Home / Series / Family / Aired Order /

All Seasons

Season 1

  • S01E01 Pilot (a.k.a. The Best Years)

    • March 9, 1976
    • ABC (US)

    Buddy hears Kate say something about her, and isn't happy. Also, Nancy walks in on Jeff with another woman.

  • S01E02 Monday is Forever

    • March 16, 1976
    • ABC (US)

    Kate has to wait until Monday to find out whether she has cancer; Buddy and her friend Laura Richardson have until Monday, when the latter's family is scheduled to move to Detroit.

  • S01E03 A Special Kind of Loving

    • March 23, 1976
    • ABC (US)

    Willie meets, and starts spending lots of time with, Salina -- leading to a tiff with Buddy, right when she needs him to help conquer her fear of diving.

  • S01E04 A Right and Proper Goodbye

    • March 30, 1976
    • ABC (US)

    Kate's mother comes for one last visit.

  • S01E05 Thursday's Child

    • April 6, 1976
    • ABC (US)

    As Timmy Jr.'s christening approaches, the whole family (especially Buddy, who stubbornly refuses to take part) relives the painful memories of Timmy Sr.'s death.

  • S01E06 Point of Departure

    • April 13, 1976
    • ABC (US)

    Doug resents Willie's attitude towards work, the universe, and everything; a string of burglaries sweeps through the neighborhood.

Season 2

  • S02E01 Coming Apart

    • October 6, 1976
    • ABC (US)

    Buddy gets a job at a bakery, and introduces Willie to her boss, ""Big Al""; Nancy gets involved with Peter, while she's finalizing her divorce from Jeff -- despite the latter's pleas for a reconciliation.

  • S02E02 Such Sweet Sorrow

    • October 19, 1976
    • ABC (US)

    Salina drops by, at a time when Willie is having problems with Alex; Doug is offered a great job in New York.

  • S02E03 Home Movie

    • October 26, 1976
    • ABC (US)

    Willie drives everyone crazy by following them around and filming them; Buddy has difficulty with a school assignment -- writing a speech on the topic of ""How I intend to leave my mark on the world""; Kate runs into a former roommate, who has become a successful author.

  • S02E04 Coming of Age

    • November 9, 1976
    • ABC (US)

    Buddy officially reaches puberty; Nancy is caught between Kate's resentment of her thoughtlessness, Peter's proposal of marriage, and a come-on from a complete stranger.

  • S02E05 Jury Duty (1)

    • November 16, 1976
    • ABC (US)

    Kate is subjected to widespread abuse for being the lone holdout; Buddy captures first prize, T.J.'s heart, and (for good measure) the real killer.

  • S02E06 Jury Duty (2)

    • November 23, 1976
    • ABC (US)

  • S02E07 The Cradle Will Fall

    • November 30, 1976
    • ABC (US)

  • S02E08 Skeleton in the Closet

    • December 7, 1976
    • ABC (US)

  • S02E09 On The First Day Of Christmas (a.k.a. The Christmas Story)

    • December 21, 1976
    • ABC (US)

    Doug is suspicious when his father introduces his new, and much younger, girlfriend; Nancy and Jeff have a fight over who gets Timmy over Christmas.

  • S02E10 Rites of Friendship

    • December 28, 1976
    • ABC (US)

    A friend of Willie's comes out of the closet; Buddy, after getting invited to the ""Junior Jump"" by a popular boy, asks Nancy to teach her to dance.

  • S02E11 An Eye to the Future

    • January 4, 1977
    • ABC (US)

    Buddy (as ""Diamond In the Rough"") gets heavily into the CB scene; Kate decides to go back to college; Doug does a stint as a judge.

  • S02E12 Lovers and Strangers

    • January 11, 1977
    • ABC (US)

    Willie gets cradle-robbed by a visiting movie director, and takes it much too seriously; Doug gets a dog as a birthday present.

  • S02E13 Return Engagement

    • January 18, 1977
    • ABC (US)

  • S02E14 Mirror, Mirror on the Wall . . .

    • February 1, 1977
    • ABC (US)

    A daughter whom Elaine gave up for adoption years ago finds her, through Kate; Willie is intrigued by a pretty client at the photo studio where he works.

  • S02E15 Someone's Watching

    • February 8, 1977
    • ABC (US)

    A series of anonymous gifts eventually makes Nancy feel threatened; Buddy's motor-mouth school-project partner uses the Lawrences as his surrogate family.

  • S02E16 A Safe House

    • February 15, 1977
    • ABC (US)

    A former friend of Willie's, now an outlaw, gives him a call; Buddy thinks she has a great scoop for the school paper.

  • S02E17 Best Friends

    • February 22, 1977
    • ABC (US)

    Nancy attends her high-school reunion, meeting the guy she dumped to marry Jeff; T.J. asks Buddy to a formal dance, causing a rift with Audrey.

  • S02E18 Taking Chances (1)

    • March 1, 1977
    • ABC (US)

    When Doug loses his sight after getting hit by a car, opinions are divided as to whether he should undergo an operation that could either restore it, or kill him; in the meantime, Willie has second thoughts about having quit his job.

  • S02E19 Taking Chances (2)

    • March 8, 1977
    • ABC (US)

    After spending an eternity as a blind man whose youngest daughter despises him, Doug finally musters up the courage to have the operation -- and, of course, all's well.

  • S02E20 Comings and Goings

    • March 22, 1977
    • ABC (US)

    Nancy's former mother-in-law pleads a bad back while visiting and stays in Willie's room, vacant since he decided to live with Salina.

  • S02E21 . . . More Things in Heaven and Earth

    • March 29, 1977
    • ABC (US)

    Kate is shaken by what a supposed psychic says about her long-missing aunt; Nancy lands a prestigious legal assignment, and suspects her looks are the reason.

  • S02E22 An Endangered Species

    • May 3, 1977
    • ABC (US)

    A recently-divorced friend wants to hang out with Kate; Nancy gets upset when a classmate asks to use her place for an affair with a married man.

Season 3

  • S03E01 Acts of Love (1)

    • September 13, 1977
    • ABC (US)

    While Nancy and Buddy prepare for their parents' 25th wedding-anniversary party, Willie meets, and falls in love with, a physics student named Lizzy -- who, as he soon finds out, has radiation sickness.

  • S03E02 Acts of Love (2)

    • September 20, 1977
    • ABC (US)

    Lizzy dies, but not before Willie convinces her to marry him first.

  • S03E03 The First Time

    • September 27, 1977
    • ABC (US)

    Kate unhappily contemplates her 49th birthday; T.J. asks Buddy to go steady with him, but she's not sure.

  • S03E04 Change of Heart

    • October 4, 1977
    • ABC (US)

    Nancy is jealous of Jeff's new fiancée.

  • S03E05 Annie Laurie

    • October 25, 1977
    • ABC (US)

    Doug gets propositioned by a female lawyer.

  • S03E06 We Love You, Miss Jessup

    • November 1, 1977
    • ABC (US)

    Buddy's English teacher gets outed; Willie suspects Nancy of being a home-wrecker.

  • S03E07 The Little Brother

    • November 8, 1977
    • ABC (US)

    Willie fails to understand a black thing; Buddy develops an interest in genealogy.

  • S03E08 Childhood's End

    • November 15, 1977
    • ABC (US)

    Buddy's friend Laura returns for a visit, and -- guess what? -- she, too, is now an alkie; a friend of Doug's, a divorced father, is apprehensive about seeing his kids again.

  • S03E09 A Tale Out of Season

    • November 22, 1977
    • ABC (US)

    Doug's colleague and protégé turns out to be a child-beater; Nancy finds a puppy; Buddy finally gets into the Thanksgiving spirit.

  • S03E10 Labors of Love

    • November 29, 1977
    • ABC (US)

    Buddy, upset by a lack of attention from T.J., tries to make him jealous by hanging out with a geek; Willie catches the eye of his cute über-boss.

  • S03E11 A Child is Given

    • December 13, 1977
    • ABC (US)

    The joy of the holiday season in the Lawrence household is shattered when little Timmy is taken ill and faces a crisis on Christmas Eve.

  • S03E12 More Than Friends

    • January 3, 1978
    • ABC (US)

    Nancy hits it off with Willie's former writing teacher, but things get awkward when he pans Willie's script.

  • S03E13 Princess in the Tower

    • January 10, 1978
    • ABC (US)

    Kate, slightly sick of family life, checks out a model apartment in a brand-new high-rise condo -- and gets trapped overnight, along with a very pregnant younger woman; Buddy has the bright idea of dyeing her hair blonde.

  • S03E14 Echoes of Love

    • January 17, 1978
    • ABC (US)

    Willie can't stop reminiscing about Lizzy, so he hooks up with her former roommate; Audrey is depressed because her parents are splitting up, and angry that Doug is representing her mother in the divorce.

  • S03E15 See Saw

    • January 24, 1978
    • ABC (US)

    Kate volunteers to help a moody (and arithmetic-obsessed) young patient at the Braille institute; Willie works on installing Timmy's new bed; Buddy leaves for a week-end of skiing with T.J. and his parents.

  • S03E16 Lifeline

    • January 31, 1978
    • ABC (US)

    Nancy plays hot-line operator when her classmate attempts suicide, to get back at her married boyfriend for breaking up her; Buddy baby-sits a whiny kid.

  • S03E17 . . . And Baby Makes Three

    • February 7, 1978
    • ABC (US)

    Nancy and Jeff aren't sure whether to get back together; Buddy is disgusted that Audrey has fallen for the cheap ploys of the school Casanova.

  • S03E18 Crossing Over

    • February 14, 1978
    • ABC (US)

    Willie has an appointment with a big-shot film producer, on the eve of his 21st birthday; then, he and Doug make friends with a stripper.

  • S03E19 The Covenant

    • February 21, 1978
    • ABC (US)

    Medical crises abound in the family when Doug's father, James, reveals he must undergo exploratory surgery, and Nancy begins to miscarry.

  • S03E20 A Friend of the Family's

    • February 28, 1978
    • ABC (US)

    A somewhat unscrupulous former friend of Willie's drops by; Buddy needs driving lessons; Kate and Doug consider taking separate vacations.

  • S03E21 Fear of Shadows

    • May 2, 1978
    • ABC (US)

    Kate has a recurring nightmare about running over a little boy; Buddy gets a pet raccoon.

  • S03E22 Sleeping Gypsy

    • May 9, 1978
    • ABC (US)

    Everyone at school dislikes Buddy's bohemian friend; Kate gives Doug a plaid jacket he doesn't much care for.

  • S03E23 Counterpoint

    • May 16, 1978
    • ABC (US)

    Kate has to go back and repeat a class she flunked the previous semester, and gets picked on by a snobby professor; Doug contemplates early retirement after his tennis partner has a heart attack.

Season 4

  • S04E01 Starting Over

    • September 21, 1978
    • ABC (US)

    Kate's dreams of quiet in her empty nest end when 11-year-old orphan Annie Cooper comes to stay.

  • S04E02 All for Love

    • September 28, 1978
    • ABC (US)

    Buddy's boyfriend Zack pressures her to have sex, and she contemplates sleeping with him to keep him from turning to a pretty rival.; Doug thinks of buying a flashy sports car.

  • S04E03 Changes

    • October 12, 1978
    • ABC (US)

    Nancy is all set to re-marry Jeff; Annie, heretofore known as ""Annie Cooper,"" decides to add ""Lawrence"" to her name; Buddy, ever the traditionalist, is bothered by it all.

  • S04E04 Magic

    • October 19, 1978
    • ABC (US)

    Kate, in the hospital for a physical, meets a burned-out former rock star; Annie needs Doug's help to impress her classmates with magic tricks.

  • S04E05 Just Friends

    • November 9, 1978
    • ABC (US)

    Willie considers an affair with a married woman he met in a writing class; Nancy, sick of living in a ""fishbowl,"" decides to move out of the guesthouse and into an apartment of her own.

  • S04E06 Generations

    • November 23, 1978
    • ABC (US)

    With rising maintenance costs, Kate and Doug try to pressure Willie into selling the beloved farm he inherited from his grandmother.

  • S04E07 Expectations

    • December 7, 1978
    • ABC (US)

    Nancy's new boss pressures her to sleep with him; Buddy tries out for the cheerleading squad.

  • S04E08 Gifts

    • December 21, 1978
    • ABC (US)

    Annie, who still misses her parents, can't relate to the Lawrences' holiday cheer, and decides to run away until Christmas is over; Willie runs into his old barber, who is about to close up shop for good.

  • S04E09 The Friend's Affair

    • January 4, 1979
    • ABC (US)

    A colleague and friend of Doug's is cheating on his wife; Annie suspects a next-door neighbor of having murdered his.

  • S04E10 Exits and Entrances

    • January 11, 1979
    • ABC (US)

    After Buddy stars in a high-school play (Shaw's Saint Joan), her interest in acting is strongly encouraged by a friend of Kate's, a professional actress; Annie gets a telemarketing job to pay for a new bike.

  • S04E11 Moment of Truth

    • January 18, 1979
    • ABC (US)

    A man he once helped put in jail threatens Doug; Buddy and Audrey have a fight about who copied from whom on an algebra test.

  • S04E12 Malicious Mischief

    • January 25, 1979
    • ABC (US)

    Nancy considers a marriage proposal from Timmy's daycare provider -- until he gets accused of child abuse; Willie falls in love with a cat.

  • S04E13 Sleeping Over

    • February 1, 1979
    • ABC (US)

    Kate discovers Willie is having an affair with her recital partner, leading to a serious mother-son rift over casual sex; Buddy's invitation to a sorority becomes a sore point in her friendship with Audrey when Audrey isn't invited to join.

  • S04E14 Disco Queen

    • February 8, 1979
    • ABC (US)

    Buddy sneaks into a disco club, with the help of an older acquaintance, and finds it more than she bargained for; Annie has a date with a jock.

  • S04E15 The Athlete

    • March 1, 1979
    • ABC (US)

    Buddy, volunteering at a hospital, encounters a star high-school basketball player who is there for a broken leg -- or so he thinks; Annie runs for class president against her nemesis, Emmy Sheldon.

  • S04E16 The Competition

    • March 8, 1979
    • ABC (US)

    Buddy works hard to come out first in a history competition, only to have a troubled classmate teach her a lesson in the price of winning.

  • S04E17 Ballerina

    • March 15, 1979
    • ABC (US)

    Willie has a fling with a ballet dancer; Doug purchases a workout set by mail order.

  • S04E18 Diversions

    • March 22, 1979
    • ABC (US)

    Nancy, studying hard for her bar exams, allows herself to be distracted by a charming young lawyer who lives next door.

  • S04E19 An Apple For the Teacher

    • March 30, 1979
    • ABC (US)

    Kate's teaching career gets off to a rough start, when a student decides to continuously annoy her; Annie borrows Buddy's ""lucky"" ring to help during a spelling bee, and promptly loses it.

  • S04E20 Prelude

    • April 20, 1979
    • ABC (US)

    Buddy has a crush on her swimming instructor, much to Zack's displeasure; Kate is tempted to call an old boyfriend.

  • S04E21 Going Straight

    • May 10, 1979
    • ABC (US)

    Finally allowed to have a secretary, Willie offers the job to a prostitute who wants to better herself.

  • S04E22 From Russia With Love

    • May 17, 1979
    • ABC (US)

    Kate acts as escort to, and highly impresses, a visiting Ukrainian composer; Buddy and Annie play Monopoly to determine who gets Willie's old room.

Season 5

  • S05E01 Thanksgiving

    • November 20, 1979
    • ABC (US)

    Doug refuses to deal with his father's senility until confronted by the elder Lawrence himself.

  • S05E02 'Tis the Season

    • December 24, 1979
    • ABC (US)

    A pre-Christmas argument with Willie nearly gives Doug a heart attack; Buddy invites her school's janitor to her house, where he quickly endears himself to everyone but Kate.

  • S05E03 Jack of Hearts

    • January 14, 1980
    • ABC (US)

    Buddy and Nancy find themselves in a love triangle; Annie dabbles in the occult.

  • S05E04 When the Bough Breaks

    • January 21, 1980
    • ABC (US)

    Kate finds out she's pregnant; a friend of Buddy's, on vacation from her all-girls school, picks Willie as a seduction target.

  • S05E05 Hard Times

    • January 28, 1980
    • ABC (US)

    Two friends of Buddy's who have been going steady for 3 years are having relationship problems -- and when she tries to help, the results aren't quite what she expected; Nancy is having trouble at work, which starts to affect even Timmy.

  • S05E06 Whispers

    • February 4, 1980
    • ABC (US)

    Buddy's friendship with a teacher gives rise to rumors; Annie uses questionable tactics to get Willie to let her interview him for her school paper.

  • S05E07 Play on Love

    • March 3, 1980
    • ABC (US)

    Willie finds the director of his play more interesting than Rachel; Buddy insists on buying an old sports car, over Doug's objections.

  • S05E08 Daylight Serenade

    • March 10, 1980
    • ABC (US)

    Buddy has an ambiguous relationship with a nerdy schoolmate whom Kate is training for a piano recital; Nancy begs Annie to teach her how to roller-skate, so she can go to a party with a handsome fellow lawyer.

  • S05E09 Such a Fine Line

    • March 17, 1980
    • ABC (US)

    A schoolboy has a crush on Kate; Jeff, now an in-over-his-head rock manager, blows into town with his band.

  • S05E10 The Ties That Bind

    • June 4, 1980
    • ABC (US)

    Kate becomes embarrassed when a friend is arrested for shoplifting, and Annie is angry when she takes a look in Buddy's diary.

  • S05E11 Just Like Old Times

    • June 11, 1980
    • ABC (US)

    Buddy tries to make everyone think she didn't get into any of the schools she applied to; Doug wants Annie to share his obsession with baseball.

  • S05E12 Smarts

    • June 18, 1980
    • ABC (US)

    Annie gets picked on by her classmates, for being too smart; Buddy, studying for her SATs, worries that she's not smart enough.

  • S05E13 Letting Go

    • June 25, 1980
    • ABC (US)

    With Buddy departing soon for college, Doug has difficulty letting go, while she secretly fears leaving.; Annie is jealous of an old friend who has matured much faster than she has.

Additional Specials