3rd Season
2001-2002
#1 Busted
#2 The Awful Truth
#3 Kind of Blue
#4 Acting Out
#5 Destiny Turns on the Radio
#6 Jake and the Women
#7 Chaos Theory
 		#8 The Sex Show
#9 Tough Love
#10 Pictures
#11 Taking Sides
#12 Gardenia
#13 Falling in Place
#14 The Gay-Straight Alliance
 		#15 One Step (Parent) Backward
#16 Aaron's List of Dreams
#17 Experience Is the Teacher
#18 Losing You
#19 Chance of a Lifetime
Other seasons
1 | 2 | 3

#1 Busted: Aired Friday, September 28, 2001

Zoe and Jessie's living situation is getting worse and worse as they argue over belongings, Jessie working late, and who has more space to put stuff. Rick and Karen worry that Eli hasn't yet gotten a job, while Lily finds herself out of a job when the online magazine finally folds. Eli gets in a minor car accident, but is carted off to jail when a policeman finds marijuana in his car. Although the pot belonged to one of Eli's friends, he still has to go to court. Lily helps Eli get a job a recording studio, which she thinks is perfect for him since it feeds off his love for music but is better than just playing in a band. Karen thinks the recording studio job isn't good enough, and Rick sides with her until Lily sits him down and explains to him that Eli can't just follow his mother's directions, he needs to follow his passion. The newly formed family decides that Eli and Rick will renovate the garage so that Eli can move in there and then Jessie can take the attic and give Zoe her own room back. Judy is excited when someone wants to license the idea of Booklovers.

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#2 The Awful Truth: Aired Friday, October 5, 2001

Grace feels like her creative writing teacher, Mr. Dimitri, is picking on her, but she's inspired by her words and reaches out to the most embarassing person in her life, Eli. Jessie feels like Grace is stealing her older brother. Judy decides to expand Booklovers and take over the old family restaurant which the bank is foreclosing on. Tiffany recommmends a book cafe, and says that Judy should hire Jake to run the cafe part. Judy also asks Lily to work with her, and although Lily says yes, she keeps pursuing other job ideas. Judy, Lily and Jake have a huge blow-up while trying to work together. Lily takes a job as a programming director's assistant at the radio station. Tiffany helps smooth the waters between Judy and Jake. Lily and Judy make up, but agree they're better off not working together. Judy gets in touch with Will Gluck, partly to renovate the restaurant and partly just to get in touch. Will tells her that he's moving to Florida to be with his long lost daughter.

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#3 Kind of Blue: Aired Friday, October 12, 2001

Rick's friend Sam Blue comes back into town and asks Rick to work on a hotel project with him. Sam makes Rick promise not to tell Lily and Judy about the fact that he left his wife, and Judy makes Lily promise not to tell Rick that she wants him to do the renovation work on the restaurant to turn it into the bookstore/cafe. Both promises are quickly broken. Rick starts to regret working with Sam when Sam doesn't take the job seriously and almost loses the client. Sam and Judy spend a night together, but then Sam tells her he's not in a good place in his life right now to have a relationship with her. Sam finally comes through with some great last-minute sketches for the hotel client. Jake starts having anxiety attacks between working with Judy and Lily and the impending birth of his third child. At Judy's insistence, he goes to see a doctor, who makes him fear heart disease before telling him that he's basically healthy.

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#4 Acting Out: Aired Friday, October 19, 2001

Eli moves into the garage and Jessie takes over the attic. Grace and Jessie find themselves up for the same lead role in the school musical, and Grace, intimidated by Jessie's beautiful singing voice, tells Mr. Dimitri, the director, about Jessie's eating disorder. Grace immediately regrets playing that card, and tries to tell Mr. Dimitri to ignore what she said, but she gets the lead role and Jessie is cast in a smaller role. Grace can't enjoy the victory. Judy and Sam start up their affair again, hot and heavy, and even though Judy says that she wants to keep it casual, she starts to fall for him hard all over again. Karen sees Sam flirting with a coffee shop lady and warns Judy to be careful, telling Judy how Sam cheated on his wife five years ago. Judy realizes that Sam hasn't been honest with her, and admits to him that she needs more than he's will to give and asks him to get out of her life.

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#5 Destiny Turns on the Radio: Aired Friday, November 2, 2001

Grace's co-star in the school play, who she thought was flirting with her, asks out Jessie. Lily tries to get Grace to help Jessie get ready for her first date. Grace is having a hard time hiding her frustration. Grace considers quitting the play altogether. Grace feels like Lily cares more about Jessie than her. A psychiatrist who has a radio show at Lily's place of work starts to lose her mind and walks out in the middle of a show. Lily's boss, Les Cresswell, takes over, but quickly finds himself out of his element and puts Lily at the mic instead. Lily is a raging success, but her whole extended family wishes that she hadn't revealed quite so much of their personal lives. Karen is uncomfortable with Rick allowing Jessie to date without consulting her, and even more uncomfortable when she hears about her kids on the radio. Karen consults her divorce lawyer about the custody agreement. While Karen is waiting to see her divorce lawyer, Lily comes on the radio and sends out an apology to someone whose feelings she has disregarded. Karen decides to skip her meeting with her lawyer. Grace and Rick are also touched by Lily's apology. Rick is a little scared to see his little girl growing up.

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#6 Jake and the Women: Aired Friday, November 9, 2001

Jake feels beset by the women in his life, what with taking Tiffany to Lamaze classes and hospital tours, Judy being his boss, and Lily, Zoey and Grace asking for help in throwing Tiffany a shower. Tiffany is confused by Jake's mixed signals when he's alternately helpful and then cruel to her. When Jake finally blows up, it's Lily who reminds him that whatever the problems in their marriage, he's always been a great father and the women in his life who demand things from him do it because they seem his as a strong protective figure. Zoey doesn't understand why Jake won't marry Tiffany and wonders why Jake's relationship with Tiffany's baby might be different from that with his first two daughters. All the talk about babies gets Judy wondering if she should consider in vitro fertilization before she runs out of time to have her own.

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#7 Chaos Theory: Aired Friday, November 23, 2001

Lily wants to make Thanksgiving special with her new extended family, but everyone is too busy to help her prepare. The kitchen sink pipes give out, but luckily Lily finds a friendly plumber who is also a good cook. Tiffany comes over, but Grace and Jessie are feuding with each other and rehearsing the school play and Eli is busy practicing with his band. Lily finally gets dinner on the table, but Rick is stuck at work and Judy won't show up because Rick invited Sam. Lily is frustrated with the situation and loses her temper, but is interrupted by a kitchen fire. While Lily is upstairs crying, Rick rallies the family to have leftovers for dinner and Judy and Sam both show up and decide to be adult and deal with each other. Lily comes downstairs to find a happy family all together eating, just as she dreamed. A depressed Karen tells her kids that she's spending Thanksgiving with friends but then lies that she's sick and just stays home in her bathrobe. Eli sees Karen when he stops by the house with his band and mentions it to Jessie who stops by later that night to spend some Thanksgiving time with her mom.

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#8 The Sex Show: Aired Friday, November 30, 2001

Tad, a boy in the school play, asks Jessie to a party and once there, gets her alone in a room and tries to kiss her. Jessie is most confused by the fact that she likes him, but has no interest in kissing him. Jessie starts to become friends with Tad's friend Katie. Rick and Lily are going through a sexual dry period and each has trouble talking to the other about it. Finally they tell each other what it is they feel their not getting from the other. Judy and Sam try being just friends, and stay up talking all night together. Judy takes Karen out on the town for a night and Karen ends up going home with a cute Englishman and then sneaking out of his house once he's asleep. Grace finds one of Eli's pornographic magazines in the recycling pile.

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#9 Tough Love: Aired Friday, December 7, 2001

Eli, who has been smoking more and more pot, gets fired from work and hides it from his family. On opening night of the school play, Grace is disappointed when Mr. Dimitri compliments everyone's performance except hers. The second night of the play, Mr. Dimitri actually tells Grace that he feels like she's not letting go enough on stage. Grace, having trouble sleeping that night, goes to Eli and gets stoned with him. She gets paranoid and decides she can't go on stage the following night, but Eli promises he'll be there and encourages her to do the performance for him. Eli does try to attend the play, but runs out to avoid his mother at the last minute because he lied to her that he was working nights now. Grace is disappointed when Eli doesn't show, and her disappointment shows on stage at a perfect point in the play, lending a new level of realism to her performance. Mr. Dimitri has some wine at the cast party and compliments Grace's performance. They share an awkward moment. Jessie feels stuck in the middle of a friend-tug-of-war between her new friend Katie, and Sarah, who is doing costumes for the play. Sarah ignores Jessie's problems with her costume, so Katie purposely undermines Sarah and gives Jessie a whole new costume. Sarah warns Jessie that Katie does this all the time, makes a new friend and then gets tired of her and moves on. Jessie confronts Katie and says she doesn't want to make Katie choose between her and Sarah, but Katie says that she chooses Jessie anyway.

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#10 Pictures: Aired Friday, December 14, 2001

On Christmas Eve, a blizzard rages in the Chicago area. Judy drives Eli and Jessie over their mother's house and is trapped there, so Sam, who was supposed to be Judy's date for Christmas Eve, joins them at Karen's house with his young son, Jamie. Judy learns that Jamie has been a difficult kid, in and out of special schools and on and off various drugs. Tiffany stops by Rick and Lily's house to leave a present for Lily and ends up going into labor. Jake gets trapped in the storm with the mid-wife but hi-jacks a snowplow and gets to Tiffany just in time. The baby turns out to be another girl. Rick and Lily begin considering having a child of their own.

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#11 Taking Sides: Aired Friday, January 4, 2002

Just as Sam is realizing that he is totally in love with Judy, Judy realizes that Sam is still seeing other women and that she can't trust him. Luckily, Sam pleads his case well. The whole huge extended family finds out about how Sam and Judy were together while Sam was still with his wife, including Karen, who is friends with Sam's ex Jeanine and feels caught in the middle. Karen's loneliness and discomfort is compounded when Jessie cancels plans with her mom to stay at Lily's house. It seems to Grace that all men cheat.

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#12 Gardenia: Aired Friday, January 11, 2002

Karen's depression, even on medication, is starting to get the better of her. Karen loses it when she finally finds out from Rick that Eli was fired and she kicks Eli out of the house. Karen's behavior starts to worry Jessie, who fears her mother may be suicidal. Jessie's friendship with Katie continues. After Rick talks to Karen about Jessie's fears, Karen sees her therapist, who is surprisingly encouraging. Karen is later hit by a car and is taken to the hospital in critical condition. Karen's accident encourages some frank and helpful conversations between her and Jessie, and her and Rick. Karen has a long road to recovery and being able to walk again.

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#13 Falling in Place: Aired Monday, March 4, 2002

Jessie is obsessed with spending time with her mother, at the expense of school and the rest of her family. Jessie lashes out at Lily who has been nothing but supportive of both Rick and Jessie spending time with Karen. Eli is reluctant to visit Karen in the hospital. Judy offers Eli some work at the bookstore, which he takes but then does half-heartedly and ends up walking out. Eli stops even showing up to pick up Jessie when he says he will, and finally Rick simply tells him that he needs his son to grow up, because he can't do this alone. Eli apologizes to Judy for walking out and gets his job back, and he starts showing up at the hospital more often. Karen starts painful and demanding physical therapy, but she draws strength from her children and the fact that they still need her.

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#14 The Gay-Straight Alliance: Aired Monday, March 11, 2002

Grace joins the Gay-Straight Alliance because Mr. Dimitri is the faculty advisor. This sparks lots of conversation about who is gay and who isn't, and Jessie is shocked when Grace states as fact, not rumor, that her friend Katie is gay. Grace does everything she can to spend more time with Mr. Dimitri, getting herself embroiled in projects for the Alliance. She takes a book of poems that Mr. Dimitri wrote and reads them, fascinated by his insights. She drops by his house to tell him how moved she was, but Mr. Dimitri is entertaining female company. After an awkward day at school, Mr. Dimitri drives Grace home and tells her that they can't be friends, although if she weren't his student he would like to be her friend. Things are just starting to get awkward again when they're interrupted by Lily. Jessie, confused, starts avoiding Katie at school, and Katie writes an empassioned letter to Jessie that just confuses her more. Finally Katie comes over to see Jessie and, in tears, asks for her letter back. Jessie tells her she just wants to be friends and Katie says she wants that too, but as the two mend their friendship they end up sharing a romantic kiss. Lily, while preaching in her radio show that parents have to be understanding about their kids, has no idea what's going on with Grace and Jessie. Lily thinks that the step-sisters get along wonderfully, and that Jessie is dating Tad and that Grace might be gay.

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#15 One Step (Parent) Backward: Aired Monday, March 18, 2002

Judy is left in an awkward position when Sam is unexpectedly stuck with his son for the weekend that they had planned to go away to his cabin. Sam's son, Jamie, although he originally pretends to like Judy, can't help but resent her for replacing his mother in his father's life. Jake starts to feel old and impotent when Eli seduces the new cute girl at the book store and Jake is stuck with Tiffany and the baby. Jake goes to revisit his past and a cute blonde bartender who misses him, but when he goes to take the bartender home he can't go through with it. Jake and Tiffany come to a new understanding about their relationship, even if it isn't very different from the old one.

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#16 Aaron's List of Dreams: Aired Monday, March 25, 2002

It's family day at Aaron Brooks's board-and-care residence, and Lily shows up to visit her brother. Shelley, who is charge of the residence, pulls Lily aside and says that she is recommending Aaron for an assisted living apartment that has just become available. Aaron introduces Lily to his girlfriend, Miriam, who also lives at the residence and is a bit crazier than Aaron. Aarong tells Lily he doesn't want to live on his own if he can't live with Miriam. The next day, Aaron and Miriam show up on Lily's doorstep, having run away from the residence. Lily reluctantly lets them stay the night, but the next day Miriam's father shows up and insists that Miriam return to the residence. He says that Miriam is not ready to live on her own, and frankly, Lily agrees with him. The rest of the family, especially Judy and Grace, think Lily is being harsh. As much as Lily wants Aaron to be happy, she worries that Miriam can't take care of him, he can't take care of Miriam, and if Miriam ever left him it would kill him. For the first time, Lily tells Judy about the last time Aaron was in love, and how when he got dumped it almost destroyed him. However, Lily slowly realizes that Miriam truly loves Aaron, and in the end she talks Miriam's father into letting them give living together a try.

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#17 Experience Is the Teacher: Aired Monday, April 1, 2002

Grace makes a last-ditch effort to turn her friendship with Mr. Dimitri into something more. Although he once again thwarts her, a fellow student sees them together and starts rumors flying. An official school investigation begins, and Grace is upset that she may have ruined Mr. Dimitri's career, while at the same time pissed that they're being attacked for things they didn't even do. Grace makes one last visit to Mr. Dimitri's house and finally kisses him. Lily talks to Grace, and in the investigation defends Mr. Dimitri as a good teacher, even though she is happy to see him suspended from school. Jake has to be physically restrained from going after Mr. Dimitri. There's a possibility that Lily's radio show may get syndicated. Jesse and Katie continue their relationship as more than just friends.

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#18 Losing You: Aired Monday, April 8, 2002

When Lily's mother comes to visit, Lily is frustrated by how distant their relatioship is. More importantly, however, both Lily and Judy quickly realize that their mother is exhibiting the early signs of Alzheimer's Disease. Zoey is forced into having a birthday party by her grandmother even though she doesn't really want a party this year. Lily and Judy admit to each other that they both imagine talking to their dead father. Lily finally asks her mother to move in with her so that she can take care of her.

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#19 Chance of a Lifetime: Aired Monday, April 15, 2002

Rick and Sam get offered an opportunity to design more hotels in Australia at the same time Lily is getting her radio show tested in the major syndication markets. Rick and Lily argue over uprooting the family to Australia and whose career is more important. Jake proposed to Tiffany and, although she has some misgivings, she accepts and they get married at Judy's bookstore. During the wedding, Rick and Lily are reminded of how much they love each other and both apologize and promise that they will work something out. Lily tells Rick that she's pregnant. Katie crashes the wedding as Jesse's date and Eli comments how the two girls are inseparable these days. Judy is ecstatic when Sam asks her to go to Australia with him. Karen and her physical therapist, Henry, have an undeniable attraction to each other, but Karen feels like she's not in a good place in her life to get involved with someone right now. It's only after some insightful advice from Jesse that Karen gets up the nerve to share a kiss with Henry.

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Other seasons
1 | 2 | 3