Tim Allen revealed to Bill Maher that he was diagnosed with skin cancer that was initially "missed five times" by a dermatologist. Allen, 72, spoke to Maher, 70, on the Monday, January 5, episode of the "Club Random" podcast about a conversation he had with the makeup artist at The Today Show. "The lady at The Today Show noticed it," Allen recalled. "This is [over] two years. I did Jimmy Fallon and then I did The Today Show. And she goes, 'I see you haven't done anything yet.'" Allen said he trusted his "very prominent Beverly Hills dermatologist" at the time. Tim Allen's Most Candid Quotes About Retirement: 'Probably Will Be the End' "Finally, I said, 'Hey, doc, would you take a look at this thing on my nose?'" he shared about the doctor then putting on his glasses "for the first time in 30 years" of visits. "Then he looks at my nose, and he goes, "Oh s***. S***, Janice, get Paul in here, and my lawyer.'" According to Allen, his doctor admitted he "screwed up." The comedian was then diagnosed with melanoma or carcinoma, which he had to have removed. Michael Tran/ AFP via Getty Images "He goes, 'I'm going to have to cut most of your nose off.' He said it like that," Allen noted. "And I go, 'Let me explain what I do for a living. Unless I'm gonna do a Blazing Saddles with the guy with the silver nose, you have to leave some of my f***ing nose on so I can do comedy without doing 20 minutes on having no nose!'" He continued: "It all worked out. The surgeon was good." After beginning his career as a comedian in the '70s, Allen made a mark in Hollywood as Tim "The Toolman" Taylor on the ABC's Home Improvement, which scored him a Golden Globe Award, and later played Mike Baxter on Last Man Standing. On the big screen, Allen voiced Buzz Lightyear in the Toy Story franchise and brought Santa Claus to life in The Santa Clause movies. Allen made his sitcom return last year on ABC's Shifting Gears, which he has since hinted could be his last project. "I don't want to be a [Tom] Brady about it because I retired from Home Improvement under a lot of stress because they had offered me quite an offer to come back and do a ninth and 10th season of Home Improvement," he exclusively told Us Weekly in 2022 about Last Man Standing coming to an end. "[Wayne] Gretzky was retiring, the hockey player. ... A couple quarterbacks were retiring that year. I was just watching sports. I love sports and they all left at the top of their game and that was an interesting thing." A Guide to the Most Iconic Guest Stars on Tim Allen's 'Shifting Gears' Allen confirmed he wasn't thinking about making a change. "I love what I do. I don't know what I'd do if I didn't do this," he explained to Us. "To me, I've got a bunch of buddies that like to fish. Not a big fisherman. I can't sit around. Golf is more of - I worked harder at golf than I've ever worked in any job. It's so much stress. [Jay] Leno and I both agree. I love it. I love what I do. It's not [work] at all [to me]. So this is what I'd like to do." Allen noted that taking a break was not on his radar - but then walked that comment back. "This probably will be the end of it," he revealed to USA Today in February 2025. "That sounds depressing, but I did [Shifting Gears] because it seemed like a good idea that would be fun. That's really it." Allen admitted it would be hard to slow down, adding, "I just love being around the camera people and actors and the crew, so much so that I'm more uncomfortable at the thought of leaving the set and, God forbid, going to play golf."