List of Step by Step episodes

Steve Urkel crash-lands in the Foster-Lamberts' yard as they are picnicking. He turns out to be Mark's science-fair partner and computer pen pal who asked Steve's help for the science fair. After the science fair, he talks to Al, who has been dumped by a boy she likes. Frank had told Al that everyone gets dumped at some point, and to move on. Steve reinforces that point and convinces Al to ask him to the school dance, where she tells off her originally-planned date and learns to "Do the Urkel".

This episode picks up where the Family Matters episode "Brains Over Brawn" leaves off, with Steve's jet-pack sending him out of Chicago.

Frank's nephew Cody moves in with the family. Cody's oddball ways infuriate Dana, which delights J.T., who offers Cody $20 to ask her out. When Dana finds out, she agrees to shun her pride and go out with him. Meanwhile, Al and Brendan try to trap Mark with baseball questions; and Frank has trouble with Carol because of their one-month anniversary.

J.T. goes to work for Frank's company, but things don't work out, and still in need of extra cash he turns to Carol. She makes him her "shampoo boy," which he enjoys since he gets to be around pretty girls. Meanwhile, Dana and Al each become frustrated with their school assignments: Dana needs to build a birdhouse for shop class, while Al needs to write a book report on Tom Sawyer. The two agree to switch assignments, but Brendan prods their consciences.

Frank and Carol decide to enter the newly-blended family into the "Port Washington Games," but the Lambert kids object since the Fosters aren't very athletic, and the Fosters find the games too barbaric. Eventually the Fosters decide to participate, but even with predictable results, they keep the Lamberts close, and Karen ties things up in the pie-eating contest because her competition cannot eat around her. Eventually, Cody provides the family some much-needed help in the final tug-of-war event, and the Fosters and the Lamberts emerge victorious!

A crew from the TV series America Up Close does a documentary on the new Foster-Lambert blended family, but all they can capture is the usual stepsibling friction. While Frank and Carol struggle to salvage the documentary, Dana advises siblings and stepsiblings to put their hostilities aside until the crew finishing taping. They try to get along during a Monopoly game, but before long the paper money is flying. Meanwhile, Cody and Penny attempt to become superstars.

Frank and Carol leave for a lovers' retreat. Dana is in charge, with a "no guests allowed" rule in effect. However Dana says since she invited two friends over, everyone else (even Mark, whose only guest is Cody) can invite two friends each, and eventually it's a huge party. Frank throws out his back at the hotel (which turns out to be a dump), so they cut their trip short and head home, where they find the party going on and J.T. trapped in the chimney flue.

Embarrassed about leaving college four classes short of her degree, Carol goes back to school. She soon realizes that as well as a student, she's also a 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 the house will be run smoothly while Carol realizes her dream. Also, Cody tries to scare Brendan and Mark with horror stories.

Carol and Karen enter a mother-daughter beauty contest. They are both improperly hit on by judges, and Karen learns that it is more important to have pride and self-worth than to win. Also, Cody tries to join Frank's hunt club but Al's pig eats the duck's head he makes from cheese.

When Dana goes to take her SATs, Cody joins her, explaining that each month he does something new and this is this month's challenge. Dana does very well - 91st percentile - but Cody does better. Dana cannot accept this and insists that they both take it again. Dana improves her score, but Cody still beats her. She is infuriated, and Cody worries that with his impressive results, he'll be expected to become a brain surgeon. Cody and Dana later decide that their lives may take them on unexpected paths. Meanwhile, the other kids borrow Frank's clothes.

Al and Brendan agree to take care of a neighbor's oversized St. Bernard for the weekend, but the job quickly becomes more than they can handle. They get further annoyed when they learn the neighbors have decided to move away and no longer want the dog; however, Carol is overjoyed because she has fallen in love with the dog. Eventually, Frank puts his foot down and tells Carol to take it to a kennel.

Dana learns a humbling lesson about being the boss and overseeing a group of employees when she is given a managerial job at a 1950s-style restaurant owned by Mr. Passarelli (Al Molinaro). She was too bossy and controlling, so Karen and J.T. quit, as did the two cooks, who only wanted the job so they could see Karen. Frank and Carol take over their jobs and challenge Dana's condescending demeanor. Also, Mark invents a lie-detector machine.

A modeling job in Chicago may be Karen's dream come true — and the worst possible news for overbearing mother Carol, who tags along and meddles at every turn. Karen makes many new friends, but her job is cut short when another model, Cindy (Paula Trickey) advises her to stay in school and enjoy being a teen, as she had forfeited that life by going into modeling as a teen. At home, Dana comes down with the flu, followed by the other kids, and they make Frank their butler.

Annoyed that only dorks and geeks — in particular, Dana — are running for class president, J.T. announces that he will run. The campaign divides the Foster-Lambert home, then J.T., having run on a campaign that suggests that regular students' needs aren't met, actually wins. Eventually he wilts under the pressure and, having a new appreciation for the responsibilities that being class president brings, decides to turn over responsibilities to Dana. Meanwhile, Brendan tries to do magic.

Frank's old high school friend Scooter (Philip Charles MacKenzie), who still hasn't grown up nearly 25 years later, visits and keeps Frank out until 3 AM and takes 16-year-old J.T. to the Boom-Boom Room. Meanwhile, Cody wins a turkey in a supermarket raffle which is delivered alive (Ron Karabatsos appears as the deliveryman), and deals with his conscience when he is asked to have it butchered.

Cody learns that Walter, a friend from the local nursing home, has died and left him $250,000. When the Lambert and Foster kids pester him for a share of the inheritance (to spend extravagantly), Cody decides to give all but $500 of it to the nursing home. Cody spends the $500 on a new video camera for the family after the cheap one Frank purchased breaks down in spectacular fashion.

Frank is looking for a replacement on his contracting crew and may have to hire a woman, which he does. Frank then has a job where he and Aggie get snowed in at a hotel. Carol proceeds to drive thru the blizzard to confront Frank about what she thinks is going on. Meanwhile, Mark, J.T., Karen, Al and Brendan play the stock market after getting Cody's help, or so they think.

J.T. publishes an unflattering baby photo of Karen in the high-school yearbook. Hell hath no fury like a Foster scorned, and she takes full advantage of J.T.'s worry that a brunette will stab him to death at the stroke of midnight. J.T. hadn't believed the news when the psychic warned him, but Cody reinforces it by pointing out that everything the psychic said would happen before he died is happening. Meanwhile, Frank and Carol's new massaging bed provides them anything but a good night's sleep.

Carol invites the new pastor and his wife for lunch after church one Sunday. Frank worries because he feels like he is being watched by an informant to God. He nervously promises the pastor that he'll go to church the next Sunday; the Lambert children are upset because a big Packers game will be on! Frank drags them all to church, but J.T. sneaks up to the attic to watch the game with the pastor's son (Eric Balfour) after the sermon starts. When Al and Brendan attempt to follow J.T.'s lead, Frank realizes something is up and makes them tell him where J.T. is. When Frank goes upstairs to find his son, he gets into the game and ends up falling through the old floorboards, landing right behind the pastor. Cody and his friends Slasher (Donald Gibb) and Death attend church as well.

J.T. sells essays to the football team, Dana finds out and tells Mark, and the two have an idea. Also, Cody cares for Slasher's (Donald Gibb) son, which makes Carol want to have another child.

Frank and Carol wind up in jail on Christmas Eve when they are caught inside a toy store by a know-it-all deputy sheriff (Don Knotts). Frank had recently remodeled the store and was given a discount on the store's merchandise. They had gone there after hours because he and Carol had forgot to purchase a train set for Brendan and stocking-stuffers for the kids. Meanwhile, the kids do not know that their parents are in jail, and rip through all of their presents. Cody sets them straight, and when they learn that Frank and Carol are in jail, they all go down there to celebrate Christmas with them. Also Cody gets ready for a Christmas-decoration contest.

Frank's hesitant after Carol purchases a marriage-improvement book; Carol has a secret she has been keeping from Frank and she finds out Frank has one too. Now that they're all drivers, Dana, J.T., and Karen ask Frank and Carol to buy them a car, and when they don't, the young drivers scrounge up money to buy an old Volkswagen Bug which is so dangerous that they must sell it for parts to get the money back. Meanwhile, the guys from Frank's company find something meant only for Frank.

Carol is worried when J.T. gets a job at a used-car lot, and says he'll do that rather than go to college. But when she comes to the lot and sees him in action and that the owner (Steve Vinovich) is very impressed with J.T., she concedes that maybe he's doing what's best for him after all. Dana uses Cody as a subject for an essay in her psychology class, he starts to talk about his 1st memories.

Cody gets some inspiration for a class writing project when Karen can't find her diary. He uses her plight to spin a 1940s-style detective yarn about who took it: Dana, Al, Carol, or one of the guys?

Cody's father (Edward Winter) pressures him into a job as executive vice-president of his real-estate company. On his first day he is typical Cody talking with Jackson (Beau Billingslea), one of his co-workers. With a little help from Frank, Cody tells his father he's simply not interested and would rather continue working in demolition. Meanwhile, Carol (as a favor for a customer) sets up Dana and Karen on blind dates, against their expressed wishes. The guys turn out to be living images of Beavis and Butt-Head. After Frank gets rid of them, he helps his stepdaughters set up a "get even" prank on Carol.

Guest star: John Stamos makes a cameo.

Cody brings Dana home from school because she is sneezing all the time. Mark realizes that she only sneezes around Cody, so they think she's allergic to him. Very upset, Cody wants to leave and even starts to pack up his van, but Dana begs him to stay, and finally discovers she's just allergic to his shampoo. Also, Frank thinks Al's new boyfriend Zack (Michael Sullivan) is a "freak" until they get better acquainted.

Frank takes Carol away for a romantic weekend where he tells Carol he feels like he lost his best friend in her, while Karen, Al and Dana have a girls' night talking about guys. Meanwhile, Mark dates a genius; at first he's disappointed, but as they night goes on he likes her more and more.

J.T. decides he has grown out of celebrating Christmas with the family and decides to go skiing with his friends. He eventually misses Frank when he realises that his friends have no Christmas spirit. Carol's Aunt Edna (Doris Roberts), but she is actually very angry and grumpy. Mark misses his girlfriend.

While borrowing his boss's luxury car, J.T. meets a pretty girl named Shelly (Rebecca Herbst) at her father's diner and decides to impress her by claiming the car is his. Also, Frank and Carol go to the gynecologist (Francesca P. Roberts).

Al pressures J.T. to teach her how to drive and they borrow Frank's new truck for the lesson, but Al is involved in a minor accident. They try to plaster the truck's side to cover up their activities, but Frank soon learns that the truck was damaged. Dana gets loopy on painkillers after the removal of her wisdom teeth and annoys Cody by eating his ice cream, singing blues with his guitar, and dancing the limbo. Also, Frank and Carol take a prenatal class.

Cody and Dana have conflicting teaching styles when they are recruited to teach a remedial history class. Their unlikely efforts result in their students upsetting a team of academic intellectuals on a TV quiz bowl. Also, Carol makes everybody crazy with her obsessions, worrying Brendan so that he does housework at night.

When Cody's professor becomes fed up with his constant use of the word "dude", he agrees to be shocked every time he says the word. Dana agrees to deliver the shock therapy... and takes full advantage of this. Meanwhile, a very pregnant Carol is so insecure about her appearance that when Frank starts working with his very attractive ex-girlfriend Pam (Susan Blakely), she spies on them.

Cody takes Brendan to a baseball game featuring his favorite player, Kenny Barton. After the game, Cody distracts the security guard (Tommy Lister) so Brendan can meet his hero and ask him to autograph his baseball; however, Barton is rude to Brendan and demands $50 for an autograph. After consoling Brendan, Cody confronts the egotistical Barton during a TV interview and exposes his demeanor. The interviewer, Hall of Fame player and broadcaster Harmon Killebrew, is equally outraged and offers to sign Brendan's baseball at no charge; Brendan gladly accepts the offer. Also: Carol and Dana make a bet with Frank and J.T. that they can't handle how pregnancy feels for one weekend, so they wear pregnancy suits!

J.T. and Rich (Jason Marsden) go on a drive-in double date: J.T. with Pepper (Jennifer Aspen)...and Rich with Al. J.T. is seriously troubled and he and Al have a talk, in which she tells him she no longer needs him to protect her. Cody sets a thrilled Dana up with Brad Pitt from Legends of the Fall, but it turns out to be the Brad Pit that played Dead Body #3. Depressed about their controlling mothers, Mark and his friends try to prove their manhood by smoking stogies and Mark gets sick, so Frank offers to take him and his friend camping to do manly things.

Note: This is the first appearance of Jason Marsden as Rich Halke, who would become a regular starting with season six.

Frank and Carol become frustrated with their children constantly asking them to run their errands and small favors. Eventually, they lose their patience and implement a rule that the children must do everything for themselves. The rule is put to the test when Brendan — wanting to go on a trip with his soccer team to watch a Green Bay Packers game — decides not to "bother" his parents to have them sign a permission slip for him. Meanwhile, aspiring country singer Karen is approached by a man claiming to be a record producer, who promises to take her demo tape to a major studio in exchange for a $500 fee. However, the naïve Karen later realizes she was ripped off and that she will probably never recover her money ... or ever become a big star. Dana gives her sister solace by getting her song played on a local radio station. Also, Cody orders a Kalashnikov but gets Russian bride Ludmilla (Mary-Pat Green) instead.

Note: Angela Watson covers the Patty Loveless song "Blame It on Your Heart".

Al has just lost another job and Frank encourages her to be a "team player." Karen tells Al of a job at the mall. Al gets the job at a cookie store called Mr. Chips run by Mr. Sloan (Richard Kline) and named after a monkey she ends up having to bring home. Carol wants Frank to play Tarzan for a little show but Frank makes up an excuse not to, so Carol finds another guy, Troy (Jerry Penacoli), while J.T. and Rich bet that Mark can beat a great pool hustler (Peter Spellos).

Dana admires feminist abstract artist Jayne McNeil (Melanie Wilson) and is honored to be chosen to pose for her, and knowing she'll be part of a great work, she agrees to pose nude. Convinced that the work will be abstract and she won't be recognizable, she proudly invites Frank, Carol, Karen, and Al to the charity auction where it will be unveiled. Unfortunately, McNeil decided to change to Photo-Realism style and Dana is very recognizable. Carol is determined to outbid the "perverts," but Frank forbids her to top $100,000. Also, Frank tries to kill a rat (Cody's advice doesn't help); and J.T. dates a Mafia man's daughter, Casey (Robyn Bliley).

J.T. has a huge test coming up, and Rich is able to get a copy of it. J.T. decides not to cheat on the test, but to study for it, and he ends up getting a B. When he and Rich get their books mixed up, Dana finds the cheat sheet, and when Frank finds it he tells J.T. he's pulling him out of school. Later, Frank overhears Rich returning for the book and he apologizes and they make up. Carol tries to prevent Al from doing something crazy with her friend Tina (Bonnie Morgan); Cody buys some cookies from Girl Scouts.

Dana, Karen, and Al go to a ski lodge for a weekend and meet three good-looking guys, including 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. Also, Rich gives the family a good-luck chain letter while Carol gives everyone shampoo. At the end, Rich and Brendan were the only ones who respected the chain and didn't use the shampoo while the rest of the family end up with orange hair.

Note: Beginning with this episode, Sasha Mitchell is no longer on the show, although his picture continues to appear in the opening credits.

Dana cannot determine what to do in college and J.T. and Rich are not able to major in "Nude Volleyball," so they all take a career-placement test from a clueless proctor (Billy Stevenson). The results of the placement test say J.T. and Rich should become doctors and Dana should become a guard at a women's prison. Livid with these results, Dana demands a retest and discovers that the test center run by Mr. Newton (Rick Scarry) is a fraud. Also, Frank hires a hyperactive new worker named Flash who has never worked in construction before.

Note: This episode marks the first of four appearances of Jeff Juday as Flash, a character who was intended to be a replacement for Sasha Mitchell as Cody Lambert.

Frank's mother (June Lockhart) offers the entire family a trip to the Walt Disney World Resort on Frank and Carol's anniversary weekend. Flash shows up to return Frank's hammer and ends up staying the weekend, determined to ride all the rides and visit all the attractions to break the record held by a Russian. J.T. and Rich dip into their apartment fund so Rich can come, but posing as J.T. Disney (Walt Disney's nephew), J.T. spends the whole fund trying to attract two beautiful girls for him and Rich. Karen thinks of entering a country music contest with Dana and Al as backup singers.

After arguing with her sisters, Karen tries to sing alone but finally realizes she has stage fright, and Dana and Al help her overcome it. Frank and Carol can finally have their private moment thanks to Frank's mother. Flash wins his challenge with Mark and Brendan's help (even if instead of break his record as quickly as possible he decides to play Indiana Jones to make a little boy's day). J.T. and Rich want to end their friendship but realize they are acting dumb and finally reconcile.

J.T. and Rich eagerly apply and are hired at a restaurant run by Mr. Packwood (Perry Anzilotti), who employs sexy waitresses. Dana and her feminist friends had planned to protest against the place, and while working there J.T. and Rich realize how bad harassment really is, and Dana is proud of both of them. Frank converts part of the basement into a lounge using items he bought from a closed tavern. While the men love it, Carol has an accident with one of the lounge's "toys". Flash stays with the Lamberts while his apartment is being fumigated.

Note: This is the last appearance of Jeff Juday as Flash, although Carol and Frank invited him to move into their house to avoid driving eight hours back and forth from Kansas City to Port Washington. This was also Flash's first time seeing the Lambert-Foster house.

Dana is told she must tutor another student. As she goes on about what "moron jock" she will tutor this time, she discovers it's Rich, whom she loathes. But the first thing they learn is that opposites attract, and sparks fly and they start dating. Meanwhile Carol and Frank are eager to be alone and away from the ever-present Jean-Luc, but when they escape for a much-needed romantic weekend, they find Jean-Luc awaiting them.

J.T. accepts a hasty marriage proposal from Michelle (Francoise Robertson), a sexy French woman 10 years his senior, but Jean-Luc discovers that serious hidden strings are attached. Michelle is trying to get J.T. to marry her so she can stay in America because she's about to lose her visa and must return to France. Meanwhile, after Frank refuses to let him go 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, Al's friend Will (Josh Keaton) tempts her to try marijuana. Meanwhile, Carol's friend from high school, Patti (Karen Austin), develops a crush on Jean-Luc after her husband Dave (David Graf) ignores her.

Frank and Jean-Luc go camping to do some "male-bonding". Frank tells Jean-Luc not to tell anyone he's a contractor because he doesn't want everyone asking him to fix everything that breaks down. So Jean-Luc tells the couple next door that "we're certainly not hairstylists, but brain surgeons". The wife goes into labor just as the husband goes fishing, so Frank and Jean-Luc must deliver the baby. Back at home, Dana begins to question her relationship with Rich when an old high-school friend, now attending Harvard University, tries to woo her away. Rich gets jealous and forbids her to see him, which only makes Dana laugh. She accepts her friend's invitation to visit the Harvard campus for a weekend, and Rich unexpectedly shows up.

Note: Sam (Alexandra Adi) makes her first appearance at this episode's end although she won't be introduced until the next episode, "She's the One". This episode, like several in this season, is aired out of order.

J.T. finally meets the girl of his dreams: tow-truck driver Sam (Alexandra Adi). They have everything in common, and after some urging from his siblings, J.T. asks her out. They go to a Green Bay Packers game, and from then on it's love. J.T. is initially confused about his feelings for Sam until he has a conversation with Jean-Luc, and it becomes clear: He is 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 stars, Jimmy Ray Johnston. So Frank, Carol, and Karen all travel to Chicago for the big shoot. But Jimmy Ray only wants Karen to look good - not actually sing. So she quits.

When J.T. and Rich squander their money and can't pay the rent on their new apartment, they are evicted by their landlord Frank a.k.a. Mr. Lambert, Sir. Meanwhile, because his daughter Danielle is in France and her birthday is coming, Jean-Luc spoils Lilly with an abundance of gifts to ease his pain over not being able to be with Danielle. In the end, Carol works it out so Danielle can come stateside and see him.

A clueless Rich gives Dana a piece of recycled jewelry for her birthday, even after J.T. warns him it's a bad idea - especially since it's a locket containing a picture of him with his ex-flame! He goes to surprise Dana while she's out with Al and Karen. Meanwhile, Carol and the kids must endure Frank's rite of passage of going through a mid-life crisis: After being called Grandpa by the ice-cream man, he hurts his back while getting a drink.

Jean-Luc keeps the kids in suspense when he tells them he's cutting the hair of a famous celebrity: Fabio. Meanwhile, Rich and Dana try to control Lilly's birthday party after Dana and Carol make a bet.

When Mark's date (Maggie Lawson) 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 own date, Karen feels that her "imperfect" body is the culprit and takes drastic measures to improve it. Also Frank has a surprise for J.T. and Rich, who keep stealing food.

Al 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, J.T., and Sam check into a Chicago hotel unsupervised. J.T. thinks it's his lucky night as does Rich, but the ladies have other plans.

When Rich and Dana go to a wedding with J.T. and Sam, they're teased that someday soon they too will be married. Dana doesn't even try to catch the bouquet, but it lands in her lap! She and Rich each have terrible visions about what that might entail, and become very scared and agree: no more weddings for a while. Meanwhile, Frank and Jean-Luc build Lilly's new jungle-gym despite Frank's terrible cold. Jean-Luc suggests some homemade cold medicine made by a customer "from all-natural juniper berries" and both become completely intoxicated.

When J.T. and Rich take a job as sports agents for an up-and-coming college hockey player Eric Barnes (Scott Gurney), they find themselves becoming his personal servants—and dating service—with Karen 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 (Donald Gibb) to a game of bowling, with the losers having do something the winning team picks.

Note: Moose (Donald Gibb) was previously Slasher in season 3.

Frank orders a new 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. Kyle, the school hunk, goes on a date with Al, and the date goes well. They seal it with a kiss... but Kyle wants to take things one step further, and tries to sexually assault Al. The petite Al fights him off and tells him it is over. The next morning, Karen is complaining when Al keeps getting calls from guys, but Al finds out she has a new reputation she doesn't want. Al is harassed at school by guys, who begin overtly suggesting they get romantic afterward, but when Karen refuses to stick up for her stepsister, she runs off in tears. Karen then realizes she owes it to Al to ask questions, find out what happened, and expose Kyle as a liar.

When Sam's hours and wages are cut at work and she loses her roommate, she chooses a male coworker named Jamie to be her new roommate. J.T. is hesitant to trust them leading to a break-up between him and Sam. He returns to say he's sorry to Sam but gets the wrong idea about what is going on. Also, Jean-Luc borrows money from Carol (even after Frank objects) to pay his taxes but refuses to return it.

Lilly sees Dana and Rich kissing, and proudly announces to Frank and Carol that Rich and Dana are going to have a baby. Lilly's parents tell her the facts of life, which she then shares during "show and tell" at school. This causes a conflict between Frank and Carol and Devon (David Kaufman) and Tiffany (Lisa Picotte, Kaufman's real-life wife), the parents of Lilly's best friend Joey. They agree to overlook their differences for their children. Meanwhile, after Jean-Luc tutors Al in French, he notices that J.T. and Rich are into horse-racing and helps them win some money. But when they want to empty their college funds, he's forced to teach them an invaluable lesson about gambling and introduces them to a bookie, Tony (Tony Longo).

Frank buys Carol a birthday present that stresses security rather than romance. J.T. warns him, but he doesn't listen. Carol does not appear to be 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. To retaliate, Rich picks a "bimbo" cheerleader as his teammate. Wanting to show Dana he's not a "flyweight intellectual," he proves that creativity is just as important as book smarts (and wins!!).

Carol and Jean-Luc's new salon is about to open and Jean-Luc is asked to cut Hillary Clinton's hair, and he's nervous enough to want to decline. He is finally able to decipher (through a conversation with Carol) that it all stems from his depression from his divorce. After disapproving of yet another of Al's dates, Frank meets a guy just like himself; they go shopping and Frank sets him up with Al. Al goes on the date but then makes Frank agree not to interfere with her dates. However, she does let him chase off a particularly bad one.

J.T., Al, and Dana are having problems finding privacy when J.T. comes up with the idea to use Carol's new salon as a place for privacy; he also sells the key to friends for the same purpose. But everyone wants it at once so they end up having a party. Carol tries to set up Jean-Luc with her friend Julie.

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 must do all the chores. He is happy to do them, but becomes very picky about his cookies. Jean-Luc helps J.T. by teaching him how to dance, but J.T.'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, but Frank has no time to talk to him.

It's the first day of school for all the kids, and Karen is off to college. Feeling like she has nothing to do, Carol registers for college, signing up for all of Karen's classes and following her around, embarrassing her, and telling a story in class about when Karen was a baby. She finally realizes that she's ruining Karen's life. Meanwhile, Rich is happy about getting a "C" on his pop quiz, but Dana tells Rich that if he doesn't start taking something seriously, they don't have much of a future together. So, after talking to J.T., Rich stays up all night studying (instead of watching Xena: Warrior Princess with J.T.), and gets an "A", while Dana only gets a "B".

Note: This was the first episode to air on CBS. A new opening sequence is used starting with this episode, featuring photo booth-style photos of the individual cast members as each one is introduced. The chorus of the theme song is used.

After explaining to the guys the various virtues of getting the role in the next 'Jeremy Beck' (Scott Foley) movie, Karen, Dana, and Al audition for the part. Karen and Dana are not quite what the producer (Ray Abruzzo) wants, but Al is just what they are looking for. Al also has great acting talent, and does such a fantastic job that they re-write the script to include her in another scene. Al loves it, and decides she wants to quit school and move to Hollywood. She and Frank agree that she can join the drama club and, if necessary, move to Hollywood after she finishes school.

Note: Jaleel White makes his second appearance as Steve Urkel. It's only a cameo and his first-season appearance is not mentioned.

J.T. loses his fourth job of the month and can't even afford a date with Sam. He convinces her to get her boss Mr. Evans (Ellis Williams) to hire him as an apprentice mechanic at the garage where she works. J.T. is terrible, and Sam is forced to fire him on the second day after he nearly kills the boss - twice. J.T. 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 the job. After a talk with Carol he decides to talk to Sam and apologize, but she won't listen. He finds a job in the food industry. Meanwhile, Frank becomes obsessed with a boat and Carol just doesn't see why.

A teaching assistant tries to date Karen by influencing her with good grades. When Karen tells Dana about it, Dana has the perfect plan to catch him in his own deceitful web. Also, Mark dates a thrash girl and changes his own look. Mark is turning into a rebellious teenager since dating this girl and starting getting into trouble with her mother.

Note: It seems that Mark now has his own room, as J.T. and Rich have their apartment while Brendan has mysteriously left the show at the beginning of the season.

Frank's company is struggling and he's seeking work. One of Carol's former high-school classmates hires him as contractor for a new hotel complex, but he crosses the line with unwanted advances on Carol, so Frank must choose between his job and his family. Meanwhile, Karen and Dana are invited to pledge a sorority known for its vanity and vacuity. Dana isn't interested in joining an sorority that Karen longs to be part of ...but Dana is the one the sorority leader really wants.

Note: This is the series' second episode entitled "Can't Buy Me Love". The first with this title is from season 4. (Shannon Elizabeth) appears as Cindi a sorority girl.

After the big town Halloween party is cancelled, J.T. and his sisters host a costume party at a decrepit old mansion. J.T. and Sam haven't been getting along, and after a costume mixup forces them to go tandem as a horse, she dances with someone else. Fuming about his predicament, J.T. meets Abby, the ghostly 19-year-old inhabitant of the mansion, who committed suicide after a bad breakup many years back. Abby convinces J.T. that his relationship with Sam might have reached its end and it's nobody's fault, and later he and Sam decide to part. Also, Lilly organizes her first Halloween fest.

When Rich's old friend Cassie Evans (Linda Cardellini) moves back to town, they start hanging out which makes Dana jealous. Rich enjoys playing billiards and video games with Cassie, so Dana asks J.T. to teach her how she can have fun like that with Rich. Meanwhile, Frank's con-man cousin Bert (Fred Willard) shows up and gives the family a gift.

Karen's boyfriend Chip takes Carol's advice and stands up to Karen, then surprises everyone by breaking up with her. Karen is furious with her mother for interfering and giving Chip advice, then wants to talk to Chip. Dana has better luck helping J.T. and Rich, who are fighting about everything, with the use of her "A" in psychology - and sock puppets.

Dana wants to take her relationship with Rich one step further and gets into a big argument with Carol when she fears that Dana is planning to have sex ... and forbids it. So she asks Rich to elope. Meanwhile, J.T. pretends to be a fitness fanatic to impress aerobics-instructor Monica (Portia Dawson), but he later learns that being himself is a better idea. In a heart-to-heart, Carol admits that she needs to accept that Dana is a young woman who should be able to make her own decisions.

Rich and Dana enroll in a pottery class, but Dana has no talent and Rich does. Meanwhile, Carol and Frank's sexual role-playing makes J.T. and Karen think Carol's cheating in Frank and decide to follow them around.

Frank worries about attending his upcoming 25th class reunion and seeing old nemesis Roy Tucker (Edward Edwards). Sure enough, Roy brags about his chain of tire stores, shows off his date for the evening, and humiliates Frank. But Carol finds out that Roy is actually assistant manager of one store and paid an attractive cashier to be his date. Meanwhile, J.T. is focused on watching a pay-per-view bikini contest with Rich and a bunch of their friends on a night that he is supposed to be babysitting Lilly. When he grows tired of her whining, J.T. tells his sister to go outside and play. She does ... and she doesn't come home.

J.T. and Rich are broke but want to go on a skiing trip with Sam and Dana, so they take jobs as male strippers at a local nightclub. Meanwhile, Frank and Carol counsel young couples by sharing their secrets, but may need counseling themselves when they reveal too much.

Note: With this episode, CBS decided to cancel Step by Step. The series was then put on a three-month hiatus, returning to burn off episodes beginning June 5, 1998.

Frank and J.T. attend a Milwaukee Bucks-Chicago Bulls game, but switch seats when the man sitting in front of J.T. refuses to remove his tall cowboy hat. Then a drawing for a new truck is held and J.T. wins. This sparks a father-son feud that turns bitter, until Carol invites a judge over to settle matters. Before he makes the ruling, Carol makes an impassioned speech about father-son relationships, and Frank and J.T. realize to sell the truck and split the profits evenly. Meanwhile, Al and Karen have little interest in Dana's self-defense class until they see their handsome instructor.