to a job interview and asks Tim to keep an eye on their boys Mark (Taran Noah Smith), Randy (Jonathan Taylor Thomas) and Brad (Zachary Ty Bryan) while she's gone. She also makes Tim promise not to try and upgrade the dishwasher with "more power" - a regular habit of his that often has disastrous results.

Instead, Tim tricks out the dishwasher with the Blastmaster Compressor, which Jill discovers when the dishwasher blasts a dinner plate across the room. She's furious at Tim for disobeying her - and her day doesn't get any better when she learns she didn't get the job. After some sage advice from his wise neighbor Wilson (Earl Hindman), Tim apologizes to Jill during the next day's episode of "Tool Time." Jill accepts his apology... And then locks him in the garage naked while she has a repairman install a new dishwasher.