- Clair is upset when Theo brings home a bad report card and claims he has no plans to attend college; Cliff is horrified to meet Denise's date.
- The Huxtable family has gathered around the breakfast table before the kids have to go to school and the parents have to go to work. Clair, the mother, is making eggs and serving cereal while the children dance around the kitchen and the table as the radio plays jazzy music. When the family's only boy, Theo, says that he wanted his eggs scrambled, his mother obliges by scrambling the sunny side-up eggs right on Theo's plate. The second-youngest child, Vanessa, asks her mother if they could get a dog (a recurring request of Vanessa's throughout the series' run), to which her brother replies "We already HAVE a dog; YOU!". Vanessa counters by mentioning that Theo's report card, which he will get that day, will likely have grades with the first letter of the word "dog". Clair tells Theo that she hopes his report card this term will be better than last term. Clair's husband, Cliff, comes downstairs to the kitchen and serves himself oatmeal in a silly manner before he leaves for work.
In a hospital delivery room, Cliff follows a would-be father out to the waiting room. The man has been scared off by his wife's attitude in during what appears to be a painful delivery -- the man says his wife had yelled at him to leave the room. Cliff comforts the father and tells him to buck up and to cheer for his wife as she goes through the birth. Cliff's words are very inspirational and the father enthusiastically returns to his wife's side.
That evening, while the family, minus Cliff, eat dinner, the children have the usual spate of arguments, bickering and minor physical altercations, especially when Theo won't stop teasing his youngest sister, Rudy. Clair reminds Theo that he's already in very hot water for bringing home a report card with D grades in every class. Clair orders Theo to his room to await his father's return from work and also orders Vanessa and Rudy to go upstairs and get ready for bed. As they all walk upstairs, Clair has to yell at them again to stop fighting.
Cliff arrives home, cheerful that the birth he was performing was a success. Clair immediately asks him in a cross tone why they had to have four children (a small error in the series, since it's revealed later that Clair and Cliff actually have five children). Clair hands Cliff Theo's report card and tells him to go upstairs and talk to their son about becoming a better student. When Cliff suggests he get something to eat first, Clair glares a bit and he tells her he'll "be meaner on an empty stomach."
Cliff enters Theo's room, which is a complete mess of strewn-about clothes and personal objects and talks to his son. Theo's attitude is one of indifference; Theo feels he doesn't need to do better in school or go to college. He tells Cliff he wants to get a job like "regular people", say driving a bus or working in a gas station. Cliff then demonstrates what life would be like for a person who earns the lower wages of a "regular person" using the money from Theo's nearby Monopoly set. Theo expects that he'll earn $250 per week; Cliff says he'll give him $300/week, $1200 per month. Theo is excited, until Cliff subtracts $350 for taxes, saying "the government comes for the regular people FIRST." Cliff tells Theo he'll have to find an apartment (emphasizing that he cannot live in his parents' home) and that one in Manhattan will cost $400/month in rent. Theo counters, saying he can live in New Jersey for $200. Cliff takes another $200 for a car; Theo takes back $100 saying he'll get a motorcycle. Cliff takes an additional $50 for a helmet. Cliff subtracts a further $100 for clothing, Theo gives him another $100 saying he wants to "look good!" Cliff takes $100 a month for food; Theo takes it back claiming he can "get by on bologna and cereal". When Theo cheerfully says he has everything he needs and $200 extra for the month, Cliff asks him if he plans to have a girlfriend and when Theo cheerfully says "For sure!", heartlessly takes Theo's last $200.
Cliff hears an argument out in the hall and finds Rudy and Vanessa have been kicked out of the bathroom by their older sister Denise, who needs to get ready for a date. Vanessa describes a desperate situation where shampoo from the shower has run into Rudy's eyes & may blind her. Cliff catches Denise as she comes out of the bathroom and objects to Denise's going out on a date and the outfit she's wearing. Denise tells Cliff that she'd gotten permission from her mother. Denise retreats to change her outfit and Cliff goes downstairs to talk to Clair.
When he asks Clair "how ugly" Denise's date is, the young man hears him and Cliff invites him to talk while they sit on the family couch. The young man has a fairly haughty attitude. Cliff notices that he has one ear pierced, a tradition the young man partook of when he was a merchant Marine & crossed the equator. When Cliff asks the guy if he's shipping out any time soon, the guy tells him that he's out of the merchant Marines and back in school -- TWO years behind Denise. He also tells Cliff that after being in a Turkish prison, "everything else is easy." Cliff is flustered a
In the kitchen, Cliff fills Clair in on his conversation with their son. When Cliff tells her that Theo's responded with a mere "I'll try" to Cliff economics lesson and his lecture about doing better in school, Clair isn't satisfied and tells Cliff to talk to Theo again.
Back upstairs, Cliff approves of Denise's new ensemble but questions her about her makeup and her date's personal history. Humored, Denise kisses him and goes off to meet her date. Cliff then remembers he has to finish his talk with Theo. His son gives a heartfelt response to Cliff's earlier lecture, saying that if his father wasn't a doctor & earned less, he would still love them. Theo believes that Cliff should accept Theo's belief that he was meant not to excel in school or go to college and that he can live like a regular person. Cliff considers this for a moment and then tells Theo, in a raised and angry voice that Theo's impassioned reply is "the *dumbest thing [he's] ever heard in [his] life!" He tells Theo unequivocally that he will try harder in school and will be successful. Cliff also tells him in a softer tone that he loves him very much and wants him to do the best he can. Theo agrees.
Down in the kitchen, Cliff gets something to eat and fills Clair in on what he told Theo. Clair is critical at first but then realizes that Cliff had properly lectured Theo on success in life starting in school.
Later that evening when Cliff and Clair get ready for bed, Cliff begins to get amorous with Clair, who reminds him that "this is how we got the children in the first place." Cliff still does but there's a knock at the door; it's Vanessa and Rudy. Following a brief lesson on proper etiquette for entering a room, Vanessa tells her parents that Rudy can't sleep because the Wolf-man is in their closet. Clair invites them to sleep with their parents that night and all four crowd into the bed. When Cliff turns out the light and says "Goodnight, dear" all three comically tell him the same.
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What is the broadcast (satellite or terrestrial TV) release date of Pilot (1984) in Brazil?
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