Season 1 is the first season of the family sitcom as Step by Step which was premiere from ABC on September 20, 1991, and has concluded April 24, 1992. The season consists of 22 episodes.
Synopsis[]
After impulsively getting married while on holiday, Frank Lambert and Carol Foster decide to see where their new romance takes them. Frank and his three children move into the Foster's home with Carol and her four kids, where the new stepparents work at creating a cohesive family unit, along with adjusting to suddenly being stepparents to three more kids.
Cast[]
Main[]
- Patrick Duffy as Frank Lambert
- Suzanne Somers as Carol Foster Lambert
- Staci Keanan as Dana Foster
- Angela Watson as Karen Foster
- Christine Lakin as Al Lambert
- Brandon Call as J.T. Lambert
- Christopher Castile as Mark Foster
- Josh Byrne as Brendan Lambert
- Sasha Mitchell as Cody Lambert
- Patrika Darbo as Penny Baker
- Peggy Rea as Ivy Baker
Episodes[]
| No. in series |
No. in season |
Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Production code |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Pilot | Richard Correll | William Bickley & Michael Warren | September 20, 1991 | 475049 |
| We meet the Lamberts - divorced contractor Frank and his three children: athletic J.T., tomboy Alicia (aka Al), and carefree Brendan - and the Fosters - widowed beautician Carol and her children: arrogant Dana, glamour-puss Karen, and brainy Mark - each living in their separate homes. Carol and Frank devise a plan to date and then get married, so the kids don't find out about them getting married in Jamaica. They plan a barbecue at the Fosters' home. Carol's sister, Penny, does not know about the plan, however, and ends up blurting out that Frank and Carol are married. The Lamberts pack up everything and move into the Fosters' home. The two formerly separate families try their best to deal with the uncomfortable situation but can't get along. The next day, Al tells her dad that her stomach hurts, thinking it is a ploy to skip school, Frank tell her she has to go to school, but Carol believes Al, and takes her to the doctor. Which was a good thing because Al's appendix was about to burst. | ||||||
| 2 | 2 | The Dance | Richard Correll | John B. Collins | September 27, 1991 | 447004 |
Steve Urkel crash-lands in the Foster-Lamberts' yard as they are picnicking. He turns out to be Mark's science-fair partner. After the science fair, he talks to Al, who has been dumped by a boy she likes for the school dance. Frank had told Al that everyone gets dumped at some point in their life, and to move on. Steve reinforces that point, and convinces Al to ask him to the dance, where she tells off her originally planned date and learns to "Do the Urkel".
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| 3 | 3 | Rules of the House | Richard Correll | Alan Eisenstock & Larry Mintz | October 4, 1991 | 447001 |
| Carol's household management style drives the Lamberts crazy - particularly that rule about having to cash in special tokens to watch only 30 minutes of TV, and a six-hour-a-week restriction. Frank and his children make their opinions clear, but when Carol won't listen, Al decides her new stepmother might get the message when she threatens to move to Milwaukee to live with her grandmother. | ||||||
| 4 | 4 | First Anniversary | Richard Correll | Julia Newton | October 11, 1991 | 447003 |
| Frank's nephew, Cody, comes to live with the family. Cody's oddball ways infuriate Dana, something that delights J.T. So J.T. decides to make a bet with Cody - successfully ask Dana out and earn $20. Dana finds out and agrees to shun her pride and go out with Cody. Meanwhile, Al and Brendan try to trap Mark with baseball questions and Frank has trouble with Carol because of their first month's anniversary. | ||||||
| 5 | 5 | Frank & Son | Richard Correll | Howard Adler & Robert Griffard | October 18, 1991 | 447002 |
| J.T. goes to work for Frank's company, but things don't work out very well. Still in need of extra cash, J.T. turns to Carol, who makes him her "shampoo boy", a job J.T. really enjoys since he gets to be around pretty girls. Meanwhile, Dana and Al each become frustrated with their school assignments; Dana needs to build a birdhouse for shop class, while Al needs to write a book report on Tom Sawyer. The two agree to switch assignments, but Brendan prods their consciences. | ||||||
| 6 | 6 | Pulling Together | John Tracy | Ross Brown & Joe Fisch | October 25, 1991 | 447006 |
| Frank and Carol decide to enter the new blended family into the "Port Washington Games". But J.T., Al, and Brendan object since their new step-siblings aren't very athletic. Meanwhile, the more civilized Dana, Lilly, Karen, and Mark see the games as too barbaric. Eventually, the Fosters decide to participate, with predictable results, but even so, they keep the Lamberts close, Lilly and Karen ties things up in the pie-eating contest because her competition cannot eat around her. Eventually, Cody provides the family some much-needed help in the final tug-of-war event making the Fosters and the Lamberts victorious. | ||||||
| 7 | 7 | Yo-Yo's Wedding | John Tracy | Meredith Siler | November 1, 1991 | 447005 |
| So that their marriage is declared legal, Frank and Carol agree to have a ceremony at their house on the day of Brendan's birthday party. But then the clown that Frank hired to entertain cancels, forcing Frank to hastily play the role. He doesn't have time to get out of costume before the wedding. Meanwhile, Cody enjoys the clown because he saw him several years ago. | ||||||
| 8 | 8 | Just for Kicks | Larry Mintz | Alan Eisenstock | November 8, 1991 | 447009 |
| Dana and her friend, Bernice, go to a seedy nightclub to hear a folk singer perform. But when some of the bar's regulars get a little too rough with Dana and Bernice, they don't know what to do. Bernice ditches Dana, but luckily Cody shows up, and protects Dana until Frank (who forbade Dana to go in the first place) and Carol arrive to help. | ||||||
| 9 | 9 | Into the Woods | Richard Correll | Ross Brown | November 15, 1991 | 447008 |
| The Fosters and Lamberts go camping in the woods. The attempt at family bonding doesn't go so well at first, but eventually everyone gains an appreciation for each other. Meanwhile, Cody, Penny and Ivy wait the family with little patience. | ||||||
| 10 | 10 | Mixed Messages | James O'Keefe | Seth Weisbond | November 22, 1991 | 447010 |
| Carol buys an answering machine, and instructs the children to write down any messages since the machine erases them upon playback. Karen gets a call from a potential boyfriend, and neglects to hear the remaining message - one stating that Frank need not show up for a re-modeling assignment at work, since they are demolishing the building instead. Frank doesn't get the message, and barely escapes the building with his life. Frank finds out that his boss did leave a message, and arrives home very angry. Carol is upset, and grounds Karen. In the sub-plot, Cody takes a job filling coin machines for children, but loses it because he was only supplying the machine with the good toys. | ||||||
| 11 | 11 | A Day in the Life | John Tracy | Howard Adler & Robert Griffard | November 29, 1991 | 447007 |
| A crew from the TV series America Up Close does a documentary on the new Foster-Lambert blended family. However, all the camera crew can capture is the usual friction between the Foster and Lambert children. While Frank and Carol struggle to salvage the documentary, Dana decides her siblings and stepsiblings need to put aside their hostility for once until the crew finishes taping. They attempt to get along during a game of Monopoly, but it doesn't take long until the hostilities are unleashed again, and paper money is flying everywhere. Also, Cody and Penny both try to become superstars. | ||||||
| 12 | 12 | The New Car | John Tracy | Julia Newton | December 6, 1991 | 447011 |
| Carol buys a new car, which an unlicensed J.T. promptly borrows for a date. When he goes to leave the car is gone, and J.T. worries that it has been stolen. He asks Cody to help him find it, but Cody did not know about the new car, so he brings back their old one. It turns out Frank had seen J.T. driving it and had taken it to teach him a lesson. Dana also gets in trouble, though, because she knew J.T. was going to take the car and didn't say anything. Meanwhile, Penny has finally found a boyfriend, but he is actually very special. | ||||||
| 13 | 13 | Getting Organized | John Tracy | Howard Adler & Robert Griffard | December 13, 1991 | 447012 |
| Frank reluctantly enlists Carol's help in organizing his messy office. Carol decides to transfer some of Frank's files to a computer database, which is fine until she accidentally erases the information on the computer. She failed to make a back-up copy, and what's worse, she told Frank to throw away the hard copies of his files. Frank and Carol scramble to retrieve the information from the dumpster before the garbage men come for it. They find the files, but not in time. They are loaded into the back of the truck and come home covered in Chinese food (a Chinese family had gotten rid of their trash right on top of Carol and Frank) and laughing. Meanwhile, J.T. and Cody become obsessed with UFOs (unidentified flying object), which annoys Dana and Karen. Eventually, the two Foster sisters decide to play a trick on the gullible Lambert duo, but Cody and J.T. get the last laugh. | ||||||
| 14 | 14 | Home Alone | John Tracy | John B. Collins | January 3, 1992 | 447013 |
| Frank and Carol leave for a lover's retreat. Dana is in charge, with a "no guests allowed" rule in effect. But Dana says since she invited two friends over, so could the rest of the kids (even Mark whose only guest is Cody) , and eventually a huge party breaks out. Frank throws out his back, so they cut their trip short and head home, just in time to find J.T. trapped in the chimney flue. | ||||||
| 15 | 15 | Drive, He Said | Richard Correll | Joe Fisch | January 17, 1992 | 447014 |
| Dana and Frank each take driving tests - hers to get her first license, his as a condition for renewal. Frank is humbled when he flunks his, and Dana passes hers. Eventually, Frank is no longer able to drive without his license until he manages to reassure Dana who suffers from "drive fear". Also, Al learns to play drummer and Cody makes an ice-sandwich for Brendan. | ||||||
| 16 | 16 | Bully for Mark | James O'Keefe | Diane Ayers & Susan Sebastian (story) Julia Newton (teleplay) |
February 7, 1992 | 447016 |
| Mark is forced with violence to do homework for a bully named Max. Much to everyone's surprise, the bully is a girl. Al eventually comes to Mark's rescue. Meanwhile, school newspaper editor Dana writes a negative article on J.T., but J.T. finds out and convinces one of the girls on the staff to replace it with an article that makes him sound good. Also, Cody buys a new perfume for Dana. | ||||||
| 17 | 17 | The Boys in the Band | Richard Correll | Joe Fisch | February 14, 1992 | 447018 |
| Al forms a rock band, Chicks With Attitude, with some of her friends. They hire J.T. as their manager, who gets them a gig at a bowling alley that Frank has been renovating. However, on the night of their debut, all four bandmates become ill, forcing Al to scramble to find replacements. Eventually, Dana and Karen agree to fill in. This would not be the last time Dana, Karen, or Al would sing together, although J.T. and Cody (who dress in drag) would not remain part of the act. Meanwhile, Frank tries to catch a mouse. | ||||||
| 18 | 18 | School Daze | Richard Correll | Meredith Siler | February 21, 1992 | 447015 |
| Carol goes back to school because she feels embarrassed about leaving school four classes short of earning a degree. She soon realizes as well as a student she's also a committed mother, wife, and beautician, and soon everyone's ready to be committed when Frank takes over the housework. Nobody can seem to remember to pick up Brendan either. All the kids decide to chip in so Carol can realize her dream, and the house can run smoothly. Also, Cody tries to scare Brendan and Mark with horror stories. | ||||||
| 19 | 19 | Country Club | John Tracy | Alan Eisenstock & Larry Mintz | February 28, 1992 | 447019 |
| Carol is invited to a country club with the family. At the beginning, Frank is reluctant to go, until developer John Patterson invites him to join his golf team for a tournament, with the promise of a job as contractor for a large office complex Patterson is building. Dana, who is trying to win the eye of Patterson's handsome teen-aged son, Greg (David Lascher), becomes frustrated with Frank's oafish ways and tells Frank in no uncertain terms how she feels. Meanwhile, Frank is instrumental in helping Patterson's team win the golf tournament. Later, Dana overhears Patterson talking to his friends saying that he had no intention of giving Frank the job, he was just using him to get him to help with the tournament. Dana defends Frank, and then blows off Greg Patterson, thinking he is just like his father. Greg later comes to Dana's house to apologize for his father, and to give Frank the trophy. Also, Mark, Brendan, Al , Karen and JT have fun in the club while Cody enjoys his own visit club. | ||||||
| 20 | 20 | Daddy's Girl | Richard Correll | Howard Adler & Robert Griffard | March 6, 1992 | 447017 |
| Grandpa comes to visit with his younger fiance. Frank recognizes her as a stripper from a bachelor party he went to a year ago. When Frank tells his father, he storms off and does not believe Frank. He finds out later that she is an ex-stripper, and they postpone the wedding. J.T. wants Dana to set up a date for him with a pretty friend of hers, so she makes him run errands for her all week. J.T does not get along with her, but to show Dana there are no hard feelings, he buys her spaghetti and meatballs. Amazingly, she does not enjoy it that much. Also, Cody celebrates his 19th birthday. | ||||||
| 21 | 21 | He Wanted Wings | John Tracy | Joe Fisch | March 27, 1992 | 447021 |
| As Frank gets close to turning forty, Carol begins to worry that he will have a mid-life crisis and run off with a younger girl. She starts prodding him about dreams he may have missed out on, and when he mentions that he used to want to get his pilot's license, she gets him flying lessons. The instructor is going through a rough time, though, and almost crashes the plane in an effort to end it all. Carol knocks him out, and Frank has to take control of the plane. They end up getting down safely and apologizes to Frank for trying to give him a mid-life crisis, when he didn't have one. Also, Cody and J.T try to settle a knob of shower for Frank. | ||||||
| 22 | 22 | Beauty Contest | John Tracy | Pamela Eells & Sally Lapiduss | April 24, 1992 | 447020 |
| Carol and Karen enter a mother-daughter beauty contest. They are both improperly hit on by judges, and Karen learns that it is more important to have pride and self-worth than to win. Also, Cody tries to join a hunt club in which Frank is by making a duck-cheese work, but Al's pig eats the duck's head. | ||||||
| Seasons of Step by Step |
|---|
| Season 1 • Season 2 • Season 3 • Season 4 • Season 5 • Season 6 • Season 7 |