During their vacations in Jamaica, contractor Frank Lambert and widowed beautician Carol Foster get married. When they return to their hometown, Port Washington, Wisconsin, they need to slowly introduce their very different children. Their plan is to make the children think they are dating but Frank accidentally tells the truth (that they are married) and there is nothing to hide so eventually the Lamberts move to the Foster's house. Later, as a sign of ""step-maternal"" love, Carol believes Al is having a pain that is hurting her (something Frank never believed) and she takes her to the hospital; the pain results to be a appendix and they remove it.
Frank wants to take Carol to an expensive restaurant; but Carol has agreed to be on the committee of Al's dance. After being dumped by a boy, Al stays in the dumps until she's rescued by her science fair pen pal: Steve Urkel. And since Frank can't take Carol out, he shows up at the school dance and finds a way to work in a little romance anyway.
Noticing a certain lack of discipline about her new stepchildren, Carol sets about creating order by instituting a few rules -- which so infuriate Al that she threatens to go live with Grandmother in Milwaukee. The rule that really upsets Frank's kids is Carol's control of the television viewing time: everyone is allowed to watch no more than six hours of television per week. Everyone is given 12 tickets, and each is good for viewing one half hour of television. When Frank has run out of tickets but desperately wants to watch the World Series, he persuades Carol to lighten up a little.
On Frank and Carol's first month wedding anniversary, they decide not to buy each other gifts. Frank listens to what Carol says and does not buy her a gift while Carol ignores what they said and buys Frank a gift while thinking that his purchase at the hardware store was a gift for her when really it was a new saw he bought for himself. Carol tells Frank that even though she said she didn't want a gift, that he should know that it is their anniversary and he should have thought to get her gift himself. He later suprises her with memories of Jamaica by transforming the beaty salon into paradise island. Meanwhile, JT bets Cody that he can't get a date with Dana but unluckily, for JT, she finds out about the bet, goes out with Cody and then she becomes upset because when JT pays Cody, he says that he can't take money from him.
JT agrees to go to work with Frank because he needs extra money, something ""Frank is more excited about then JT."" After failing miserably there, JT ends up helping Carol out as a shampoo boy, a job he only likes because he gets ""to touch girls without getting sent to the principal's office."" Meanwhile, Dana needs to build a good birdhouse or her entire GPA will drop and Al needs to write a book report on Tom Sawyer. They decide to switch assignments until Brendan points out that it is cheating. After the disappointment with JT and Brendan telling him that working for him would be a punishment, Frank is delighted to see Al's birdhouse. Frank and Al walk off talking construction.
Carol thinks that the 2 families need to do something together and that the Port Washington Games are perfect. The Lamberts who won each of the past three years feel that the Fosters should not have to be on their team, because they are not very athletic. The Fosters don't put up a fight as they find the games a little too rowdy and barbaric for them but eventually agree to participate. To make matters worse, Cody will not be able to make the games this year. The Lamberts are able to stay close enough that when Karen mesmerizes the opponent, it all comes down to the last event. Luckily, Cody arrives just in time to save the day.
On Brendan's 6th birthday, Frank wants to take him out for pizza and bowling. but Carol realizes he would prefer a regular party and helps him plan a party with Yo-Yo the clown as the entertainment. Frank and Carol receive word that their wedding was not official or legal. They plan to meet at City Hall and have a romantic lunch, making the entire day special. Frank, however, gets stuck at work and can not give the entire day. Carol then insists on a ""real"" wedding with a Reverend, but he is leaving on Saturday for a 6 month vacation. They arrange to squeeze it in between the party and the outgoing flight. Yo-Yo is unable to come to the party so Frank is forced to dress like a clown and take his place and keeps the costume as his wedding attire.
Dana and Bernice want to go see their favorite folk singer at a local bar named Jake's. Carol gives her permission to go, but later finds out from Frank that Jake's has ""a two fight minimum."" Carol tries to tell Dana not to go, but Dana feels Frank is trying to control her life so she sneaks out anyway. Cody learns that Dana went to Jake's and rushes out to help her and gets there just in time. He beats up several punks and got some help from Frank who comes looking for her as well. Upon arriving back at home, Frank and Dana learn to appreciate one another through a revealing conversation on the troubles of a stepfather-stepdaughter relationship.
Camping in the wilderness proves too much for Carol to bear.
Cody decides to impress Dana, so he gets a job as a corporate executive. He has to put prizes in the little quarter machine for kids. He puts the happiness of kids above profit, though, and ends up getting fired. The family decides that they need an answering machine to help retrieve messages. Karen gets a call from Bobby and misses a message that Frank's remodeling job is canceled because the building is being demolished. Frank is almost killed, and Karen is punished by a week of phone restriction, making the punishment fit the crime.
Frank gets ""America Up Close"" to do one of their 'blended family' segments on the Lambert/Foster clan. Carol is disappointed, because now the whole world will see them acting nasty toward each other, and when it happens she gets mad at Frank and makes him sleep on the couch. Dana leads the kids in a mission to save their parents, by everyone being nice for the cameramen. When they do, Carol and Frank make up, just before the act fades away.
Carol's old car has one wheel in the junkyard, and she and Frank determine that she needs a new car. Frank visits his old fishing buddy's car lot, but Carol turns out to be the better bargainer. J.T. ""borrows"" Carol's car for a date, and someone ""borrows"" it from him. Penny finds a mortician that really likes her. She brings him over to Frank and Carol's for a date but he seems to like to talk shop a little too much.
JT and Cody become engrossed with the idea of aliens while Dana and Karen make fun of them, but then try to make the boys look foolish by pretending to have a UFO fly over them. Cody and JT find out about their plan and turn the tables on them. Frank's office is extremely disheveled. Carol sees this and in an effort to help him and organizes his office. She even puts his records that were in shoe boxes into a computer before throwing them away. Just as Frank gets excited about the new system he will have, Carol loses the information that was in the computer. They end up having to go rooting through a dumpster to find the boxes. Just their luck as a dump truck comes by and picks them up for even messier results, Low and behold though, they do recover the missing boxes.
Frank and Carol go off for a romantic weekend getaway, leaving Dana in charge with one rule-- no parties. The ""lover's retreat"" turns out to be less than desirable, yet Frank and Carol decide to try to make it work anyway. That is until Frank's back goes out. Meanwhile, Dana decides to have a study group with 2 friends, and to be fair she allows everyone else 2 friends as well. Al and JT's friends ignore the rule, Karen invites her 4 finalists, and then a party breaks out. JT ends up getting stuck in the chimney just before Frank and Carol return.
Dana passes her driving test with flying colors, but Frank flunks his.
Mark is found doing homework for a classmate, and it is discovered that it is because he is being threatened. Carol tries to teach him to confront this bully while Frank teaches him to defend himself. Finally, they discover the bully is a girl, and Al sticks up for Mark because she is beginning to view him as a brother. JT runs the 100M for the JV track team and ends up breaking the school record. Dana is assigned to write an article for him in the school paper. She writes a negative column on him, but JT pays the typesetter to write a different article.
JT gives Al's band a name and becomes their manager. He gets them a gig at a bowling alley that Frank just finished remodeling. The owner of the bowling alley is inflexible, though, and when the other four girls in the band catch the flu, JT has to recruit Karen and Dana. Because he can recruit noone else, JT and Cody end up singing with the band dressed as girls. During the first song, the audience discovers JT and Cody are men and Carol steps up to save the day. A mouse that ran from the beauty salon to the house is scaring everyone except Frank. Frank is unable to kill the mouse, however, because his family does not think he should kill an ""innocent"" creature.
Carol goes back to school because she feels embarrassed about leaving school four classes short of a degree. She soon realizes as well as a student she's a also committed mother, wife, and beautician, and soon everyone's ready to be committed when Frank takes over the housework. Nobody can seem to remember to pick up Brendan either. All the kids decide to chip in so Carol can realize her dream and the house can run smoothly.
A client of Carols' invites the family to spend a weekend at a Country Club. While Karen and Carol are extremely excited, Frank and Dana feel a country club is not for them. Cody gets a guided tour on a lawn chair of the country club; Al and Brendan make $60 playing pea in the cup with the rich kids; Karen finds four guys; Mark gives stock tips; Dana falls for the Country Club President's son; and Frank goes around fixing things. Because Dana is spending time with his son, the President recruits Frank to play on their scramble golf team. Dana becomes upset with Frank because he embarrasses her in front of her new beau. After frank leaves the President makes fun of his win for the team, Dana overhears and stands up for him. Dana and Frank grow to appreciate one another and are happy to find out that the President's snobbishness is not passed on to his son.
Grandpa comes to visit with his fiance'. Frank recognizes her as a stripper from a bachelor party he went to a year ago. When Frank tells his dad, he storms off and does not believe Frank. He finds out later that she is an ex-stripper and they postpone the wedding. JT wants Dana to set up a date with a pretty friend of hers' so she makes him run errands for her all week. JT does not get along with her, but to show Dana there are no hard feelings he buys her spaghetti and meatballs. Amazingly, she does not enjoy it that much.
About to turn 40, Frank decides to realize his life-long ambition to learn to fly.
Carol and Karen enter a mother-daughter beauty contest.
Dana goes to take her SATs,and guess who shows up out of now where,Cody. He explains that every week he does something new (one week he ate nothing but peaches). Dana does good (92nd percentile), but Cody does better. Dana insists that they both take it again. This time Dana does even better than Cody did the 1st time, yet Cody beat her again. Cody is afraid, ""they"" will make him be a brain surgeon, although at the end he decides to give college a try, and Dana decides she doesn't always have to be perfect.
JT has a test coming up at school on Shakespeare.So Carol convinces Frank to help JT. Frank and JT first try a tape but that gets lost.But they soon discover it's all about sex and romance,they stay up all night studying. In the morning, JT is sure the test will be easy, because of his studying; however, JT receives a bad grade. Carol and Frank talk to the teacher and discover that she gave JT a bad grade because she believes because he is a jock,that he is stupid. After the talk, she reluctantly agrees to give JT a B+.Dana, in a moment of kindness toward , says that although JT is a sport-fanatic, he deserves better.
JT tries to get a date,Al gets a new friend and Frank feels he may be loosing a daughter.
JT and Cody start there own TV show on local cable access called JT`s World. The living room is the set, and Al, Brendan and Mark are the crew. JT meets Karen`s beautiful friend Lisa, and invites her to be in the show. But Lisa falls in love with Cody instead. JT becomes so upset that he fires Cody because of it. Frank and Al tells JT that he made a stupid decision. And when Cody gives his guitar to him to use it in the show, JT decides to re-hire Cody. But this time the show will be named JT`s a Cody nd Cody`s world. In the meantime: Frank told Carol that he if he got stranded on a deserted island, then he would hit on a woman. In the end it turned out that Carol would do the same thing if she had the chance.
The neighbor's go on vacation to Florida and ask the Lambert/Foster children to take care of their dog, Mr. Fritz.When Al and Brendan beg for Frank and Carol to let them dog sit for a week while the owners are out of town, Frank is willing, while Carol reluctantly says yes.At first Carol doesn't like the idea, but agrees to it if the children take responsibility. After a while, Carol falls in love with the dog and begins giving it special treatment. While Mark is scared of it, Al and Brendon soon become sick of it and Frank is jealous of it, the owners call and tell them to keep the dog because they aren't coming home Frank makes Carol take it the kennel.The new neighbors who move into the house vacated decide they want the dog instead. Contributed by Haley
JT and Karen get jobs at a 50's cafe as while Cody gets a job there as a DJ. Dana gets a job as Assistant Manager and is extremely bossy. Therefore JT and Karen quit and the cooks quit (they only put up with Dana so they could look at Karen). Dana ends up getting Frank and Carol to help her and Cody works in the kitchen. Frank and Carol end up correcting Dana. Mark and Al play with a truth telling machine that helps reveal, among other things, Frank's middle name (Delano), where Cody's keys are (in his car), what kind of job Frank had while in school (a paper route), and a very interesting fact about Cody.
Karen gets a modeling job in Chicago.So she begs Carol to let her and she finally does let her.Excited, Karen and Carol go to Chicago. Carol suggests how they should do Karen's hair,what kind of bathing suit Karen should wear, and many more similar things.Basically being a typical stage mother.Carol's suggestions really begin to embarrass Karen greatly. Meanwhile Dana is sick and she driving Frank crazy with her demands. She keeps ringing a bell for each request. Who eventually smashes her bell to pieces. Evidently Dana's illness was contagious, because Al, JT, Brendan and Mark all get sick. The worst is Mark, because he throws up every 20 minutes when he is sick. Contributed to by Haley and Nest
Carol is going out of town, leaving Frank in charge. Dana is upset about that, but manages to convince Frank to let her go on a date with ""Mike the Mover"" who Frank knows happens to have a bad reputation. After finally letting them,he gets scared and decides to follow,with Cody in tow.He climbs a tree above Mike's car in and attempt to hear what they are saying.But the limb breaks and he literally drops in on them. Later, however, Mike proves to be what Frank thought as he puts the moves on Dana in the living room,and while Dana proves to be trustworthy. JT borrows Frank's truck to go to the mall, by agreeing to wash and wax it. Frank gives J.T. 15 bucks to buy some expensive wax. But JT buys some that costs a dollar and pays Brendan to do it, but the wax strips the paint. Just as Frank is restoring his car, JT brakes the window with a baseball.
J.T and Dana run against each other for Class President. When J.T wins Dana becomes upset, but when J.T realizes that the responsibility is too much for him to handle he resigns and gives Dana the position.
J.T and Cody score dates with two pretty sisters. After the date the sisters really want the boys to come home with them. Cody wanted to save his virginity till he found the "" Dudette of his dreams"". So J.T gets mad at him because Cody blew off his date making J.T's date mad too.
Carol spent $84 on 8 videos and one lost under Brendan's bed. She calls a family meeting, and when no one agrees to give anything up, Carol takes everything away. The Foster kids blame Brendan so he tries to run away. He hides in Cody's van, and Cody tells Frank and Carol through pantomime. They find Brendan and tell him that he is more important than money.
Frank's old friend Scooter comes to visit. Frank starts off excited that his high school buddy is coming, but it turns out that Scooter still acts like he is in high school. In order to tell Scooter to leave, Frank tells him how he has become a better man because of his marriage to Carol. Cody wins a turkey at the local supermarket's raffle. Unfortunately, the turkey comes live and Cody can not bear to kill it. He names the turkey Elmer and gets him a job at the petting zoo.
Cody, who has been visiting the Lakeview Retirement Home a couple of times each week for a while, makes one visit with JT. After this visit, Cody learns that his favorite resident, Walter, has died. Walter leaves his estate ($250,000 worth) to Cody. All of Cody's cousins want some of the money and Cody struggles with the proper use, but eventually decides to give it all, save $500, to the Lakeview Retirement Home and its residents. Meanwhile, Carol wants a new camcorder after the old one breaks, but Frank doesn't want to spend $500 on one. So he buys one from a guy working out of a Buick for $162.50. The camcorder explodes and Cody gives the family $500 of his inheritance to buy a real camcorder.
Dana's 17th birthday is upcoming and she informs Carol that she does not want just another party. Carol will not let her have the party she wants so Dana says she won't have a party. Dana and her friend invite a lot of people to a hotel room and they have a ""real"" party. As it happens, Frank and Carol's romantic weekend was across the hall and Carol went across to tell them to be quiet. A heartwarming conversation between mother and daughter then took place. Karen asks Al to wash a blouse for $2 to wear on a date with Bobby. Al didn't wash it properly and changed the color of the dress. Karen wore it on the date anyway. Cody was asked to be Judge Woppner and decide who owed money. He ruled that the service was not done as promised nor was the shirt ruined.
Frank announces he needs a new worker and Carol urges him to hire a female worker for Lambert construction. Meanwhile, J.T., Al and Karen try to make some money off Mark by letting him invest in the stock market for them.
JT's World has achieved enough success to garner attention from a local syndication company. JT (as usual) believes he's going to be a huge star, so decides to stop doing his home work. Then let's his new boss fire his crew (Mark, Al, and Brendan). Meanwhile, Carol and Frank in an effort to spend some more time together, attend an art class. One which features a nude male model. Two days later, just as production on ""JT's World"" is about to begin, JT's boss announces that the suits upstairs wanna make some minor changes. That being JT and Cody are fired, instead they hire professional actors to play their parts.
Dana has been dumped--AGAIN-- just before Valentine's Day. She acts real moody and volunteers to work a double shift at the 50's cafe, since she is dateless. When a customer does show up, Dana snaps at him and he responds kindly, yet with an irritation of his own. They end up dating, as Dana leaves work early. Carol is so busy in the beauty salon that she solicits Frank's assistance. Frank does his best, which is not good enough. Frank burns a bald spot in some girl's hair. While Carol has to spend hours talking to her parents, Frank's style becomes popular with the high school crowd.
The whole family wins a trip to Hawaii and Cody decides to buy a ticket to go with them. Carol irritates everyone by trying to tour EVERYTHING. When they convince Carol to loosen the reigns, Dana meets the man of her dreams, JT finds the girl of his dreams but can't seem to meet her, Cody finds a bottle with a message and goes in search of a lost treasure, and Al, Brendan, and Mark enter a sand castle building contest. Dana's rich dream man soon proposes to her with a six carat solataire in a Tiffany setting.While Carol flips out and demands Dana say no,she considers her option.
The second half concludes the exciting story. JT's girl, who always disappears when he sees her, turns out to be connected to Cody's treasure. JT and Cody discover the treasure is not monetary but is the sunset from where there digging that is the real treasure. Mark,Al and Brendan win the sand castle competition and get a helicopter tour of the island. Carol tries to get Dana to not accept the engagement by telling her absolutely no. Then in using logic she says Dana is too young, but Dana says Carol was younger when she first married. Then Carol says that marriages where the people spent one week together on a tropical island didn't work, but Dana again reminded her of her marriage (this time the one to Frank).In the end Dana decides she has to many dreams to pursue to be tied down.
JT has a new girl friend, who is a motorcycle chick. Later, she meets Mark, who treats her like a lady. Upon her announcement of appreciation, JT gets Mark to teach him how to be a gentleman. JT's girlfriend explains to JT that she wants the manners in moderation. Meanwhile, Al is getting her first bra with Carol. Frank shows up at the store so he can be there when Al gets her first bra. Al gets embarrassed and tells Frank that some things she'd rather have Carol help her with.
Al's baseball team (Port Washington Cubs), which is coached by Frank, makes it to the championship, but they lose a player and need a replacement. Carol talks Frank into letting Mark be that replacement, although ""He is not even good enough to be bad."" Frank tries to avoid playing Mark until they are so far ahead it won't matter. The game comes down to the final hit, however, and Frank is forced to put Mark in. After being jeered by the crowd, Mark wants to quit, but Al threatens him so he has tries to hit. He uses his knowledge of Physics to hit the winning Home Run. JT and Dana's competitiveness once again yields a battle of the sexes. Karen and Dana think women are able to stay awake just as long as men, while JT disagrees. Cody agrees to make it a 2-on-2 contest because his ""14 hours of sleep a night cuts into his leisure time."" JT, Dana, and Karen all end up zonked on the couch, while Cody's brain begins to tell him the secrets of the universe.
Karen is angry at JT for putting her baby picture in the school year book. While Frank and Carol get a new Snooze-O-Matic adjustable bed.
Frank gets a job, which includes moving a house. Carol convinces Frank to hire Cody for the demolition work, though Cody has never done this precise demolition before. Cody finds out that a family lives in the house Frank is wrecking and has nowhere to go. Cody refuses to demolish the building and gets to know the Emersons. When Carol finds out that the family lives there, she sits beside Cody in an sort of demostration. Cody and Carol find a solution to the problem. Their answer is to move the house and make Frank hire the father. Al, Brendan and Mark get a job licking envelopes. JT says that he can be the manager of the envelope licking and really increase their productivity. JT's management style doesn't work, because he just bosses the others around. So Al, Brendan, and Mark quit, and JT has to lick envelopes all night. Afterward, Dana and Karen suggest a sponge.
Carol sets up Karen with Freddy, who is a 153 on Karen's grading scale. Karen, however, prefers Jeffrey (a 195). Despite disappointing Carol, Karen accepts a date with Jeffrey and dumps Freddy by lying to him. She sneaks out of the house to go with Jeff and they win Perfect Couple right after Freddy confronts Karen. She refuses the award and finishes the evening with Freddy. Carol does not like the way Frank organizes his money. She tries to make him use a male purse, but he refuses. He concentrates his efforts on putting an alarm on Lucille because Cody had his stereo stolen out of it. The alarm was so good Frank got stuck in the van demonstrating it.
Dana's new boyfriend, Daniel, convinces her to be in a local play he is directing. Coincidentally, Cody is working on the set of the show and Daniel convinces Cody to join the acting team as well. They become Romeo and Juliet, and Dana is unable to do a good job, because she cannot see any redeeming qualities in Cody. Then Daniel fires Dana saying, ""The show is the most important thing."" Cody then quits saying, ""People are the most important thing""; which Dana finds ""loyal, generous, and giving."" She finally sees redeeming qualities in Cody.
A nearby family is going out of town and they want Dana to ""house-sit."" Carol is extremely uncomfortable with Dana leaving, but Frank talks her into it so when she goes to college, Carol will be ready. Everyone has trouble adjusting. Cody gives his plant, Gordo, to Dana so she will have someone to talk to. JT complains that the remaining Fosters (Karen and Mark) do not slam him good enough. Frank discovers he misses Dana as if she were his own. Most of all, though, Dana discovers after catching herself talking to Gordo repeatedly,that she does not like being alone.
While at church with the Fosters (and NOT the Lamberts), Carol invites the pastor and his wife over for Sunday lunch. The Lambert's notice that he is a normal guy, and Frank promises that the Lamberts will be there next week. Cody and his friends, Slasher and Death, come too because the Pastor is into bikes. The only problem is that a big televised Packer's game is on that week. While at church, JT sneaks away to watch the game, Frank follows him up and falls through the ceiling. Frank agrees to fix the roof and go to church from now on. The very next week he observes Cody, Slasher, and Death singing, ""Pharaoh, Pharaoh""-- a ballad of the Israelites to the tune of ""Louie, Louie.""
JT and his friend Doug find out that they have a book report due on Monday. Mark tells them that he has read and written reports on at least 10 of the books on their list. JT and Doug get into Mark's computer, get the reports, and decide to sell the extra reports to the football team. Dana finds out and convinces Mark to change the reports into bogus reports. Consequently, Dana has to help JT write his real report. Slasher and his wife, Debbie, go on a trip and leave their baby son Harley with ""Uncle"" Cody. Carol ends up wanting to have another baby and seeing that Cody is a natural father.
JT is struggling with Algebra and Frank will not let him cheat. Dana doesn't like not having power and having to walk places. JT and Dana agree that being a parent is easier, whereas Frank and Carol think being a teenager is a breeze. They agree to switch places and bet a month's allowance on what is easier. After 2 days, all four agree that both are difficult and become satisfied with what they are. Meanwhile, Cody discovers that Slasher got married by putting an ad in a hot rod magazine. He decides to do the same and gets a response with a personalized License plate.
Mark is depressed about getting an ""A"" on a test, rather than an ""A+."" Frank tries to loosen him up by getting him a video game. Mark does loosen up, but his grades slip, he starts fights, and he becomes addicted to the game. Frank and Carol send him to a support group. There, he recognizes his addiction and begins to work it out. In the meantime, Cody goes to the health food store to obtain a cure for his cold. In the parking lot, he buys a booklet teaching him how to cure himself with the powers of his mind. Dana mocks him, despite the fact that using his newfound powers enable Cody to think of Karen wearing a turtleneck to hide her hickey. Dana, however, when she is unable to get rid of a cold, tries it herself (when no one else can see, of course).
JT discovers that although Cody is the best motorcycle repairman in town, he charges everyone $9. JT convinces him to start his own business with a bigger shop. Cody has trouble getting a loan until Slasher ""convinces"" the banker by threatening to move his multi-million dollar account elsewhere. Cody, however, does not like the new business because he does not get to work on the bikes himself. Frank and Carol are celebrating an anniversary and again are fighting over presents. This time they agree to buy a present, but to limit it to $25. Both exceed the limit and end up struggling to buy a more expensive present than the other one. Brendan makes them an anniversary card, because he did not have the money to buy one. This ends the struggle.
Lucille is in the shop being repaired so Cody stays in the Lambert living room. After Cody does his wash in the kitchen and loses his ant farm on the couch, the family is ready for him to move back into his van. Lucille, however, dies on the greaserack. Frank and Carol are relieved, however, when Cody tells them he is ready to be out as well. He decides to move into a stationary Lucille reasoning that many people live perfectly normal lives in non-moving structures. At the same time, Karen is interested in a guy who volunteers at a homeless shelter so she goes there one Saturday. He takes his girlfriend out, though, and Karen ends up spending a whole day at the shelter for ""nothing."" After a heart-to-heart with Carol, Karen decides that she needs to adjust her priorities.
After posting an ad in a biker magazine, Cody finally meets his blind date,Bonnie.She turns out to have an adorable 8 year old named, Riley who Cody Immediately befriends.Bonnie and Cody have a great time,but there priorities are different.Bonnie needs a father for Riley so she proposes to Cody. Al is perplexed at her breast size. The rest of the family is busy arguing about the house decor.
Karen is interested in Michael, but is too scared to talk to him so she gets Dana to talk to him. Dana talks to him and gets to know him as he gets to know her. He asks her out and she cannot help but say yes. As they get closer, Dana must keep Karen in the dark. The Lambert kids find out by monitoring a telephone call. They convince Karen to start a fight. Karen tells Michael several lies (including the one about Dana only being 14 years old) things about Dana so Michael will dump her. Unfortunately for the Lamberts, Dana and Karen discuss the problem and turn on them instead of each other. In an unprecedented dialogue, Karen tells Dana how she envies her ""book"" smarts, while Dana tells Karen how she envies her ""street"" smarts. Karen and Dana team up to repay the Lamberts for listening in on telephone calls. After Frank refuses to dance with her, Carol ignores him. It is discovered that Frank does not know how to dance. Cody with excellent dancing skills teaches Frank to dance. Frank
After Carol presents an idea of exchanging fewer gifts, Frank announces he gets a 20% discount at Hartman's Toy Store because of his remodeling work there. Both believe one has picked up Brendan's train set and therefore, neither does. When they realize this on Christmas eve, they use Frank's key to get into the toy store and are leaving money in the register when Deputy Barney Feif notices them. They are taken to jail where they are detained. After the kids open all their presents without knowing where their parents were, Cody points out that Christmas should be about joy and loved ones. The kids realize their mistake, get concerned, and find out their parents are in jail. They bring food and caroling to the jail. Deputy Feif lets them out and they all go back home to celebrate Christmas, even Barney.
Carol has just bought a book named ""Ten Minutes Per Day to a Better Marriage."" The book advised to tell each other a big secret. Carol tells him about a secret bank account with a lot of money in it. Frank feels betrayed and goes to his office to spend the night. Upon seeking support from Cody, Frank discovers that he was unsure in other areas (he had not thrown away his little black book). They realize that in the end they are better off for having told each other. Karen just passed her drivers license exam, creating three drivers (Dana, JT, and Karen) and no car. They decide it is time to buy their own car, but they can only come up with $400. JT manages to find an old Volkswagen Bug for $400. The car is a disaster and although Cody works on it, it is barely driveable. Cody and JT sell it for parts and get $425, and they keep the 8 track player with a Sonny and Cher 8 track.
The boys at school tell Al they do not want to play with a girl; Frank tells Al to try to get more friends that are girls. Al begins to hang around with the only girls who she feels will be her friends. Al starts to wear combat uniforms, skip class, and stay out past curfew. Frank overreacts and the two get into a big argument. When Al's friends get her to steal Cody's guitar, Cody hears them and lets her take it. Cody points out to both Frank and Al that their relationship is vital. Carol sees the TV set being temporarily out of order, as a great time to start a desperate attempt at ""Family Fun Time."" The only thing Carol is able to get them to enjoy doing together is leaving. In the end, the TV is fixed and the Lambert boys are watching Baywatch again.
Cody reads so much that he ruins the stories (by telling the ending) for JT, Al, and Carol and desserts (by crushing it with a big box of books) for Dana. However, it does yield him a job as a story time reader for the little kids at the library. He makes the reading time tons of fun and even teaches one of Brendan's friends to read. While filling out their taxes, Frank realizes Carol made more money than he did the previous year. He gets frantic over not being the ""provider"" of the family so he looks for a part time job. He looks everywhere but ends up passing out coupons for a local fried chicken restaurant while dressed as a chicken. Carol is, however, able to convince him that he is a great companion and father and she is perfectly satisfied with that.
It's Mark's 13th birthday.While frank introduces him to the fine art of shaving,and Carol arranges a real party for him with music and girls.One of the girls is a lovely girl named Marissa,with who Mark falls in love with.But he's soon brokenhearted as he finds out her feelings for him are not quite the same as what he thought. J.T. passes his mechanics exam.But Dana feels if he can do it so can she.So she challenges him to a bet,that she can do it.
Cody acquires this strange ability to see things in the future accurately (although unclear and misleading at times). He goes to Chicago to protect Dana, and although he ruins her interview, he does help her out. Carol begins what Mark describes as ""aging"" by snoring- VERY loudly. She keeps everybody up several nights in a row, until Frank finally comes up with a plan (airport earmuffs for him and soundproofing the door for the kids).
Karen is having an interview at the mall for a jeans ad. The photographer is looking for a girl to promote the jeans ""with an attitude."" Al actually gets the job, which drives Karen crazy. Karen gets mad at Carol because she is not showing favoritism to her daughter (over her step-daughter). Carol is hurt and says that the whole Lambert/Foster family should be thought of as one family. Karen gets the point and is able to calm down Al with a ""family"" pep talk. Cody thinks he is the victim of some mysterious curse that makes him lucky at whatever he does, thus taking all the fun and excitement out of life. When Frank makes him play poker, the curse is re-activated. Cody wins $1,000 and a trip to the Bahamas, but breaks the curse by having an industrial accident in his van.
Frank and Carol decide to celebrate the anniversary of thier first encounter (on June 20, 1993),by taking a weekend trip,thus leaving the kids alone.Carol and Frank get stuck at the hotel where Frank once spent a weekend with a red-headed ex-girlfriend of his.Ofcourse Carol gets mad several times before they finally make up and head home. Mark laughs at the horror film (Chainsaw Slumberparty II) J.T.,Al and Brendan are watching.They decide to take revenge by making Mark think the house is haunted.
Urged by his parents to either apply to college or find a job, JT gets a part-time position as an assistant salesman in a used-car lot. Not only does he actually enjoy his new job, but it turns out that he's incredibly good at selling cars. He thanks Carol for getting him off his keister and making him get a job. He dreams of one day owning the car lot and gets in a commercial for the place. Dana is assigned to write an essay for her psychology class. After Mark and Karen's refusals, she has to hire Cody as a subject for her study. She writes that Cody is a nutcase, but her teacher claims that she is close-minded. She gets a ""D"" on the paper and has to do a makeup assignment on one person's dreams for a week, and although Cody volunteers, she refuses.
Worried about turning forty, Carol exercies and diets with Karen. When Karen steps out, Carol sees a commercial for Skinny Tabs and orders them. She loses three pounds, but possesses so much energy that she drives everybody crazy and is constantly talking and working. Frank tells her that he loves her for who she is, not just her body. Al has to write a report on Abe Lincoln, but all the books on him are checked out. Cody takes her to Madame Sonya and he encounters Lincoln. Al does not believe and therefore, she does not see Abe, but she has a great idea for her report-- Abe in the 20th Century. Cody gives Abe's golf scorecard to Carol for her birthday.
Cody is writing a 40's style mystery for his creative writing class. He gets an idea when Karen proclaims her diary is missing. His pun-filled story is played out by the Lambert/Foster family. Kitty Meow (Karen), who sings in the famous trio the Andrews step-sisters, lost her diary. The suspects are as follows: the other two Andrew's step-sisters (Dana and Al), the establishment's piano player (Brendan), comic (JT), and other singing act, Miss Honey Dew (Carol). With the help of the lab technician (Mark), Sam Spud (Cody) discovers it was Honey Dew. In real life, Al turns out to be the one who misplaced Karen's diary.
Cody's father comes to see him on his 21st birthday. He gives him a job as executive VP of his successful real estate business. Cody comes into the first meeting and disturbs everyone even coming up with an idea to build a mall on the beach that looks like a sandcastle. Upon advice from Frank, Cody decides to quit realizing,he will not be happy. Carol keeps setting up Dana and Karen with blind dates. They are all bad especially the latest one where the guys are dressed up like Beavis and Butthead and bring fake snot. They plot with Frank to pay Carol back. Afterward, they all agree to not have anymore blind dates. Carol reneges, though, and tries to get them to date a cute guy, but they refuse before seeing him and later try to get him.
After a little bad luck, JT is deceitfully set up with a 13-year-old. Dana, on the other hand, was able to get a date with the just broken up, best looking guy in school. At the prom, however, Dana is dumped for his ex-girlfriend. Dana is heartbroken-- not only because she lost her date, but also because she must dance the spotlight dance (as Student Body President) all by herself. JT comes to console her and offers to dance with her. Although the two walk out insulting each other under their breath, they gain an appreciation for each other. Brendan belts a boy who cheated off his paper at school. Carol, feeling terrible, invites the boy and his family over. The situation is not reconciled when the boy's parents cheat at monopoly. In fact, after Carol hears them insult Frank and Brendan, Carol belts the boy's dad.
Mark feels his friends don't respect him, and his mother babies him. In order to earn respect he joins a Karate class. His teacher kicks him out for being too wimpy. Cody agrees to help Mark prepare for the big karate tournament (Cody is a black belt) in a month and Mark becomes a totally new man. He faces the best person in the first match and falls behind quickly. Cody, however, notices his weakness and Mark uses it to catch up and force the guy to the final point. Mark loses the match, but wins respect from everybody except the coach of the other guy who mocks him and Cody and then challenges Cody to a karate match. Cody beats him badly. Frank is tired of all the yelling in the house so he installs an intercom that has a radio in it, but he is forced to destroy it when it wakes everyone up in the middle of the night.
Carol adds to her vast collection of ""first"" pictures by taking one of Dana's first day at East Wisconsin University. Dana feels she is being shafted when she receives a ""D"" on her English paper. That evoked varying responses including an ""Another first-- get a picture Carol"" from Al and an ""I'm the smartest now"" from Mark. Carol tells Dana her ego is too big and although she is smart she only had to look to her driveway to find someone smarter (remember SATs). Dana later apologizes and promises to correct her attitude. Immediately after this she finds out Cody was accepted at ""Cheese Wis U"" and enrolled in all her classes. Meanwhile, JT receives a credit card and despite a warning from Frank, he charges $20,000 worth of stuff, including a mink coat which Carol adores. When everything is returned Carol has a hard time parting with the coat. Frank puts the next credit card JT gets in the blender.
Cody joins a college fraternity (Delta Delta Beta),to be cool.But finds the way they treat woman disgusting after Karen attends a party with him. Meanwhile joins the schoolband.
When a part time Sportscaster job becomes available, Frank's old visions of being a great announcer come back. He chokes and Carol gets the job which bums him out seeing himself stuck in an endless life of average. He snaps out of it when Carol tells him that to her he is a superstar. Ironically, when Carol denies the job, Cody ends up with it. Carol's health food kick has the kids buying their own junk food. This causes JT and Al to patrol the kitchen and endless fights over stealing each other's junk food. Finally, a food fight breaks out and when Cody tries to break it up, he is attacked from all sides. As a funny side note, in the middle of all this JT put glue in Dana's conditioner.
Karen tries to become Homecoming Queen, and discovers it's not worth the effort.Cody suffers an identity crisis.
Cody makes the world's largest Jack-o-Lantern and Mark discovers an alien life. Meanwhile, Carol and Frank decide to dress as Tarzan and Jane for the special Halloween Ball.
Al has a date with Kevin Philips,so she seeks advice from her step-sisters.Dana tells her she needs to stand up to him and make sure he doesn't push her around.While Karen's advice is completely opposite,saying that the only way Kevin will like her is if she agrees with everything he says.Al decides unwisely to take Karen's advice.The date doesn't go fairly well,but Kevin says he doesn't want to see Al again,as he thought she was more of an independent thinker. Meanwhile, Dana and Cody try to out compete each other in college
Cody puts the entire family into counseling over the baby.
The kids kick up a fuss about the baby's room and Cody comforts an old friend.
Al brings home her new boyfriend to meet Frank,but he has some major issues about the way the boy dresses.
Carol and Frank go on a romantic getaway, but Carol can think of nothing but the baby. Mark meets a girl, but is surprised by her appearance.
It's christmas time at the Lambert/Foster's and J.T. decides he's to old to spend Christmas with the family and he wants to go skiing with his buddies.Frank doesn't want him to, but doesn't object.J.T. realizes the minute they arrive at the cabin that he made a mistake and would rather go home.He calls Cody and confesses, but refuses to call Frank.Cody talks Frank into going to see J.T. and he admits he would rather be home with the family and Frank says he wants him home too.
J.T. and Cody are out riding around in J.T. boss's car.When J.T. meets a pretty girl,at a cafe.She thinks he's rich and so J.T. lies and says he is, to impress her.He then finds some money on the street and decides to keep it.Not knowing it actually belongs to Shelly's Dad who owns the cafe she works at.Cody finally makes J.T. tell her the truth and J.T. fines out about the money and returns it and apologizes for lieing.They decide to try and start over.
Carol starting binging on odd combo's of foods at her pregnancy wears on.While Cody makes a film about a goldfish and Dana comes to terms with her older boyfriend.
Mark's girlfriend Gabrielle comes to spend the weekend. JT gives Mark advice and the girls give Gabrielle advice, and they break up. Cody gets them back together. Frank gives Carol hints about what he wants for his birthday.
Al is learning to drive, but she gets into a predicament when JT lets her drive while Frank and Carol are away at the doctors. Meanwhile, Dana has her wisdom teeth removed, but the drugs get to her head.
Everyone begins to help Carol so she will not be stressed out too much and harm the baby. Carol, however, is so fussy about how they help that she drives them all crazy and seems to be just as stressed. Brendan, however, stays up all night cleaning to help. Dana and Cody are selected to teach a bunch of remedial high school students about the Civil War. Cody signs them up for a hit TV game show, ""It's Academic,"" and wants a more hands-on kind of teaching. Dana fights Cody on both until the competition, where she gets so into it, she threatens her team. The students respond to both Cody's teaching and Dana's coaching.
JT realizes that he can not find a good job, unless he goes to college. He struggles to study and fails his first test, but with the help of Mark and Cody discovers that he has dyslexia. Carol wants to get the future baby into The Sutton Academy, a prestigious pre-school, and sets up an appointment with a couple of representatives from that school. They insult the Lamberts, and Frank and Carol throw them out. Mark and Gabrielle have a hard time controlling themselves while playing Ping-Pong and even while walking.
Cody's speech teacher tells him he says the word ""dude"" too much. He creates a device whereby someone can press a button and give him an electrical shock every time he uses the word. Dana volunteers and takes her job seriously, ""zapping"" him as much as possible. Cody decides that the word ""dude"" is part of who he is and how he communicates and therefore, quits. Carol is 8 months pregnant and VERY large. Frank gets a job with a beautiful ex-girlfriend and neglects to tell Carol, feeling she is insecure. Carol finds out about the job, but more importantly finds out that she can trust Frank.
JT and Dana are in the same Ethics class, and JT gets an ""A+,"" while Dana gets a lower grade. Dana goes to inquire about her grade and discovers that the only reason JT got his grade is the teacher is interested in him. Dana warns JT and tells him that his first time should be special. When JT goes over to the Professors, he abstains from any wrongdoing, and in Dana's words, ""deserves an 'A+' in Ethics. Frank buys the Meat Master 5000, but does not assemble it correctly, and it starts a fire. Cody is having trouble sleepwalking and talking like a 5-year-old, warning Carol to get to the hospital. He discovers it is related to seeing his sister be born in the back of a cab, when he was five.
JT and Frank make a bet with Dana and Carol to wear a pregnancy outfit to see if they can cope and see how it is to be pregnant for 48 hours, but JT and Frank soon learn it's not easy being pregnant. They lose the bet and must get down on their knees and kiss Dana and Carol feet while they repeat that men are the weaker sex. Meanwhile, Brendan is stunned when his favorite baseball player turns out to be a ""dilweed.""
J.T. applies his greed to babysitting,with Al's help.But they agree to sit for too many kids and can't control the group.
Carol decides that they need to get rid of all of Frank's old junk. They have a yard sale where Frank tries to sell things for $15-$50, but a guy smoking a cigar will only offer a quarter in return. At the end of the day, they have only made a nickel when the guy with a cigar comes back and offers a quarter for everything left. Carol quickly accepts his CHECK. Dana is going to a college party. After a great deal of coaxing, Karen and Al convince Dana to take them with her. Karen surveys the room and picks a guy, Jeremy. Jeremy, however, chooses Al. Despite being asked to dance by 12 other guys and receiving a marriage proposal, Karen considers the whole party a waste. She and Dana then find out that Jeremy's intentions were less than pure. They rush to Al's rescue and help her get revenge.
Carol finally goes into labor. Frank rushes everyone to the hospital while Cody is taping everything on videotape. Carol had decided to have the baby without any anesthetic, but every time she has a contraction, she changes her mind (changing it back after the contraction, of course). The doctor convinces her that it is just as healthy for the baby to take drugs. JT, who was supposed to drive the kids, leaves the Foster kids at home. When the Fosters arrive, they begin fighting again with the Lamberts. Cody steps in and shows them how they have been happier when they have assisted one another. Lilly Foster Lambert is born!!
J.T. is excited about his double date with his pal and two girls, until he finds out who his pal's date is.
The girls care for the new baby while Frank and Carol go on a romantic date. But everyone's evening is filled with surprises.
Dana goes wild when she moves into her own place to live. J.T. and Mark think their new neighbor is a criminal.
Dana and J.T. get overly involved when they answer a call for a telephone counseling service.
J.T. hires a beautiful model to clean the house. Carol exposes her competitive nature when Karen competes to be head cheerleader.
Frank and Carol are overwhelmed by caring for everyone. Karen might get her big chance as a singer. Cody receives a surprise when he orders from a Russian mail-order catalogue.
Chaos ensues when Al takes her boss's chimpanzee home. J.T. tries to use Mark's newfound talent to swindle a pool hustler.
Cody could leave town to tour with a rock star. Frank becomes obsessed with the kids' car.
Dana's feminist organization attracts a surprising new member, Cody. Mark is dateless for the school dance.
J.T. and Al audition Lilly to represent a baby food company. Frank annoys Carol at her beauty products convention.
Franks old friend Mitch Crawford is coming to town Carol and Frank set up a date for Al with Mitch's son,Matt. Both Matt and Al come in with a bad attitude, but they soon discover they have a lot more in common than they think and start having fun.There having so much fun they end making out in the driveway as the car is being covered in snow. When Frank discovers them, he kicks Matt and his family out of their house. Al goes with them because she thinks her father is being unreasonable. Frank has to go to the all-you-can-eat-turkey for to apologize and invite them back. Cody blows up his van by running Christmas lights from the main generator. Because ""The Night before Christmas"" was in his van, Cody was required to tell Lilly an impromptu version. JT has a job selling Christmas trees. Cody cannot make it because he was injured in the van accident; therefore, his friend, George, spends his free time with JT. George teaches JT that more important than money is the joy of a kid's
Dana admires a abstract, feminist artist and is honored to be chose to pose for her. Knowing she will be a part of what be a great work, she agrees to pose nude. Since Dana is convinced that the work will be abstract, and she will not be recognizable, she proudly invites Frank, Carol, Karen and Al to a charity auction where it will be unveiled. Unfortunately, the painter decided to change styles to Photo-realism, and the painting is obviously Dana. Carol is determined to outbid the ""perverts,"" but Frank does not allow her to top $100,000. Fortunately, the artist destroys her work, because anything that appealing to the masses must be bad. JT goes on a date with Casey Maxwell, the daughter of an alleged crime boss, who requires him to spend $200 per plate for their date. When JT ends the relationship, he fears for his life. Frank refuses to hire an exterminator to kill the rat in the attic. He becomes so obsessed with catching the rat that he hurts himself (throwing out his shoulder, fa
JT and Frank will do ANYTHING for Super Bowl tickets. They dress up like women and wrestle Assualt and Battery for 10 rounds to claim them. Meanwhile,Mark is placed in a school for the gifted. On his first day at the new school, Mark gets a ""C"" on a pop quiz. He neglects his friends and stays up all weekend studying. When Carol catches him, they decide that the new school is a step backward for Mark. Also, Cody ""invents"" clothing made from food when going camping. Without having to pack clothes or carry heavy food, it appears to be a good idea. However, Cody realizes that there are a lot of hungry animals in the woods.
Frank's mom comes to town to see Lilly. She tells Carol how to do everything. While everyone else is enjoying ""Nana,"" Carol grows more and more frustrated with her as her advice becomes more and more personal. Finally because of some advice from Carol (and Cody), Frank stands up to his mother. Then Frank's mother realizes what a terrible mother-in-law she has been. At the same time, JT gets a job as a dummy for a women's self-defense class. Dana, Karen, and Al join the class and after seeing what it is there practicing (shots to the groin) JT quits in the middle. Also, Cody gets a job doing brain experimentation.
Al's boyfriend, Matt, Al, and some other friends plan a ski trip, But Frank refuses to let Al go. So Stephanie ""Love Boat"", takes her place and after talking to JT,Al gets worried. JT and Al go up to check on Matt and the ""Love Boat,"" but Matt proves he only cares for Al. Cody has a gnarly case of the hiccups. He tries to scare himself, be hypnotized by Mark, and drink five gallons of water, but the only true remedy is time. In the meantime, Carol reads a horror book, despite Frank's encouragement to read Garfield. Finally, the nightmares are so bad, she needs ""Garfield"" to help her.
Frank buys Carol a fake Swiss Rolet watch (for Valentine's Day) and pretends it is the real thing. Carol feels so bad about Frank spending too much money that she tries to return it, and gets thrown in jail. When Frank bails her out, she tells him that she loved the watch because it was from him, and that the most important thing is honesty. Frank sweeps Carol off her feet with one of Cody's letters, but Carol is even more impressed that he tells the truth about it. Dana gets dumped just before Valentine's Day and turns into the man-hater she can be. Cody writes her ""Secret Admirer"" love letters to help lighten her up, hence improving her personality. It works perfectly and allows Dana to get a boy that she really likes.
Frank and Carol go to a class with Lilly for parents of young kids. In this class they begin to feel they are too old for Lilly. They try to be ""young"" like some of the other parents. They go to a grunge club with the parents of another kid and they realize that they don't need to change their entire lifestyle for Lilly's sake. Rich and JT tell Dana that ""buds are thicker than babes."" Dana disagrees and challenges them, then she tries to get a friend, Brandy Hartman, to come between them. JT and Rich figure this out and end up trapping Dana into an embarrassing situation. Cody tries to make many strange greeting cards, including one that explodes for National Demolition Worker's Day.
Cody's cheese hat gives him the ability to predict the winning lottery numbers. Karen, Mark, and Brendan try to take advantage of that and get the numbers from him. Cody didn't think it was fair to keep it all to himself so he put the numbers up on the big billboard at the Packers game and it made the ESPN Play of the Day-- making a lot of winners and the prize basically worthless. Dana introduces a psychology major named Fleming to her parents thinking he is ""the one."" Frank and Carol hate him and his ideas and so does Dana when the gift he promised turned out to be psychiatric help. Frank gladly throws him out. While baby sitting Lily JT Meets a girl who assumes he is Lily's dad and he uses this to get a date. It doesn't work out as she thinks he is too mature for her and doesn't believe him when he tells her the truth.
JT has a huge test coming up in one of his classes, and his friend is able to get a copy of the test. JT decides not to cheat on the test, but rather to study for it. JT ends up getting a B on the test, and when he and his friend get their books mixed up, Frank sees the cheat sheet and tells JT he is both disappointed and he will no longer pay for JT's schooling. Later, Frank overhears JT's friend returning for the book and he apologizes and they make up. Al gets an idea to get a tattoo. Even though she is told she can't she finds a way to get to the shop. Dana, however, saw her heading out and was able to tell Carol, who was able to arrive just before Al went in. Carol tried to tell Al several things, but was not able to convince her not to go through with it until she told and SHOWED her the ill effects of one.
Dana, Karen, and Al go to a ski lodge for a weekend and meet 3 good looking guys one of whom is the prince of Calderone. The prince(Karen's) wants people to like him for who he is, and henceforth makes his bodyguard(Dana's) claim to be the prince. This causes Dana to gloat and Karen to sulk. Meanwhile, Rich gives the remaining Lambert/Foster clan a chain letter which promises good luck if you keep the chain going and vice versa. Everyone except Brendan decides not to return the letters. Everyone gets orange hair (except Brendan) from using Carol's free samples while Rich gave his shampoo to his parents.
Dana cannot deteemine what to do and JT and Rich are not able to major in ""Nude Volleyball,"" therefore they all end up taking a career placement test together.The results of the placement test say JT and Rich should become doctors and Dana should become a guard at an women's prison. Dana, livid from the results, demands a re-test and ends up discovering the testing center is a fraud. Dana then investigates (doing a job so good JT tells her she should become an investigative reporter) and discovers the owner has been convicted of the same crime several times before. Meanwhile, Carol repays a favor by hiring Flash to work for Frank; Flash, in turn, destroys almost everything, and is only redeemed by his remarkable work done while staying up all night working.
Frank's mother offers the entire family a trip to Disney World the weekend of Frank and Carol's anniversary. Flash shows up to return Frank's hammer and ends up staying the weekend, and over the weekend he visits more rides than anyone in the history of Disney World has beating out a Russian and bringing the title back to America. JT and Rich dip into their apartment fund to get Rich to come. JT poses as J.T. Disney and ends up spending the whole fund trying to attract 2 girls. They go different ways for a few hours until JT ""redeems"" himself by selling his plain ticket and agreeing to ride the bus back with Rich. Karen enters a country music contest with Dana and Al as backup singers but gets rid of them because they aren't dedicated enough. When she gets on stage the first time, though, she realizes that she needs them.After a little making up Al and Dana agree to re join the group and they rock the house with ""Girls with Guitars"" By ""Wynona""
J.T. and Rich eagerly apply and are hired at a restaurant (which Dana and her feminist friends had planned to protest against) with sexy waitress. They learn how bad harassment really is in those places, but they get in one final night of not caring. Frank converts part of the basement into a lounge using items he bought from a closed tavern. While the men love it, Carol has a serious accident with a one of the lounge's ""toys"". The closer shows interesting riding on the toy by everybody, especially Dana. Flash sleeps on the Lamberts' couch while his apartment is being fumigated. He brings a lot of energy to the house and the lounge.
Dana is told she must tutor another student.As she goes on about ""moron jock"" she will to tutor this time she discovers it's Rich;whom she loathes. But the first thing they learn is that opposites attract, and soon, to everyone's shock, sparks begin to fly. Meanwhile, Carol and Frank, eager to be alone and away from the ever-present Jean-Luc, escape for a much needed romantic weekend, but find an unwelcome surprise awaiting them,Jean Luc.It's his birthday and he ends spending it alone after Carol and Frank explain to him they need some time alone themselves.
JT and Rich convince Frank that they're mature enough to drive down to Mexico. After traveling almost the whole way they finally discover that Dana has stode away in the back seat. After reaching the border town of Tejada, they end up in jail, when Rich gives all his money to Dana and they can't pay for the burritos they just ate. Dana's mouthing off to the officer over what she sees as him trying to take advantage of her, only makes things worse. In the meantime, Carol has a bright idea. Frank should teach Jean-Luc how to drive. But for once he refuses and Carol takes her life in her own hands when she attempts to teach Jean-Luc herself.
JT accepts the hasty marriage proposal made by Michelle, a sexy French woman ten years his senior, but as Jean-Luc discovers that there are some serious hidden strings attached. Michelle as it turns out is about to lose her visa and must return to France. So she tries to get JT to marry her so she can stay. Meanwhile, after Frank refuses to let him go and see Showgirls, Mark and his friends go the video store and discover ""Naughty Nurses"" in a video case of the Little Mermaid. After they get caught watching it in the Garage, Frank has a long talk with Mark.
The kids all head off to Rockfest 97, causing Carol (as usual) to worry they might misbehave. Just as she had feared they are tested. when Al's morals are put to the test when she's tempted to try marijuana. Meanwhile, when Patti, Carol's friend from high school, finds herself being ignored by her husband, she develops a crush on Jean-Luc.
Frank and Jean Luc go camping to do a little ""Male-Bonding"". Frank tells Jean Luc not to tell anyone he's a contractor, beccause he doesn't want everyone asking him to fix this and that.So Jean Luc tells the couple next door there certainly not hairstylists,but there brain Surgeons.Turns out the lady is pregnant and she goes into labor just as her husband goes fishing.So Frank and Jean Luc have to deliver the baby. Meanwhile, back at home Dana begins to question her relationship with Rich when an old friend from high school, now attending Harvard, tries to woo her away. Rich gets jealous and forbids her to see him,which only makes Dana laugh.She then accepts an invitation to go with her friend for the weekend to visit the Harvard campus.Rich shows up and things get crazy.
J.T. finally meets the girl of his dreams in Sam, the tow truck driver. They have everything in common and after some urging from brothers and sisters he asks her out. They end up going to a packers game and from then on it's love. J.T. is initally confused about his feelings for Sam until he has a conversation with Jean Luc and it all becomes clear. He in love with Sam. Also Karen's big music break finally comes, when she is selected to appear in a video with one of Country Music's biggest (fictional) stars, Jimmy Ray Johnston. So Frank, Carol and Karen all travel to Chicago for the big shoot. But it turns out that Jimmy Ray only wants Karen to look good and not actually sing. So she quits.
JT asserts his independence by moving out of his parents' house to a not so joyful Jean-Luc's. But after some problems there he then moves into his own apartment. Carol wants to spend more quality time with the girls by going to a karaoke bar.
When JT and Rich squander their money and can't pay the rent on their new apartment, they are evicted by their landlord -- Frank. Meanwhile, because his daughter, Danielle, is in France and her birthday is drawing near, Jean-Luc spoils Lilly with an abundance of gifts to ease his pain over not being able to be with his daughter. In the end Carol works it out so Danielle can come stateside and see her father.
A clueless Rich gives Dana a piece of recycled jewelry for her birthday, but finds the party's over when the gift turns out be a locket -- with a picture of him and his ex-flame inside. Meanwhile, Carol and the kids must endure the rite of passage that all men face when Frank goes through a mid-life crisis.
Frank's disappointment over the kids not cleaning up the house leads him to dream he's in the wild west, circa 1880. Here, it's up to the inebriated Sheriff Frank to clean up an rid the town of the vile, French gunslinger, Black Bart (aka Jean-Luc), who has a mind for trouble and his eyes on the sheriff's girl -- the lovely Miss Kitty (aka Carol).
Jean-Luc keeps the kids in suspense when he tells them he's cutting the hair of a popular celebrity. Fabio guest stars as himself. Meanwhile, Rich and Dana try to control, unsuccesfully, Lilly's birthday party.
When Mark's date overhears him bragging to his friends about the so-called special moment they shared, she calls his bluff in front of his schoolmates -- branding him a wimp. Meanwhile, after being dumped by her date, Karen feels that her ""imperfect"" body is the culprit and takes drastic measures to improve it.
Al's in for a disappointment when she discovers that her blind date is overweight-- and carrying an even heavier chip on his shoulder. Meanwhile, Carol's ""worry meter"" jumps off the scale when Dana, Rich, JT, and Sam check into a Chicago Hotel unsupervised.
Rich and Dana go to a wedding with JT and Sam. They are teased and told that someday soon, they will be married. Dana, furthermore, does not even go up to try to catch the bouquet, but it lands on her lap anyway. They each have terrible visions about what that might entail and become very scared. They agree not more weddings for a while.
When JT and Rich take on the job as sports agents to an up-and-coming college hockey player, they find themselves becoming his personal servants and dating service—with Karen serving as the main course. Meanwhile, the battle between the hairdressers and the contractors begins when Carol and Jean-Luc challenge an overly-macho Frank and his pal, Moose, to a game of bowling.
Frank orders the Maximum Sports Channel, and he and Rich spend so much time watching it that they ignore Carol and Dana. Jean-Luc gives the girls makeovers and helps the guys plan a romantic evening. All 4 of them enjoy the evening, and the vacant TV allows Jean-Luc to watch the sports channel, but he only gets confused. A guy named Kyle goes on a date with Al and unsuccesfully tries to take advantage of Al; however, Kyle tells everyone differently. This makes Al get a pile of phone messages from guys which causes Karen to get jealous. They solve their differences when Karen helps Al expose Kyle as a liar.
JT, Sam, Rich, Dana, and Al go miniature golfing, and Sam wins. She, also, wins in Ping-Pong, Arcade, batting cage, and Billiards. Then Sam runs to JT's aid when he is threatened by a poolhouse bully. He begins to feel inadequate and his dream about marrying Sam turns into a strange nightmare when Sam's machismo—and Rich's ribbing—get the best of JT. Meanwhile, Jean-Luc escorts a fearful Lilly to the doctor for a tetanus shot. Jean-Luc promises to be with her and hold her hand during the shot and she would get a lollipop afterwards. But Jean-Luc cut his hand and needs one, too. Jean-Luc and Lilly help each other be brave. Contributed By:Rustle
Sam's hours are cut at work, and she loses her roommate. She, much to JT's dismay, chooses a male co-worker, Jamie, to be her roommate. JT is hesitant to trust them which is epitomised when he knocks down their front door. JT is finally relieved when Jamie's girlfriend becomes Sam's roommate (she did not like the idea much either). In the meantime, Jean-Luc owes $1,000 in back taxes and gets Carol to loan it to him. Carol had to take the money for her and Frank's weekend getaway to do it. She begins to get huge neck pains from the stress she had just watching Jean-Luc spend all his money on Babbette. When Carol tells Jean-Luc, he immediately comes up with a plausable solution.
Lilly sees Dana and Rich kissing, and proudly announces to Frank and Carol that Rich and Dana are going to have a baby. It becomes necessary that Lilly's parents tell her The Facts of Life. Lilly then shares her new wisdom during show and tell, which causes a conflict between Frank, Carol, and the parents of Lilly's best friend.They agree to overlook their differences for their children. After Jean-Luc tutors Al in French, he notices JT and Rich are into horse racing and helps them win some money. But when JT and Rich want to empty their college fund, Jean-Luc is forced to teach them an invaluable lesson about gambling.
Frank buys Carol a birthday present that stresses security rather than romance. JT warns him, but he doesn't listen. Carol does not appear to be all that thrilled about it after getting jewelry and cashmere from Jean-Luc and the kids, respectively. Frank tries to make it up to her, but Carol believes the fact that he loves her and gave her the gift with that love was enough. Dana chooses a ""brain"" to team up with for the recycling contest rather than Rich. Rich, in order to get her back picked a ""bimbo"" cheerleader as his teammate. Rich really wants to show Dana he is not a ""flyweight intellectual."" He proves to Dana that creativity is just as important as book smarts (and wins!!).
Mark's basketball team has made it to the championship. Frank, who is the coach, and Mark ban Carol from coming to the game. Carol takes it personally and with the help of Jean-Luc duisguises herself so she can go. She gives herself away, though, when she starts a fight with a fan who insults Mark. JT tells Rich that he lets Dana control the relationship, so Rich and JT go to a weekend party. Karen and Al coincidentally drag Dana to the same party. Rich pays a girl to dance with him (remember Barbie) so he won't look like a loser. Dana then dances with someone to make Rich jealous. They then get in a food fight, but realize it is JT's fault so the both throw food on him.
Jean-Luc is asked to cut Hillary Clinton's hair and is so nervous he wants to decline the opportunity. He is finally able to decipher(through a conversation with Carol) that it all stems from his depression from his divorce. Frank disapproves of yet another of Al's dates. He then meets a guy just like him who he goes shopping with and sets up him up with Al. Al goes on a date with him, but afterward makes Frank agree to not interfere with her date life. She does, however, let him chase off a particularly bad date.
JT, Al, and Dana are having problems finding some privacy, when JT comes up with the idea to use Carol's new salon as a place for privacy. He, also, sells the key to some friends for the same purpose. They all want the salon at once though, so they end up just having a party. Carol tries to set up Jean-Luc with Julie. Jean-Luc messes up the barbeque and their clothes. He even sets his pants on fire. When he changes into Frank's clothes, He and Frank have a talk and Jean-Luc realizes if he wants to find the perfect one (like Carol is for Frank), he has to try. Frank and Carol go to get some take out while Jean-Luc and Julie stay and get to know each other. The restaurant Frank and Carol go to, happens to be right next to the salon, where they find a big party.
Carol comes back from Hair Spectacular '96 with Jean-Luc, who is to become her new business partner. As they start a new business, Frank has to do all the chores. He is happy to do them, but becomes very picky about his cookies. Jean-Luc does help out JT by teaching him how to dance, but JT's date is a disaster anyway. Jean-Luc tells Karen, Al, AND Dana, on separate occasions, that he thinks they are beautiful. Also, Lilly learns to write her name, and Cody calls from his new job in Russia.
It is the first day of school for all the kids,and Karen is off to college.Carol on the other hand is feeling like she has nothing to do, so she registers for college. Signing up for all of Karen's classes and following her around.She then tell a story about when Karen was a baby in class. Carol finally realizes that she is ruining Karen's life. Rich is happy about getting a C on his pop quiz and Dana tells Rich that if he doesn't start taking something seriously, they don't have much of a future.So after talking to JT, Rich stays up all night studying (instead of watching Xena, the Warrior Princess with JT) and gets an A,while Dana only gets a B. JT raids the refrigerator,wearing his trenchcoat, Frank catches him, he hugs JT and the food squirts every where.
After explaining to the guys the various virtues of getting the role in the next Jeremy Beck movie; Karen, Dana, and Al audition for the part. Karen and Dana are not quite what the producers want, but Al is just what they are looking for. Al also has great acting talent and does a fantastic job. She does so well that they rewrite the script to include her in another scene. Al loves it and decides to quit school and move to Hollywood. Frank and her agree that she can join the drama club and, if necessary, move to Hollywood afterward. Lilly is having a bake sale so she and Carol are making cookies. When Lilly's friend, Traci, and her mother make fun of the Lambert duo and their cookies. Carol takes it personally and makes a dessert that is loaded with alcohol that will knock the socks off of Traci and her mother's dessert. Then Lilly doesn't want to use it because she didn't help and they use the cookies after all.
Rich begins making stupid excuses for skipping out on Dana. Karen and Al convince Dana that he is cheating on her after they follow him to some girl's house. The three of them see Rich dancing with another woman. Dana barges in, but realizes that he is taking dance lessons to impress her. Frank and Carol are having trouble with distractions in their love life. Finally, they are able to get together for a distraction-free evening but are too sick to make it enjoyable.
JT loses his fourth job of the month and can't even afford a date with Sam. JT convinces Sam to get her boss to hire him as an apprentice mechanic. JT is terrible and Sam is forced to fire him on the second day after he nearly kills the boss, twice. JT is frustrated and angry, but the only sympathy he gets is from the people who lost the pool (of how many days he would last at this job). Carol advises JT to not lose Sam because he is too proud to say, "I'm sorry." After JT apologizes to Sam, he gets a job that he is good at-- as a giant weiner. Meanwhile, Frank is delighted when he receives a dilapidated boat in lieu of payment on a job. He spends every free, waking hour fixing the boat. He annoys the whole family, and even though Carol supports him in front of the kids, she is concerned. Frank explains to Carol that his dream at one time was to buy a really nice boat and go sailing on the weekend. While he loved all seven kids, the only opportunity for
Karen has a professor (actually a teaching assistant) try to date her by influencing her with grades. Karen tells Dana about her predicament. Dana has the perfect plan to catch Jason in his own deceitful web. While a battery that does not keep going and going causes a hitch, the plan does end up working. Mark's date comes in all her glory for a date with Mark. Actually, she is repulsive to Frank and Carol, a source of comedy to Rich and JT, and a shocking match for Mark to everybody. Mark stays out past curfew, is grounded, and runs off in Frank's truck with this girl.
Karen and Dana are given invitations to pledge to a sorority, DTZ, known for their vanity and airheadedness. This seems to be a natural fit for Karen and seems to have no stipulations. Dana finds out, however, that they really want her (and her GPA) to join and will only let Karen join if she agrees. Frank does not have a job or any prospects of jobs. An acquaintance of Carol's from high school is building a new complex and Carol invites him over to try to convince him to allow Frank to work on it. He gives Frank a job but tries to pursue Carol. When he crosses the line, Frank quits, kicks him out of the house, and informs him what he can do with the gift.
After the cancellation of the best Halloween party in town, the clan (JT, Sam, Rich, Dana, Karen, and Al) decides to have a party in an abandoned, haunted house. They clean it up and the party turns out to be a success, and while everyone else is having a good time JT secludes himself to get advice from a ghost. He and Sam then break up yet remain friends. Lilly gets to have the house for her Halloween party and dresses like a sunflower. A friend of hers scares her. Lilly gets advice from Carol on how to deal with being scared and Lilly uses the advice to advise her friend who gets scared at the movie. Teddy T-Rex (Frank) was the life of the party-- he fell down the stairs and was attacked by the kids.
When Rich's former friend Cassie moves back to town, they enjoy playing billiards and video games together, so Dana asks J.T. to teach her how she can she can have fun like that with Rich. Meanwhile, Frank's con-man cousin Bert shows up.
Karen's boyfriend Chip takes Carol's advice to get some backbone and stand up to Karen, but he surprises everyone when breaks up with her. Karen is furious with her mother for interfering. In the meantime, Dana has better luck helping JT and Rich with a relationship problem of their own, with the use of her straight A in psychology - and sock puppets.
Lilly becomes disillusioned when she recognizes that it is J.T. portraying Santa Claus at the local department store. Meanwhile, J.T. pines for his former girlfriend Sam after finding a Christmas present that he bought for her back in July.
Al gets an acting job in what she thinks is a commercial for suntan lotion, but altered dialogue turns it risque. Meanwhile, Carol and Dana try to force healthy food on the family after taking a nutrition class.
When Carol forbids Dana from having sex before marriage, Dana decides to elope with Rich. Meanwhile, J.T. pretends to be a fitness fanatic to impress a sexy aerobics instructor.
When Dana and Rich take a pottery class, she must cope with him being better at it than she is. Meanwhile, Carol and Frank's sexual role-playing make J.T. and Karen think Carol is dating another man.
When J.T. watches TV instead of paying attention to baby-sitting Lilly, she disappears. Frank is reluctant to attend his 25th high school reunion and confront his childhood nemesis.
When Rich and J.T. need money for a ski trip, they enter a male-stripper contest rather than admit that they are penniless. Meanwhile, while speaking about their successful marriage to young couples at their church, Carol and Frank get into a fight.
Frank acquires two tickets to the Bucks-Bulls game. He invites JT to go with him. They really enjoy the first half, but then a guy with a huge ""Yosimite Sam"" hat sits down right in front of JT. Frank agrees to switch seats with JT. Immediately following the switch, the seat JT is now is drawn and JT wins a brand new truck. Frank and JT spend two days arguing over who should get the truck. Finally, Carol arranges for them to meet a friend of hers who is a judge. Just before the judge rules Carol makes a speech on how their friendship should take precedence. They decide she is right and decide to sell the truck and split the profits. Karen and Al have no interest in Dana's self protection class-- until they see the instructor, that is. Upon seeing him, both girls attempt to win his heart, argue over him, and threaten each other's lives. A week after the class is over, both girls call 911 to have the instructor refresh their memory on a self-defense tip.
After getting only an understudy role after auditioning for the lead in a local theatre production, Al refuses to learn her part and ends up in hot water when the star falls ill on opening night. Meanwhile, after Lilly gets an exceptional score on an aptitude test, Dana tries to help her fulfill her destiny as a genius.
After traveling around the world for a year, Cody returns. He bought gifts for the family, including some magic necklace for J.T., that makes him attractive to woman. Unfortunately, J.T. can't accept the gift since he is dating Sam. He also gives Frank and Carol a huge check and they have a dispute on how to spend the money. Frank decides to buy himself a leather chair and Carol gets furious and they get into a big arguement.
When obnoxious yuppies offer to buy the family's home, Lilly is the only family member who isn't excited about getting a bigger house, but then Frank and Carol have second thoughts.
