Season 1

Season 1 • 1996

⭐ 4.8 / 5

Episodes

1. Anything You Want

Eric enlists the help of a neighbor to stop Matt from smoking, and makes a vain attempt to help Lucy deal with her flowering womanhood.

1996-08-26 • 44 min

2. Family Secrets

Shhh! Don't tell anyone, but: Matt and Mary both have mysterious new friends; Simon and his new charge, Happy, could be in the doghouse; and Lucy keeps mum about the object of a crush.

1996-09-23 • 44 min

3. In the Blink of an Eye

Mary offers to shield Lucy and her "date" from Eric; Matt gets into a scrape while out with a young woman; and Annie goes to Arizona to bring her parents home.

1996-09-30 • 44 min

4. No Funerals and a Wedding

Annie feels abandoned on the day of her mother's funeral when her father bolts for home, Eric counsels a couple and Matt escorts Renee to the hospital after she goes into labor at the post-funeral luncheon.

1996-10-07 • 44 min

5. The Color of God

The Camden kids learn hard lessons about race when Eric invites a black family to stay at the house after their church is destroyed in a racially motivated arson.

1996-10-14 • 44 min

6. Halloween

Halloween is a fright, as Annie tries to scare up a costume for Ruthie; Lucy has a close encounter with the town "monster"; and a childhood memory haunts Eric.

1996-10-28 • 44 min

7. Saturday

Eric counsels a teen drug addict; Matt's fired from another job; Lucy blows it when she tries to impress the most popular girl in school; Simon and Lucy get lost playing detective.

1996-11-04 • 44 min

8. What Will People Say?

Eric helps out a woman who is being abused by her husband. But when the good reverend is seen escorting the woman to a motel one afternoon, it's the talk of the town. Meanwhile, Matt warns Mary about an older guy she's seeing.

1996-11-11 • 44 min

9. See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil

Annie and Matt are robbed at gunpoint; Mary wants a tattoo; Eric is told to fire the church organist; Simon and Ruthie have the chicken pox; Lucy runs for student-body president (as does Jimmy Moon).

1996-11-18 • 44 min

10. Last Call for Aunt Julie

Eric's sister visits the family for Thanksgiving but knocks the stuffing out of everyone when they discover that she has a drinking problem.

1996-11-25 • 44 min

11. Now You See Me

Matt's new girlfriend seems more interested in hanging out with his family than with him; Simon thinks he can make himself invisible; Lucy wants to join the cheerleading squad.

1996-12-16 • 44 min

12. With a Little Help from My Friends

Matt helps out an elderly neighbor, but winds up getting in hot water for it; Eric searches for a way to aid a proud but homeless family; Lucy's 13th birthday approaches and she wants a party.

1997-01-13 • 44 min

13. America's Most Wanted

The kids receive some lessons about stealing: Matt and Mary carry on a high-school tradition by lifting a glass from a local diner and Lucy borrows liberally from a term paper Mary lent her.

1997-01-27 • 44 min

14. Seven Is Enough

A tug-of-war ensues between Eric and his cantankerous parents over who will adopt a young orphan found hiding in the church.

1997-02-03 • 44 min

15. Happy's Valentine

Everyone's plans for a romantic Valentine's Day are interrupted when Happy, Simon's dog, gets out of the house and is hit by a car.

1997-02-10 • 44 min

16. Brave New World

Mary deals with harassment from a boy she turned down for a date; Lucy's new best friend seems to be hiding something; Simon prepares Ruthie for pre-kindergarten.

1997-02-17 • 44 min

17. Choices

Mary takes a walk on the wild side with a classmate she meets in detention; a former associate minister from Eric's church drops in unexpectedly; Simon and Ruthie ferret out a scheme to fund their college educations.

1997-04-14 • 44 min

18. Faith, Hope and the Bottom Line

Annie volunteers as the church's treasurer pro tem but gets caught in the middle when Eric wants to hire an ex-con against the advice of the church vestry. Meanwhile, Mary agrees to tutor Jimmy Moon in science.

1997-04-21 • 44 min

19. It's About George...

Eric has to tell his parents that George may have to be given over to his birth father, who has resurfaced; Eric's alcoholic sister is released from rehab.

1997-04-28 • 44 min

20. Say Good-bye

Annie's "boy-crazy" best friend from school, Rachel, is in town, but the boy she has her eye on is Matt; Lucy may have to say goodbye to her friend Suzanne.

1997-05-05 • 44 min

21. Dangerous Liaisons (1)

Annie is livid when her father brings along his girlfriend on a weeklong visit; Mary and Matt pursue new romantic interests; Lucy wants to find out if blondes really have more fun.

1997-05-12 • 44 min