Both Their Homes Get Improved

Though Tim Allen and Jerry Seinfeld star in different series on competing networks, their career paths keep crossing, in the process helping make them the most extravagantly compensated performers in television history.

The Tim and Jerry show, in fact, has become an enormous money-making enterprise for all involved. The most recent example of this symbiosis came when Allen’s representatives secured a major salary increase for the “Home Improvement” star--$750,000 for each of 25 episodes this season, which is expected to escalate to $1.25 million next year--based in part on the seven-figure sum paid Seinfeld for his eponymous sitcom.

Yet Seinfeld may never have been positioned to garner such riches in the first place were it not for Allen, who played an inadvertent role in putting his show on its current perch.

Contemporaries from the comedy-club circuit, the destinies of Allen, 44, and Seinfeld, 43, really became entwined in 1992, when ABC and NBC scheduled “Home Improvement” and “Seinfeld” opposite each other at 9 p.m. on Wednesdays.

An instant hit, “Home Improvement” was beginning its second season, relocating after a high-rated year sandwiched between “Full House” and “Roseanne” on Tuesdays; by contrast, “Seinfeld” had drawn marginal ratings and had bounced from time period to time period since premiering as an NBC special in 1989.

“Seinfeld” came armed with critical acclaim, but the actual battle proved little contest: “Home Improvement” handily won the first head-to-head encounter by attracting 17.3 million homes, versus 11.6 million viewing “Seinfeld.”

As luck would have it, the disparity proved the best thing that ever happened to “Seinfeld.”

“In retrospect, every break that seemed like a crushing blow to us . . . turned out to be positive,” said George Shapiro, Seinfeld’s manager and an executive producer on the series.

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Ted Danson announced that “Cheers” would end its 11-year run that May, leaving NBC officials scrambling to find a potential replacement. After six bruising months opposite “Home Improvement,” the network shifted “Seinfeld” in March 1993 to 9:30 p.m. Thursdays after “Cheers.” Ratings promptly took off, soaring 57% in the first four weeks.

“I don’t think we were so much chased [by “Home Improvement”] as the impending departure of ‘Cheers’ created a vacuum” that NBC had to fill, said Glenn Padnick, president of Castle Rock Television, which produces “Seinfeld.”

“Seinfeld” subsequently claimed the Emmy for outstanding comedy series--a result that the “Home Improvement” crew found particularly vexing given their show’s demonstrated superiority in terms of popular appeal. In a 1994 interview, Allen accused Hollywood of having an “If the public likes it, it can’t be good” mentality, and the producers established their own awards, the “Homeys,” for the cast and crew.

When the 1993-94 season began, “Seinfeld” took over the former “Cheers” slot, leading into “Frasier,” the spinoff starring Kelsey Grammer. “Home Improvement” still finished as the year’s top-rated show, but “Seinfeld” and “Frasier” ranked No. 3 and No. 7, respectively.

Emboldened by those results, NBC took a major gamble: The network announced plans to move “Frasier” to Tuesdays, directly challenging ABC’s aging “Roseanne.” Sizing up its prospects, ABC executives opted to flip “Roseanne” and “Home Improvement,” calling upon the latter to confront “Frasier.”

“Home Improvement” again won the battle ratings-wise, but the competition diminished its audience by nearly 20%, allowing “Seinfeld” to assume the mantle of TV’s No. 1 comedy--a title the series “about nothing” has retained ever since.

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Surrendering that ranking didn’t sit well with Allen. Sources say the comic became “obsessed” with “Seinfeld,” wanting to equal or surpass the show and its star in terms of commerce because his series has been denied commensurate critical recognition. Allen has lamented that “Home Improvement” is often depicted as “some 600-pound gorilla . . . knocking off these wonderful, eclectic shows” like “Frasier” and “Seinfeld.”

“It’s no coincidence Tim Allen has been as successful as he’s been in all these different media,” said Allen’s manager, Richard Baker, alluding to his best-selling books and movies such as “Toy Story” and “The Santa Clause.” “He likes to succeed in everything that he does, whether its prime-time television or car racing.”

Regarding the Seinfeld negotiations, Baker added, “Any time a performer raises the bar to new salary levels, it sets a new standard. . . . It’s a typical process. Jerry did pave the way, the same way that Jim Carrey paved the way for superstar salaries in the movie business.”

The “Home Improvement” camp also likes to point out that the show hasn’t been surrounded by strong programs, as “Seinfeld” has as part of NBC’s “Must-See TV” lineup.

“When the show was moved from Wednesday night, people thought we were just being emotional producers who wanted their show to remain the No. 1 show on TV,” said Rick Leed, president of Wind Dancer Production Group, which produces “Home Improvement” with Walt Disney Television. “It’s not just an ego issue: We knew it would hurt the longevity of the show.”

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Not that anyone involved merits sympathy. Beyond their network telecasts, “Home Improvement” and “Seinfeld” cashed in fabulously selling rerun rights to local TV stations. Projections are that the former will eventually gross $800 million, second only to “The Cosby Show.”

“Seinfeld”--which began its bidding later--isn’t far behind, and both series have lived up to the expectations such figures engender: “Home Improvement” is the top-rated sitcom in terms of syndicated Monday-through-Friday telecasts, followed by “Seinfeld.”

Such programs “come along once in a decade,” said Columbia TriStar Television President Barry Thurston, whose division sold the rights to “Seinfeld.” “I don’t think there’s any question this has been a win-win situation for the stations who bought both shows and for the distributors of those shows.”

“Home Improvement” and “Seinfeld” also share fortuitous timing, given that broadcasters must fight harder to retain viewers because of cable and other viewing options, making such enduring franchises more elusive and thus more valuable.

The ongoing popularity of both programs--set against sums the networks pay for modestly rated shows or even failed ones--provides some justification for the astronomical salaries. Ratings usually decline as series age, but “Seinfeld” and “Home Improvement” still rank No. 2 and 5, respectively, among all prime-time series.

Small wonder then that Disney--as owner of both “Home Improvement” and ABC--would ante up to keep Allen. Seinfeld, meanwhile, will decide in the next few months whether to return for another year, the show’s ninth.

Should he do so, will Allen’s contract provide negotiating ammunition?

“I don’t think you need [to do] that,” Shapiro said. “You just sit down and try to evaluate a show’s worth to the [network’s] schedule.”

So goes the saga of “Tim and Jerry,” television’s most profitable serial.