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Synopsis: Providence, Rhode Island, is the Hansen home city, where widowed father Jim practices as a veterinarian and over the years raised three now (nearly) adult kids after their beloved mother Linda’s death, none of which left the city. Playfull Robbie has a golden heart but all too often gets himself into all kinds of trouble by impulsive plans, for (elusive) profit or to help almost anyone. Syd, the eldest, is devoted to her medical calling with a heart for her patients, abandoning a lucrative plastic surgery career to run St. Clare clinic for the poor and accepting teaching positions, but haunted by her demanding mother Linda and often too hard on herself and her lovers. Younger, flippant sister Joanie may attract great lovers, it never works out long-term through her own fault, including a failed marriage to the father of Hannah, so Robbie beats her to the altar with preteen Pete’s divorced mother.

Cast:
Seth Peterson – Robbie Hansen
Mike Farrell – Dr. James Hansen
Melina Kanakaredes – Dr. Sydney Hansen
Paula Cale – Joanie Hansen
Concetta Tomei – Lynda Hansen
Jon Hamm – Burt Ridley

Episodes Guide:

Season 2, Episode 11 – The Kiss
Original Air date: January 07, 2000.
Synopsis: A dream of kissing a young Romeo thrills Syd while a real kiss from a man dressed as Zorro sends Joanie to her seventh heaven. Robbie moves into Heather’s flat. An old fortune teller dies and leaves a grandson with no legal papers and a grave health problem.

Season 2, Episode 21 – Love Is in the Air
Original Air date: May 05, 2000.
Synopsis: Robbie is already in heaven expecting to win $100,000 on TV in two weeks, and generously roots for dads happiness with much older Monica Lang, who his sisters sort of selfishly shun as step-mother-to-be. Syd’s old friend John Currier intends to turn from workaholic to recreational angler after beating his pancreatic cancer; alas the oncologist tells her it spread hopelessly already… Joanie stupidly starts a fire in her Barkery and wakes up in the strong arms of part-time barman-fireman Burt Ridley; even better, he asks her out for lunch and calls her the only significant girl since he has both jobs, only after a passionate kiss lets her realize he’s her secret Zorro… Quizmaster Chuck Chance’s assistant Andy shows Robbie a trivia gossip book; he does well in Down On Your Luck, but wonders how many answers are in that very book… Syd invites Monica for a family dinner but sees her intimate with a younger man. John dies.

Season 2, Episode 22 -Syd in Wonderland
Original Air date: May 12, 2000.
Synopsis: Robbie is cramming trivia for the next round of Down on Your Luck, his ticket to a chance of winning $100,000, but assistant Andi insists he can only succeed if she continues -as he suspected- feeding him answers, which would cost 40%, and his self-respect… Syd is not herself, obsessed with getting fat or going mad, even gets Alice in Wonderland day-dreams and faints feverish. Dad looks forward to an exhibition of Monica’s photographs, including some with him, but didn’t tell the kids in time. Monica has a new assignment, a month in Paris in all- and asks Jim along. Discovering her colleague Donald feels being in a Nicaraguan prison created a unique bond starts trouble when the reporter pair is urgently sent to cover a Karen (tribal) rebellion in Burma… Joanie feels her Burt is too much of a gentleman, but hopes that will change in old Bud & Darlene’s ‘exclusive’ B&B Château D’Amour- alas she’s rather put to domestic – and he to repair chores, by the time they’re alone they doze off, in the morning the oldies even steal her elaborate breakfast. Syd is hospitalized for a CAT scan…

Season 2, Episode 23 -Paradise Inn
Original Air date: May 19, 2000.
Synopsis: The Hansen family hopes to be strong and supportive now Syd is comatose, cause unknown, dreaming about ma and St.Peter introducing her ‘in between’ to paradise or return to life, a paradoxical choice her body and heart must make. Andy suggests Robbie will need the $100,000 prize to pay for Syd’s long-term care, and announces she’ll move on to an LA game show after his finale. Joanie is happy with Burt and his new Dalmatian puppy, kissing and dining yet absent-minded, but he is called for a huge fire, and gets trapped inside. After Syd gets convulsions only to revert to an even deeper state then coma, Jim remembers Syd was with him in a cloud of mosquitoes at the marina, Dr. Hopper concurs encephalitis is around. Robbie is not handed the answer but knows it anyway, only…

Season 3, Episode 1 – Safe at Home
Original Air date: October 20, 2000.
Synopsis: Vindictive vixen Andi sneaks in to vandalize Robbie’s room; at O’Neill’s he receives a packet- a live snake, which dad Jim recognizes as harmless patient Minnie. Robbie doesn’t tell to spare dad worrying, she blackmails him to meet her in the empty studio- she’s waiting with matches… Syd is released home, but revalidation starts with a month minimum. At first she refuses the conventional physiotherapist Goodlander being replaced by college hunk John Hemming, who based his play-wise approach on his crippled dog Earl’s spontaneous revalidation. Heather is back at the practice and gets even more attached then Jim to two temporarily abandoned pedigree pups, only one of which actually gets a new owner, or… Burt is Joanie’s dream-prince, unhurt in the big fire, but most unwilling to suspend dating during Sid’s revalidation. Despite a fall from the treadmill, she drives to the clinic, and has a mild accident on the way back in Joanie’s car. She nearly runs to Norwich, but John intelligently wins her over to his thought-trough therapeutic touch.

Season 3, Episode 2 – Trick or Treat
Original Air date: October 27, 2000.
Synopsis: The police questions and suspects Robbie, who didn’t even know the studio burnt down. Andi repeats her scary blackmail threat, but even Heather’s heirloom wedding ring proves paste… John has a hard time making Syd realize she needs time before she can resume work normally, then encourages her to. She’s suspicious about her nearly fatal judgment call causing a malpractice lawsuit and her too-good-to-be-true stand-in Dr. Jordan Roberts, who convinces the board of a major building project… Burt accepts Joanie’s request to join her at costumed ball against inhibitions, but finds her about to make love with another ‘Zorro’. Jim seems a bad dog-trainer, but actually diagnoses pup Fearless with curable ear-disease, still no miracle…

Season 3, Episode 3 – The Good Doctor
Original Air date: November 03, 2000.
Synopsis: When Robbie tells a detective he knows nothing about Andi’s fire, he’s served a subpoena. Burt consults Syd medically about his poor performance in Joanie’s bed, then plans a day rest before major quality time. Jim calls in canine behavior counselor B.J. Maximus about hyperkinetic puppy Fearless who raids all the family’s footwear, in her view a bid for picking order supremacy. Syd meets John’s patient Beckca, a dancer who refuses proper care, even free diagnosis, before risking permanent injury at an untimely audition, and suggests John systematically has improper relationships with clients…

Season 3, Episode 4 – Rescue Me
Original Air date: November 10, 2000.
Synopsis: Despite all her evildoing, Robbie helps arsonist Andi to a waitering job at O’Neill’s and even dealing with her lazy Public Defense attorney, who feels her case is hopeless if tried, given Chuck Chance’s willingness to testify against her. She tries to jump bail… Syd is declared physically healed, but didn’t regain her muscle control. John offers therapy as needed, but tells her it’s time after she treated illegal laborer Francisco Aguilar for a leg wound and seeing his eight year-old boy Carlos has a split pallet arranged a pro deo by Dr. Mark Leggett, who at the last moment, after she got the pair released by Immigration, bails out so she operates herself. Afterward she thanks John for the kick in the pants, he finally can offer a post-professional, intimate relationship. … Burt checks in for an erectile operation, but is desperate to hide that for his fellow firemen. Henry Pillup wants Jim to make his parrot stop chattering, but then finds him too silent…

Season 3, Episode 5 – The Unsinkable Sydney Hansen
Original Air date: November 17, 2000.
Synopsis: Skateboarder Jamie Rohan bumps into Sid’s car and hurts his wrists; his mother is furious to get a call, as she used his late hyperactive big brother Scott’s name which she read on his board, and he takes his ADHD tranquilizers, with adverse effect… Robbie still wants to help Andi, whose public defender Lou Keppler is ready to throw in the towel, so he goes begging with sloe witness Chuck, who suggests a deal, if she can sell a format to the TV network… Burt’s operation was a success, but he may not get aroused the next 72 hours. Jim gets a red-died goat from three youngsters, as it turns out team mascot raiders… Sid accepts John’s unusual taste, but temporarily dumps him when seen with Cheryl until he explains she’s less about him the his filthy-rich family…

Season 3, Episode 6 – The Thanksgiving Story: Part 1
Original Air date: November 24, 2000.
Synopsis: When Robbie generously obliges a beggar’s plea for food, instead of waiting for an omelet the apparent scumbag takes off with his benefactor’s wallet and keys, yet stops when Robbie hurts his head chasing and claims it wasn’t him, the police threw him out- indeed, a careful colleague found his things, so Robby brings food to the shelter and offers grumpy Dwayne, who plays guitar, a gig at O’Neill’s, only to have it refused. Jim gets a circus’s confused chimpanzee Danny and is railroaded into attending his overbearing suitor Cynthia Blake’s Thanksgiving party, while none of the family is up to it anyhow. Syd is invited at John’s grand family feast, makes a fine first impression on his ma Constance Hemming and gets Social Services officer Alex’s permission to put up apparently abandoned girl Anchee for a week. The Hemmings family discretely donates an EMG and Chinatown P.I. Simon Chang… Burt proposes a place to Joanie to move into together and shouts a fancy restaurant, where he clearly doesn’t tolerate noisy children… Dwayne turns up, but insists he must have his own guitar back, pawned for $800, beyond Robbie’s means to advance, so he rents one- a waiter recognizes his artistic playing… Jim figures out the ape uses sign-language, to say he’s called Rocket and home-sick…

Season 3, Episode 7 – The Thanksgiving Story: Part 2
Original Air date: November 24, 2000.
Synopsis: Robbie’s protégé Dwayne not only bail out again after telling how badly he misses his late wife, he’s the police’s only suspect for the theft of his guitar from the pawnshop; Robbie sells his comics, Dwayne accepts to sing at the family Thanksgiving. Joanie feared announcing her pregnancy would have chased Burt, but he stays. Chimpanzee Rocket’s last revealed talent, painting, allows identifying his training center, so he can be reunited with his handler after two years. The Hemming money allows Chinatown P.I. Simon to find Anchee’s parents by posting a reward; ma Constance’s influence also gets the hospital finally to offer Syd a surgeon’s job, but she refuses it and even tells John to take distance from ma’s influence or they’re through….

Season 3, Episode 8 – The Gift
Original Air date: December 15, 2000.
Synopsis: Robbie’s Christmas bonus at O’Neill’s depends on organizing a charity toys drive, so he goes to a cheap sale, but finds out painfully it’s run by a malicious mall Santa and his matching midget elf Barnabus Finkel, who is fired after a public fight and turns up in the pub. Betting the meager $150 toys budget makes the disaster complete, save for a Xmas miracle… Syd is supportive of Joanie’s second pregnancy, dad clearly disappointed. Exposure to mischievous kids at her doctor’s office tests Burt’s preparedness for the burden of fatherhood; her mean nagging about punctuality makes it even worse, so she fears to have chased the second accidental father even before the birth…

Season 3, Episode 10 – The Gun
Original Air date: January 12, 2001.
Synopsis: 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…

Season 3, Episode 11 – Saved by the Bell
Original Air date: February 2, 2001.
Synopsis: Reminded of a former school chum with muscular dystrophy, Syd reaches out to help a reclusive young man whose face is hideously scarred while she runs afoul of Joanie who’s suddenly in overdrive as she prepares for a whirlwind marriage to Burt in just a few days. In addition,, it doesn’t help to have Burt’s voyagebound parents around as they pull up in their RV and can barely hide their mutual resentment. Meanwhile, Robbie once again gets in over his head when he agrees to be a bookie to accept bets placed on the games of an adolescent hockey league, and a stammering Jim fends off the advances of an aroused married woman.

Season 3, Episode 12 – It Was a Dark and Stormy Night
Original Air date: February 9, 2001.
Synopsis: When a dangerous storm strands Syd after an emergency in a remote lighthouse with the mysterious and hermit-like Graham (guest star Alastair Duncan), she begins to understand the source of his unspeakable pain, while Joanie and Burt impulsively decide to elope — with disastrous results. Meanwhile, Robbie goes to court for arranging betting on pee-wee hockey games, and as punishment, is ordered to coach the most-dreadful team, where he encounters one player’s cute single mom (guest star Maria Pitillo) as well as the hostile father (guest star Michael McGrady) of another of his worst skaters.

Season 3, Episode 14 – The Invisible Man
Original Air date: February 23, 2001.
Synopsis: 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’.

Season 3, Episode 22 – Falling
Original Air date: May 18, 2001.
Synopsis: Robbie celebrated Tina’s regained freedom with a dinner, but an accidentally delivered ring out-stages him; it sets both thinking. Congressman Joe Connely insists Syd should consider an affair with him, as he is already determined to divorce his socialite, cold-ambitious wife Erica, who approaches her 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.