Fri, Oct 22, 1999
Richie is back in town newly married to Kris. Regarding Hannah they request shared custody. Tracy is intensely overjoyed of her new dog, but her father fears that it makes her ill. Doug enters the Barkery to get some of his favorite food and his job back. Kyle is in doubt whether to move into Hansens' new guest house, i. e. former garage. Hannah makes a high level adventure of her very own and sets matters into perspective at her one year birthday.
Fri, Nov 5, 1999
Kyle has two tickets to a Bruce Springsteen concert but his dog is very uneasy so Jim offers to dogsit. The Barkery looks likely to be closed as Joanie's finances are very low. Syd suggests that Jim makes a pep talk show there but he's uncomfortable in front of what he sees as a crowd.
Fri, Nov 19, 1999
Syd gets Kyle a tempting job opportunity, and so does one of his own old friends. Heather is really unhappy about her love life and seeks spiritual help from a shaman. Robbie sells his father's show to a TV company even if they unconditionally hires a younger host. A new nurse, Izzy, is hired by Syd at her clinic.
Fri, Nov 26, 1999
Tom Cromwell introduces Mr. Robert (Robbie) Hansen to his professional contacts as the face of the Pilgrim Fathers historical event, then leaves him in charge last minute, with the fancy sports car but no checkbook... Syd and her mates decide to drive penniless old Rose Bidwell all the way from Kansas, but during some line-dancing in Indiana Vonda Vickers collapses, as Syd guesses with MS; alas Cathy drives off at night... Back home, vet Jim sadly diagnoses Pete's loving owner the old priest Duffy with Alzheimer's; when he goes missing, Jim takes Pete looking for him. Frances Carlyle gets sponsor Joanie to do anything, even enter the pound...
Fri, Mar 31, 2000
Dad Jim's 60 birthday is approaching, but the kids nearly forgot about it, and his accountant insists it's time to consider selling out to retire in wealth; the best bid seems to be offered by the modernist, commercial Garribaldi brothers he abhors as 'circus surgery'. While he's rationally convinced, it makes him so grumpy that he actually denies poor Robbie, who was mercilessly and bluntly thrown out of ex-bride Heather's apartment after the Las Vegas disaster -she even scolds his 'squandrous' peace offer of roses- permission to stay in the attic for a while again 'no longer a little kid', so he decides to bail out on the birthday dinner Syd planned and use good ice-hockey seats... Syd's patient Ted Lumley, a gentile TV salesman, asks her help to prep his precious private for a bris (Jewish circumcision) but chickens out, even if that probably cancels his marriage to Jewess Debbie... Joanie tries to make dog-walker Doug postulate for a more stable job, as junior executive in a pet-related company...
Fri, Apr 14, 2000
Idealist Heather is tickled pink she can work for this year's Earth Day regional committee, and presents her hand-picked stand-in: Robbie, who keeps doing bar evening shifts at the same time. Alas his social skills aren't matched by secretarial ones; dad doesn't have the heart to fire him, but sets a crafty hamster trap... Syd was excited that a New York med school reunion offers her another chance with hunky bachelor Eric, who even sent her flowers, but is preoccupied by lying patient Talia, whose baby needs a blood transfusion from her haughty black single father Marcus Weber, who refuses unless Talia dumps her charming white mate Jake, the baby's loving dad... Doug has a great innovating idea, the aromatic pet mating collar in functional colors, but promises his boss a prototype demonstration without having tested anything, Joanie helps while instincts don't. Actually his success comes at a surprising price...
Fri, Apr 28, 2000
Dad is reluctant to be Syd's friend photographer Monica Lang's American workers series vet, but a puppy abuse project gets him riveted. When his daughters see them getting on like a house on fire, they fear the younger woman might, once the fire subsides, leave him and keep the house... Robbie considers game shows a lame waste of time, especially Chuck Chance's 'Down on Your Luck' where contestants tell their pitiful loser story before playing the trivia quiz, but hearing the prize is $100,000 still gets a fan to give him Providence auditions specifics. The only hurdle is abusive quiz-master Chuck himself, but Robbie's rascal charm seemingly gets his assistant Andi Paulsen on his side.
Fri, May 5, 2000
Robbie is already in heaven expecting to win $100,000 on TV in two weeks, and generously roots for dads happiness with much younger Monica Lang, who his sisters sort of selfishly shun as step-mother-to-be. Syd's old friend John Currier intends to turn from workaholic to recreational angler after beating his pancreatic cancer; alas the oncologist tells her it spread hopelessly already... Joanie stupidly starts a fire in her Barkery and wakes up in the strong arms of part-time barman-fireman Burt Ridley; even better, he asks her out for lunch and calls her the only significant girl since he has both jobs, only after a passionate kiss lets her realize he's her secret Zorro... Quizmaster Chuck Chance's assistant Andy shows Robbie a trivia gossip book; he does well in Down On Your Luck, but wonders how many answers are in that very book... Syd invites Monica for a family dinner but sees her intimate with a younger man. John dies...
Fri, May 12, 2000
Robbie is cramming trivia for the next round of Down on Your Luck, his ticket to a chance of winning $100,000, but assistant Andi insists he can only succeed if she continues -as he suspected- feeding him answers, which would cost 40%, and his self-respect... Syd is not herself, obsessed with getting fat or going mad, even gets Alice in Wonderland day-dreams and faints feverish. Dad looks forward to an exhibition of Monica's photographs, including some with him, but didn't tell the kids in time. Monica has a new assignment, a month in Paris in all- and asks Jim along. Discovering her colleague Donald feels being in a Nicaraguan prison created a unique bond starts trouble when the reporter pair is urgently sent to cover a Karen (tribal) rebellion in Burma... Joanie feels her Burt is too much of a gentleman, but hopes that will change in old Bud & Darlene's 'exclusive' B&B Château D'Amour- alas she's rather put to domestic - and he to repair chores, by the time they're alone they doze off, in the morning the oldies even steal her elaborate breakfast. Syd is hospitalized for a CAT scan...
Fri, May 19, 2000
The Hansen family hopes to be strong and supportive now Syd is comatose, cause unknown, dreaming about ma and St.Peter introducing her 'in between' to paradise or return to life, a paradoxical choice her body and heart must make. Andy suggests Robbie will need the $100,000 prize to pay for Syd's long-term care, and announces she'll move on to an LA game show after his finale. Joanie is happy with Burt and his new Dalmatian puppy, kissing and dining yet absent-minded, but he is called for a huge fire, and gets trapped inside. After Syd gets convulsions only to revert to an even deeper state then coma, Jim remembers Syd was with him in a cloud of mosquitoes at the marina, Dr. Hopper concurs encephalitis is around. Robbie is not handed the answer but knows it anyway, only...