Seasons & episodes

A boy in the play school play asks Jesse out. Grace is less than happy with the news, because she thought that the boy was flirting with her during rehearsal. Karen is upset that Rick didn't left her out of the loop on this. Les takes over a talk show after the host leaves following an argument between the two. He asks for Lily's opinion on a call (while on the air), which leads to her taking over the show that night, and a once-a-week gig after that. Rick and Lily argue about her discussing Jesse's ""date"" when it hasn't been decided if he'll let her go. Grace thinks about quitting the play (over her sorta-feelings for Tad and the whole Tad-Jesse thing), but that's not what she tells Mr. Dmitri. He convinces her to stay. Grace is irate that Lily offered to loan Jesse Lily's pearl necklace when she wouldn't let Grace borrow it earlier. Grace is starting to think that Lily likes her stepdaughter Jesse more than her. Karen accuses Lily of using Jesse's personal life for radio ""mat

The women (and Grace and Zoe) want to hold a baby shower for Tiffany. This doesn't excite Jake. He doesn't want Grace - and especially Zoe - to have expectations about him and Tiffany. So Jake discourages the idea of having Zoe at the shower. So she calls Lily to cancel the shower, which upsets Zoe. Jake tells Tiffany that she shouldn't go home to have the baby just because of him and Zoe. Lily convinces Tiffany to have the baby in Chicago and to have the shower also. Jake wants Lily to butt out of ""his business"", but because the kids are involved, he relents. Judy goes to her doctor to see how many ""baby years"" she has left. She even tells Lily that she's considering in-vitro fertilization. Zoe is upset over Jake's seeming indifference about his upcoming baby. Jake goes ballistic in front of all the women and kids when he and Zoe get home and the ladies discover that he didn't get a gift. Lily reassures Jake that he is still a good father despite his outburst. Jake does g

Lily and Karen both have unrealistic expectations for Thanksgiving celebrations. So naturally, nothing goes as planned. The lighting board at the theater goes out, so rehearsal is postponed. Lily does all the cooking herself after the kids are all busy. The pipes underneath the sink rust out, so that messes things up further. Judy doesn't want to be at dinner if Sam is coming (via Rick's invitation). Disagreement over building plans leads to Rick and Sam working on Thanksgiving, which upsets Lily even more. Karen is depressed about not having anyone to celebrate Thanksgiving with. She cancels her dinner plans with friends and stays at home in her nightgown all day. In a moment of reflection, she wonders if she's ever been happy, or just making sure everyone else is happy. The theater janitor kicks them out, so the play rehearsal is moved to Lily's house. She even fills in for one of the students. Jesse ends up walking home from the theater. Not realizing his mom was still ho

Grace finds an ""adult magazine"" in their home recycling bin. This leads to a whole ""will you talk to Eli about this?"" talk coming from Lily to Rick. Rick is amazed at Sam's continued inability to be with only one woman at a time. Judy and Sam have yet another awkward conversation, this time at a newsstand. Judy later confesses to Sam while having lunch that she can't kiss him because she wouldn't stop once she started. Lily worries that Rick isn't as interested in her now that they're married. Rick confides to Sam that he thinks the same thing about Lily. Karen and Judy go out to a bar/club. Karen isn't sure she wants to be there in the first place. She meets a man there, and feels guilty when she ends up spending the night at his place. Tad makes Jesse uncomfortable at his party. Lily tells Rick that she doesn't necessarily WANT sex, but rather just to BE with him and not have his mind a million miles away. Judy and Sam have their usual ""we can't be together but we have to

When Eli loses his job and Grace's teacher questions her acting, they both learn the hard way that real self-confidence can be one of life's toughest accomplishments. Both learn that tough love can be a powerful motivator.

Amid complete chaos, a surprise Christmas Eve delivery of Tiffany and Jake's baby unites the Manning and Sammler families like never before. Meanwhile, Judy's first encounter with Sam's eleven-year-old son doesn't go very smoothly.

Flashbacks in the series' interview style recall a telling incident in the lives of Rick, Karen, Sam Blue's estranged wife Jeannine, and Sam himself, who rues another dalliance. Also, when Sam and Judy's relationship becomes the talk of the whole family, Sam finally realizes he wants Judy to be more than just a friend. Meanwhile Karen's loneliness and discomfort is compounded when Jessie cancels plans with her mom to stay at Lily's house.

A tragic accident shakes Karen from her deep depression and sets her up for the toughest battle of her life. This makes Eli and Jessie learn the hard way that their parents are more fragile than they'd thought.

Jessie's anxiety and guilt about her mom's slow recovery causes tension with every member of the family, especially Lily. Meanwhile, Eli is in denial about the seriousness of his mother's condition.

Grace pursues her teacher and Jessie develops an attraction for her friend Katie.

Sam places his dream of committing to Judy and having a family squarely on the shoulders of his ten-year-old son. Meanwhile, Jake finally realizes his feelings for Tiffany and his new baby daughter.

When Lily's brother Aaron expresses a desire to move out on his own with a young woman who is also mentally disabled, she finds it emotionally impossible to let him go.

The prospect that Grace may be romantically involved with her creative-writing teacher troubles Lily, infuriates Jake, and imperils the career of the instructor.

Just when Lily thinks life can't get any more complicated, her mother begins to show early signs of Alzheimer's disease.

Rick and Lily face more life-altering decisions when he is offered a major architectural position in Australia and she is offered a chance to take her Chicago-based radio show into national syndication. The Series Finale Episode concludes with this show's traditionaly black and white breaking of the fourth wall but this time, its the actors and not the characters as they speak about the realtionships formed amid the cast and what the show has meant to them.