Al Borland

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Albert Borland is a fictional character from the TV sitcom Home Improvement played by Richard Karn. He is portrayed as Tim Taylor's un-hip sidekick on the show-within-a-show Tool Time. He is slightly overweight and constantly wears flannel, which Tim cracks jokes about all the time. He wears flannel so often that in the wedding episode, Tim bets his friends that Al is wearing a flannel thong. The reason he always wears flannel came from his father, who, when asking Al to assist in their own various home projects, would put his old flannels on Al to keep him clean or warm. Al wears flannel as a tribute to him after he passed away. Tim also often criticizes Al's mother, Alma Borland, who is never seen, but is apparently severely overweight. Al also has a brother, Cal, who looks almost exactly like him. When Al was younger, he served in the Navy, and although he wanted to see the world, he was stationed in Nevada.

He generally knows what he is doing more than Tim, and he seems to have a better knowledge of tools and home improvement than Tim. In the first episode of Tool Time, he was described as a "master plumber" by Tim Taylor. He also is very serious about his job, unlike Tim, who often jokes and messes up the project. Although Tim is the one who messes up most of the projects on Tool Time, Al is often the one who is blamed for the mishap, or is injured by the mishap. Despite this, Tim and Al are good friends offstage, and Al often helps out, either by helping with home projects, or by watching his children.

Throughout the series, Al has had three different girl friends and a perpetual man-crush on Bob Vila. In season one, Al went out with Greta Post, who he met while she was volunteering to help out during a Tool Time show. He almost went out with Tim Taylor's ex-girlfriend Stacey Lewis, however, he wasn't interested in her as much as he thought. From seasons three through five, Al went out with Dr. Ilene Markham, an orthodontist who is sisters with one of Jill Taylor's co-workers. They got engaged, but they decided at the wedding that they shouldn't marry. Al met Trudy in season eight, and married her on the finale episode in 1999.

Al owns a 15% share in Harry's Hardware, a local hardware store. He drives a 1982 Mercury Grand Marquis which his mother passed down to him.