Patricia Richardson

Patricia Richardson: (about the fan mail she received for "Home Improvement") Some of it was really sad, because a lot of it was from children who weren't getting enough attention and obviously identified with this family. I got a lot of mail from young men, which I thought was so bizarre. I kept thinking, "These are a lot of men with mother problems."

Patricia: (about demanding more input with her character, Jill Taylor, on "Home Improvement") At first, my character didn't have any girlfriends or a life outside the house. I never had a scene without Tim [Allen]. I never had scenes alone with the children. The writers would always say the same thing: "But the audience loves you!" And I said, "If they love me so much, why don't we develop the character and give her more to do?" They'd say again, "But they love you!" and I was like, "Okay, then let's develop her!" And still, all they could say was "But they love you!" It got to the point where I had to decide. Did I want the writers to hate me, or did I want to keep going out there and doing crap every day? I was bored. If I had to keep doing the same thing and the same scene over and over, then what was the point in being there?

Patricia Richardson: (about being approached to co-star in "Home Improvement" after Frances Fisher was fired) I was like, "No, no, no, I don't want to do another sitcom." And I really didn't want to be a mom, the thankless mom part, you know? And I was huge. I was nursing twins. But then off goes skinny little Frances Fisher, who kissed really good and was hanging around with Clint Eastwood, and in comes big, nursing, lactating Pat. At the end of the pilot, though, my husband came backstage and said, "Well, get ready, because this is the show you're gonna be doing for seven years," and I went, "No way," and he said, "Um, yeah. It's funny." It was so much fun. I laughed every day on that set.