Thu, Jan 4, 2001
Jim, who warned Robbie an address he asked about to deliver whiskey from O'Neill's could be a mob club, is testing a harmless mousetrap, but his rodent hunt only succeeds in wrecking half the house. The Italian customers sort of railroad Robbie into joining their poker table. They get grumpy when he outplays them every hand, but once they realize they mistook him for a don's son take him to the woods, stripped to his underwear, contemplating spy execution modes... Being preoccupied with a terminal cancer patient who feels guilty as an absent mother, Syd gets Joanie in her place to attend the Biltmore medical convention, for the free samples, but someone who remembers Syd gets her thrown out, and into jail with three hookers; they contemplate life and commiserate...
Thu, Jan 11, 2001
Infomercial presenter Earl Popper passes at O'Neill's and encourages fan Robbie to come up with a gimmick invention to enter it in his TV program and earn a fortune, but that' easier said the done, even for the most inventive Hansen... Syd's nice young paperboy David (12) is brought in with a gun-wound; according to elder brother and guardian Matt, David must have shot himself accidentally with a gun Matt bought after a recent wave of break-ins, but the wound indicates someone shot the kid and he can't move his feet without an operation. Matt asks him where the gun is, as the police asks for it, but... Joanie is tired of cleaning up etcetera for Jim, Robbie and Syd, so she eagerly hires Burt's sister Doreen Dunfey as professional 'life organizer', who presses the Hansens to sacrifice everything that doesn't fit in a lifeboat to a yard-sale next Saturday, which only makes them realize they really care for their memories, and Doreen...
Thu, Feb 8, 2001
Dr. Jim Hansen makes a big deal of accompanying morally good but legally incorrigible son Robbie to court, again, for some bookie deals, and actually convinces the judge to give him a better lesson then a fine: community service by coaching a boys ice-hockey team for the rest of the season. Initially reluctant coach Robbie generously adjusts his already busy time-schedule and proves the only optimist who ever dared insisting to them winning should be a serious option, and stands up against stressed player Billy's overbearing father, winning the boy's heart and the sympathy of equally uncertain teammate Pete Calcatera's attractive young mother Tina... After three failed white wedding productions, Joanie convinces fiancé Burt to follow Syd's flippant suggestion to 'elope' to Niagara Falls. The trip is terminated by cramps... Syd concentrates on lighthouse-keeper Graham Hollings, who refuses to allow plastic surgery on his badly scarred face, and can't even bring himself to visit his only true friend Mary in hospital after successfully giving her CPR together.
Thu, Feb 15, 2001
Robbie is now really interested in coaching, even changes shifts to be there early, but is also focusing on Pete Calcatera's mother Tina. Learning Pete's father will never return, and she runs a garage, he actually sabotages pa's muffler -alas accidentally also an expensive part- to have an excuse to drop by, but she refuses to go lunch together meanwhile; luckily Pete insists to have him invited at Chimp Fun Zone to celebrate his successful school project. Syd gets Joanie, who is impossible to live with, neglects the Barkery and can't face Burt since the miscarriage, to go in therapy. Syd can't drag Graham to Mary's funeral, but learns she owned his lighthouse, which is now to be sold; she gets him to plastic surgery consultation, but the teaching crowd scares him off after a few minutes; she finally gets him to the graveyard, facing his lasting nightmare, where he accepts surgery.
Thu, Feb 22, 2001
Robbie tries to be supportive now player Pete Calcatera is desperately nervous as his dad Peter promised to come watch his game on Friday, but private coaching seems to do the trick; on the big day Robbie's pep-talk gets the kid over his fear, but a brute knocks him over... Syd's doctor's orders keep Jim out of the surgery, but Heather must bring Graham's solitude-stressed Byron and other dogs to him, till after Graham's operation, which is a medical success, and he actually dares facing people again. Syd discovers the late Mary left something to Edward 'Eddie' Joyce, who isn't Graham's father in law as she assumed, that's Harold Joyce, but Graham's own son, Harold raised the now ten-year old lovely boy. Jim helps her gather the courage to tell grandpa, who initially wants the secret kept, then sends Eddie to Syd, who passes on his boat design, a source of pride for former professional Graham... Joanie is drinking too much, so the Barkery risks going down the drain and Burt is neglected even worse, she actually fails to open his gifts for their dating anniversary which she forgot about; yet Burt's patience even stretches to allowing her some time apart 'to think'.
Thu, Mar 1, 2001
Robbie's date with Tina falls through when Pete's dad Peter cancels last minute to chaperon his scouts event. Robbie is happy to be invited by the kid to his birthday party, but Peter demands he steps out of the divorced family's only annual event. Syd's clinic is selected as contender for a grant from the prestigious Medfund. The Barkery hires pastry chef Elliot Anderman, who finds cooking for animals beneath him, let alone cleaning, but lost his Chicago standing after malicious food poisoning. He proves sympathetic to Joanie's miscarriage-trauma and reorganizes efficiently and ergonomically.
Thu, Mar 15, 2001
Robbie's restaurant date with Tina is a lip-locked success. Yet the next day she's aloof again, Robbie sees she has another man, who drops by at O'Neill's. Gym coach Russell Banks brings in pupil Kylie with a strained ankle, later picks up his coat- and Syd for supper. It's love at first bite. After three years of therapeutic disillusions, a patient is determined not to try a new treatment that Syd insists on. Chef Elliot Anderman's cookie range "man's best friend" (for people and dogs) convinces banker George Blankenship to support the "Barkery's" $8,000 oven investment loan. Elliot even accepts to pose as a straight couple, but seems to overdo it.
Thu, Mar 29, 2001
Robbie looks forward to a weekend with Tina while Peter takes their son Pete camping, but she doesn't know he still lives in his old room at dad's. On her Saturday off Syd welcomes MD Rick Rozelli, back from Uganda, and shows him St. Clare clinic. Rick came to invite youth friend Syd to join a partnership running a clinic there, but suddenly falls gravely ill. The Health department determines it's serious, possibly hemorrhagic fever (Ebola?!) and immediately quarantines both clinic and Hansen house. Joanie is trapped with all Hannah's birthday party guests. There were no further fatal cases until Izzy Nunez manages to cut herself, so she's probably infected...
Thu, Apr 19, 2001
While Jim is away meeting Victoria Everdeen in Chicago, Robbie, Joanie and finally Syd get a visit from Thomas Wheelock (a rich McArthur Far East campaign veteran). That evening they realize they are visited by the same man when invited to his hotel. There Syd realizes that Thomas Wheelock is his grandfather, the very same man that disinherited his mother for marrying 'beneath her'. Thomas makes them an offer they can't refuse, or can they?
Thu, May 10, 2001
Robbie and Tina were enjoying a quiet weekend without Pete, but his pa Peter has papers served: he sues for full custody. Tina's lawyer convinces Robbie his criminal record would wreck her case; he's inclined to bow out, but a pub colleague suggests he provokes Peter's known violent temper, with plain-clothes cop Reggie standing by. Fearless makes a sizable drug-bust for Officer Duncan, then is poisoned in Jim's surgery. Elliot's coaching succeeds in making Joanie go out with his friend, studly artist Mitch, but she's not over Burt yet. Syd's aggressive tone ruins Congressman Joe Connelly's amicable approach of his Ziodex friend Bill Graff; Joe still promises to organize a Congressional hearing if hard proof is produced the life-saving drug is willfully sidetracked, which only Dr. Carroll can.
Thu, May 17, 2001
Robbie celebrated Tina's regained freedom with a dinner, but an accidentally delivered ring out-stages him; it sets both thinking. Congressman Joe Connelly insists Syd should consider an affair with him, as he is already determined to divorce his socialite, cold-ambitious wife Erica, who approaches Syd to plead for his scandal-vulnerable career; pictures make it real, but who sent them and why? Elliot takes Joanie to a diner where all firemen meet, and bingo: Burt, then coaches her to reaffirm her feelings for the stud, but just too late. Heather convinces Jim to try curing Fearless's post-poisoning depression with sibling therapy: Peerless, courtesy of Mr. Coleman; the mob now sends a gunman.