Seasons & episodes
S1 · E1Pilot 1980-11-11
Henry and Muriel Rush are the owners of a duplex in San Francisco, where they live with their two adult daughters: 21-year-old banker Jackie and 18-year-old college freshman Sara, in a cramped, awkward arrangement. Henry is a cartoonist of a comic strip called Cosmic Cow, while Muriel is a former musician currently working as a photographer. When Henry and Muriel's downstairs tenant, Myron Rafkin, suddenly dies, the family discovers Rafkin was living a secret life as a transvestite, and the many mysterious women Henry had been opening the door for all those years were actually Rafkin himself. Sara comes up with the idea for her and Jackie to convince their parents to let them to move into Rafkin's former apartment. Henry rejects the idea at first, but after Henry interviews a couple of prospective tenants he doesn't approve of, Muriel convinces him that having the girls move in may not be such a bad idea.
S1 · E2It Didn't Happen One Night 1980-11-16
With Sara and Jackie living downstairs, Henry has become a snoop-aholic. Sara asks for permission to go to Lake Tahoe for the weekend, leaving behind birth control pills that Henry assumes is hers and Jackie lets her navy boyfriend spend the night, causing Henry to hit the roof.
S1 · E3The Bag Lady 1980-11-18
Jackie, who works at a bank, tries to make a money delivery to a supermarket, but finds it closed. After calling her boss, she finds herself in charge of a bag with $100,000 in it. Meanwhile, Muriel and Henry are convinced that the ex-convict plumbers are going to rip them off, but soon Jackie's bag of money enters the fray.
S1 · E4Sara's Monroe Doctrine 1980-11-25
Sara befriends Monroe Ficus, a recently dumped young man, who quickly follows her all over the place even following her home. Meanwhile, Henry and Muriel plan on celebrating their anniversary but just before heading out for the evening they get a phone call from Sara and Monroe with news that they have been arrested.
S1 · E5Que Sara, Sara 1980-12-02
Jackie and Sara have split the cost of rent but when Sara is unable to pay her half, Henry tells her to go out and get a job. Sara easily gets a job as a waitress, but Henry is in no way thrilled with the skimpy costume that she has to wear. This leads to a blow up between Henry and Muriel leading her to move in with Jackie and Sara.
S1 · E6Tenants Anyone? 1980-12-09
The furniture of the previous tenant, Rafkin, has become Jackie and Sara's but when his sister shows up to claim his belongings, they find themselves in an unfurnished apartment. When Henry refuses to pay for new furniture, the girls decide to move out and into an unsafe part of town.
S1 · E7Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolfe? 1980-12-16
When Sara gets a part-time job at Jackie's bank, things go smoothly. Jackie quickly warns her of the branch manager, Mr. Wolfe, and his "friendliness" toward the women tellers. However, Jackie quickly finds herself changing her mind about Sara, when Sara begins dating him and then suddenly gets a promotion.
S1 · E8Mister Big 1981-01-06
Henry is worried about his job when the new mystery loving boss, Arthur Wainwright, takes over and begins a steady practice of age discrimination. However, things may swing his way, when Muriel invites Arthur over for dinner which quickly embroils him in a quest to find the man who had snatched Sara's purse.
S1 · E9The Location 1981-01-13
Sara and Monroe are ecstatic when a movie director decides Jackie and Sara's apartment would be perfect to film a movie. However, Henry and Muriel are totally unsure of the situation. Things get out of hand when a lion, being used for the film, gets loose and takes up residence in Henry and Muriel's kitchen.
S1 · E10A Friend in Need 1981-01-27
Monroe has been struggling with the fact he is still a virgin and seeks out a psychologist for help. The psychologist suggests that Monroe hire a sex surrogate to solve his problem, but unfortunate circumstances cause Monroe to mistake Mrs. Rafkin for the surrogate, and the surrogate to mistake Henry for Monroe.
S1 · E11A Fine Romance 1981-02-03
Sylvia Walker, an old college friend and recently divorced friend of Muriel's arrives in town for a visit and decides to make the most of the rest of her life. Meanwhile, Henry becomes insecure about his age after glancing over the obituaries and thinks he may be on death's doorstep soon. However, things turn around for him, when Sylvia makes a play for him.
S1 · E12The Boy in the Band 1981-02-10
Rich Holland, a man who took Muriel on the road with a band when she was young arrives in town looking just as young as ever. Henry soon feels old and becomes insecure, however, Muriel also becomes insecure when Rich takes an interest in Jackie.
S1 · E13Deadline for Henry 1981-02-17
Henry is not happy with the fact that he has been called in for jury duty. However, things get pressed when Henry's boss, Mr. Wainwright, wanting to avoid any problems associated with a possible strike, orders Henry to cough up next week's comic strip. This forces Henry to stay up all night and leads to him falling asleep in court the next day.
S1 · E14Huey 1981-02-24
Henry's father, Huey breaks out of the nursing home, or rather is thrown out when he has a romantic interlude with another resident. He arrives in San Francisco to stay with Henry but soon his presence sends the household into an uproar. Meanwhile, Jackie debates over whether or not to accept a job offer in New York.
S1 · E15Centerfold 1981-03-03
A football player, Buck Krulik, is in town and a fan of Henry's Cosmic Cow comic strip, so he comes by for a visit and has Jackie, Sara and Muriel fawn all over him. After admiring some of her photography, Buck remember her when a nude centerfold photo shoot goes awry and he calls her in to take over. However, she may not be quite ready for a male nude spread despite, Henry forbidding her.
S1 · E16What's Wrong with Mr. Right? 1981-03-17
A woman arrives at Sara and Jackie's door accusing Sara of dating her husband. However, the woman has the wrong Rush daughter, Jackie is the one and doesn't see anything wrong with it since they are separated. Still, she begins to feel her relationship coming to an end and quick.
S1 · E17Up Your Easter Bonnet 1981-03-24
Out of pity, Henry reluctantly allows Monroe to crash on his couch for Easter week when Monroe's parents decide they don't want him to visit them in Miami. Henry soon regrets his generosity when he learns that Monroe has ruined his unpublished Cosmic Cow drawings, and in turn his own planned vacation.
S1 · E18Cosmic Cow vs. the Oval Office 1981-05-05
Henry is fired by Mr. Wainwright when he refuses to publish an apology for his recent Cosmic Cow comic strips that poke fun at President Reagan. Rather than face the indignity of taking unemployment compensation, he makes the regrettable decision to pursue his passion for painting and lets Muriel accept an offer for a full time job she doesn't really want.
S1 · E19The Return of Rafkin 1981-05-12
Sara arranges for a medium to conduct a séance to connect Mildred Rafkin with her deceased brother in an attempt to find a missing antique broach. However, an accusation leveled by Rafkin's "spirit" threatens to split up Henry and Muriel, when the voice of the Rushes' late tenant accuses Henry of marital infidelity.
S2 · E1Guess Who's Coming to Burp? 1981-10-13
A doctor informs Muriel that she's pregnant after she faints at a restaurant while celebrating her 42nd birthday with her family. While she and Henry are initially elated, they find themselves faced with a serious decision as they begin to realize all of the implications of having another child at this point of their lives.
S2 · E2Your Guest is As Good As Mine 1981-10-27
Henry's free-spirited niece, April, shows up on his doorstep after moving from Delaware to start a song writing career, and he reluctantly allows her to stay in the guest bedroom of his apartment until she's able to get established. However, their relationship starts off on the wrong foot, and Henry hopes it isn't too late when he finally figures out why.
S2 · E3Who's Sara Now? 1981-11-03
Muriel and Henry read a newspaper article about a nurse who had switched babies in the maternity ward of the hospital that Sara had been delivered at. They quickly set out to find if indeed Sara had been switched at birth. However, they aren't too pleased when they discover the only other baby girl in the maternity ward is now serving time in prison.
S2 · E4The Prince and the Frog 1981-11-10
Jackie openly dreads a visit from an annoying, nerdy guy who had a crush on her when she was a kid. However, when Sara is the first to discover his physical appearance has changed completely and starts dating him, Jackie becomes extremely jealous and vindictive.
S2 · E5What's Our Rush? 1981-11-17
Muriel goes in for an amniocentesis, but she and Henry decline to learn the sex of the baby. This doesn't sit well with Henry's mischievous father Huey, who is in town to bury his deceased friend. In the meantime, Jackie makes an unexpected decision after taking part in a successful strike at her bank.