One evening finds Tim and Jill going through a box of old photos from the attic. Tim feels it's a waste of time, but his wife wants to do it for the sake of heirlooms and something to look back on. They come across one picture from the summer of 1991 when Brad, Randy and Mark were adorable little boys, who have now grown up into three very weird teenagers. Next day, it's a special day on Fool Time because...well, it's always a special day, but this one is more-so, because they're talking about tools of the future. Not only that, but they've got some special guest stars, NASA astronauts Steve Hawley and Ken "Very Good Sport" Bowersox, to promote a new Binford tool that will actually be used in space: it's a computerized wrench, eliminating the nuisance of having to turn and tighten it manually, it can do it itself! So even though Binford is footing the bill for the wrench, there is an extra incentive: one Binford employee gets to accompany the astronauts on their next mission to test it out. When Tim gets home, he relays the news to Jill that he may actually be going (back) into space, but the fact that he'll be away six months makes her feel reluctant. You know, the boys are growing up and moving on to lucrative careers, like Mark becoming a professional Goth. But despite it all, she urges Tim to go through with it.
Training camp! Tim and Al have to get into shape for that big space trip. Tragically, they are both out of shape. But Tim has a plan to distract the other cadets in training by bringing some bikini babes out on to the field, while he wins the race. But it's not just physical excursion, there are also a few brain tests, in which Al and Tim both come up short. Al identifying ever Roarschack test as his mother. But at least Tim could withstand 8 G's in the spinning test. So at home, while Jill has forced Brad and Randy to help her sort through the pictures, Mark has suddenly started dressing much better. He's got a girlfriend. Tim gets home early and, despite churning out a goose egg on virtually every test, for some inane reason, NASA still selected Tim to go into space. Maybe they were planning on leaving him there. All kidding aside, this is a big, once in a lifetime opportunity for Tim. I sure hope nothing happens to put a damper on this. Naw, what could possibly sway Tim from this enormous endeavor? Well, I just jinxed it, because here comes Mark, looking like a Goth freak again. He got dumped. He feels sorry for himself because he isn't popular. Tim tries to give him a pep talk, but Mark shouts how he doesn't know anything about him and goes pouting up to his room. So now Tim's got to make a very difficult decision: go into space or stay home and take care of the problems on earth. So, poor Tim makes the ultimate sacrifice and decides to forgo the space trip to be there for his boys. It's just not a good time for him to leave the planet. Well, space will always be there, but there's only so much time you have with your family.
Well, this wasn't a BAD episode. It was a pretty cool idea, Tim going into space. A dangerous idea, but still cool. I really didn't like how he had to give it up because his sons are troublemakers. But then, let's imagine what would've happened had Tim gone up on the space shuttle: we'd get another Apollo 13, though this time the accident would be a human error, or maybe another 2001, except instead of HAL, we'd have TIM. Or HAL could be his assistant. Still, it was a pretty big opportunity Tim gave up for his family. That just shows what kind of a man Tim Taylor is: friends and family come first, no matter what the cost. That's why he's a hell of a guy, and those people are darn lucky to have him. So if you want to see Tim ALMOST go into space, I guess I'd recommend this episode, but for the most part, all it does is remind us of how cute and innocent the boys USED to be before they became weirdos. Thank God Mark's Goth phase wears off in Season 8.
Training camp! Tim and Al have to get into shape for that big space trip. Tragically, they are both out of shape. But Tim has a plan to distract the other cadets in training by bringing some bikini babes out on to the field, while he wins the race. But it's not just physical excursion, there are also a few brain tests, in which Al and Tim both come up short. Al identifying ever Roarschack test as his mother. But at least Tim could withstand 8 G's in the spinning test. So at home, while Jill has forced Brad and Randy to help her sort through the pictures, Mark has suddenly started dressing much better. He's got a girlfriend. Tim gets home early and, despite churning out a goose egg on virtually every test, for some inane reason, NASA still selected Tim to go into space. Maybe they were planning on leaving him there. All kidding aside, this is a big, once in a lifetime opportunity for Tim. I sure hope nothing happens to put a damper on this. Naw, what could possibly sway Tim from this enormous endeavor? Well, I just jinxed it, because here comes Mark, looking like a Goth freak again. He got dumped. He feels sorry for himself because he isn't popular. Tim tries to give him a pep talk, but Mark shouts how he doesn't know anything about him and goes pouting up to his room. So now Tim's got to make a very difficult decision: go into space or stay home and take care of the problems on earth. So, poor Tim makes the ultimate sacrifice and decides to forgo the space trip to be there for his boys. It's just not a good time for him to leave the planet. Well, space will always be there, but there's only so much time you have with your family.
Well, this wasn't a BAD episode. It was a pretty cool idea, Tim going into space. A dangerous idea, but still cool. I really didn't like how he had to give it up because his sons are troublemakers. But then, let's imagine what would've happened had Tim gone up on the space shuttle: we'd get another Apollo 13, though this time the accident would be a human error, or maybe another 2001, except instead of HAL, we'd have TIM. Or HAL could be his assistant. Still, it was a pretty big opportunity Tim gave up for his family. That just shows what kind of a man Tim Taylor is: friends and family come first, no matter what the cost. That's why he's a hell of a guy, and those people are darn lucky to have him. So if you want to see Tim ALMOST go into space, I guess I'd recommend this episode, but for the most part, all it does is remind us of how cute and innocent the boys USED to be before they became weirdos. Thank God Mark's Goth phase wears off in Season 8.
