The Men's Room: "There will be one or two scenes per show where I'll talk about a car," Allen says. "Men just love that stuff — which women think is so stupid." Lots of "stuff" — including an antique wooden airplane propeller (above door) — turns up in Allen's show-within-the-show, Tool Time. "It started out as just tools and bare walls," recalls set dresser Jimmy McDermott.
Boy Toys: The 100-piece socket set almost covers a plaque bearing a poem by Thomas Carlyle that begins, "Man is a tool-using animal" and ends, "Without tools he is nothing, nothing at all." Above it is a two-sided hammer a fan sent in with "Tim" and "Al" engraved on the handles. To the left of the socket set are a Navy SEAL oar and a knife collection. The only woman's touch: a photo of a man with a fig leaf covering his power tool, which Laura Allen, Tim's wife, contributed.
He Came, He Sawed: This antique lumberjack saw is painted with a snowy winter scene. Allen picked out the high-testosterone pictures above it from catalogs, and McDermott assembled Tim's collection of miniature toy soldiers. Below the saw, lining the window frame, is Tim's extensive assortment of wood clamps. The mounted fish at top is a barracuda.
Power Steering: At top, what may be Allen's most prized Tool Time item: Mario Andretti's 1993 Indy car steering wheel, signed by Andretti himself. Both the racer and his son Michael have appeared as Tool Time guests, along with the crew of the space shuttle Endeavor, who showed up with a video clip in which they imitated the "Tim Taylor grunt." The Detroit Lions hard hat was a fan's gift; the '54 Chevy air filter and the G.I. Joe were Allen's ideas.
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