Seasons & episodes
S2 · E2In Re: the Marriage of Weston 1988-12-13 · 60 min
Things get complicated between Elliot and Nancy as they moved toward finalizing their divorce. They both try to establish new relationships. Scenes of Elliot and Nancy's courtship are intercut with the present-day divorce preparations. Elliot has to get cash advances on his salary from an unhappy Michael. Nancy, using the last name Krieger, calls editor Jack Bronstein about her book. He's enthusiastic but says he can't recommend it yet--the story's a ""little weak."" Meanwhile Elliot's lawyer Adrian tries to talk business with him at a restaurant, but he's more interested in coming on to her. She declines to go out with him. Nancy is working at an office job, and a younger employee there, Terry O'Neil, seems to like her. Later when she and Jack are at her house working on the book, he kisses her. Nancy tells Melissa she's been carrying around her diaphragm! Later, Nancy has a physical encounter with Terry.
S2 · E3The Mike Van Dyke Show 1988-12-20 · 60 min
As Christmas and Hanukkah near, Hope suffers a minor injury and an unknown illness. Michael has a crisis of faith and imagines his life as a 1960's TV sitcom. Michael and Hope are negotiating over Christmas/Hanukkah celebrations. Mike starts watching TV and sees himself in an old black & white TV sitcom, with the Westons interrupting his plans to be with Hope. The next day at work, Elliot tells Mike he seems distracted. Michael gets a phone call--Hope has been in an accident with Janey. Rushing to the hospital, he finds Janey unhurt and Hope looking tired with some contusions on her face, but otherwise apparently OK. Mike watches the TV show again, this time with Santa in it. He drives Melissa to the synagogue and she encourages him to come on Friday. Michael returns home with a tree and finds Hope getting ill in the bathroom. He tells her to go to the doctor about the dizzy spells she's been having. Another flash to the TV show: Hope is missing on a wintry night.
S2 · E4Trust Me 1989-01-03 · 60 min
Melissa and Gary consider having a child together. Gary volunteers his time at a social services center, where he is irritated by and attracted to a brusque administrator. Gary and Melissa's relationship seems to be drawing closer as they both have rejection at work in common, along with thoughts of parenthood for themselves now that Hope and Michael are expecting. Gary goes to a private social welfare agency, the Race Street Project, and meets with Susannah Hart there about a mentoring program for a local youth. Susannah is skeptical of Gary's commitment. Gary meets his charge, Curtis Caldwell, a Stanford-bound student who does not want to be in the program. At a wedding, Melissa meets Russell Weller, a painter who has noticed her at the galleries. He invites her to a party. Melissa goes to the party with Russell. When his good mood turns bleak after a phone call, she realizes that he's gay and has just heard about a friend contracting AIDS.
S2 · E5No Promises 1989-01-10 · 60 min
Ellyn tries to deal with the shock of her parents' divorce and her growing estrangement from Woodman. Ellyn is shocked to receive a call from her father asking her to lunch. With Hope and Nancy, she wonders why he's doing this for the first time in nineteen years. At work she has a disagreement with Woodman during a meeting. Ellyn meets her father, James. His conversation with her makes it obvious that he doesn't really pay attention to what she says. As they are leaving, he drops a bombshell: he and her mother Marjorie are getting divorced, and Ellyn should talk to her. At home, Woodman wonders what's upsetting Ellyn. She just wants to be alone and doesn't know how to act. Later when Ellyn meets with her mother, she wanders through her old house reminiscing about her emotionally distant father. Talking with Michael, Ellyn muses that she should have fallen for a guy like him.
S2 · E6Politics 1989-01-17 · 60 min
CAPSULE: Michael takes on a client that he, his wife and his friends find repugnant. Gary and Susannah's odd relationship continues to grow. At a diner with Hope, Gary, Elliot and Melissa, Michael returns a phone call to Jerry Kravitz, an old friend of his and Gary's from their college days at Penn. He wants the Michael & Elliot company to do some media work a Senate candidate he represents, Diana McKay. Mike has the first of several flashbacks seen throughout the show of himself, Gary and Jerry involved in demonstrations and campus politics. Gary goes to the Race St. Project and offers to help Susannah write up their grant application. A little attraction seems to be developing. Gary leans in as if to kiss her, but she pulls away. Michael & Elliot take on the McKay account, but Gary, Susannah and Hope let them know they think McKay is a terrible choice. Hope is not too impressed with Jerry either after a night of reminiscing with him and Michael. Susannah apologizes to Gary for the ""w
S2 · E7Success 1989-01-31 · 60 min
Melissa gets a job working with Carly Simon. Michael and Elliot face losing their business. Melissa is excited--Russell has shown some of her work around and he might be able to get her the job of shooting Carly Simon's next album cover! When he calls to confirm the good news, Ellyn is with her. Russell also tells her they're going to be a party for Carly and she can invite all the friends she wants. Melissa hides that last bit of information from Ellyn. Meanwhile Michael and Elliot are worried about their biggest account, Motherland Dairies, which has been sold and may drop them. The Michael & Elliot company plays Miles Drentell's DAA ad agency in basketball and loses. Mike relives the game in his imagination, making the winning layup. Later Michael and Elliot meet with the new owners of Motherland, who let them go. Mike is sure this is the end of their company, but Elliot still thinks there is hope. Russell and Melissa are at the Steadman's house.
S2 · E8First Day / Last Day 1989-02-07 · 60 min
Flashback scenes of Michael and Elliot meeting, working together, and forming their own company are interspersed with the present-day dissolution of the Michael and Elliot Company. The two have serious disagreements which threaten their friendship.
S2 · E9About Last Night 1989-02-14 · 60 min
Gary and Susannah try to figure out what to do when they finds out that she's pregnant. Nancy misses a publishing deadline for her book.
S2 · E10Elliot's Dad 1989-02-28 · 60 min
CAPSULE: Elliot gets involved with his wayward father. Ethan suffers an injury. Elliot goes to see his divorced father Charlie who is in town. Charlie introduces him to a woman friend, Roberta Sessions, in a bit of an awkward meeting. When they go to Elliot's sister Ruthie's house for dinner, she gets irritated because her dad won't stop talking business with her husband. Ruthie takes Elliot aside and warns him to not give their dad money or get involved in his schemes. She reveals that Dad never paid for her college like he promised. Charlie tells Elliot he regrets some things in the past, but just looks to the future now. Soon Charlie has Elliot involved in doing some presentation work for a business idea he has. Elliot has Ethan with him at Charlie's hotel room when Charlie shows up with a sitter and says he's taking Elliot out to dinner. Elliot goes reluctantly. While there, they run into Nancy out on a date with Matt Enwright. She and Elliot have a big fight about leaving Ethan w
S2 · E11Payment Due 1989-03-07 · 60 min
CAPSULE: Ellyn's work and personal life take a great toll on her, both physically and emotionally. Ellyn has been suffering from an unknown stomach ailment but she tells Woodman and Hope that's she's OK. But at a dinner at the Steadmans she shows a sharp burst of temper, then makes a drunken crack about Michael's business failing. Hope and Woodman both want to know what's been making Ellyn so crazy, but she doesn't give them any good answers. Ellyn goes to her doctor about the stomach trouble. He gives her a referral to a gastro-intestinal specialist; she throws it away. Meanwhile at City Hall, assistant district attorney Dave Callaman, an acquaintance of both Ellyn and Woodman, has been around asking about an investigation he's working on. But he has a personal interest in Ellyn and he asks her out. Ellyn goes bowling with him and tells Woodman she was talking to him about the investigation. Later at work he spies Ellyn and Dave having what appears to be an intimate moment. When Ellyn
S2 · E12Deliverance 1989-03-21 · 60 min
CAPSULE: Ellyn, Nancy, Hope and Melissa go on a cathartic camping trip. Melissa gets some camping equipment as a payoff for a photo shoot and the gang makes plans to take a camping trip to the Poconos. But Elliot gets a lead on some work, forcing Michael to have to tell Hope, who has been looking forward to the trip for months, that he can't go. Gary opts out of the trip, and Ellyn, despite her ulcer, decides to go. The four women set off in the car for the journey. On the trail to Parker Cave, Ellyn is gung-ho and pushing the group until they get to the cave, then she's afraid to go in. Nancy and Hope remember the scary old tour guide at the cave from their youth. Ellyn says she'll hike around the mountain cave--seven miles!--rather than go through. Hope decides that she and the others shouldn't leave her. They hike until nightfall, then they make a camp. Nancy's ghost story makes Ellyn more nervous. In the tent that night, Hope inadvertently reveals to Nancy that Elliot had an affair
S2 · E13Michael Writes a Story 1989-04-04 · 60 min
Michael takes a creative writing class, as does Nancy. Michael incurs Nancy's wrath when he writes about something he heard about her in confidence from Elliot. Also, Michael and Elliot get new jobs working for Miles Drentell at DAA.
S2 · E14New Job 1989-04-11 · 60 min
CAPSULE: Hope suffers a miscarriage just as Michael and Elliot begin work for Miles Drentell at DAA. Elliot and Michael are in Miles Drentell's office interviewing for jobs at DAA. While they are there Michael gets a phone call from Hope at her obstetrician's office: the doctor has done an ultrasound and it shows a case of fetal demise. Hope acts stoic about it. Later Elliot calls with good news--they got the jobs, with offices and great pay. Mike tells him about the miscarriage. Michael is reluctant to go in to DAA for his first day but Hope insists that he does. Mike and Elliot meet a fellow creative team, Angel Wasserman and Hollis Amato, who seem to be playing with the guys' heads a bit. In fact, they been assigned to the same account as Michael and Elliot, the Spingeri automobile. Michael returns home to Hope, who is glad to see him. The phone rings, and it's Elliot with some work, which secretly disappoints Hope. Hope talks with Val about working for Synergy. Val encourages her t
S2 · E15Be a Good Girl 1989-04-25 · 60 min
CAPSULE: Melissa must deal with her aging grandmother who wants her to take over her business. Melissa is preparing to go to her parents for a birthday dinner for herself, her mother Elaine and her beloved grandmother Rose, or Nana, who has runs a dress store for fifty-five years. Elaine thinks her mom needs to move in with her and her husband Murray, but Melissa thinks her mom treats Nana ""like Grandma Moses"", even though she has congestive heart failure! Ellyn, who is therapy now, comes to Melissa with a job offer from City Hall and Melissa takes it, even though she's quite busy. At her parents house, Melissa is taking a family portrait with a couple of other aunts included when Nana has a vivid flashback of a young girl skating. Her behavior worries the others, and they call a doctor. Soon, though, Nana is back at work, critiquing customers, when she has a pain attack. She asks Melissa not to call Elaine, but she does call her, along with a doctor. Nana also has another flashback of
S2 · E16Courting Nancy 1989-05-02 · 60 min
CAPSULE: Nancy pursues her relationship with Matt, but Elliot makes a concerted effort to win her back. Elliot returns the kids to Nancy and has an awkward meeting with her new boyfriend Matt Enwright. At work Elliot and Angel are working closely pitching ideas. Mike asks if there is anything between the two but Elliot says they are just friends. Nancy excitedly gives the big news to Melissa, Ellyn and Hope: her book is going to be published! When Elliot comes by later to see Nancy, she tells him also. He's happy for her, but tells her he misses her and wishes they could get back together. Nancy doesn't know how to respond, but says she still doesn't trust him. Matt makes a date for dinner at Nancy's, but she makes it clear there will be no sex in her house. At DAA, Angel asks Michael about Elliot and Nancy's status. Michael discourages her from going out with him. Elliot tells Mike he's going to confess his affair with Cheryl Eastman to Nancy. Mike thinks it's a bad idea. At Nancy's,
S2 · E17Best of Enemies 1989-05-16 · 60 min
CAPSULE: Hope is writing an article that could affect Susannah's Race St. Project, driving a wedge between her and Gary. Gary and Susannah are proceeding with preparations for parenthood. Melissa doesn't care for Susannah at all and thinks the relationship won't be permanent. Meanwhile, Hope gets a nibble from the Philadelphia Inquirer about doing a story on the Race St. Project. After talking to Rosie at Race St., Hope goes to City Hall to see what Ellyn, fresh from her breakup with Woodman, has to say about the organization. After a few questions about the government's relations with Race St., Ellyn gets a little circumspect, then asks Hope to turn off her tape recorder for the rest of the conversation. Hope tells Michael about irregularities with grant money received by Race St. When Michael tells Gary about this, he's sure Hope and Ellyn must be mistaken. But when he talks to Rosie, she tells him some of the allegations are just practical things that a place like Race St. has to do
S3 · E1Nancy's Mom 1989-09-19 · 60 min
CAPSULE: Nancy's and Elliot move closer to a reconciliation, to the disapproval of her visiting mother Eleanor. Elliot and Nancy are spending an evening at Michael and Hope's talking about Nancy's upcoming book. Nancy says her mother Eleanor, who is coming for a visit, is OK with her but still can make her crazy. When Nancy and Elliot leave, they kiss goodbye like a dating couple. When Eleanor arrives, she asks about Matt, but Nancy mentions that Elliot has been ""around."" Later Elliot has dinner with Nancy, Eleanor and the kids. Eleanor makes it clear she doesn't approve of Elliot or his marketing idea for a ""monster doll"" book tie-in. Later that night Eleanor refuses to go to bed and leave Nancy and Elliot alone, so he leaves and sneaks back in Nancy's bedroom window. Still later, Elliot is downstairs raiding the refrigerator when he runs into Eleanor. Nancy admits to her mother that she's seeing Elliot again. Eleanor still isn't ready to forgive him. She surprises Nancy by telling he
S3 · E2Love and Sex 1989-10-03 · 60 min
CAPSULE: While she and Michael are having problems of their own, Hope gets involved in the love life of her teenaged babysitter. Hope and Michael arrive home early while their teenaged babysitter Lauren is there, saying they have some important matters to discuss. What they're really there for is some baby-making, though Mike has a little trouble at first. Lauren seems to admire Hope; she's read her article on the ozone layer. At DAA, Michael and Elliot are nervous about a presentation when Gary, dressed like a playground basketball bum, shows up just in time for Miles to see him. Gary tells the guys he and Susannah won't be marrying. Michael arrives home late. After some arguing about domestic matters, Hope says she can't ""switch gears"" and have sex. After shopping with Melissa and Ellyn, Hope comes back home to find Lauren on the front lawn with her boyfriend Bernard, music blaring, having a picnic. Hope is furious. Lauren profusely apologizes, saying she and Bernard are being kept a
S3 · E3Mr. Right 1989-10-10 · 60 min
CAPSULE: Ellyn and Melissa try using a video dating service. Melissa is unexpectedly attracted to a younger man she meets. Ethan must kiss a girl in the school play. Ellyn and Melissa are talking about using a video dating service, and despite the misgivings of others, they go in and give interviews at the service. They go through the books of available guys and find a cute one, William, whose profile and interview they like. Melissa is afraid to ask for his number, though; she'll wait, hoping he will contact her. Later when they return to the service, Melissa is dismayed to find that the list of guys interested in Ellyn is much longer than hers, and it includes William. Meanwhile, a good-looking young man named Lee Owens has come to paint Melissa's loft. He's spending a lot of time there, and there seems to be an attraction between the two. Also, Ethan is upset about having to learn to dance for the school production of ""Cinderella"" he's starring in. Even worse, he's supposed to kiss
S3 · E4New Baby 1989-10-24 · 60 min
CAPSULE: Susannah and Gary become new parents after a difficult delivery. Melissa has a hard time accepting Gary's new status. In a story told in reverse, the opening scene has Susannah in the hospital having a difficult delivery. Gary is there with her. We see earlier scenes of Susannah in pain, getting nauseous and being a little abusive to Gary. Gary calls Melissa but gets her machine. Michael is at the hospital with Gary. The doctor checks the dilating Susannah and sends Gary out. Still going backwards: The labor starts getting difficult. Gary calls and leaves a message for Melissa, apologizing for what happened earlier. Melissa is listening but doesn't pick up. Gary gets ready for the hospital as contractions are starting. Earlier, Melissa is at his outside his house. She's brought a present for them--a car, albeit an old junker. Melissa argues with Gary, saying he hasn't given her a thought lately, and she stalks off angrily. Back to the wedding shower: Susannah is looking a litt
S3 · E5Legacy 1989-10-31 · 60 min
Elliot and Michael have a close encounter with disaster on an airplane. Hope's employer, the magazine Synergy, is being taken over and will curtain its environmental watchdog activities. At a dinner party, Hope gets irritated with Michael and Miles' date. Nancy is ready to take Elliot back.
S3 · E6Strangers 1989-11-07 · 60 min
CAPSULE: Melissa must come to terms with the problems she has over the age difference with Lee. Their relationship is paralleled by a new one between Russell Weller and Peter Montefiore. Russell drops by Melissa's place and is surprised to find Lee there wearing a towel. Melissa takes Russell to DAA, where he meets Peter Montefiore. Melissa encourages Michael to talk up Peter to Russell; Michael didn't realize before that Peter was gay. Later Lee and Melissa are still in the throes of passion when he has to leave. Lee wonders why she never introduces him to her friends. Melissa tells him that they will go have dinner at the Steadmans soon. Mel photographs Russell painting. She's nervous about her friends meeting Lee and he's nervous about seeing Peter again. Melissa deliberately passes up a locksmith where she was going to get a key made for Lee. Melissa and Lee arrive at the Steadmans. She imagines all sorts of bad things even though everyone likes her new boyfriend. Peter and Russell
S3 · E7Pilgrims 1989-11-21 · 60 min
CAPSULE: Elliot reunites with his family, but Ethan is still full of anxiety which manifests itself as fear for his safety. Elliot moves back in his house with his wife and children on a busy morning as Thanksgiving is approaching. Ethan tries to get out of going to school. He's being a bit of a discipline problem, complaining that no one listens to him. He walks to school with his friend Nicholas and they talk about a recent spate of robberies that have occurred in the area. Nancy is at her mother Eleanor's new place. She's moved to the area from Indiana, and Nancy hopes she will come by for the holiday celebration. Elliot and Nancy are happy the family is back together, but at night, Ethan listens warily to the police sirens. Ethan asks his grandmother if his grandfather ever left her. She admits that he did, but came back. Nancy tells Hope and Melissa that Ethan has been obsessed with the recent robberies. Elliot tries to help Ethan with his reading; he balks at the help and then ru
S3 · E8The Burning Bush 1989-11-28 · 60 min
CAPSULE: Ellyn takes steps toward starting an affair with Jeffrey Milgrom. Hope begins work on an environmental project. Ellyn and Hope's present-day relationship is compared to the one they had in high school. Flashback: At Lower Merion High School in 1970, Hope and Ellyn are sneaking a smoke. Ellyn tells Hope she's going off to New York with bad boy Mark McCreary. The two girls circulate a petition opposed to a dress code. Present Day: Hope talks with Ellyn, saying that she's quit the magazine Synergy and might be working on an anti-incinerator project. She doesn't tell her friend that she's pregnant. At the gym's pool, Ellyn is swimming and meets Jeffrey Milgrom, an acquaintance from the Steadmans' dinner party. He's Hope and Michael's lawyer and he works with his wife Valerie. Ellyn drops off a batch of material about the incinerator and tells Hope she's seen Jeffrey at the gym the past few days. They're meeting for lunch. Flashback: Ellyn and Hope protest the dress code and wal