2nd Season
2001-2002
#1 The Stars Align
#2 Changes
#3 A Job Well Done
#4 Crazy Time
#5 Closure
#6 Replacements
#7 The New World
#8 Goodbye Sadie
 		#9 Charity Cases
#10 Small Town Guys
#11 Two Days of Freedom
#12 Untitled 12
#13 Youth Bandits
#14 Things To Do Today
#15 Untitled 15
#16 Wheel of Justice
 		#17 Lloyd
#18 Trust
#19 Untitled 20
#20 Power of the Person
#21 Memory Lane
#22 Last Chance
Other seasons
1 | 2 | 3 | 4

#1 The Stars Align: Aired Wednesday, October 10, 2001

Ed unravels himself from Bonnie, who, it turns out, just came to town to make sure she was over Ed before saying yes to a marriage proposal from her ex. Carol meets the awful new principal, Dennis Martino, who makes her feel like her life is pathetic. Ed continues to pursue Carol, but Carol tells him she's too scared of having another relationship end badly. Ed has to defend Warren when the boy is charged with reckless endangerment after bringing a keg of beer to a high school party. Nancy has trouble adjusting to being a house-wife and getting the couch fixed. Phil returns just in time to unravel the mystery of a pony delivered to the bowling alley and keep the health inspector from shutting the place down.

top
#2 Changes: Aired Wednesday, October 17, 2001

Ed helps man who wants to change into a different person, including legally changing his name. Ed finds out that his client is actually running scared from a cancer diagnosis and encourages the scared man to return to his supportive wife. Ed meets the new principal, Dennis, and immediately indentifies him as a "cool guy," someone Carol might be interested in. Carol insists she has no warm feelings for her new boss. Ed tries unsucessfully to turn himself into a cool guy. Phil tries to pick up women at the bowling alley using magic a la David Blaine. Mike decides to quit the practice when he can't put up with Dr. Jerome any longer, but Dr. Jerome finally tells Mike that he'll be retiring in two months, so Mike holds his tongue. Molly's surprise birthday party for herself is a bit disappointing when the cute bowling salesman that she like, Jim Frost, doesn't show up.

top
#3 A Job Well Done: Aired Wednesday, October 24, 2001

Ed finds himself representing a local sleazeball who make the women that sell suits in his store dress in skimpy clothing and flirt with customers. Molly is furious that Ed would represent such a man, and Ed tries to get out of the case, but the judge won't let him... plus Ed takes his job seriously and thinks that the man didn't necessarily break the law. Mike thinks it might be time to have another baby but Nancy is overwhelmed and disagrees. Carol doesn't appreciate it when Dennis interferes with her teaching style, but ends up having to acknowledge that he gave her some good advice. Phil leads the mad hunt for a customer's missing bowling ball.

top
#4 Crazy Time: Aired Wednesday, October 31, 2001

Molly goes out a couple nights with Jim Frost, but gets the distinct feeling he just wants to be buddies. When she finally tells him she can't be just his buddy, he kisses her. Ed represents a couple whose son ran away after being told by TV personality Dr. Crazy that he should "get out while he still can." Dr. Crazy makes a public apology on TV and Ed happily drops the case the parents' request, but Ed is disturbed when he realizes that Dr. Crazy just manipulated him. Warren tries to make a big splash at the school pep rally to impress Jessica Martell, even though his new lab partner, Diane, warns him not to. After Warren bombs at the pep rally, Diane tells him that she'll teach him how to get Jessica the right way.

top
#5 Closure: Aired Wednesday, November 7, 2001

Molly and Jim are happily dating, but when Jim has to cancel a date for work, Molly starts feeling insecure and decides to break things off before she can get hurt. Luckily, she isn't able to go through with it. Dr. Jerome continues to torture Mike, insisting that the young doctor memorize sixteen notebooks worth of information. Mike initially thinks that Dr. Jerome is crazy, and his Johns Hopkins medical education should be enough, but after a particularly moving incident with an elderly patient, Mike realizes that Dr. Jerome really has some gems of wisdom about his patients. Phil interrogates Shirley and Kenny when too many people correctly guess the number of gumballs in the huge jar and win a free bowl. Phil later realizes that the "secret" place where he put the number was actually very visible. At Carol's behest, Ed represents a Brazilian woman whose husband suspects she married him to get a green card. The case reminds Ed of his own failed marriage and he invites Liz out to Stuckeyville to get some closure. Ed's closing argument in court not only wins his client the time she needs to convince her husband she really loves him, it sends a message to Liz who appreciates the sentiment.

top
#6 Replacements: Aired Wednesday, November 14, 2001

When a friendly lawyer named Joe Baxter asks Ed for a job, Ed turns him down but is flattered when Joe asks if he could just observe Ed at work for awhile. Joe Baxter then opens his own competing bowling alley lawyer business, copying everything from Ed's gesturing with a baseball bat to copies of Phil, Shirley and Kenny. Ed is angry and frustrated when Joe steals a client, so he decides to represent the opposition and takes Joe down in court. Carol is frustrated with Dennis all over again and decides to write a scathing letter to the school board. However, when she investigates Dennis's past, she is confused how he won teacher of the year in Massachusetts and was then fired. She tries to reach out to Dennis and figure out the mystery that is Principal Martino, but he just gets meaner and meaner to her. No one is more confused than Carol when she sponataneously kisses Dennis. Diane convinces Warren to join the wrestling team to impress Jessica Martell, and even Warren gets his butt kicked while trying out, Jessica takes some notice.

top
#7 The New World: Aired Wednesday, November 21, 2001

Ed keeps the town parade from being cancelled by inspiring the local merchants, reminding them that the Pilgrims had it tough, but they still chose to be happy and celebrate. Nancy starts selling homemade cookies at the local farmers' market, but she's so successful that the other cookie moms sabotage her. She gets them back by ruining their Thanksgiving Day business by giving away free cookies at the parade. Dennis softens towards Carol and they start being friendly even though there is a bit of awkwardness from their shared kiss. Dennis asks Ed to represent him when he's being ridiculously sued for a minor car accident. Dennis is reluctant to go to court, making it difficult for Ed to settle for any reasonable amount of money. Dennis finally admits, to both Ed and Carol, that he's a recovering alcoholic, and the reason he had to leave Massachusetts was because he got in a car accident driving drunk with a student in his car. Dennis knows this information will come out in court and he'll have to leave town, so he's desperate to settle, even if it takes his life savings. Luckily, Ed tricks opposing council into letting the case drop by making it seem like Dennis is ready to go to court. Dennis and Carol share another kiss and Ed begins to notice their blossoming relationship.

top
#8 Goodbye Sadie: Aired Monday, December 3, 2001

Diane gets her cousins Alison, a publicist, to help improve Warren's image. Alison gets Warren's picture in the paper with a mysterious model from New York (actually Shirley with a makeover) and then has him throw a party that no one can get into. The plan works and Jessica Martell invites Warren to hang out with her and her popular friends, but Diane isn't necessarily happy with the result. Ed defends Arnold Bancroft, the middle-school drama teacher accused of being racist because he didn't cast a black kid as the lead in a play about Abe Lincoln freeing the slaves. Ed successfully proves that not only is Bancroft not racist, but he is being attacked simply because he is gay. With Jim's help, Molly finally gets a new car, but still has trouble letting go of the old one that breaks down all the time. She finally admits to Jim that her first kiss was in her old car, and so she and Jim decide to make out in the back of her new car to make new memories. Molly finally ceremoniously dumps her old car into Stuckeyville Pond.

top
#9 Charity Cases: Aired Wednesday, December 12, 2001

Mike is concerned with setting a good example for Sarah now that he is noticing her taking in the world around her, but Nancy mocks him when he tries to change who he is. Ed learns a lesson in charity when he helps an elderly philanthropist give away almost $200,000, and then finds out that he actually helped to put a valuable foundation out of business. Ed throws a charity-themed Christmas party in order to raise money to keep the foundation afloat. Sparks fly between Carol and Dennis and they finally sleep together, but then Dennis blows her off and brings a beautiful woman as his date to Ed's charity party.

top
#10 Small Town Guys: Aired Wednesday, January 9, 2002

An ex-classmate of Ed's named Bob is being sued for embarassing a woman on his web site and comes to Ed for help. The case attracts the attention of a famous lawyer, Gary Siringo, who wants to turn the case into a huge First Ammendment deal and take it all the way to the Supreme Court... even if that means losing the case on purpose the first time around. Dr. Jerome tells Mike he's not going to retire at the end of the week after all, and Mike loses his patience and quits. However, Dr. Jerome points out that Mike has an iron-clad contract and can't quit. Mike starts a quest to make Dr. Jerome miserable so that Dr. Jerome will fire him, but finally gives up on Nancy's advice. Dr. Jerome asks Mike if he seriously thinks he's ready to start his own practice, and Mike says he is, so Dr. Jerome fires him. Warren decides the road to winning Jessica's heart is becoming the class clown, and embarks upon a quest to make his lady laugh, but Diane can't think of enough ways to say I told you so when Jessica laughs and laughs, but still turns Warren down for a date. Warren thanks Jessica for turning him down, and tells her it wouldn't have worked out anyway because she belongs with guys like Jakey and Fozcat. Jessica asks Warren to the movies. Phil reads a book on interpreting body language, but he almost always interprets wrong.

top
#11 Two Days of Freedom: Aired Wednesday, January 16, 2002

Ed is put in the strange position of bearing witness to man's two days of freedom granted by his wife on his 50th birthday. Ed is horrified when the man actually uses his freedom and sleeps with another, but he's even more astounded when the wife finds out about it and isn't overly upset. Carol lies to Ed that she and Dennis were never involved, and meanwhile Dennis makes a sincere effort to win Carol over again. Ed finds out Carol lied, and is initially very upset, but finally puts things in perspective and forgives her. Carol gives Dennis another chance. Warren takes Jessica out on their first date, and everything is going great until Warren mentions how surprised he is that Jessica is so cool. Jessica takes offense, tells Warren that he just asked her out because she's pretty, and stomps out of the restaurant. Phil and Ken try to create a new food sensation that will put Stuckeyville on the map.

top
#12 Untitled 12: Aired Wednesday, January 30, 2002

Ed helps a cute insurance claims adjuster, Kate, get her job back after she is unfairly accused of embezzling $20,000 and fired. Kate and Ed go out on a date the following night and hit it off. Just when things start to get romantic, Kate admits that she actually did embezzle the money, but she did it to save a man's life. The man's claim was refused and if didn't get the liver transplant he needed he was going to die. Ed convinces Kate to turn herself, and promises her that he'll make sure she doesn't have to go to jail. Kate turns herself in, but the DA, who has political aspirations, decides to make and example of her and tries to send her to jail. Ed isn't proud of it, but he blackmails the DA to make him ease up a little on Kate. After Kate gets off with probation and community service, she asks Ed out to dinner again, but Ed turns her down. Nancy tries substituting teaching, but it soon becomes clear that she'd be much better as a guidance counselor. Phil turns a 9-year-old's birthday at Stuckeybowl into a Dean Martin-style celebrity roast which is surprisingly successful.

top
#13 Youth Bandits: Aired Wednesday, February 6, 2002

Ed and his friends from high school are rocked when one of their old classmates dies in a car accident leaving behind a wife and a son. Ed, Mike and their old friend Barney reunite their high school band to play a song at their friend's funeral as they promised him they would when they were seventeen. Phil, who never graduated high school, takes an adult education class in chemistry from Molly, but doesn't take it seriously. She tutors him and he just manages to pass his first test. Warren apologizes to Jessica and she not only forgives him, but she kisses him. To commemorate this momentous occassion, Warren gets a tatto of an infinity symbol, but his father busts him. Meanwhile, Jessica realizes she's never really been single and she needs to get to know herself better which means she needs to be alone, so she dumps Warren.

top
#14 Things To Do Today: Aired Tuesday, February 27, 2002

A beautiful blonde woman walks up to Ed and kisses him on the mouth. He tracks her down and she explains that she tries to do a few random things each day to keep life interesting and test her inhibitions. She and Ed start dating, but he is shocked to see her kiss another random man on the street a couple days later. She says she'll give up kissing random men for him, but after spending the night at Ed's house, she disappears leaving him a note apologizing and telling him that he needs to find the right woman for him. Molly is upset with Carol when Carol gets to head the coveted student TV project at school and Carol realizes that her relationship with Dennis could affect her relationships with her fellow teachers. Carol becomes more concerned about keeping her relationship with Dennis a secret. Warren and his friends Mark and Diane, decide to do an exposé on the school cafeteria for their school TV show, but find a much juicier story when they accidentally film Carol and Dennis kissing in the parking lot. Carol and Dennis appeal to Warren's compassionate side, while not forbidding him from airing the film, and Warren decides to go with the cafeteria story and leave Carol and Dennis their privacy. Ed finds out that Jim has a wife and forces him to tell Molly. Jim tells Molly and she is crushed and stops taking his calls. Jim tells Ed that his marriage is really over and he's in love with Molly, but Molly still not sure she's ready to talk to him again.

top
#15 Untitled 15: Aired Wednesday, March 6, 2002

Ed coaches a pushover lawyer, Barry Gleep, in the art of negotiating after a trucking company realizes they can save a lot of money avoiding a highway toll by driving straight through the center of Stuckeyville. The two lawyers together force the truck company's council to agree to keep all the trucks out of town. Carol makes the mistake of asking Dennis to read her short story before she submits it to a famous visiting writer, Robert Stanley. Dennis warns her that he hates everything he reads, but reads it anyway and then predicatably tears it apart. When Carol comes crying to Ed, Ed pulls Dennis aside and reminds him that, while honesty is good, Carol needs a little extra confidence in order to get up the guts to let a writer read her story. Dennis goes to Carol and tells her all the things that he criticized over the years and thought would flop, such as "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and Wendy's square hamburgers. Carol, confident that Dennis's criticism isn't the end of the world, asks Stanley to read her story and is pleased when he graciously agrees to do so. Molly continues to avoid Jim, even when he calls her many times a day, shows up at school, and shows up at the dinner party honoring Robert Stanley. Even when Jim tells her he loves her, Molly just walks away.

top
#16 Wheel of Justice: Aired Wednesday, March 27, 2002

When Carol fights a speeding ticket and appears in front of Ed's favorite judge, Ed and Carol end up in an adventure that includes spending a night in jail, spending a night stranded in the woods, and reuniting a grandfather who has lost his faith in justice with a grandson who was seriously injured in the prime of his sports career. Mike opens his new practice with little fanfare and no patients. Nancy finally talks him into hiring a persistent consultant, and the consultant films a ridiculous television ad of Mike that makes him look like the stud of doctors. Although Mike suddenly gets an influx of female patients, he is embarassed and miserable, and with Nancy's blessing he fires his consultant and goes back to getting patients the old-fashioned way. Ed tells Phil to hire a weekend clown to attract more kids to Stuckeybowl, and Phil puts a large number of clowns through a rigorous multi-day audition before making his choice. Dennis has a job interview in Minnesota and Carol wonders what will happen if he gets it.

top
#17 Lloyd: Aired Wednesday, April 3, 2002

Ed's older brother Lloyd, who's one of those guys who always has a new scheme, blows into town and sells Ed on the idea of turning Stuckeybowl into a bowling alley/nightclub called Strikes. Ed worries that Lloyd is going to screw it up, but can't say no to his brother. The club's grand opening night is a great success, but the very next morning Lloyd misses a meeting with the advertiser and Ed blows up at him. Lloyd decides to leave town to get in on a buffalo burger company that a friend is starting in Las Vegas. Warren gets into a fraternity party with the help of a beautiful blonde co-ed named Carrie's who takes a liking to him. Warren and Carrie end up in an upstairs room half-naked, but Carrie admits that she's just trying to win a contest with some friends by sleeping with a virgin. Warren doesn't mind being used to win a contest, but Carrie feels too bad about it and leaves. Mark finally gets Warren to look at Diane Snyder in a new light. Nancy meets a man with whom she's been chatting online for almost a year and is horrified to find out that he's a thirteen-year-old boy. She tries to have a real-life friendship with the boy, but is just too weirded out by the situation.

top
#18 Trust: Aired Wednesday, April 10, 2002

Ed defends Mike when a nurse at his new practice sues him for sexual harassment. Mike and Ed's friendship is almost destroyed when Ed starts to think that Mike is actually guilty, but with Nancy's support, Mike and Ed get through it and win the case at the same time. Phil tries to unionize the content employees at Stuckeybowl so that he can steal food from the snack bar. Carol has a rough start when she tries writing for the local newspaper, but the editor is encouraging.

top
#19 Untitled 20: Aired Wednesday, April 24, 2002

Molly runs into Jim at the Smiling Goat and ends up falling into bed with him. She gives him a final ultimatum: tell your wife about us or lose me. Jim says he'll do as she asks, but after she sees Jim and his wife together, she realizes that she doesn't want to break up a marriage and tells Jim not to bother, she's gone anyway. Ed, still smarting after missing the foul shot that cost his high school basketball team the state championship, reunites his team, the opposing team, and even the old referee for a "do-over." It's a sad Molly who gets Ed to realize that he wouldn't have necessarily had a better life if he had made that winning shot, and Ed ends up missing his do-over foul shot on purpose. Phil concocts some complicated schemes to get Shirley together with a delivery guy she likes, Jack, but it's Kenny who uses the straightforward approach of just talking to Jack.

top
#20 Power of the Person: Aired Wednesday, May 1, 2002

Ed coaches a high school Quizbowl team and convinces a belligerent Dennis to let a certain student participate for the student's sake, even though he brings down the team a little. Ed realizes that Dennis has started drinking again, but doesn't tell Carol. Phil decides to become a fight promoter like Don King, and does everything right except making sure that his contestants can box. Warren tries to find religion, but his quest keeps leading him back to Diane. He finally surprises her with a kiss.

top
#21 Memory Lane: Aired Wednesday, May 8, 2002

A despairing Ed realizes how close he is to losing Carol forever when he discovers that not only have she and Dennis moved in together, but Dennis has purchased a diamond ring. Ed becomes obsessed with preserving his own past when he represents an elderly woman who lost all of her photo memories to a faulty photo-processing shop. Dennis runs for senior class president to bring down a snotty student leader a notch or two. After a period of awkwardness, Warren and Diane try dating, but Diane finds out that she actually has more chemistry with Warren's best-buddy Mark.

top
#22 Last Chance: Aired Wednesday, May 15, 2002

Diane and Mark assure Warren that their kiss meant nothing, and after pouting for awhile, Warren takes Diane back as his girlfriend and Mark back as his friend. Mark realizes that he actually does have feelings for Diane and decides to pursue her romantically. Diane takes him on the ferris wheel at the town fair and kisses him again. Warren pouts for awhile, but eventually takes Diane and Mark both back as his friends and Mark wins the girl. Mike encourages Ed to make a last-ditch effort for Carol. Ed fears that Dennis is going to propose marriage to Carol, but instead Dennis asks Carol to go away with him for the summer. Ed finally gets the nerve up and, just before Dennis and Carol leave for their vacation, he gives Carol a last passionate kiss. The whole town competes in the talent show at the town fair, of which Molly is a judge.

top
Other seasons
1 | 2 | 3 | 4