Brad and Randy, those little brats, have yet another dirty trick up their sleeve to play on Mark. This time, they get him to believe that Isaiah Thomas himself responded to Mark's 25 letters and that he's coming over to their house! After the intro, it's Al's birthday. He's the big 3-5, almost a full grown man. He blows out the candles on his flannel shirt cake, but not before making a wish. Tim asks him what his wish was, and he admits, he wished for a wife. But not the inflatable kind. Well, be careful what you wish for, because Jill, the worst matchmaker in Detroit, knows a girl who would be perfect for Al. But before they can meet, it's on to Tool Time: Male Hobby Week. Tim and Al discuss the art of fishing, highlights include Tim breaking an $800 rod and electrocuting himself after he lands a stage light. Meanwhile, Mark finds out the letter from Isaiah Thomas wasn't real, as Jill so bluntly tells him, so rather than going with his original plan of getting back at his brothers by insulting them, Tim encourages him to use the old "eye for an eye" strategy. After that, it's on to Al's house. Jill accepted Al's invitation and dragged Tim along to liven things up for Al's date. She arrives several minutes late. Her name is Ilene Markham, an orthodontist, and they have the most awkward first date you've ever seen.
Jill feels she's created a monster and tries to intervene, but Tim gets her to back off, promising he'll be the one to talk to the flannelman. After all, according to Wilson, the man is usually the primary matchmaker. So while he prepares to do that, Mark puts his plan for tit for tat into effect by making Brad and Randy believe Isaiah Thomas actually wrote him back AND gave him free Bulls tickets. In the process, they inadvertently admit to writing the previous Thomas letter, so Jill assumes they wrote this one too and tears it up, much to Tim and the boys' extreme dismay. However, that's when the cat is let out of the bag, and hopefully Brad and Randy have learned a lesson. As for Al, he's so crazy about Ilene that right then and there, on Tool Time, he faces the camera and proposes to her. Apparently his reasoning for wanting to rush into a relationship and start a family is because his own father was almost 60 when he was born. Tim assures him he still has time, and equates marriage to buying a saber saw: it's not common to pick out the first one you see at the store. Al finally comes to his senses, but realizes the boo-boo he just made on air, however Tim has a solution. Ordinarily all one would have to do it edit the entire proposal out, but I guess they wanted to do something "funnier", so Tim dubs over Al saying "spend the rest of my life with you" with "Tuesday night", then he carries on as if dubbing a Godzilla movie. So Tim has probably saved Al a boat load of embarrassment, and to top it all off, the REAL Isaiah Thomas finally writes back to Mark...and if you're watching this episode in syndication, you will miss this part.
We're introduced to Al's girlfriend of the next 3 seasons: Ilene Markham, an orthodontist with a very corny sense of humor. They get to know each other throughout the coming episodes, and it comes to a head at the end of Season 5 when he finally proposes to her, but that's another story. This one overall had a lot of heart, and it shows what good friends Al has in Tim and Jill. So, maybe you're like Al, hoping to meet that special someone and you're so nervous about making a bad impression. It happens. But hopefully your date won't be nearly as bizarre as Al and Ilene's, with Al coming right out and stating he'd love to be the father of her children. I recommend "Aisle See You in My Dreams", which I think is a misleading title as I often get it confused with "Dream On", where Ilene dreams about Tim.
Jill feels she's created a monster and tries to intervene, but Tim gets her to back off, promising he'll be the one to talk to the flannelman. After all, according to Wilson, the man is usually the primary matchmaker. So while he prepares to do that, Mark puts his plan for tit for tat into effect by making Brad and Randy believe Isaiah Thomas actually wrote him back AND gave him free Bulls tickets. In the process, they inadvertently admit to writing the previous Thomas letter, so Jill assumes they wrote this one too and tears it up, much to Tim and the boys' extreme dismay. However, that's when the cat is let out of the bag, and hopefully Brad and Randy have learned a lesson. As for Al, he's so crazy about Ilene that right then and there, on Tool Time, he faces the camera and proposes to her. Apparently his reasoning for wanting to rush into a relationship and start a family is because his own father was almost 60 when he was born. Tim assures him he still has time, and equates marriage to buying a saber saw: it's not common to pick out the first one you see at the store. Al finally comes to his senses, but realizes the boo-boo he just made on air, however Tim has a solution. Ordinarily all one would have to do it edit the entire proposal out, but I guess they wanted to do something "funnier", so Tim dubs over Al saying "spend the rest of my life with you" with "Tuesday night", then he carries on as if dubbing a Godzilla movie. So Tim has probably saved Al a boat load of embarrassment, and to top it all off, the REAL Isaiah Thomas finally writes back to Mark...and if you're watching this episode in syndication, you will miss this part.
We're introduced to Al's girlfriend of the next 3 seasons: Ilene Markham, an orthodontist with a very corny sense of humor. They get to know each other throughout the coming episodes, and it comes to a head at the end of Season 5 when he finally proposes to her, but that's another story. This one overall had a lot of heart, and it shows what good friends Al has in Tim and Jill. So, maybe you're like Al, hoping to meet that special someone and you're so nervous about making a bad impression. It happens. But hopefully your date won't be nearly as bizarre as Al and Ilene's, with Al coming right out and stating he'd love to be the father of her children. I recommend "Aisle See You in My Dreams", which I think is a misleading title as I often get it confused with "Dream On", where Ilene dreams about Tim.
