Nicholas and Susan meet Merle the Pearl, a local minor league baseball player. Nicholas is upset that his young girlfriend is moving out of town and wants to introduce her to Merle the Pearl to impress her before she leaves. Frustrated by the gas shortage, Tom agrees to buy a new, fuel-efficient car. Merle falls for Susan and Nicholas gets his first kiss

David returns and is determined to win Janet back from her new boyfriend. Merle confides to Nicholas that he wants to propose to Susan but Susan is upset when the entire Bradford family knows about before she does. Nicholas acts as the go-between for everyone

David and Janet set a wedding date but it turns out to be the same day Merle and Susan decided to move up the wedding day to accomodate Merle's ballplaying career move. Nancy gets a job delivering singing telegrams and is hired to deliver one at the double wedding for David and Janet and Merle and Susan.

Chaos hits the Bradford house when everyone's activities go around the clock. In order to get her Ph.D. more quickly, Abby attends school full-time and has little time for the family. Tom is upset when no one is home when Nicholas gets home from school. Tired of getting dead-end jobs because of her looks, Nancy gets a job at a brokerage firm. All this drives Tom bananas and he finally calls a family meeting at 3 a.m. by playing loud music to rearrange the goings on.

Things are not as they seem at the Bradfords when Merle's sister, Linda Mae, comes from the farm and visits the Bradfords and is shocked at what she finds. Joannie talks Nancy into playing a stripper in her play. Susan panics when she hears that Merle was injured in a game. It's a comedy of errors when Linda Mae calls the police after misunderstanding the family's crazy life style.

Joannie gets a job in the research department of a TV station. Mary finds a hidden home pregnancy test and tries to find the owner. Joannie ""scoops"" Tom on a story on a porno theater for her new job at a television station. The problem is that the theater is owned by a public corporation and Tom is a stockholder. Tom is upset that a porno theater has opened in his neighborhood but then discovers that he is part owner of it.

Three Bradfords struggle to meet the expectations of others: Nicholas turns truant to escape the long shadow of his siblings; Tom's boss pressures him to participate in a father-son golf tournament; Nancy feels compelled to date a stockbroker uniquely positioned to help David's slumping business.

Tom's sister Vivian sweeps into town with an offer to take the entire family on vacation to Hawaii, where she secretly plans to reunite Tom with their estranged father.

Still in Hawaii, Tom and his father contemplate whether they can or should bother to reconcile their relationship.

When Tommy is rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery, Mary and Nicholas both feel culpable for different reasons; Merle and Susan adjust to the give and take of married life; Nancy plays travel guide for a visiting colleague from China who doesn't speak English.

The furnace is on the blink, causing a cold front in the Bradford house, but Tom dismisses Mary's offer to fix it; Susan's chance for an internship conflicts with Merle's offer to play winter ball in Puerto Rico; Nicholas goes on strike for a raise in his allowance.

Tom and Abby believe that Susan is depressed because Merle is gone but learn that she is pregnant. The girls try to cheer her up. Joannie meets a psychic and holds a seance to help Susan. Merle arrives to win her back and finds out she is going to have their baby. Ernie and Tommy use Nicholas as bait to meet girls.

Tom talks David into hiring Tommy as a construction worker but Tommy has to prove himself to his fellow workers by standing up to them on his own. Nicholas needs to write a speech about Tom and follows him around for a day at the office to get material. Elizabeth is looking for advice on how to meet men in college.

Joannie tries to convince her boss that she is ready for more responsibility at work. Joannie wants to do a documentary on her family. Mary learns that being an adult can be painful when she falls for a resident at the hospital who is unavailable. Eager to earn extra money, Nicholas sells guaca dew, a wrinkle remover, door to door.

Upset that an all girl band was chosen to play at prom, Tommy protests by running for prom queen. Joannie pushes her boss for some on-camera work.

Abby tries to cheer Tom up on his 50th birthday. Tom feels the pressure of teh youth movement at work and believes that the Register wants to replace him with a younger columnist. Merle and Susan try to pick names for their baby. Nicholas is helping Merle come up with a name for the new baby.

Tommy is upset when Jill's idea of a commitment is not the same as his and then misinterprets signals from Mary's friend, Kerry, and gets deeper into trouble. Tommy presents Jill with a class ring. Abby and the girls plan a surprise baby shower for Susan. Nicholas plays go-between for Marvin but ends up with the girl instead.

It's winter break and Joannie, Nancy, and Mary meet strange men that drive Tom and Abby crazy. Tom fixes Tommy up with his boss's niece.

Tom's new temporary secretary is overly attentive. Joe Simons, the con man who helped Nicholas return from San Diego, shows up pretending to have struck it rich in the Yukon and drives the family bonkers. He claims to have found a gold mine. Joannie offers to produce a TV commercial for David's construction company.

Ernie misreads Elizabeth's friendly gestures. David is jealous that Janet is working long hours with a male colleague. Tom counsels David and Abby counsels Janet, and they end up happily together. Bored with his own house and family, Nicholas has more fun playing at a friend's house but his friend has more fun at Nicholas's house.

Abby needs time to deal with memories of her late husband after a fellow prisoner of war shows up in Sacramento. She works out her feelings and returns to the family. Nicholas goes steady for the first time, and finds going steady is not all fun when the girl is more interested in the bracelet he gives her than in him. Nancy gets tired of loaning money to the other Bradford children.

Merle recruits the girls for a charity basketball team. Tom is jealous when a publisher offers to publish Abby's thesis and Tom can't get his accepted. They pool their efforts, after competitive feelings are straightened out, to co-author his book. Nicholas gets his friend's mom a job helping with the book. Nicholas's friend is upset to learn that his mom works for Abby and not the other way around.

Joannie gets an important assignment at work but Jeffrey believes that the boss will be expecting a favor in return. Joannie blows her chance at a big story. An experienced reporter makes her his partner and the result is an important scoop. Nicholas has a problem with a bully that he can't hit back. Fed up with the way that Tom divvies up the family's discretionary funds, Tommy takes over budgeting for it.

Tom is upset that Tommy hasn't sent in any college applications but Tommy wants to be a musician and is not interested in college. Auntie V brings her new fiance to meet the Bradfords. Auntie V encourages Tommy to pursue his musical dreams. Tommy wants to be a professional musician rather than go to college. Though Tom disagrees, he still is able to encourage him, which brings them closer.

Nicholas starts a dog-sitting service. Nancy falls in love with the 5-year-old daughter of the young widower she is dating, but doesn't fall in love with her father. Ernie can't find a date for the prom.

Tom and Abby agree to let Tommy and a few friends have the house for a small party after graduation. Nicholas and Irving are working on a school project when Irving gets hurt and Tommy ends up spending grad night at the hospital. The party goes on without them as party crashers show up. Officers were called in to finally break up the party and Tom demands an explanation, thinking Tommy was being ignorant.