Grounded for Life (2001)
Right out of high school, Sean Finnerty got his girlfriend Claudia pregnant. Now she’s his wife, and at just 32, he’s somehow found himself with 14-year-old daughter Lily, two little boys, and a constant struggle between his need to be responsible and his desperate desire to be irresponsible. His judgmental father Walt and devil-may-care brother Eddie are no help at all. When they all get together, stories always start to fly. Of course, Sean’s family will never let him finish a story; they interrupt, they debate, they derail, they defend themselves; just like any good family would.
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Episode 1 - We Didn't Start the Fire
Release Date: 2002-09-17Claudia learns the results of her pregnancy test and Sean celebrates the news with a major purchase: a bar that Eddie plans to burn down for the insurance money. Meanwhile, Lilly and Brad try their luck at getting liquored-up; and Henry develops a craving for a different kind of watering-hole delicacy.
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Episode 2 - Mustang Lily
Release Date: 2002-09-24Sean blows his shot at snagging a loan from Claudia's dad (Stephen Root) after losing the car he gave Lily for her birthday in a street race. Meanwhile, Henry and Jimmy put the squeeze on their grandfather for some hefty Tooth Fairy funds.
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Episode 3 - Cat Scratch Fever (a.k.a. The Bitch Is Back)
Release Date: 2002-12-03Things get tense at the bar when Sean hires his high school fantasy girl as the bartender. And Lily freaks out when she tells Dean she loves him at a concert and can't hear his reponse.
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Episode 4 - Drive Me Crazy
Release Date: 2003-02-28For the second time, Lily has failed her behind-the-wheel exam. But this time it's not her fault, it's Sean's, who went out of her way to sabotage her driving test by teaching her rediculous driving tips, such as the all-important ""W-turn."" In other events, Claudia is having a devil of a time keeping Henry and Jimmy from playing a violent video game condemned by Sister Helen -- but she winds up addicted to it herself.
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Episode 5 - Just Like a Woman
Release Date: 2003-02-28The boys mock Sean when he can't get the lugnuts off of the car, leaving him to have his wife attract a trucker's attention to change the flat tire while he sits in drag in the backseat. Elsewhere, Eddie holds a garage sale at Sean's house where he sells off hot merchandise and his brother's possessions, and he welcomes the kids to partake in the sale. But Lily is mortified when Brad buys her old bra from Eddie, then boasts to the school that he and Lily have slept together.
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Episode 6 - Henry's Been Working for the Drug Squad
Release Date: 2003-03-07From TV Guide: Following his school's drug-awareness day, Henry thinks his family is on drugs and stages an intervention for Sean after he finds a suspicious plant growing in the yard.
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Episode 7 - Cuts Like a Knife
Release Date: 2003-03-14Sean has a hard time fighting off an amorous Claudia after lying to her that he's finally undergone a vasectomy. Meanwhile, Brad gets a chance to hang out with Lily by paying her to tutor him in a subject he already excels at.
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Episode 8 - Who Are You?
Release Date: 2003-03-28Sean and Claudia are shocked to learn that Jimmy has been shoplifting and try to figure out his motivations for stealing. Elsewhere, Lily agonizes over what to wear for dinner with Dean's parents. Brad helps her find the perfect outfit, but Dean's parents turn out to be not so great. Meanwhile, Henry brings home his class's pet lizard.
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Episode 9 - Welcome to the Working Week
Release Date: 2003-04-25Lily goes on a shopping spree with her ""emergency credit card,"" resulting in her having to pay back the bill by getting a job -- at the bar. Meanwhile, Eddie fumes over a scathing review of the bar; and Henry takes energy preservation to the extreme.
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Episode 10 - Claudia in Disguise with Glasses
Release Date: 2003-05-02Claudia wreaks havoc at a wedding reception after losing her glasses -- though it may not be Claudia who lost them. Meanwhile Lily convinces Eddie to persuade Dean to get her the perfect birthday gift; and Brad begins spending way too much time with Jimmy.
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Episode 11 - Tonight's the Night
Release Date: 2003-05-09Lily winds up with the strangest bedfellow after Dean fails to pitch enough woo on her monumental 16th birthday. Meanwhile, Henry and Jimmy put Sean's shoddy fathering skills to the test with a con-game and a hot-wings binge.
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Episode 12 - Oh, What a Knight
Release Date: 2003-05-16Sean joins the Knights of Hibernia in order for Lily to compete in their beauty pageant.
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Episode 13 - Part Time Lover
Release Date: 2003-05-16When the dump closes, Walt finds himself with an abundance of free time and begins hanging around the house, much to the dismay of Lily, who finds it increasingly hard to get alone-time with Brad. So she schemes to get him a date online... which turns out to be with a drag-queen. Meanwhile, Eddie finds out that his girlfriend has another boyfriend.