A steelworker and his wife struggle with a strike, family squabbles, their daughter's first date, and an increasingly bitter rivalry between their teenage sons.
Max's new bike is stolen while RJ was supposed to be watching it, driving a wedge between the two friends and making Max's newspaper delivery job much harder.
Maureen's algebra teacher accuses her of cheating on a test.
Stung by Jack's insinuation that he's not contributing his share, Sean tries to juggle a place on the varsity football squad with a part-time job and school.
Jack and Sean set out to defeat a neighborhood bully as Maureen worries over asking a boy to the Halloween dance.
Depressed after being rejected by a date, Mo decides to try out for the cheerleading squad in an effort to change her image.
Jack finds love with a pretty skater, but her quest for an Olympic-caliber trainer threatens to tear them apart.
Jack falls through a plate glass window while stoned, and desperately tries to conceal the drug use from his parents.
Max worries about making his First Communion; Mike's unhappiness with the family finances leads to a violent reaction when a drunk coworker remarks on a heavily pregnant Maggie working the late shift.
Sean brings home a friend who's recovering from a nervous breakdown.
Kerry runs away when Mo catches her taking money from Maggie's room, and the family believes the worst despite her protestations of innocence.
Assigned to a local mechanic for work-study, Jack protests when he realizes the man's cheating customers. RJ and Max worry over school vaccinations.
While Maggie and Mike head off for a weekend in an uncle's cabin, the kids prepare activities of their own: a party, a date and a wild guinea pig race. But all the chaos comes to a head when their parents return because Maggie's in labor.