After 12 years of marriage, Alan's wife, Judith, kicks him out. He turns to his older brother, Charlie, for help. Charlie has trouble adjusting his carefree lifestyle with the presence of his ten-year old nephew. (imdb)

Alan punishes Jake for an incident at Judith's house. Charlie is lax in enforcing Alan's restrictions, then some seagulls invade Charlie's house as a result of Jake's actions, Charlie has to learn how to discipline his nephew. (imdb)

Charlie and Alan go out drinking. Alan tries to reconcile with his wife. After that fails, they decide to confront the root of their issues, their mother. (imdb)

As Charlie tries to write a new jingle, Berta quits. Alan tries to convince her to come back. Leaving Charlie to get Jake ready for a dinner. And Rose tries to get Charlie's help to prepare for a date. (imdb)

Jake's soccer games lead to Alan and Charlie having encounters with teammates' sexy mothers. (imdb)

Charlie and Evelyn date members of the same family. (imdb)

Jake sees a butterfly tattoo on the firm bottom of a surfer-chick friend of Charlie's and draws a picture of it for school. Of course, this enrages Judith until she becomes very good friends with the woman herself. (imdb)

After being tricked into helping Alan and Judith produce Jake's classroom musical, Charlie is flattered to find out that the kids know all the words to his jingles. Alan is blind-sided with divorce papers from Judith, causing strife which results in Charlie, who refuses to deal with the pre-pubers without a snootful, having to produce the play on his own. Jake is crushed when he realizes that a reconciliation between his parents may never happen. (imdb)

Charlie wants to dump a female friend to whom Jake has grown attached. Alan and Rose bond over a game of Scrabble. (imdb)

Thanksgiving winds up being the least thankful day of the year for Charlie, who has to bribe various members of his household to even come to a traditional turkey dinner. Not only are the usual feuds in evidence (leading to a turkey-carving right out of "Psycho") but Judith's parents are actually sympathetic to Alan and hostile to their own daughter for her "fling" with lesbianism. (imdb)

Seeing Judith's new look and boyfriend prompts Alan to realize that if he wants to get back into the dating scene, he will need to change his look also. (imdb)

Berta brings her 16 year old granddaughter to work. She poses issues for the men. (imdb)

Charlie tries to nurse Alan back from the flu because he needs him for a double date with sisters. (imdb)

Charlie's accountant Stan tries to make Charlie understand his desperate financial situation. (imdb)

Charlie falls for a seemingly crazy woman named Frankie--against Alan's advice. (imdb)

Now that Frankie has tricked the Harpers into taking her and her daughter Joanie in, she explains that Bob's parents want her declared mentally incompetent in order to get custody. Charlie wants to dump her, but Alan insists on taking them both in. Jake doesn't enjoy the 8 year old's 'romantic' attention. Charlie hates the consolation kisses and compliments, and is stunned when Frankie prefers intimacy with Alan. (imdb)

Charlie is offended when Alan chooses his married, responsible cousins as Jake's guardians. (imdb)

Charlie's old flame, Jill, comes for a visit, she had an operation and is now called "Bill". Then Evelyn starts dating Bill. (imdb)

Judith's sister Liz comes for a visit.

Jake plays electric guitar all day long and doesn't want to do anything else. Alan and Charlie can't figure out why. Jake refuses to discuss anything with anyone, including his grandmother and even a psychologist. (imdb)