Shawn, Marlon, Pops, Lou and Monique dream of the good life when they find $100,000 in an ashtray in the lobby. But Lou is determined to carry out the Niedermeyer Building rule requiring a classified ad be placed in the newspaper so that the owner can come forward -- and if it's claimed within five days, their dreams will go up in smoke.

When Marlon finds out that President Clinton's motorcade will be passing by Pops' diner, and that the bathroom will be made available to the leader should he need to use it, Marlon determines to shake the President's hand.

Shawn listens carefully to Pops' lecture on the evils of poker -- then risks everything on a single hand, losin g his newsstand to T.C. After T.C. takes over ownership, Shawn's pride is on the line, and he challenges T.C. to double or nothing, with Pops' diner as the prize.

Santa's loading a gun and checking it twice, then taking Pops and the boys hostage for not showing the right Christmas spirit. He's only a part-time, dress-up Santa, but the gun is for real.

After an argument with Shawn, Marlon decides it's time for him to claim his independence and move out. Marlon ends up rooming with White Mike, while Shawn takes in T.C. Unexpectedly, Mike and T.C. dump Shawn and Marlon as roommates, forcing them back together -- something we later discover was engineered by Pops, who wanted the boys to reconcile.

White Mike asks Shawn to ghost write a love letter for him to Tatiana, the new waitress at Pops' diner. The letter gets into Dee's hands and she mistakenly believes Shawn left it there for her. The letter continues to inadvertently get passed around the lobby, with each recipient jumping to the wrong conclusions. The miscommunications build up to the annual Valentine's Day party in the Niedermeyer Building, where the truth is revealed and White Mike succeeds in winning over Tatiana.

Marlon's acress friend Stacey convinces him to help her audition for the Tisch School of Performing Arts. Marlon begins to consider an acting career for himself -- an idea that Shawn thinks is ridiculous and unrealistic. Pops helps Shawn come to see that he should be offering Marlon his support, not doubting his abilities. Meanwhile, Marlon uses the anger from his argument with Shawn to fuel his performance in the audition and ends up getting a scholarship. Special appearance by NBA star Brent Barry

Marlon slips in Shawn's spilled coffee and breaks his leg, which knocks him out of the cash prize he was sure to win in a dance contest. Marlon sues Shawn in small claims court for the two grand, but in the end admits all he really wanted from Shawn was an apology.

Shawn falls in with a yuppie crowd, spurning his old pals from the 'hood and masquerading as a business executive, until Marlon sets out to downsize his ego.

Pops browbeats the boys into going camping, but he's hurt to find their idea of ""quality time"" is partying with babes in the woods.

In a twist on the film It's a Wonderful Life, Marlon's guardian angel shows him how the family would have fared had he never been born. (Not half badly, actually.)

Marlon suspects a friend in need is a friend with greed when his apartment is burglarized after he rebuffed T.C.'s plea for a loan.

Marlon's relationship with his girlfriend is suddenly altared -- er, altered -- when her brother, a neighborhood bully, learns how close they've become and forces young Williams to propose.

Marlon looks to even the score with an old Little League teammate who supposedly ruined his chances at a big-league career by hogging all the glory.

Shawn's plans to expand ""Williams Brothers News"" are interrupted when Marlon lands a part in a national musical starring R&B artist Keith Sweat.

The Williams family is placed under police protection after Marlon observes a bank robbery and the culprit sends his big brother to deal with any witnesses.

Shawn and Marlon get busted while scalping tickets at a Busta Rhymes concert, so they throw themselves on the mercy of the rapper and tell him they were trying to raise money to save Dee's church.

Shawn feels the heat after a crooked accountant leaves him awash in debt. Then the newsstand suddenly burns down and all of his problems seem to be solved -- until he and the family are suspected of arson.

Shawn worries that Marlon is headed for a romantic fall because his new girlfriend is known for having a highly questionable reputation, and Shawn isn't sure whether to mention that after finding her alone with a handsome stranger. Marlon learns about it anyway, and though he claims not to be bothered by it, he really is.

An old flame may be stoking Pops' fires of passion, so Shawn and Marlon set out to convince the woman that she chose the wrong family to get involved with.