The wealthy Edward Stratton III (Joel Higgins) has a big surprise: Ricky (Ricky Schroder), the 12-year-old son he's never known.
Ricky's friend Derek moves into the neighborhood and convinces him that the only reason Edward doesn't punish him is because his father doesn't love him.
Ricky wants to meet his grandfather (John Houseman), a stodgy curmudgeon who doesn't get along well with his son Edward.
When Ricky is bullied at school, Edward hires Mr. T as a bodyguard to make sure the problem never happens again.
Ricky gets his first taste of puppy love when a new girl named Sally Frumble transfers to his school.
Ricky's mother Evelyn arrives to challenge Edward for custody.
Ricky is interviewed by a school reporter and goes on the run after hacking into a top-secret government file.
Ricky and Derek find a lost orangutan and Ricky wants to keep it.
Ricky forces Edward to attend a banquet honoring Edward's father.
Ricky convinces Edward to take him camping so he can earn his badger paws.
Convinced that Kate is in love with him, Ricky decides to set her up with Edward.
Kate goes on a grudge date to make Edward jealous. It works, and the two admit their feelings for each other in the middle of Carnegie Hall.
Edward and Ricky play Santa to a family living in a cave on their property.
After Derek saves his life, Ricky is forced to pose as his date at a co-ed party.
Ox, the school bully, takes Ricky to court for whiplash, but Ricky insists that the jury be made up of twelve kids.
Ricky pretends to like an obnoxious girl so Edward can hire her as a toy consultant.
Ricky volunteers Edward to buy 1,000 bags of popcorn to send his band to Washington.
Edward gives Ricky an ice-cream parlor to run for a week as a school assignment.
Ricky feels left out when Kate joins Edward and him on a ski trip.
Ricky's grandfather tries to get Kate to move to California so that Edward will marry someone else who can expand the family fortune.
A man Kate had previously used to make Edward jealous crashes his airplane in the Strattons' backyard to impress her.
Kate catches Ricky, JT and Freddy watching an X-rated movie while Edward is sleeping.
Derek and Ricky pick up cheerleaders while in Chicago for a Badger Patrol convention.
Derek and JT put frogs in Freddy's sleeping bag during a slumber party. Ricky hurts Freddy by saying that he isn't his friend.
Ricky impresses his science teacher by doing a project with laser beams. Kate is promoted to Vice President of Eddie Toys.
Edward is hospitalized when he has a gallstone attack.
Ricky daydreams that he is the President of the United States.
While Edward and Kate are away Grandfather tries to teach Ricky to drive.
To impress a girl, Ricky promises to have the pop group Menudo play at his private party.
The family celebrates Ricky's 13th birthday with an evening of arguments.
Ricky pretends to play in the school orchestra's production of Peter and the Wolf so Edward won't be disappointed that he isn't musical.
Ricky gets in over his head when he, Derek and Freddy bet on football games.
Ricky manipulates Evelyn into buying him a motor bike after Edward said he couldn't have one.
JT's father is offended by how much time Edward is spending with his son.
Dexter gets dragged to the country for a camping trip by the family.
Ricky turns punk rocker to try to impress a girl.
After his parents have an argument, Derek hides out at Ricky's. His mother arrives to take him to St. Louis. ** This is Jason Bateman's final appearance.
Against his better judgment Edward agrees to let Ricky go hunting with Grandfather.
Ricky thinks that a fellow baseball player likes him when in all actuality it's Edward that she wants.
Edward's former girlfriend decides she wants him back.
Edward is forced to choose between Kate and Veronica.
Ricky discovers that a friend is being beaten by his father.
Edward, Ricky and Dexter are trapped as their hotel catches on fire during a toy convention.
Kate's mom arrives for a surprise visit and discovers that Kate and Edward are involved.
Ricky meets Alfonso, Dexters nephew.
Ricky starts his first day in high school.
Rick is outraged by being treated like a "child" when Edward becomes furious with him for breaking his curfew, in part one of a special two-part story.
Rick exhibits his independence by running away, but he soon begins to appreciate what he's left, in the conclusion of a special two-part story.
When the television goes out on a stormy Halloween night, Rick, Alfonso and Freddy use their imaginations to create their own late-night horror story.
Rick plays Cupid by introducing Grandfather Stratton to his history teacher, played by Barbara Billingsley of ""Leave It To Beaver.""
Edward, Rick, Dexter, Alfonso and Kate are faced with one small detour on their way to the Caribbean when Kate pilots the plane through the Bermuda Triangle, in part one of a two-part story.
After their plane crashes on a deserted island, Rick Alfonso, Dexter, Edward and Kate must battle Mother Nature to survive, in the conclusion of a two-part story.
Rick's mom shows up with an ex-pro football player as a boyfriend and a ""new"" outlook on life.
In an effort to save the freshman newspaper, Rick, Alfonso and Freddy create a freshman beauty pageant, hoping everyone will ""read all about it.""
Edward's true Christmas spirit is tested when the Strattons welcome Freddy and his family after a tragedy leaves them homeless.
Pearl Bailey as Lula Baker, Edward's former governess returns to the Stratton household and becomes the foil in Rick and Alfonso's secret scheme.
Edward, Kate and Rick have their hands full when Grandfather Stratton trades his empire for a beautiful blonde and a powerful Porsche.
Rick finds out that he can't ""save the world"" when he gets involved with a peer-counseling program.
Lulu holds the key to solving a rift between Rick and his grandfather.
Edward pops the question to Kate when she receives a job offer, in the first of a special two-part story.
Edward and Rick successfully persuade Kate to change her mind, bringing long-awaited wedding bells to the Stratton household, in the conclusion of a special two-part story.
Rick is estatic when a hip 16-year-old wants to hang around him, but Edward is suspect of his motives - especially when his gold pen suddenly disappears.
Bruce Jenner helps solve the puzzle of Alfonso's poor school performance - the missing piece is the learning disorder dyslexia.
Consumer advocate, David Horowitz helps Rick ""fight back"" against a crooked mail order camera company.
Rick surprises his dad for his 40th birthday with a reunion of his college singer partner, which prompts Edward to take the old act on the road again.
Rick must choose between getting suspended or revealing his source when he exposes a cafeteria scandal on his school's cable news show.
A blind date with a computer pen pal panics Rick after they exchange photos.
While babysitting, Rick suspects that 6-year-old Beth is a victim of parental kidnapping.
Whitney Houston gets more than she expects during a visit to the Stratton household when Dexter decides to move to Los Angeles with the singing star.
As new wife and mother, Late begins making changes in the Stratton household that Edward supports and Rick resents.
Rick coerces Edward into offering his mom a job, after an embezzler takes all her money.
Rick's girlfriend has something in mind for their relationship that is a serious step for Rick.
Grandfather Stratton schemes with Rick to corner the baseball card market.
Kate's Uncle Harry uses the Stratton family in a deceptive maneuver to impress an old Army buddy.
Rick leads his friends in a picket line against Grandfather Stratton for paying unfair wages to student employees.
In an effort to prove that he is athletic, Edward decides to participate in a race up to the top of the Empire State Building.
Rick loses his girlfriend to the captain of the football team, and then loses his dignity in an effort to win her back.
On a trip with Grandfather's exclusive club members, Rick and Edward see a different side of Grandfather
Freddy writes a letter that catches the attention of Congressman Tip O'Neill.
While Edward is away, Kate allows Rick to go with friends to Fort Lauderdale for winter vacation.
Rick invites a bag lady home for dinner, where she makes a distinct impression on one of Edward's key clients.
Rick invents a board game called Rock Express, but refuses to take Edward's advice on how to market it.
Rick takes part in a marriage with a student, but is shocked when his ""wife"" gets pregnant.
Rick's new friend encourages him to try alcohol.
Rick gets grounded, which effectively ends his experience with alcohol, but he soon learns that Greg is still drinking.
Rick is bent on winning the annual student filmmaking contest.
Rick's the manager of his friend's band, Splat! When Rick gets them on Rock Search, the lead singer has laryngitis. The band convinces Rick to step in for him & sing that tune.
With Kate and Rick both out of the house, Edward is left alone with his ex-wife.
As prom night approaches, Rick jilts a girl whose father is rumored to be associated with the mob.
Rick wants to invite Nicole Desmond to be his date at his 16th birthday party but Brad accidentally gives the invitation to Julie Warren. When Nicole gets herself invited anyway Rick has to balance his time between two dates without letting either girl find out about the other.
Rick feels inferior to his girlfriend.
Edward resents Kate's success after he promotes her to President of Eddie Toys.
Kate's grandmother gets lost in New York City.
A new housekeeper from Sweden steals Rickys heart.
Rick takes a job at shoe store, only to become a victim of nepotism when he loses a promotion to his employer's nephew.
Rick's promise to stay true to his girlfriend while on vacation is tested when he meets the beautiful girl next door.
Rick moves into the guest house for some privacy, but that's easier said than done.
Edward doesn't feel like celebrating his birthday after Rick beats him at tennis for the first time, making him feel old.
Kate feels left out when her old college friend, now an editor for a rock magazine, seems to have more in common with Rick.
A football championship rests on Rick's shoulders as he tutors the star player, who won't be playing if he fails a history test.
A triangle ensues when Rick falls for his friend Brad's girlfriend, who then asks Rick to take her to a concert when he gets grounded.
Rick agrees to care for a boa constrictor, which soon becomes an uninvited guest at Kate's business dinner.
Rick's strong ambition to become a comic threatens his grades.
Rick tells a tall tale that endangers the reputation of a girl.
When Brad's father goes out of town for a few days, Rick invites him to stay with the Strattons despite Edward's misgivings.
Alfonso quits Rick's band after they refuse to take his new girlfriend's suggestion of having Alfonso do the lead vocals for a Battle of the Bands contest, instead of Brad.
Edward's ex-wife writes a novel about a woman's stormy relationship with a character to whom he bears a strong resemblance.
When Rick decides to cook an elaborate Mother's Day dinner for his mother, Kate fears that her place in Rick's life is secondary.
Rick's basketball idol is arrested for possession of narcotics.
Rick fixes up an old classmate, now an unwed mother, with a contractor who has no idea he's dating a parent.
When Kate's grandmother arrives with her new boyfriend, everyone is shocked that they are sharing a bedroom.
Grandfather Stratton returns from France, surprising everyone with his much younger fiancée.
Disappointed by Rick's interest in party schools, Edward steers him toward a more rigorous all-male college.
Edward finds himself in danger of bodily harm after he loses his wallet and owes $400. to a pool shark. However, when he calls Rick and asks him to bring the money, Rick believes it to be just another one of his dad's April Fools Day pranks.
Kate and Edward try to have a romantic weekend in the snow, but Rick, Alfonso, Brad and Dexter spoil their plans.
