List of Step by Step episodes

Steve Urkel crash-lands in the Foster-Lamberts' yard as they are picnicking. He turns out to be Mark's science-fair partner. After the science fair, he talks to Al, who has been dumped by a boy she likes for the school dance. Frank had told Al that everyone gets dumped at some point in their life, and to move on. Steve reinforces that point, and convinces Al to ask him to the dance, where she tells off her originally-planned date and learns to "Do the Urkel".

Note: In its original airing on ABC, this episode was part of a crossover with the Family Matters episode "Brains Over Brawn".

Frank's nephew, Cody, comes to live with the family. Cody's oddball ways infuriate Dana, something that delights J.T. So J.T. decides to make a bet with Cody - successfully ask Dana out, and earn $20. Dana finds out, and agrees to shun her pride and go out with Cody. Meanwhile, Al and Brendan try to trap Mark with baseball questions and Frank has trouble with Carol because of their first month's anniversary.

Frank and Carol decide to enter the new blended family into the "Port Washington Games". But J.T., Al, and Brendan object since their new step-siblings aren't very athletic. Meanwhile, the more civilized Dana, Karen, and Mark see the games as too barbaric. Eventually, the Fosters decide to participate, with predictable results, but even so, they keep the Lamberts close, and Karen ties things up in the pie-eating contest because her competition cannot eat around her. Eventually, Cody provides the family some much-needed help in the final tug-of-war event making the Fosters and the Lamberts victorious.

Frank and Carol leave for a lover's retreat. Dana is in charge, with a "no guests allowed" rule in effect. But Dana says since she invited two friends over, so could the rest of the kids (even Mark whose only guest is Cody) , and eventually a huge party breaks out. Frank throws out his back, so they cut their trip short and head home, just in time to find J.T. trapped in the chimney flue.

Dana and Frank each take driving tests - hers to get her first license, his as a condition for renewal. Frank is humbled when he flunks his, and Dana passes hers. Eventually, Frank is no longer able to drive without his license until he manages to reassure Dana who suffers from "drive fear". Also, Al learns to play drummer and Cody makes an ice-sandwich for Brendan.

Mark is forced with violence to do homework for a bully named Max. Much to everyone's surprise, the bully is a girl. Al eventually comes to Mark's rescue. Meanwhile, school newspaper editor Dana writes a negative article on J.T., but J.T. finds out and convinces one of the girls on the staff to replace it with an article that makes him sound good. Also, Cody buys a new perfume for Dana.

Carol goes back to school because she feels embarrassed about leaving school four classes short of earning a degree. She soon realizes as well as a student she's also a committed mother, wife, and beautician, and soon everyone's ready to be committed when Frank takes over the housework. Nobody can seem to remember to pick up Brendan either. All the kids decide to chip in so Carol can realize her dream, and the house can run smoothly. Also, Cody tries to scare Brendan and Mark with horror stories.

Grandpa comes to visit with his younger fiance. Frank recognizes her as a stripper from a bachelor party he went to a year ago. When Frank tells his father, he storms off and does not believe Frank. He finds out later that she is an ex-stripper, and they postpone the wedding. J.T. wants Dana to set up a date for him with a pretty friend of hers (played by Tiffani-Amber Thiessen), so she makes him run errands for her all week. J.T does not get along with her, but to show Dana there are no hard feelings, he buys her spaghetti and meatballs. Amazingly, she does not enjoy it that much. Also, Cody celebrates his 19th birthday.

Carol and Karen enter a mother-daughter beauty contest. They are both improperly hit on by judges, and Karen learns that it is more important to have pride and self-worth than to win. Also, Cody tries to join a hunt club in which Frank is by making a duck-cheese work but Al's pig eats the duck's head.

When Dana goes to take her SATs, Cody joins her. He explains that every month he does something new and this week he is taking the SATs. Dana does very well - 91st percentile, but Cody does better. Dana cannot accept this and insists that they both take it again. Dana improves her score, but Cody still beats her - she is infuriated. Cody is not happy with his impressive results because he worries he will be expected to become a brain surgeon. Cody and Dana later decide that their lives may take them on unexpected paths. Meanwhile, the others kids borrow Frank 's clothes, forcing him to find a solution in order to prevent this.

Al and Brendan agree to take care of a neighbor's oversized St. Bernard for the weekend, but the job quickly becomes more than they can handle. They get further annoyed when they learn the neighbors have decided to move away and no longer want the dog; however, Carol is overjoyed because she has fallen in love with the dog. Eventually, Frank puts his foot down and tells Carol to take it to a kennel.

Dana learns a humbling lesson about being the boss and overseeing a group of employees when she is given a managerial job at a 1950s style restaurant. She was too bossy and controlling, so Karen and J.T. quit; and, so do the two cooks, who only wanted the job so they could see Karen. Frank and Carol decide to take over their jobs, but Dana quickly resumes her condescending demeanor. The parents set her straight, and Dana corrects her attitude. Also, Mark invents a machine which can detect if you lie or not.

Dana's new boyfriend is Mike Walters, whom — through the rumor mill — Frank suspects is out for nothing more than sex. Despite his misgivings, he allows Dana to go out on a date with "Mike the Mover". Still feeling uneasy about Mike, Frank gets Cody to drive him to Make-Out Point (where the two have gone to enjoy the moonlight and kiss). Frank — having passed up Cody's ridiculous idea of dressing up in a beaver costume to spy on the two — decides to climb into a tree to get a closer look, but the branch breaks under his weight and he literally drops in on them. Dana is embarrassed, but when Mike shows up the next day, and tries to get her to go upstairs with him, she is infuriated, and Frank immediately kicks him out. Also, J.T. asks Brendan to wash Frank's car.

Annoyed that only dorks and geeks — in particular, Dana — are running for class president, J.T. announces he is running for class president. The campaign divides the Foster-Lambert home, and things are made worse when J.T. (having run on a campaign where it is suggested that regular students' needs aren't met) actually wins. J.T. at first puts up his bravado, but eventually wilts under the pressure and, having a new appreciation for the responsibilities that being class president brings, decides to turn over responsibilities to Dana.

Frank deals with a high school classmate named Scooter (Philip Charles MacKenzie), who still hasn't grown up after nearly 25 years after graduation. Meanwhile, Cody wins a turkey — a live turkey — in a supermarket raffle, and deals with his conscience when he is asked to have it butchered.

Frank is looking for a replacement on his contracting crew... and may have to hire a woman. Meanwhile, Mark and the others play the stock market.

J.T. publishes an unflattering baby photo of Karen in the high school yearbook. Hell hath no fury like a Foster scorned, and she takes full advantage of J.T.'s worry that a brunette will stab him to death at the stroke of midnight. J.T. hadn't believed the news when the psychic had warned him, but Cody reinforces it by pointing out that everything the psychic said would happen before he died was happening. Meanwhile, Frank and Carol's new massaging bed provides them anything but a good night's sleep.

Carol and Frank discuss having a baby; J.T. sells essays to the team. Also, Cody cares for Slasher's son which gives Carol a strange idea : have another child.

Frank and Carol wind up in jail on Christmas Eve when they are caught inside a toy store by a know-it-all deputy sheriff (Don Knotts). Frank had recently remodeled the store and was given a discount on the store's merchandise. They had gone there after hours because he and Carol had forgot to purchase a toy train set for Brendan, and stocking stuffers for the kids. Meanwhile, the kids do not know that their parents are in jail, and rip through all of their presents. Cody sets them straight, and when they learn that Frank and Carol are in jail, they all go down there to celebrate Christmas with them.

Frank's hesitant after Carol purchases a marriage-improvement book. With all of them now drivers, Dana, J.T., and Karen scrounge up money to buy an old Volkswagen Bug, which is so dangerous it has to be sold for parts to get their money back.

Cody's father pressures him into a job as executive vice president of his real estate company. With a little help from Frank, Cody tells his father he's simply not interested and would rather continue working in demolition. Meanwhile, Carol (as a favor for a customer) sets up Dana and Karen on blind dates, against their expressed wishes. The guys turn out to be living images of Beavis and Butt-head. After Frank gets rid of them, he helps his stepdaughters set up a "get even" prank on Carol.

Mark - trying to improve his self-esteem - enrolls in a karate class, but is constantly belittled by the jock-like instructor for his "wimpy" attitude. He wants to drop out, but Cody helps him stand up to the "class pet" Tommy, who is the best in the class. During a challenge match, Tommy quickly gets the upper hand early, but Cody - who happens to be a black belt in karate - helps Mark exploit Tommy's weakness and rally to force sudden death. Even though Tommy eventually wins, Mark wins Tommy's respect... which is more than can be said for the coach, who keeps taunting Mark and then Cody. Cody tries to leave, but the instructor presses his luck too far and Cody is easily able to subdue the loud-mouthed coach. Frank is fed-up with his children who loud every time so he settles an intercom.

Dana learns a tough lesson in humility when a tough English professor gives her a D on her first term paper for using too many "big words" and not focusing enough on the paper's content. Already enduring humiliation from her Lambert step-siblings, Dana complains to her teacher but gets no sympathy. She vows to improve her "intellectual" attitude ... then learns that Cody has enrolled in her college. Also, J.T. learns a hard lesson about how credit cards work when he his somehow able to obtain one and quickly goes on a shopping spree.

Frank takes Carol away for a romantic weekend, while Karen, Al and Dana have a girls' night. Meanwhile, Mark dates a genius.

J.T. decides he has grown out of celebrating Christmas with the family and decides to go on a skiing trip with his friends. He eventually misses Frank when he realises that his friends have not at all Christmas spirit. Also, the family receives Carol's aunt, but she is actually very angry and grumpy. Mark misses his girlfriend.

While borrowing his boss' luxury car, J.T. meets a pretty girl named Shelly, and decides to impress her by claiming the car is his. He later claims that he is rich by flashing large dollar bills at Shelly, but she realizes the money belongs to her father. Also, Frank and Carol go to the gynecologist.

Cody and Dana have conflicting teaching styles when they are recruited to teach a remedial history class. Their unlikely efforts result in their students upsetting a team of academic intellectuals on a TV quiz bowl. Also, Carol makes everybody crazy with her obsessions.

Cody takes Brendan to a baseball game, featuring his favorite player, Kenny Barton. After the game, Brendan meets his hero and asks him to autograph his baseball; however, Barton is nothing short of rude to Brendan and demands a $50 fee for an autograph. Cody, after consoling Brendan, then confronts the egotistical Barton during a TV interview and exposes his demeanor. The interviewer, Hall of Fame player and broadcaster Harmon Killebrew, is equally outraged and offers to sign Brendan's baseball at no charge. Brendan gladly accepts the offer. Also: Carol and Dana make a bet with Frank and J.T. that they can't handle how it feels to be pregnant. So they had their bodies stuffed with melons and cantaloupes to make them look like pregnant women!

J.T. and Rich go on a double date to the drive-in. But J.T. thinks twice after he finds out who Rich wants to take, Al. After a while it's clear J.T. can't handle it, so he and Al have a talk. Where she tells J.T. she no longer needs him to protect her. Cody sets up Dana with Brad Pitt from Legends of the Fall, but it turns out to be the Brad Pit that played dead body #2. Mark and his friends are depressed about their controlling mothers. They try to prove their manhood by smoking stogies, and Mark gets sick. So Frank offers to take him and his friends camping to do some manly things.

Note: This is the first appearance of Jason Marsden as Rich Halke, who would become a regular starting with season six.

Frank and Carol become frustrated with their children constantly asking them to run their errands and small favors. Eventually, they lose their patience and implement a rule where the children must do everything for themselves and not to bother them. The rule is put to the test when Brendan — wanting to go on a trip with his soccer team to watch a Green Bay Packers game — decides not to "bother" his parents to have them sign a permission slip allowing him to go. Meanwhile, aspiring country singer Karen is approached by a man claiming to be a record producer, who promises to take her demo tape to a major studio in exchange for a $500 fee. However, the naïve Karen later realizes she was ripped off and that she will probably never recover her money ... much less, become a big star. Dana gives her sister some solace by getting her song played on a local radio station. Also, Cody wishes a kalashnikov but ends with a Russian bride instead.

Note: Angela Watson covers the Patty Loveless song "Blame It on Your Heart".

Dana admires an abstract, feminist artist, Jayne McNeil (Melanie Wilson) and is honored to be chose to pose for her. Knowing she will be a part of what be a great work, she agrees to pose nude. Since Dana is convinced that the work will be abstract, and she will not be recognizable, she proudly invites Frank, Carol, Karen and Al to a charity auction where it will be unveiled. Unfortunately, the painter decided to change styles to Photo-realism, and the painting is obviously Dana. Carol is determined to outbid the "perverts," but Frank does not allow her to top $100,000. Also, Frank tries to kill a rat (but Cody's advice don't help him) while J.T. dates a mafia man's daughter.

J.T. has a huge test coming up in one of his classes, and his friend is able to get a copy of the test. J.T. decides not to cheat on the test, but rather to study for it. J.T. ends up getting a B on the test, and when he and his friend get their books mixed up, Frank sees the cheat sheet and tells J.T. he is both disappointed and he will no longer pay for J.T.'s schooling. Later, Frank overhears J.T.'s friend returning for the book and he apologizes and they make up. Carol tries to prevent Al to make a tattoo. Also, Cody buys some cookies from girl scouts.

Dana, Karen, and Al go to a ski lodge for a weekend and meet 3 good looking guys one of whom is the prince of Calderone. The prince (Karen's) wants people to like him for who he is, and henceforth makes his bodyguard (Dana's) claim to be the prince. Also, Rich implies the family with a luck chain letter while Carol gives shampoo to everybody. At the end, Rich and Brendan were the only one who respected the chain and didn't use the shampoo while the rest of the family end with orange hair.

Dana cannot determine what to do and JT and Rich are not able to major in "Nude Volleyball," therefore they all end up taking a career placement test together. The results of the placement test say JT and Rich should become doctors and Dana should become a guard at a women's prison. Dana, livid from the results, demands a re-test and ends up discovering the testing center is a fraud. Also, Frank hires an handy man whose name is Flash, but he is too hyperactive.

J.T. and Rich eagerly apply and are hired at a restaurant (which Dana and her feminist friends had planned to protest against) with sexy waitress. They learn how bad harassment really is in those places, but they get in one final night of not caring. Frank converts part of the basement into a lounge using items he bought from a closed tavern. While the men love it, Carol has a serious accident with one of the lounge's "toys". The closer shows interesting riding on the toy by everybody, especially Dana. Flash sleeps on the Lamberts' couch while his apartment is being fumigated. He brings a lot of energy to the house and the lounge.

Dana is told she must tutor another student. As she goes on about what "moron jock" she will to tutor this time, she discovers it's Rich, whom she loathes. But the first thing they learn is that opposites attract, and soon, to everyone's shock, sparks begin to fly. Meanwhile, Carol and Frank, eager to be alone and away from the ever-present Jean-Luc, escape for a much needed romantic weekend, but find an unwelcome surprise awaiting them: Jean-Luc. It's his birthday, and he ends up spending it alone after Carol and Frank explain to him they need some time alone themselves.

J.T. asserts his independence by moving out of his parents' house to a not-so-joyful Jean-Luc's. But after some problems there, he then moves into his own apartment, which is totally run-down. Meanwhile, Carol wants to spend more quality time with the girls - they decide they have better things to do. Carol ends up tricking them into "girls night out", and takes them to a karaoke bar where they perform "I'm So Excited".

A clueless Rich gives Dana a piece of recycled jewelry for her birthday, but finds the party's over when the gift turns out be a locket—with a picture of him and his ex-flame inside. Meanwhile, Carol and the kids must endure the rite of passage that all men face when Frank goes through a mid-life crisis.

When Mark's date overhears him bragging to his friends about the so-called "special moment" they shared, she calls his bluff in front of his schoolmates, branding him a wimp. Meanwhile, after being dumped by her own date, Karen feels that her "imperfect" body is the culprit, and takes drastic measures to improve it.

Al's in for a disappointment when she discovers that her blind date is overweight and carrying an even heavier chip on his shoulder. Meanwhile, Carol's "worry-meter" jumps off the scale when Dana, Rich, J.T., and Sam check into a Chicago Hotel unsupervised.

When J.T. and Rich take a job as sports agents for an up-and-coming college hockey player, they find themselves becoming his personal servants—and dating service—with Karen serving as the main course. Meanwhile, the battle between the hairdressers and the contractors begins when Carol and Jean-Luc challenge an overly-macho Frank and his pal, Moose (Donald Gibb), to a game of bowling.

Frank buys Carol a birthday present that stresses security, rather than romance. J.T. warns him, but he doesn't listen. Carol does not appear to be all that thrilled about it after getting jewelry and cashmere from Jean-Luc and the kids, respectively. Frank tries to make it up to her, but Carol believes the fact that he loves her and gave her the gift with that love was enough. Dana chooses a "brain" to team up with for the recycling contest, rather than Rich. Rich, in order to get her back, picked a "bimbo" cheerleader as his teammate. Rich really wants to show Dana he is not a "flyweight intellectual." He proves to Dana that creativity is just as important as book smarts (and wins!!).

Carol comes back from Hair Spectacular '96 with Jean-Luc, who is to become her new business partner. As they start a new business, Frank has to do all the chores. He is happy to do them, but becomes very picky about his cookies. Jean-Luc does help J.T. by teaching him how to dance, but J.T.'s date is a disaster anyway. Jean-Luc tells Karen, Al, and Dana (on separate occasions) that he thinks they are beautiful. Also, Lilly learns to write her name, and Cody calls from his new job—in Russia.

It is the first day of school for all the kids, and Karen is off to college. Carol, on the other hand, is feeling like she has nothing to do, so she registers for college, signing up for all of Karen's classes, and following her around and embarrassing her daughter. Carol then tells a story in class about when Karen was a baby. Carol finally realizes that she is ruining Karen's life. Meanwhile, Rich is happy about getting a "C" on his pop quiz, and Dana tells Rich that if he doesn't start taking something seriously, they don't have much of a future together. So, after talking to J.T., Rich stays up all night studying (instead of watching Xena: Warrior Princess with J.T.), and gets an "A", while Dana only gets a "B".

Note: This was the first episode to air on CBS. A new opening sequence is used starting with this episode, featuring photo booth-style photos of the individual cast members as each one is introduced. The chorus of the theme song is used.

After explaining to the guys the various virtues of getting the role in the next 'Jeremy Beck' movie; Karen, Dana, and Al audition for the part. Karen and Dana are not quite what the producers want, but Al is just what they are looking for. Al also has great acting talent, and does a fantastic job. She does so well that they re-write the script to include her in another scene. Al loves it, and decides to quit school and move to Hollywood. She and Frank agree that she can join the drama club and, if necessary, move to Hollywood afterward.

Note: Jaleel White makes his second appearance as Steve Urkel. Although his previous appearance in season 1, was not mentioned in this episode.

J.T. loses his fourth job of the month, and cannot even afford a date with Sam. J.T. convinces Sam to get her boss to hire him as an apprentice mechanic at the garage where she works. J.T. is terrible, and Sam is forced to fire him on the second day, after he nearly kills the boss - twice. J.T. is frustrated and angry, but the only sympathy he gets is from the people who lost the pool (of how many days he would last at the job). Frank becomes obsessed with a boat.

Karen has a professor (actually a teaching assistant) try to date her by influencing her with good grades. Karen tells Dana about her predicament. Dana has the perfect plan to catch him in his own deceitful web. Also, Mark dates a thrash girl.

Frank, who is seeking work, is hired by one of Carol's old high school classmates as contractor for a new complex. However, the contractor crosses the line when he tries to make unwanted advances on Carol, forcing Frank to decide between his job or his family. Meanwhile, Karen and Dana are invited to pledge to a sorority known for its vanity and airheadedness, attributes that describe Karen perfectly. However, the sorority leader really wants Dana instead ... and Dana is less than interested in joining an organization that Karen pines to be part of.

On Halloween, J.T. and his sisters host a costume party at a decrepit old mansion. During the party, it becomes obvious that J.T. and Sam aren't getting along, and, after a mix-up involving their costumes (they are forced to go tandem as a horse), she decides to dance with someone else. J.T. fumes about his predicament, and he later meets Abby, the ghostly 19-year-old inhabitant of the mansion, who committed suicide after a bad break-up many years back. Abby convinces J.T. that his relationship with Sam may have reached its end, and that it is nobody's fault. In the end, he and Sam decide that it is best if they went their separate ways. Lilly organizes her own Halloween fest.

When Rich's old friend, Cassie Evans (Linda Cardellini), moves back to town, they enjoy playing billiards and video games together. So Dana asks J.T. to teach her how she can have fun like that with Rich. Meanwhile, Frank's con-man cousin, Bert (Fred Willard), shows up.

Karen's boyfriend, Chip, takes Carol's advice "to get a backbone", and stand up to Karen, but he surprises everyone by breaking up with her. Karen is furious with her mother for interfering. In the meantime, Dana has better luck helping J.T. and Rich with a relationship problem of their own, with the use of her "A" in psychology - and sock puppets.

Dana wants to take her relationship with Rich one step further, and gets into a big argument with Carol when she fears that Dana is planning to have sex. Carol forbids Dana from having sexual intercourse. So she asks Rich if they can elope. Meanwhile, J.T. hopes to catch the eye of an aerobics instructor, so he pretends to be a fitness fanatic to impress her. However, he later learns that being himself is a much better idea. Dana and Rich later cancel their plans to elope and Carol and Dana have a heart to heart where Carol admits that she needs to accept that Dana is no longer a little girl but a young woman and that she should be able to make her own decisions when it comes to sex or any other issues in her life.

Rich and Dana enroll in a pottery class, but Dana has no talent - and Rich does. Meanwhile, Carol and Frank's sexual role-playing make J.T. and Karen think Carol is dating another man - and cheating on Frank.

Frank worries about going to his upcoming 25th class reunion, which he knows old nemesis, Roy Tucker Edward Edwards, will be attending. Sure enough, Roy brags about his own successes in owning a chain of tire stores, shows off his date for the evening and...of course, humiliates Frank. However, Carol eventually learns that Roy's bravado is the cover for his lack of success — he's the assistant manager at one of the stores, and that he paid an attractive cashier to be his date. Meanwhile, J.T. is focused on watching a pay-per-view bikini contest (with Rich and a bunch of their friends) on a night that he is supposed to be babysitting Lilly. When he grows tired of her whining, J.T. tells his sister to go outside and play, which she does...and doesn't come home.

J.T. and Rich want to go on a skiing trip with Sam and Dana, but the guys are broke. So they decide to take jobs as male strippers at a local nightclub. Meanwhile, Frank and Carol counsel young couples by sharing their secrets, but may need counseling themselves when they reveal too much.

Note: With this episode, CBS decided to cancel Step by Step. The series was then put on a three-month hiatus, returning to burn off episodes beginning June 5, 1998.

Frank and J.T. attend a Milwaukee Bucks-Chicago Bulls game. When the two switch seats (a man, who had sat in front of J.T., had refused to remove his tall cowboy hat), a drawing is held for a new truck ... and J.T. wins. J.T.'s good fortune sparks a father-son feud that grows bitter ... until Carol invites a judge over to settle matters. Just before the judge makes his ruling, Carol makes an impassioned speech about father-son relationships; Frank and J.T. realize they need to settle matters, so they decide to sell the truck and split the profits evenly. Meanwhile, Al and Karen have little interest in Dana's self-defense class ... until they see their handsome instructor.

When a yuppie couple, The Adlers (Dan Gilvezan and Melanie Wilson) tour the house, they make an offer that Frank and Carol can't pass up. Everyone is excited, particularly since they'll finally be able to move from their undersized home. But Lilly likes her house, and makes it clear to her folks that she is not moving. Frank and Carol's attempts to reason with Lilly fail. Later, the yuppies return, and show their true colors, disgusting the Lamberts so much that they decide to cancel the sale, much to the relief of Lilly (and everyone else).