Step by Step

Frank and Carol are having trouble getting some quiet time away from Jean-Luc, Carol's new business partner. Dana is dismayed to find out that the first person she is tutoring is Rich, but there is an interesting effect on both of them.

JT and Rich head out on a road trip to Mexico, and Dana stows away to keep an eye on Rich. Things don't go well when all three end up in jail. When Carol learns that Jean-Luc cannot drive a car she offers to teach him.

Frank and Carol are not happy when JT starts dating a 29 year-old French woman, but she has an ulterior motive. Mark and his mates hire a porn video but Frank springs them before they have a chance to watch it.

Carol stops Al from going to a rock festival. They find out that Carol went to Woodstock so she relents. When there, Al is tempted to try marijuana. An old friend of Carol's, who is married, pays a visit and starts flirting with Jean-Luc.

Rich becomes very jealous when Dana has dinner with an old classmate, especially when Rich finds out he's in Harvard. When Frank's camping buddy pulls out Jean-Luc replaces him. Jean-Luc isn't cut out for the outdoor life.

J.T. claims like Rich cars are men's business, till his is repaired -actually just diagnosed wrong gear- by foxy mechanic Samantha 'Sam' Milano. It's love at first sight, sealed by mutual interest sports. However Jean-Luc discovers the horny, otherwise so cocky youngster needs some coaching to engage in his first full-fledged love-affair... Meanwhile Karen's joy to be selected for a recording with her Country & Western idol Jimmy Ray Johnston ends in bitter disappointment...

JT doesn't think the rules of the house should apply to him so he decides to move out, to everybody's joy. Carol wants a girls night with the three girls but has to trick them into going out with her to a karaoke bar.

JT gets Rich to move in with him to help pay the costs of setting up. They take it too casually and, when they don't pay the rent on time, Frank evicts them. Jean-Luc indulges Lilly's every whim and spoils her with dozens of gifts.

Frank is feeling old and going through a mid-life crisis. He decides to try and change his image to that of a much younger man. It is Dana's birthday but she is not impressed when Rich recycles a gift he'd given to another girl.

Frank is tired of being the sheriff of Lambert County, continually having to tell the kids to clean up the house. He then falls asleep and dreams of being the down-and-out sheriff that must save the town of Happy Valley from Black Bart.

It's Lilly's 6th birthday coming up and Dana thinks it will be easy to supervise, as long as you let them know who's boss. Fabio comes to Jean-Luc's studio for a hair cut, which has the girls besotted.

Karen wears the tightest pants and the tallest boots but she still gets dumped by her boyfriend. She then decides to get collagen in her lips as well. Mark has a date with a hot girl but she is far too fast for him, so he panics and runs.

Al likes the sound of the pizza guy on the phone and asks him out, only to find out that he is obese. Carol is not happy when Dana and Rich together with JT and Sam spend the night in a hotel in Chicago after a concert.

Frank is feeling ill and needs Jean-Luc's help to put together a swing set. Unfortunately, Frank tries Jean-Luc's cold remedy. Dana and Rich attend a friend's wedding. When there, they reflect about what would happen if they got married.

After Lambert Construction's win a bowling match, they are challenged by Carol and Jean-Luc to a high-stakes game. JT and Rich want to become the agent of a promising hockey player for the money but he is using them instead.

Al has a date with a school hunk but refuses to have sex with him. However, he tells everybody that they did and that she is 'easy'. Suddenly, she is popular. Carol and Dana do their best to distract Frank and Rich from watching TV sport.

Karen goes to the library and comes back with triplets, and she wants to date them all. Jean-Luc goes with Lilly to have a tetanus shot. Sam is better than JT in a variety of sports and it starts giving him nightmares.

JT finds out that Sam is having a dinner date with a workmate and becomes very jealous when they become room-mates. When Jean-Luc has a tax bill after spending his money on his girlfriend, Carol decides that they will lend him the money.

Lilly wants to know where babies come from so Frank explains it to her. This becomes a problem when she explains to her friends. Jean-Luc is very good at picking winning racehorses, and JT and Rich try to take advantage of it.

Dana and Rich sign up for a recycling contest, but Dana chooses another student to work with. They then become fierce competitors. It's Carol's birthday but Frank's gift of an emergency road safety kit doesn't go down well.

Mark is being embarrassed by Carol, who is having trouble with the idea of him growing up. So Carol is banned from his next basketball game. Spurred on by JT, Rich tries to become more independent from Dana.

Carol's new salon is just about to open and one of her first customers is Hilary Clinton, who wants Jean-Luc to cut her hair. None of Al's boyfriends are good enough for Frank so he decides to choose a boyfriend for her.

The kids are having trouble getting privacy at home when JT comes up with the idea of using Carol's salon as a 'love shack' after business hours. Carol sets up Jean-Luc with a blind date without telling him.

The salon has opened but Frank is not happy when he finds out that it will keep Carol away from home and with Jean-Luc. JT has a date for a party but can't dance, so he asks his sisters to help. However, Jean-Luc is willing to try.