One freezing afternoon finds Tim and Al in the Taylors' backyard, doing a special live Tool Time. Weather proofing to prevent storm damage, and one precaution would be to prune the trees around your house, so Tim climbs up a tree to do just that. As he stands on a branch, he notices a safety hazard near Wilson's house: a branch getting ready to fall, but then so was the branch Tim was currently standing on. So it broke, sending him crashing through the gazebo. When Tim recovers, he and Al start gathering up the pieces, and underneath what was once the seat, Al discovers a plastic bag taped to it. Inside that bag was some sort of green vegetation. Tim recognizes it instantly as marijuana. Al freaks out because his fingerprints are on the bag, making him an "accessory" and now he can't run for office. Um, why not? Tim, on the other hand, is positive it was one of the boys who was smoking pot. The question is who? Jill wants to ask the boys directly, but Tim knows they'll deny any accusations, so he proposes they hide out in Wilson's yard and watch to see who goes for the bag. So that night, Tim, Jill and Wilson stake out the latter's yard, Tim watching with a Binford periscope to see who goes for the dope, while Jill and Wilson wonder where they went wrong. Suddenly, Tim spots Brad. But he's only getting his coat. But then, he sees Randy. He's going to pick up...his boots. But now, Mark's friend Ronny came over. Jill is certain he's the dope fiend, but it's a false alarm. Hours pass and nothing happens. Jill decides to go get her thermal blanket, when suddenly, the back door of the Taylor house and someone steps outside. They walk over to the gazebo swing to get the pot, and Jill catches him in the act. It's Brad.
Brad is quick to deny the marijuana is his, that he's just holding it, and then he calls the kettle black and says his parents don't trust him. However, he then fesses up that the drugs are his. He also has the audacity to accuse Tim and Jill of being hypocrites, since they were alive in the '70s and have probably done drugs too. Tim denies that and sends his eldest grounded son to his room. Sure, Tim may have toked on occasion, but Jill admits to him that she was a regular stoner. While they go into their room to argue about that, Brad sneaks downstairs and calls his buddy at the party he was going to go to, and bring the weed, making him a supplier. Tim and Jill catch him, then sit him down and talk to him about their experiences...or rather, Tim admits to being a beer-head and says Jill's "friend" was a stoner whose family almost disowned her and she got sent to jail. She comes clean and confesses the friend was her, and she relates to Brad a time she went to a Led Zepplin concert and bought some laced dope, then she woke up in the hospital under a different name, which she had assumed was her's. Bottom line, they tell Brad that drugs, even a little bit, can screw up your life. When you're young and adventurous, you can make some pretty bad decisions, and he's got so much to lose: his soccer scholarship and the trust of a loving family. Brad sure didn't want to lose his soccer scholarship...or the other thing. They tell him that from this day forward, if they suspect he's still doing drugs at parties, they'll drug test him. They forbid him from driving or going to parties for two months, and then they warn Randy and Mark not to do any drugs either, lest they be subjected to a more severe punishment, which is, as Tim says, the American way.
I remember watching this episode the night it aired, and during a commercial break, Zachary Ty Bryan did a short PSA on drug use. Now, before I summarize the episode, I'll mention what we're all thinking: Yes, Tim Allen used to be a drug dealer, so this episode would be familiar territory for him, but look at how well he straightened his life out: in 1994 he had the #1 TV show, #1 movie and #1 book all at the same time. Not an easy feat. Now as for "What a Drag", it IS the mandatory family sitcom drug episode. Roseanne did it, Dinosaurs did it, I don't think Full House did it, though. But it's played out very well. Again, these feel like family members, not just actors playing roles. Tim and Pat came off as genuinely parental figures to Zachary here. I've heard this episode is excluded in some syndication packages, and that's wrong. It has a message AGAINST drugs, it addresses a VERY real problem and even helps demonstrate what can be done if one's kid is caught smoking dope. So take a lesson from the days when people were actually encouraged NOT to do drugs, and check out What a Drag.
Brad is quick to deny the marijuana is his, that he's just holding it, and then he calls the kettle black and says his parents don't trust him. However, he then fesses up that the drugs are his. He also has the audacity to accuse Tim and Jill of being hypocrites, since they were alive in the '70s and have probably done drugs too. Tim denies that and sends his eldest grounded son to his room. Sure, Tim may have toked on occasion, but Jill admits to him that she was a regular stoner. While they go into their room to argue about that, Brad sneaks downstairs and calls his buddy at the party he was going to go to, and bring the weed, making him a supplier. Tim and Jill catch him, then sit him down and talk to him about their experiences...or rather, Tim admits to being a beer-head and says Jill's "friend" was a stoner whose family almost disowned her and she got sent to jail. She comes clean and confesses the friend was her, and she relates to Brad a time she went to a Led Zepplin concert and bought some laced dope, then she woke up in the hospital under a different name, which she had assumed was her's. Bottom line, they tell Brad that drugs, even a little bit, can screw up your life. When you're young and adventurous, you can make some pretty bad decisions, and he's got so much to lose: his soccer scholarship and the trust of a loving family. Brad sure didn't want to lose his soccer scholarship...or the other thing. They tell him that from this day forward, if they suspect he's still doing drugs at parties, they'll drug test him. They forbid him from driving or going to parties for two months, and then they warn Randy and Mark not to do any drugs either, lest they be subjected to a more severe punishment, which is, as Tim says, the American way.
I remember watching this episode the night it aired, and during a commercial break, Zachary Ty Bryan did a short PSA on drug use. Now, before I summarize the episode, I'll mention what we're all thinking: Yes, Tim Allen used to be a drug dealer, so this episode would be familiar territory for him, but look at how well he straightened his life out: in 1994 he had the #1 TV show, #1 movie and #1 book all at the same time. Not an easy feat. Now as for "What a Drag", it IS the mandatory family sitcom drug episode. Roseanne did it, Dinosaurs did it, I don't think Full House did it, though. But it's played out very well. Again, these feel like family members, not just actors playing roles. Tim and Pat came off as genuinely parental figures to Zachary here. I've heard this episode is excluded in some syndication packages, and that's wrong. It has a message AGAINST drugs, it addresses a VERY real problem and even helps demonstrate what can be done if one's kid is caught smoking dope. So take a lesson from the days when people were actually encouraged NOT to do drugs, and check out What a Drag.
