Though Alex loves working at Mr. Adler's "Mom and Pop" grocery store, to the old man's dismay, he quits to "climb the corporate ladder" at an ultramodern supermarket.

When pretty Carrie Newman and her mother Julia come to visit the Keatons, Carrie's forward behavior sends Alex into a panic.

On his 18th birthday, Alex defies his mother and goes off with some of his buddies to celebrate at an out-of-town nightclub.

Elyse is stricken with gambling fever on a business trip to Atlantic City. While on a roll with Alex's "foolproof" blackjack system, she's oblivious to her family and job.

Alex is thrilled to be taking a college course taught by one of his personal heroes, Professor Ephraim Bronski. In his eagerness to impress the teacher he gets off to a bad start and is humiliated by his idol when he fails the first class assignment.

Little Jennifer is thrilled about getting a visit from her former neighborhood pal, Scott, whom she hasn't seen in five years.

Alex reluctantly accepts a part-time job with his father at the non-profit station, and his dad is bursting with pride to have him following in his footsteps.

As an economics student, Alex finds it demeaning to be forced into a public service position, but his experiences at the crisis center gives him a new outlook on life.

While Steven and Elyse are away on vacation, Mallory accidentally crashes her parents' car into a telephone pole. The kids need to raise money for auto repairs and decides to turn the Keaton house into a hotel.

Alex cannot accept the fact that he and everyone around him are growing up, and desperately clings to his old ways.

Alex plays Cupid to help his shy pal Skippy get together with Jane, the girl of his dreams, but his good intentions go awry when the girl falls for him instead.

Alex hires an attractive housekeeper Karen Nicholson (Geena Davis) with no experience who meets his special criteria.

Alex's chances for acceptance into a smug college fraternity are dependent upon him having a knockout date for the pledge dance.

Alex is a stand-in at a Lamaze class for pregnant, single, college students. Alex's natural over-enthusiasm gets the best of him as he envisions nurturing a relationship with a girl named Donna (Isabelle Walker) and her unborn child, and leading it into marriage and a family. It takes Elyse to set him straight ... and even alert him to the possibility that Donna may not want to keep the baby.

Mallory's beloved Aunt Trudy (Edith Atwater) suffers a fatal heart attack. Mallory falls into a deep depression, but matters are compounded when the family brushes her off to tend to what they feel are more important matters.

While doing a term paper for history class on colonial times, Alex suffers from a cold and falls asleep. In a dream, Alex becomes a Philadelphia stable boy who, with his friend Skipford (Marc Price in character as Skippy), experience the events leading to the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Michael Gross doubles as a Steven Keaton-inspired Thomas Jefferson.

It's Pledge Week again at Steven's TV station but Alex, Mallory and Jennifer are not very enthusiastic about it this year. But after Steven is called home to deal with plumbing problems, Elyse performs on-air...and then goes into labor.

With Steven, Skippy, and the plumber stuck in the massive snowstorm, Elyse remains at the TV station in the final stages of labor.

With two careers, three bickering children and one demanding baby, Steven and Elyse can't seem to find any time for each other. But when they do finally take the time for a quiet evening alone, they find out that they actually miss all of the chaos.

Skippy accidentally locks himself in the basement with Mallory while the rest of the Keatons are away visiting some of the acquaintances made at their past Lamaze classes. Mallory clashes at first over Skippy's unrequited feelings for her, but soon she realizes that, despite his quirks, he has been a kind and good friend to her.

College Sophomore Alex dates a cute freshman he spotted in the school catalogue, but ends up falling for her roommate, Ellen (Tracy Pollan), instead.

Jennifer defends her boyfriend (Noah Hathaway) from the attacks of a bully (Danny Nucci) with complications. In the subplot, Alex is devastated when Mallory scores higher than he does on an IQ test.

Alex has trouble sleeping, and his problems affect the whole family, much to their displeasure.

Jennifer asks Alex for help with her social studies class oral report, but Alex's intellect takes over the whole assignment, so that Jennifer's school is very impressed with the finished project but Jennifer does not understand a word of it herself.

Alex competes in the Chess match finals against Russia's top player, Ivan Rozmirovich (Albert Macklin). However, things start to go awry when Alex figures out that his opponent is attempting to throw the match.

Steven has to learn to accept that Jennifer is growing up. The only way he can get any time with her is to take her to her Sunflower Girls meeting, where he sticks out like a sore thumb. Meanwhile, Alex goes out early on a Saturday to fight a traffic ticket he feels he didn't deserve.

Mallory faces the possibility of not graduating high school unless she passes a tough final oral exam taken by 'Mrs. Hillman' (Gracie Harrison) her strict history teacher.

Steven and Elyse enroll 3-year-old Andrew in preschool, but it soon becomes clear that Alex objects to the school's values of sharing and cooperation.

Elyse plays matchmaker when she tries to fix up a lonely colleague with her neighbor's daughter Liz Obeck (Terry Farrell).

Elyse's sister Michelle, her obnoxious husband (Stuart Pankin), and their bratty children come for a visit, and despite Steven's attempts to tolerate their presence, it eventually becomes too much.

Mallory—having recently broken up with Rick (rather than Nick, this episode was filmed 2 years prior and breaks continuity)—comes home after yet another disastrous date. Alex, determined to get Mallory to forget Rick and find her a boyfriend, uses Jennifer's computer to snare the perfect guy. But how will Alex respond when Mallory doesn't like the guy the computer chooses for her?

It's Jennifer's birthday, so she decides to invite the trendiest girls in school to her party. However, when the party proves lame, the cool girls leave, and she leaves with them.

Now part of the trendiest clique in school, Jennifer talks valleyspeak and spends all her time at the mall. However, when she's caught cutting class, she's grounded and misses out on going to a football game with the family.

Steven and Elyse argue for a week about their upcoming 20th anniversary party, leading the kids to remind them of their love for each other.

Cousin June (Danielle von Zerneck) returns to the United States after three years abroad in England. She has lots to tell, but the entire family has stories of their own.

When Alex lands his dream job in New York, everyone (except Elyse) is delighted for him. At the end of the show, the cast and the show's creator Gary David Goldberg come out for a final curtain call.