Grunt Work

The Bud Bowl

April 23, 2020 by Grunt Work Leave a Comment

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This Week on Home Improvement…

When Bud (Charlie Robinson) invites Tim (Tim Allen) and Jill (Patricia Richardson) to go bowling with him and his wife, Tim is thrilled at the opportunity to curry favor with the boss. He convinces Jill to skip a psychology lecture to join them, and when he learns that Bud is a sore loser, he convinces Jill to throw the game so Bud can win. Afterwards, Jill is angry that Tim expects her to sacrifice everything for his career – but when Tim learns that Bud isn’t actually as sore of a loser as he thinks, he makes for all of his boorish behavior by buying Jill some flowers and saying I’m sorry one time.

**This week on Grunt Work: Nights…**

Landen and Truman return to the well-worn ground of “stuff relating to movies and TV” for this discussion of their least favorite movie and TV tropes. They’ve got a bone to pick with everything from shoddy phone etiquette to abandoned meals to, in Truman’s case, the entirity of the recent Alison Janney vehicle “Troop Zero.”

Are your gears ground by recurring cliches on the big or small screen? Let us know, because we’re finicky about this stuff and most likely will agree with you!

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Eye on Tim

April 16, 2020 by Grunt Work Leave a Comment

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This Week on Home Improvement…

Tool Time is visited by the reporter from Detroit Today, Mz. Kelly Barnes, to do a profile on Tim. However, from the moment she appears, she plays into Tim’s ego with a hope of getting into Tim’s pants. Despite warnings from Al and Jill, Tim plays right into the situation, and finds himself not only in hot water, but also a hot toddy.

Meanwhile, Jill is sick.

**This week on Grunt Work: Nights…**

This is a weird one, folks. What starts out as a conversation about eating out devolves into a gripe session over annoying regulars at coffee shops. I think we’re starting to feel the effects.

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When Harry Kept Dolores

April 9, 2020 by Grunt Work Leave a Comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:47:03 — 147.0MB) | Embed

This Week on Home Improvement…

When Harry’s (Blake Clark) wife Dolores (Shirley Prestia) takes a more active role in running the hardware store, Tim (Tim Allen) and the guys are so incensed at her female antics that they persuade Harry to fire her – which results in the two of them splitting up. Although Harry seems outwardly happy, a newly insightful Tim suspects that Harry is actually very broken up about it, so after some advice from Wilson (Earl Hindman) he goes to Dolores’ diner to convince her to take him back. Also, country star Alan Jackson sings a song about how much he loves Mercury cars.

**This week on Grunt Work: Nights…**

Last week we covered Hidden Talents. Like the scales of justice, we must be even handed, so this week we discuss Hidden Weaknesses – the things that we are generally really, really bad at that we try to hide from the world. Truman and Landen talk laundry, smelling, anger, and make a really wild realization!

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Fear of Flying

April 2, 2020 by Grunt Work Leave a Comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:41:49 — 139.8MB) | Embed

This Week on Home Improvement…

Tim and Jill are so happy that Mark has finally found a hobby in making model airplanes, but when Tim takes him to an aeronautic museum, Mark gets the need, the need for speed… and wants to take flying lessons. Jill is adamantly against this because she believes small planes are death traps – a fear she inherited from her mother while her father was out flying for the military. However, when Wilson agrees to take Mark, Tim and Jill flying to show her just how safe it is, she begins to acquiesce.

Meanwhile, Jill attempt a hobby of her own: learning the piano.

**This week on Grunt Work: Nights…**

David Letterman had Stupid Human Tricks. James Cordon has Bar Tricks. We have no tricks, only these silly, useless hidden talents. Truman reveals some unexpected noises. Landen belongs in a circus. Can you guess their hidden talents ?

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The Vasectomy One

March 26, 2020 by Grunt Work Leave a Comment

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This Week on Home Improvement…

When Jill Taylor (Patricia Richardson) discovers one of her 40something friends got pregnant – even though she was using the same form of birth control Tim (Tim Allen) and Jill use – she suggests that Tim get a vasectomy. Tim, predictably, doesn’t love this idea, and after some heavy razzing from the guys at Harry’s hardware and a standoffish meeting with a urologist, Tim tells Jill that he won’t do it – because women just don’t understand severe crotch pain. But after a talk with Wilson (Earl Hindman) and a revealing conversation with Harry, Tim decides to go ahead with the procedure, as it will make it even easier for him and Jill to have sex all over the house at a moment’s notice.

**This week on Grunt Work: Nights…**

We know them. We love them. They make up our personal tastes. This week we’re talking about genres, and which we love. It’s no secret that Landen loves horror, but did you know he also loves westerns? Truman would love to make Hudsucker Proxy its own genre, but since he can’t, did you know about his love of science fiction? (Actually, Landen challenges him on that…)

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Tanks for the Memories

March 19, 2020 by Grunt Work Leave a Comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:29:08 — 122.4MB) | Embed

This Week on Home Improvement…

On Tool Time during the Salute to the Armed Forces, Tim is officially invited to a California military base to drive a tank. When he tells Jill, she’s incredibly excited – for Tim to drive a tank? No. For her to drive a tank. As an army brat it’s something she’s always wanted to do, but because the military rulebook states a woman cannot drive one, she’s never been able to.

On the base, the colonel in charge of escorting them around says they could set up an opportunity for Jill and Tim to both drive an obstacle course to Jill’s amazement, and Tim’s chagrin. He doesn’t want Jill driving one – not only because she’s a girl, but because she’d be honing in on his moment of glory. And hone she does as she proves to be a much safer and deft tank driver than Tim could ever hope to be.

Meanwhile, Al watches the boys, and introduces them to his prototype board game of Tool Time.

**This week on Grunt Work: Nights…**

Are you a pompatus of love? Do you ba wit da ba da bang a dang diggy diggy? Have you ever zipped your lips like a padlock? Then this episode is for you!

This week Truman and Landen discuss those confounding, annoying, and downright infuriating song lyrics that make no sense (which is usually a good thing, all hail David Byrne) and have shown for every musician who suffered for their work, there’s a lazy asshole who got paid for half-hearted filler. We cover songs from many times, but spend a special summer in 1999…

What are some lyrics that have made your brain break trying to figure out?

Gain access to our Grunt Work: Nights episodes for as little as $1/mo. over on our Patreon!

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