A steelworker and his wife struggle with a strike, family squabbles, their daughter's first date, and an increasingly bitter rivalry between their teenage sons.
Max's new bike is stolen while RJ was supposed to be watching it, driving a wedge between the two friends and making Max's newspaper delivery job much harder.
Maureen's algebra teacher accuses her of cheating on a test.
Stung by Jack's insinuation that he's not contributing his share, Sean tries to juggle a place on the varsity football squad with a part-time job and school.
Jack and Sean set out to defeat a neighborhood bully as Maureen worries over asking a boy to the Halloween dance.
Jack finds love with a pretty skater, but her quest for an Olympic-caliber trainer threatens to tear them apart.
Jack falls through a plate glass window while stoned, and desperately tries to conceal the drug use from his parents.
Max worries about making his First Communion; Mike's unhappiness with the family finances leads to a violent reaction when a drunk coworker remarks on a heavily pregnant Maggie working the late shift.
Sean brings home a friend who's recovering from a nervous breakdown.
Assigned to a local mechanic for work-study, Jack protests when he realizes the man's cheating customers. RJ and Max worry over school vaccinations.
Depressed after being rejected by a date, Mo decides to try out for the cheerleading squad in an effort to change her image.
Kerry runs away when Mo catches her taking money from Maggie's room, and the family believes the worst despite her protestations of innocence.
While Maggie and Mike head off for a weekend in an uncle's cabin, the kids prepare activities of their own: a party, a date and a wild guinea pig race. But all the chaos comes to a head when their parents return because Maggie's in labor.