Early on, Tim Allen would deliberately misquote lines in some scenes to help child actors Zachery Ty Bryan, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, and Taran Noah Smith, so that they would feel less pressure about getting their own lines wrong.
Having to analyze Wilson's character, he was based on Tim Allen's childhood memories when he was too short to see over a fence and unable to see his neighbor.
After universities and colleges in Michigan sent Tim Allen sweaters and t-shirts to wear on the air, he did so and followed in the footsteps of Ted Knight in Too Close for Comfort (1980).
According to E! True Hollywood Story (1996), Tim Allen was offered $50 million to do a ninth season of the show, and Patricia Richardson was offered $25 million.
One running gag involves Tim Taylor's neighbor as he always hides his face from his nose downward (except in one episode where the top half of his face is covered with paper mache). Additionally, Wilson hid behind a fence. In later episodes, where he got out more often, camera shots, actor movements, and orchestrated props so as not to reveal his whole face. In fact, during all the curtain calls for the show, except the series finale curtain call, where his entire face was shown, actor Earl Hindman, who played Wilson, would bring a small picket fence to hold in front of his face. The gag was based on Tim Allen's childhood neighbor whose face he could never fully see whenever they ineracted as he was too short to see over his parent's fence.