Season 4 - Episode Guide

Brian returns home from his summer in Italy to begin his senior year of high school, what Bill deems "the single greatest year of a young man's life." However, Brian has trouble mustering any enthusiasm for it as he pines for a girl he met abroad. Meanwhile, Perry (James Patrick Stuart) suffers a minor concussion caused---inadvertently---by Linda.

Judy tries to help the neighbor boy (Jared Hillman) see that Lauren is using him, but Judy's act of concern seems to get misconstrued as flirting. Bill, who's supposed to set things straight once and for all, opts not to after he employs the kid to do some remodeling around the house. Terry: Justine Bateman. Shelly: Julia Campbell.

Judy is none too pleased when Bill starts spending every waking minute with their new next-door neighbor, Kyle Polsky (Todd Stashwick), an unemployed brewery heir who, in his endless hours of free time, is putting an eyesore of a Wiffle ball field in his backyard. Meanwhile, Tina is doing a great job of annoying Lauren.

Attending traffic school together, Judy and Linda experience a sort of role reversal when Judy gets mistaken for a brainiac doctor, while Linda comes off as someone who's cool and popular. Also: Bill uncovers dirt on Brian and Lauren that he uses as blackmail to make them his "slaves."

Judy tries to limit the time Bill spends with next-door neighbor Kyle Polsky (Todd Stashwick), whom she considers a bad influence, and calls him an "irresponsible man-child." However, she comes to regret those words after she forgets to mail Brian's college application and needs rich-alumnus Kyle's help getting him admitted.

Judy catches Bill in a lie when he claims he took his mother-in-law, Helen (Swoosie Kurtz), to the eye doctor, but really whooped it up with her at a casino instead. Meanwhile, to celebrate Judy's 40th birthday, Brian, Lauren and Tina decide to make a list of 40 things that they love about her, then have difficulty coming up with more than three items.

Bill gets the little brother he never wanted when his father, Al (Paul Sorvino), visits and brings his perky new fiancée and her 9-year-old son, Billy, who seems to have become the apple of Al's eye---and proves to be an attention-grabbing thorn in Bill's side.

Bill and Judy try to find new friends to do things with as couples, but they think they won't find an equally fun pair until they meet the parents of one of Lauren's friends. They seem to be a perfect match, but they only want to spend time with Judy. Meanwhile, Brian and Linda buy matching cell phones, and he sees something disturbing when he picks hers up by mistake.

There isn't much holiday spirit in the Miller home: Brian and Lauren are working, and Judy decides there will be no gift exchange with Bill. But as Christmas nears, the meaning of the season brings the family together---with mixed results.

Expensive concert tickets are at the center of a game of "one-upmanship" between Bill and Judy as they try to prove who is better at finding things. Marion cautions them to work together as a team, but the advice comes too late and Marion offers a surprising solution to the situation.

Judy is looking forward to the quality mother-daughter bonding time she's going to spend helping Lauren plan her sweet-16 birthday bash, but Judy's hopes are dashed when Louise (Sally Struthers) hijacks the party.

Linda feels neglected by Perry and begins to spend time with the rich playboy who moved in next to Bill and Judy. Perry returns after learning about his wife's activities and reveals a shameful secret that explains his recent behavior. Perry: James Patrick Stuart.

Brian is failing gym, so Bill decides to ask the coach, an old school buddy, to ease up. But the plan backfires when Bill antagonizes the man and rekindles old rivalries. Meanwhile, Bill's mother (Sally Struthers) arrives for an unannounced visit and turns the house into an arts-and-crafts nightmare for Judy and the kids. Coach Stone: Tom Wilson.

Bill decides to be a better father and takes a renewed interest in Lauren's life after he finds birth-control pills in her purse. But his distrust leads to a misunderstanding---and a trap set by his daughter.

Bill takes Brian to a strip club for his 18th birthday and encourages him to embrace his new adulthood, which Brian seems to do more than his parents intended. Elsewhere, Linda helps Lauren with her poetry assignment.

Louise causes Judy to miss out on getting a new car on "Oprah," and Bill is caught in the middle of their feud. Meanwhile, Lauren joins Brian's meteorology club hoping to use their treasury funds for a ski trip.

Judy begins coaching Tina's basketball team and forces Bill to attend, causing him to miss the televised NBA games he paid to see. When he learns Tina's team might make the play-offs, he comes up with a plan to make them lose so he can get back to watching the pros.

Judy tries for a better job with another dentist and needs the family to behave in order to impress the prospective employer, but Brian pretends to act tough in order to score with a girl---who happens to be the boss's daughter.

Bill enjoys bonding with his father (Paul Sorvino), who appears to be a changed man on the eve of his second marriage, but a secret the elder Miller has kept for years proves he isn't so different after all.

In the fourth-season finale, Brian leaves for college, so Bill and Judy decide to remodel his room in secret, but their odd behavior leads Brian to think their marriage is falling apart because he is moving out.