After Scorsese got his golden statue in 2007, the world wondered who it could rally behind as a brilliant-but-snubbed auteur director. The field was packed with Wes Anderson, Paul Thomas Anderson, and several other people named Anderson. Now, finally, a stand-out contender is rising above the fray.

According to Variety the comic genius behind “Home Improvement” will sit in the director’s chair to oversee Crazy on the Outside — a comedy about a man released from prison only to find that life is, get this, pretty wacky on the outside.

After the Academy cold-shouldered Allen for his work with all of the Santa Clause films and his turn as The Shaggy Dog, it’s a surprise that he’s not so soured by the business that he quits it to become an inept, yet mildly funny, public access hardware guru in the greater Detroit area.

I can only hope this movie is made brilliantly, because if it isn’t, I won’t be able to stand the horde of critics writing, “I don’t think so, Tim” in reviews and thinking it’s clever.

Sound Off: Tim Allen, director? What do you think?