Wed, Jan 1, 1986
Dad Steven postulates for the job of regional PBS manager, interested in programming clout rather then the pay raise - despite his poor performance, he got the job, in fact in advance. The family is disappointed he's home much less - except Alex, who even acts as Dad's tough appointment bookkeeper. Alex is terribly worried for his beloved baby brother Andy's manhood when the kid takes a ferocious fancy to a doll Ellen gave him. Steven starts feeling guilty never to be available for the children's activities, enough to rethink his goals.
Wed, Jan 8, 1986
Jennifer is tired of being outclassed by classmates, so she asks the academically brilliant Alex (who won the Thomas Dewey best student achievement award three years in a row) to help her prepare a social studies presentation on how a bill becomes a law. Alex accepts, provided she do it his way, all the way. After assigning her reading at an Ivy League level, then attends her presentation (pretending to be a quarry worker too dumb to understand) - cueing her in a brilliant show with lights, music, patriotic panache and the flawless story, complete with the printing on parchment. Afterwards, both parents claim credit for the talent running in the family, and her teacher Mrs. Pedroza enters Jennifer for the Dewey Award. Alas, Jen is uncomfortable about how much of the project has actually been done by Alex, with her simply parroting his words, and once onstage she feels unable to go trough with the 'deceit'. After getting an impossible question from lawyer Ralph Boswell - who bickers with Steven about whether his Timmy is brighter then their toddler Andy - Alex takes the floor to try and salvage the occasion. Jen blames Alex for the embarrassment, but the smart siblings talk it through and reconcile their views on academic achievement.
Wed, Jan 15, 1986
Alex is in charge of organizing Leland's parents' weekend. His girlfriend Ellen is angry, because Alex personally invited her father, corporate lawyer Franklin Reed, whom she rejected as a foul materialist years ago. Astonished and excited to learn she comes from a rich family, Alex eventually gets her to agree to a truce. When Mr. Reed drops by, the men prove birds of a feather - but will father and daughter make up?
Wed, Jan 22, 1986
Elyse and Jennifer hardly notice the vaguely visible mustache Alex has grown for his homecoming speech as a former valedictorian from Harding High School. Skippy is hoping that Mallory is just using Nick to make him jealous, but of course she refuses to go with him to the homecoming dance; Skippy is heart-broken but convinces Alex to find him a blind date. Any human female will do - and Alex, out of desperation, chooses Dr. Sylvia Wagner, a divorced psychiatrist who is researching adolescent social life and sees Skippy as a voluntary study subject. Even for him, she is no catch - but he agrees, hoping absurdly to make Mallory a bit jealous. Nick hates anything involving neckties or school, and the dance involves both. Alex's speech refers repeatedly to facial hair. After vague encouragement from Sylvia, Skippy picks a fight with patient Nick for Mallory, who has been rejecting him for 18 years; grumpy principal Bidney blames both as well as Alex, who only tried to separate them.
Wed, Jan 29, 1986
When Alex, as Leland chess club champion, duels reputed Soviet guest Ivan Rozmirovich, he takes it as a personal and patriotic challenge, stirred by a telegram from the White House. The match is commented by desperate dad Steven and American chess-master Eric Nordstrom whose seemingly silent-succinct style at his debut is likely to be his undoing as commenter. After endless equal quality, Ivan's last move before adjournment is an obvious attempt to throw the game, but why? The boys meet in a bar, and Alex learns the official pressure totally spoiled Ivan's love for the game, feeling imprisoned. He decides such fine player, no longer a Red robot but a human in his eyes, deserves better, so they both try to loose, even end up wrestling to stop each-other give-away moves...
Wed, Feb 5, 1986
Alex committed the surprising error to vent his conviction there are male and female fortes in the feminist home, so he gets stuck following the same elementary car mechanics course as ma Elyse, the architect, who proves more gifted at it. It gets embarrassing when Alex keeps bumbling like any self-respecting nerd covered in grease while she gets 'consulted' by Nick's hunky mate Clete... Meanwhile the girls must try to keep dad Steven in bed, who refuses to admit he's sick.
Wed, Feb 19, 1986
Steven accepts works of art for WKS's 1986 auction, reluctantly even Alex's "fiscal-surrealist" bank yard eviction drawing (at age 5), and an abstract welded sculpture by Nick - which only gets a bid from filthy rich, glamorous art lover Victoria Hurstenberg, who calls him an irresistible hidden talent. Nick brings more of his works for a private show at the Keaton house, and becomes her protégé. Only Mallory and naive Nick need weeks to realize that time between the two is more limited due to Victoria offering her patronage not just for his art but also for his company. Just when Nick sweetly brushes off Victoria's private attentions with a gentlemanly hug at a gallery, Mallory is there to see it, and dumps her true love. Meanwhile, Steven is trying to find a place for the only painting that didn't get snapped up at the auction - one that brings nostalgic memories only for him.
Sat, Mar 1, 1986
Steven worries about Andy's inability - at 11 months - to handle a toy recommended for babies over 9 months, and he determines the toddler needs to go to preschool, which Elyse forbids. Alex enjoys the rare honor of being picked as Professor Spanos's teaching assistant for economics, but finds himself conflicted when Ellen is among his students. An arrogant professorial air and ruthless strictness come naturally to "Mr. Keaton", but he talks Ellen out of changing to another teacher to assure impartiality. Once Alex grades her first paper a C-, their relationship - which is also forbidden under college rules - is in danger.
Wed, Apr 30, 1986
Back at work at the architecture firm for a year, Elyse is quite happy to collaborate closely with Paul Kenter, but her younger colleague confides to their boss Raymond that he has a problem - he has fallen secretly but passionately in love with the happily married mother of four. Unsuspecting Elyse asks him over for a family dinner to celebrate landing a major account. Paul confesses his problem apologetically to Steven, but still keeps quiet to Elyse. When Steven tells her, she is first flattered, but then learns that Paul has quit his job because of the situation.
Wed, May 7, 1986
With just four weeks to graduation, Mallory is in danger of flunking history and not getting her diploma, stunning her parents. Needing a "B" on the final exam, she realizes that her future is on the line as she buckles down and studies for her exam. Meanwhile, Steven and Alex agonize over mementos from the attic that Elyse wants to discard.
Top-rated
Wed, Nov 12, 1986
Mallory and Nick are determined to get married, so they decide to elope. Alex tries to talk her out of it, but only after they have been gone for some time does he go after them. When Steven and Elyse learn of this, they panic; Steven hopes Alex can stop them, while Elyse concedes they'll have to grudgingly accept the situation. But while waiting for the justice of the peace to be available, Nick has second thoughts about what they're doing.
Sun, Nov 16, 1986
When Elyse invites Terry Bridgeman - her former architecture collaborator before her pregnancy - for dinner, she learns that his girlfriend left him, and succumbs to matchmaking. Alas, Elyse picks neighbor Liz Obeck, who gave even Alex sleepless nights; Liz tells Steven that men fall for her only to be dumped, and notes that she already has a steady boyfriend of two years. By the time Steven passes the news to the insistently preoccupied Elyse, Terry is smitten with Liz. Nick helps Alex to a free gift for Andy's fellow toddler friend Cindy - a doll refused by the orphanage, so the boys must dress it up.
Wed, Dec 17, 1986
Mallory brings a friend home from college who immediately becomes pals with Elyse. Mallory's friend Allison is studying architecture, so she and Elyse spend a lot of time together - leading Mallory to question her closeness to her mother. Meanwhile, Alex and Steven play many games of Scrabble. Of course, Alex gets money involved. They both invent words and the stakes go very high.