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The Stevens are a middle-class family living in Sacramento, CA. Husband and father Steve is a successful attorney. Wife and mother Eileen is a state Senator. Their oldest child Donnie ia a high-school sports legend. Ren, an 8th-grader, is just about the perfect daughter. She makes the best grades, she's popular, she does volunteer work and other extracurricular tasks by the score. Her brother Louis, in the 7th grade, is her opposite. He likes to sleep late, he's messy, his grades are not good, he's frequently in detention and he seems to take nothing seriously. But he is serious about finding something of his own that he can do to put himself on a par with the rest of his overachieving family. Though he and Ren occasionally soften their attitudes toward each other, at any given moment the're likely to be fighting like mongoose and cobra. In this episode, Louis finds a valuable ""Roaring Drycon"" card for sale online. He asks the price and finds out that the seller wants a date with his s

Stevens Genes

Coach Tugnut is looking for a replacement on the track team and he gives a tryout to Louis, the younger brother of the legendary Donnie Stevens, who the coach reveres. Team member Larry Beale sees an opportunity to destroy the Stevens legacy at Lawrence Junior High and finally defeat his nemeses. At the tryout Larry makes it look like Louis' time is best, and he makes the team. In practice Larry holds back against Louis, making Louis think that he's a great runner. Ren, who is assigned to cover the track meet for the school paper, figures out what's up. She tries to tell Louis but he's sure that Ren is just jealous because he's finally found something he's successful at. Ren warns Larry not to mess with ""Stevens genes;"" he'll lose every time. During the race, Larry gets tangled up with an opponent and falls down. Louis goes back to help Larry, who jumps up and speeds off to win the race. Louis sticks with the injured opponent and the crowd cheers them instead of the winner Larry. Ren w

Take My Sister... Please

Louis wants to enter the school talent show and do his comedy routine but he waits too long and misses the entry deadline. He tries to get Ren to let him share her spot in the show with him, but she has no sympathy. At dinner Louis gets his parents to pressure Ren into doing an act with him, much to her annoyance. They do Louis' act in rehearsal and it gets a lot of laughs. Larry Beale sees this and doesn't like it. He tells Ren that she's just being her brother's flunky in the act and that he keeps all the good lines for himself. Falling into Larry's trap, Ren gets mad at Louis and quits the act. When the talent show comes around, Larry and his partner Ivan go onstage before Louis and steal his act. Louis is crushed now that he won't get to do the one thing he felt he was really good at. Ren takes pity on him and at the last minute they come up with a comic opera routine that wins the brother and sister first prize.

What'll Idol Do?

Ren is overjoyed that June Marie is going to be her ""pre-high school mentor."" She excitedly sings her praises to everyone in the family, but Louis is only interested in finding his missing tape of a favorite Saturday Night Live episode. He gets some surveilance equipment from Tom and begins spying on family members to find out who taped over his show. While doing this he finds out that June Marie is only using Ren in an effort to make a play for their brother Donnie. Louis tells Ren but of course she doesn't believe him.

All About Yvette

Best friends Ren and Charlotte are having a great time decorating the gym for a dance, but things change when Charlotte's old friend Yvette shows up and Ren starts to feel left out as Charlotte seems to pick up right where she left off with Yvette. Even Ren's mom likes the new girl. The situation isn't helped when Yvette accidentally knocks Ren off a ladder while they are working in the gym, sending her flying through a huge hanging banner. Ren becomes so irritated that she breaks off her friendship with Charlotte. Mom tries to convince her, though, that it's possible to have more than one best friend, something Ren doesn't think is true. At the dance, Ren and Yvette run into each other in the bathroom, and to Ren's surprise, Yvette confesses that she has felt like the odd person out with Charlotte since she came to Sacremento. All three girls make their peace. Meanwhile, Louis tries to convince his mother that he is mature enough to babysit for Twitty's little brother, along with some

Louis in the Middle

In the cafeteria one day Louis saves the school's sort-of celebrity Blake Thompson (who's made a couple of TV commercials) from choking. Blake is grateful and takes a liking to Louis, inviting him to join his ""in"" crowd. Louis takes to his new status right away, putting a strain on his old friendships with Twitty and Tawny. But as soon as Blake sees that Louis is gaining some popularity himself, he drops him like a hot potato. The result is that Louis is out of favor with both his new friends and the old ones, too. Tawny comes up with a ""life-saving"" scheme, though. Meanwhile, Ren is being given a hard time in her job as school policy monitor by Larry Beale, who heckles her when she speaks at lunch and fills her suggestion box with not-so-nice suggestions. Ren feels like she's ""lost her mojo"" when it comes to handling Larry and is going to quit her policy monitor position, but she gets some encouragement from Louis--and unexpectedly, from Larry, too.

Foodzilla

Louis wants badly to be on the TV-news magazine Ren is producing at the school, the ""Wombat Report."" Somehow he convinces her that he will do a serious piece, a profile of one of the cafeteria ladies. When the show airs live, Louis ambushes the woman and does a mocking interview with her that turns into a free-for-all with food flying everywhere. Ren is in a rage at Louis until she finds out how popular the segment was. The next day everyone is laughing at the cafeteria lady and calling her ""Foodzilla,"" the nickname Louis gave her. Embarrassed, she flees the cafeteria and quits her job. Back at home, Mrs. Stevens finds out what happens and tells Louis and Ren to go apologize. Arriving at the lady's home, they talk to her and find out she's an interesting woman named Elsa Schotz who emigrated to America and is a professional yodeler. They give her a makeover and promise to show another report about her at school. But by the time the second show airs, Ms. Schotz has run off to Las Vegas

Family Picnic

Louis is dreading his father's law firm's family picnic because Steve Stevens is determined his family will win the picnic's decathelon for the third year in a row. Loius tries to get out of it but the family legacy is just too strong. Louis doesn't prove to be much of a competitor, but the family is locked in a close race with the Austrailian family the Dandridges. Donny injures himself in an event, so Louis must participate in the deciding contest, the father-son kayak race. Seeing how much it means to his father to win and how much faith he's put in his youngest child, Louis ensures he'll win his leg of the race by drilling a hole in Quincy Dandridge's boat. After the family's victory, Louis is haunted by guilty feelings. At the dinner table the family all tell of some big accomplishment they made that day, then Louis reveals he cheated in the race. Ashamedly, Donnie, Ren and Eileen all admit they cut corners that day. Mr. Stevens feels as though it's his fault for driving the famil

Scrub Day

The 7th graders are terrorized by the approaching of ""Scrub Day,"" the day when the upperclassmen are supposedly allowed to do terrible things to them. Louis is desperate to find a way out of it, but Ren and Donnie offer him no help. Louis organizes the ""United Scrubs of America"" to stand up to Larry Beale, their chief tormenter. Larry thwarts them by saying that this year they will only concentrate on one scrub--Louis. Louis turns around to find that all his supporters have deserted him. On Scrub Day the patrol is out in full force seeking Louis, but he proves to be elusive for them. Finally they catch him, when who should show up but big brother Donnie. But instead of rescuing Louis, Donnie arrives dressed like Gandhi! (He's appearing in the Living History Pageant.) Donnie has taken Gandhi's philosophy to heart and advises Louis not to fight back, then he gets a page and leaves. Beale and company take their prisoner to the cafeteria where they dump him in a vat of sloppy joe. Remember

Easy Way

Ren is an organizer of the ""Beacon of Help"" fund-raiser, where people will work, walk, skateboard, etc. for pledges of money. Louis wants to find something suited to his talents which also might impress Tawny. He decides to ""doze for dollars"" and is scheduled to spend 48 hours in a bed in a department store window. He soon draws a crowd and news media, who dub him the ""amazing boy."" Ren is irritated that she does the hard work and Louis gets the attention. But Louis' fame proves fleeting when he's upstaged by a skateboarding dog. He also can't go to the ""Fun-tasia"" festival where Tawny is spending the day with Zack Estrada. Loius calls Tawny on the phone and admits he should have washed cars with her and Twitty instead of being selfish, but she can't hear him. Louis wants to leave the window early, but his malfunctioning bed threatens to swallow him up. Tawny realizes that Louis is more interesting than Zack, and she comes to visit him.

Secrets and Spies

Mrs. Stevens wants Ren to take an internship with a city councilman. Ren's schedule is already overloaded, but she says yes to please her mother. Louis finds clues that lead him to believe that Ren is up to something secret. When he finds out another girl got the internship that Ren told their mother she'd gotten, he begins spying on her. He follows her to Tokyo Rick's restaurant, where he's surprised to see Ren singing onstage under the name ""Isis."" Louis torments Ren by doing things like putting up posters all over school advertising her appearance at the restaurant. He also persuades his parents to go to Tokyo Rick's. Ren gets mad at him and calls him a ""nothing boy."" She apologizes and confesses that she's been singing to release some of the pressure from all her other duties. Louis now wants to stop his parents from going to the restaurant, but they've already left. He catches them there and tries to distract them, but they see Ren. After some explaining, the four of them end up o

Deep Chocolate (aka Chocolate Wars)

Ren is lobbying to get her own telephone. Her parents say she can have it if she keeps from insulting Louis for a week. At school, sleazy salesman Mr. Wallace promotes the 7th grade chocolate sale, offering a state-of-the-art motor scooter as a prize for the most sales. Louis catches scooter fever and makes plans with Twitty to sell 400 boxes of chocolate. By mistake Louis and Twitty both order 400 boxes, and Mr. Wallace tells them they're financially responsible for all of them. Twitty and Louis fight about who's to blame and break up their partnership. The next day Louis gets up early to start selling the chocolate, but his sales technique is lousy compared to Twitty, who even sold Mrs. Stevens six bars. Back at home Donny has used so much hot water in the shower that all the stored chocolate in the garage has melted and is sliding down the driveway. Mr. Stevens slips and falls in it, as does Wallace when he comes by demanding payment. Mr. Stevens tells him off and threatens to sue

After Hours

Louis makes Ren late for school on the Friday when she's supposed to set up her display for Lawrence Junior High's 75th anniversary. She assures Principal Wexler she'll have it done in time for Monday. While Wexler is going out of town, Coach Tugnut, about number 6 in line, is put in charge of the school. In gym class a girl Ren hardly knows named Chloe spends too much time talking to her and Coach gives both of them detention! Ren feals uneasy in the strange world of detention, run by a sleeping teacher and full of the school's misfits. The king of detention turns out to be none other than her brother Louis, who runs a gambling operation featuring racing hamsters. Tugnut shows up. Everything is hidden from him but he questions Ren. She doesn't rat out Louis, which gains her some respect in his eyes. Ren needs to work on her display before Monday but doesn't know how she could possibly do that. Louis offers to help her by breaking into the school after hours. When they arrive there Ren

Battle of the Bands

Louis is managing Twitty's band. They've got a chance for a gig at a big party thrown by Jason Bagwell, so they are auditioning for a lead singer. Ren hates the band until she gets a look at Jason, then she decides she wants to be the singer in order to go to the party. Louis says no way, but the band likes her much better than the parade of freaks they've been auditioning. Fearing Ren will take over, Louis puts Ren's membership to a vote. The band all vote for Ren and against Louis. Frustrated, Louis gets Tom to program a few instuments and he forms a rival techno band featuring the bizarre poetry of Tawny. Both bands audition before Jason. He rejects them both, but proves himself to be such a jerk that no one wants to get the job anyway. The two groups form a ""super band"" and play their own big gig--at a kids' birthday party.

Heck of a Hanukkah

Ren is surprised by Louis, who she finds in her closet looking for Hanukkah presents. In the process he messes up her room and breaks Donnie's trophy's trying to run away from her. Keeping up his search, Louis finds the presents in the basement. Upstairs, Ren asks her mom to tell the Hanukkah story again (Eileen's side of the family is Jewish.) Louis hears his dad coming upstairs to get him, so he hastily wraps the presents in a blanket and dangles them outside his window. The presents all go crashing to the driveway. When the family sees what happens, Louis is in trouble with them all. Feeling sorry for himself later, Louis wishes out loud that he hadn't been born into this family where he doesn't fit in. Suddenly in great flashes of light an old woman appears to Louis. It's the spirit of his great-great-great-great grandmother Bubbie Rose. She's heard Louis complaining and is ready to take him on a trip to see what would have happened if he hadn't been born. They travel to the Steven

Luscious Lou

Coach Tugnut need a wrestler in Louis' weight class, and always looking for something to excel at, Louis tries out for the team. He does very well in the practices, but he's horrified to learn his first opponent will be the dreaded Mimi Nagurski! Knowing that wrestling a girl is a lose-lose situation for him, Louis tries to quickly gain enough weight to make himself ineligible. When that doesn't work he shows up at the match in a silly costume callling himself ""Luscious Lou,"" bragging about how he's the wrestler who uses love insted of force. He tries to get the crowd behind him but they don't buy it, so he has to go ahead and wrestle Nagurski. Also, Ren tries to get back at Louis with practical jokes of her own, but they end up backfiring on Donnie instead.

Get a Job

Louis tries to butter up his father so he'll buy him a used Sludgee machine from the convenience store, but Mr. Stevens has three words for him: get a job. Ren is a volunteer career counselor at school and she gets Louis three different jobs, including one in ""journalism"" (a paper route), but he blows all three. Finally Louis comes up with his own brainstorm, a dogsitting service. Louis fills the house with canines who run wild and drive Ren to distraction, but when he comes up one dog short at the end of the day, she rescues him by finding ""Poopsie."" Also, Donnie and Mr. Stevens get out the big old birdhouse they never finished. But when they start working together, they realize why they left it incomplete. Father and son don't get back on good terms until they take a couple of hammers to the project.

Movie Madness

Louis plans to make an entry in a local young people's film festival. He recruits Tawny and Twitty for his cast and Tom for his crew and they begin making his extremely low-budget space alien love story. Louis proves to be a fanatical and dictatorial film director, and after Tawny almost gets hurt on a cheesy special-effect shot, his cast and crew quit en masse. Louis finishes the film alone and shows ""Three Eyes Wide Shut"" at the film festival, where it plays to great laughter from the audience, especially in the scene where Louis has his arms wrapped around himslf pretending to be two people kissing. Louis is humiliated, but Tawny at least will stand by him after the film's showing. Also, Ren is ready to tell Bobby Deaver that she's interested in him, much to the delight of school gossip-monger Ruby. Ren practices her lines she's going to use on Bobby, then writes them out. Ruby mistakenly gives the note to Bobby. Ren is frantic to get the note back, but it turns out that, rather tha

Strictly Ballroom

Ren and Louis are both looking forward to Zack Estrada's party with anticipation and nervousness. Ren has told her friend Ruby that she's planning to make her move on Bobby Deaver at the party. Louis decides to go when Tawny and Twitty say they're going, but he's afraid because he can't dance. He goes to Betty London's dance studio but all she teaches him are the rhumba, cha-cha, etc.—dances that he doesn't think will impress Tawny. Ren is mortified when she hears Louis will be at the same party as her and Bobby. She stipulates all sorts of no-contact rules for Louis to follow. At the party, Louis is too shy to ask Tawny to dance. Ren's attempts to hook up with Bobby meet with disaster. First her hair gets caught in a houseplant, then her foot gets stuck in the toilet. Louis is amused with his sister's plight at first, but he senses that Bobby is as important to her as Tawny is to him. To help her out, he creates a distraction by doing the tango with Mrs. Estrada, which impresses Tawn

Almost Perfect

Ren Stevens looks like a shoo-in for "Student of the Semester" and among her biggest supporters are Principal Wexler and two admiring young cub reporters, Carla and Marla, who are writing about her for the school paper. But the unthinkable could happen: in Mr. Rupert's wood shop class Ren may get a "C" on her final project. Louis helps her to cope with the possibility that she may have to accept less than perfection. Meanwhile, Louis' locker has become a mess, and it's not all his fault this time, as a broken steam pipe is creating new life-forms in the muck. Principal Wexler gives him a dusty old janitor's closet as a temporary space, and Louis uses it to create "Casa de Fiesta", a spot which becomes as popular as Studio 54 among the students.

A Weak First Week (aka Pilot)

Ren and Louis are at the carnival on a Ferris wheel when the ride gets stuck with them at the top. As the two argue, a repairwoman comes climbing up to their bucket and serves as a moderator for their argument. In flashback we see Louis' first days at junior high and how he embarrasses Ren. We also see the early rivalry between Ren and Larry Beale plus Louis' first flirtations with Tawny.

Starstruck

Louis finds a penny on the school grounds. As he bends over to pick it up, a scaffolding with workmen on it tumbles to the ground around him, but it misses him. A uncanny lucky streak begins for Louis. A dreaded test is cancelled, he wins a free fashion makeover, he get a reward when someone's lost bird flies right to him. Meanwhile Ren is worried about Ruby's obsession with the British pop trio BBMak, as is Ruby's friend Nelson. After Ruby stays up all night listening to the radio trying to win a contest with the prize of attending BBMak's recording session in Sacramento, Ren and Nelson decide to stage an intervention for her. They tell her to stop with her fantasies about the group and focus her feelings on a person who is attainable. The intervention seems to have worked. As Ruby leaves the Stevens house, she passes the newly-made-over Louis. Later she tells Ren she's already found a new love in her life. To Ren's horror, she says that it's...Louis! In an effort to turn her off of L

Shutterbugged

Ren is ecstatic when she finds out that her braces will come off in the morning before her 8th grade school picture will be taken. When the dentist removes them, he says she has a slight infection and gives her some oral medication which has ""mild side effects."" Ren looks great and rushes to school to get her picture taken. The disinterested photographer doesn't tell her that her cheeks are now grossly swollen. In the halls everyone stares and laughs at Ren. Louis shows his sister a mirror; Ren is horrified. She chases down the departing photographer, Mr. Krapezi, but he says there will be no reshoot unless the principal authorizes payment. Ren is sure Principal Wexler will do it for her, but by the time she sees him, the swelling has gone down and he won't consider it. At home, Louis brings in the horrible yearbook photo that's arrived in the mail. Ren's mom tells her how she led a protest for women's studies in college and suggests Ren could do the same. Ren organizes a demonstration

Duck Soup

Eileen Stevens is throwing a fancy dinner catered by French chef Pierre for the Lieutenant Governor Woods and his wife Dottie during which she hopes to persuade him to help pass her family care bill. Ren is angry with Louis, though, because the kids must eat take-out food in the back yard because Louis has been such an embarrassing slob at previous dinners. Louis steals food from the kitchen, infuriating the chef. A duck shows up in the Stevens' back yard, and Louis names him ""Seymour."" When Chef Pierre comes out in the yard looking for his ""canard"" to be served as the main course, the Stevens kids refuse to give up Seymour. The chef leaves the house in a huff. The hungry Lt. Governor doesn't want to talk politics before eating. Louis whips up some appetizers made mostly out of candy, but the Lt. Governor and his wife think they're Chef Pierre's creations and say they are wonderful. Donnie goes out on a desperate search for duck but can't find any until he comes upon the ""Bucket O' Duc

Quest for Coolness

Louis and Twitty are desperate to find the new ultra-cool ""Quasi"" sneakers, but they are sold out everywhere. Tom puts them in contact with his underground source, though, and they set up a meeting with ""Scabbie"" at South Creek Mall. Meanwhile, Ren is leading (naturally) a fund-raising meeting for the school paper. Ruby proposes a fashion show at the Mall, an idea everyone likes better than Ren's, including, surprisingly, Ren's devoted disciples Carla and Marla. Soon everyone is neglecting work on the paper and working on the fashion show. Ren gets upset and Ruby accuses her of being mad because the show wasn't her idea, which seems to be true. Ren angrily insists she'll put out the paper by herself. Louis and Twitty take a scary trip through the mall basement and meet up with the even scarier character of Scabbie. He takes their money and goes to his ""secret stash"" of Quasis. When the boys realize that he didn't get their shoes sizes, they quickly determine he's not coming back. Meanw

Secret World of Girls

Ren is having a ""young women's all-night forum""--better known as a slumber party--and she wants everyone to clear out of the house on Saturday night. All the family members agree, including Louis, who says he'll be sleeping over at Twitty's. But he's got a plan--to put hidden cameras in the house and broadcast the evening as ""The Secret World of Girls,"" charging $10 a head to his fellow male students to watch. There's been a young kid spying on Louis and Twitty. They catch him and demand to know what he wants. It turns out the youngster is new in town and is just looking for someone to hang out with. The boys are on the verge of turning him away, but Louis likes his nerve, and nicknames him ""Beans."" After Louis and Twitty wire up the house, Beans distributes flyers promoting the big pay-per-view evening to be held in the Stevens basement. Plenty of guys show up for the broadcast, but it's not very long until the girls all go upstairs, where there is no camera! Louis is faced with an an

Broadcast Blues

Ren is all set to watch her favorite newscaster and role model, Cynthia Mills, but she's bothered by Louis and Twitty, who are big fans of the station's clownish weatherman, Zippy Winds. Ren mentions that she is entering a newscasting contest for students with a prize that includes meeting Ms. Mills. This excites the boys, who see it as a chance to meet their idol Zippy. But when Ren interviews Tawny the next day at school for an audition tape, Louis is sure that her subject will be too dull to win. He uses the annoying neighbor Beans as part of his plan for a more exciting entry. Using a earpiece, the guys feed Beans information that makes him look like an incredible genius. Ren hears him spouting off all his ""knowledge"" and decides to use him in her audition tape. Meanwhile, Donnie secretly watches a videotape called Look Smart, Be Smart."" It gives him all sorts of superficial advice to make him appear more intelligent. He tries out his new image on Ren and his parents, but they just

Thin Ice

Louis and Twitty are having a good time making prank phone calls, including one to Ren, claiming to be Bobby Deaver. When she finds out about their deception, she blasts them with a super-soaker! At school, Ren meets her old neighbor Nelson, who is a real hypochondriac with allergies to everything. At lunch he embarrasses her with all his symptoms. Then when she gets home, she's not happy to hear that her parents have made plans to go out to dinner with her and Nelson and his parents. Louis and Twitty are back on the phone again, this time calling up Tawny's house claiming to be the "$1 Million Trivia Challenge" from a radio station. Tawny puts her dad, Dr. Dean, on the line and he answers the questions. Louis tells them they've won a million dollars and Tawny and her father jump up and down celebrating. Bobby Deaver calls Ren. She thinks it's a another prank at first, but she recovers in time for Bobby to ask her out ice skating. But the date is the same day as the dinner with Nelson's family.

Head Games

The Lawrence Jr. High baseball team is blowing a big lead and is about to lose the game. Things get so bad Coach Tugnut puts in Twitty, who hasn't pitched all year. Surprisingly, he strikes out the rest of the side and saves the day. At school the next day, Twitty is congratulated by everyone, but Louis talks about him being the star player every one depends on so much that it begins to make him nervous. Now with his confidence shaken, Twitty pitches terribly in the next game while Artie Ryan broadcasts to everyone how he blew it. After the game, Twitty blames Louis and all his talk for his pitching problems. Twiity is sitting at home depressed when Tawny and Louis come over to help snap him out of it. Tawny suggests ""behavior modification,"" giving Twitty a reward for having good thoughts and giving him a whiff of Louis' old socks for bad ones! It doesn't work, so Tawny asks Louis to bring his brother Donnie over to help. Donnie tells about when he had similar problems and says a trip

Love and Basketball

Donnie is coaching his terrible little league basketball team the Dingoes while Louis is hanging around the gym after his usual detention. When Donnie takes a break, Louis has the kids run a drill, and they actually look pretty good doing it. The kids ask if Louis can be their assistant coach and Donnie agrees to it. In their next game, the winless Dingoes have improved so much that they actually have a chance to win with a few seconds left. Donnie's final play is too complicated for the team to understand, but Louis has one up his sleeve. When play stars, one of the boys gets down on all fours and starts barking like a dog. While the other team is distracted, Tiffany scores the winning basket for the Dingoes! They carry Louis off the floor in triumph. Meanwhile Ren has a couple of encounters with Bobby where it seems like they are on the verge of kissing, but every time the romantic moment arrives, he backs off and gives her a high-five instead! Ren talks to her mom about this and Eil

Devil Mountain

Ren and Bobby are at the Stevens house doing homework. They are about to kiss when her dad comes in and interrupts them. Steve Stevens seems determined not to leave the couple alone. He has some ""good"" news--he's giving a guest lecture on birds in Ms. Lovelson's Life Science class. The next day at school Ruby tells Ren that Mandy ""Always Gets Her Man"" Sanchez has a crush on Bobby. After giving a thoroughly embarrassing presentation, Mr. Stevens invite the students along for a birdwatching trip to Devil Mountain. Bobby volunteers to go, followed quickly by Mandy and Ren, plus Ruby and Nelson. Meanwhile Louis and Twitty are enjoying the delicious pizza that Tom makes in his pizza oven. But when a heating coil breaks, the pair quickly leaves. The next day at school Louis is telling a joke to a crowd when Tom arrives and spoils the punch line. When Louis and Twitty berate him, Tom says his oven may never get fixed. Later the boys walk by Tom's house and find that he's making pizza, but non

Wild Child

State Sen. Eileen Stevens is running for secretary of state, and she hires a political consultant to help with the campaign. He sits the family down to have a serious talk about image when Louis comes bursting in the room, with vegetables growing in his hair for a science project! The consultant is appalled by Louis. Eileen plans to announce her candidacy on a news broadcast, and the consultant dresses Louis in a suit with short pants for the event. Louis flies into a rage over wearing the outfit, and it's all caught on tape by reporter Cynthia Mills. Soon the tape of Louis having a fit is being shown on every channel and Cynthia had dubbed him ""the wild child."" At school Larry Beale takes delight in needling Ren about her brother's actions. Nelson comes to her defense and gets stuffed in a locker. Later he goes to Donnie for some self-defense instruction. Donnie makes up a martial art using the pinky fingers called ""ta-ting"" which is totally phony but which gives Nelson confidence. Ei

Easy Crier

Louis arrives late in class to find a huge new transfer student named Lenny sitting in his seat. Louis is scared of the big guy but loans him a pencil when he needs one. The class watches the ""Wombat Report"" featuring Ren's expose on dodge ball. She has film of Coach Tugnut and his sadistic practices plus a medical report from Nelson about the injury risks. Lenny follows a nervous Louis to the cafeteria, but he's not going to hurt him; rather, he's grateful that Louis was nice to him. Louis asks Lenny to have lunch with him and Twitty, then he boldly goes and sits at the 8th grade table. Normally this would get the 7th graders a pounding, but with Lenny by their side, Louis and Twitty are soon able to order guys like Larry Beale around like they were little kids. Meanwhile Ren meets with an angry Coach Tugnut. There is going to be a referendum on whether or not to keep dodge ball and the Coach promises to fight Ren all the way, enlisting Larry to campaign for him. Louis and Twitty are

A Very Scary Story

It was a dark and stormy night... just before Halloween as Ren sits and watches a horror movie alone. She gets a terrifying ""I know you're home alone"" call from someone, but it turns out to be Louis, dressed in his penguin jockey outfit. At school the next day, Ren is the only person not dressed in a Halloween costume. Instead, she is encouraging all the students to get eye examinations, which are being given by Principal Wexler and Coach Tunut, who are looking and acting suspiciously like Dr. Frankenstein and Igor. Meanwhile, Louis has plans for the greatest Halloween prank ever, eyeballs in the turkey gravy. But by lunchtime, his cohorts Tom, Tawny and Twitty have flaked on him. They've all taken the eye exam and are now drinking milk and talking and acting responsibly, like Ren. In fact, everyone now is looking and acting the same way. When they take their dark glasses off--they're missing their eyeballs! Louis runs down the hall in terror trying to escape, surrounded by zombie-like

Sadie Hawkins Day

Ren and Monique are organizing a Sadie Hawkins Day dance, but due to all the hard work and a recent breakup with Bobby Deaver, Ren may be dateless for the dance. Meanwhile Twitty is swamped with invitations from girls while Louis and Tom, not surprisingly, can't get themselves arrested. Twitty assures Louis that Tawny will ask him to the dance, and she appears to be on the verge of doing so, but when Louis brags about the number of girls after him, Tawny declines to ask Louis out. Ren asks several boys to the dance, but the fact that she's babysitting a live pig cramps her style and she gets nowhere. Louis and Tom both try the ""bad boy"" approach to attract dates, but it only works for Tom. Finally, at the last second, Louis begs Monique to ask him out, and she agrees. At the dance Tawny arrives with a popular boy, Tad. She and Louis eye each other all evening, each trying to impress the other. Ren admits to her pig, now named Timmy, that since her breakup with Bobby she really hasn't w

Sibling Rivalry

Ren and Louis are fighting tooth-and-nail as usual when Donnie shows them a tape of a TV show, ""Sibling Sessions,"" and suggests they appear on it to help them solve their differences. Ren agrees and so does Louis once he learns that he'll get free tickets to Magic Mountain. At school, Ren gets a little worried when she sees that Bobby's new lab partner is the dreaded Mandy ""Always Gets Her Man"" Sanchez. She asks Bobby if there is anything for her to worry about and he tells her no. When Louis and Ren show up for the TV show audition they find that the host, David Blackburn, wants to put them on the air right away. But the show has changed from the serious ""Sibling Sessions"" to the sleazy, cheesy game show ""Sib Wars!"" Louis and Ren battle each other on day one of the filming and are supposed to return the next day for the final ""humiliation round."" Louis and Twitty film Mandy kissing Bobby in the hall at school for use on the TV show. But when he appears on the show, Louis won't use the

Wombat Wuv

Ren gets on the cheerleading squad (it'll look good on her record), but head cheerleader Monique tells he that she needs to work on being more perky and peppy. Meanwhile Louis takes one look at Ms. Morgan, the cheerleaders' new faculty advisor, and falls head over heels in love with the beautiful woman. When Ren messes up a routine and a pyramid of girls falls on the team mascot, a new mascot is needed to replace the injured one. Louis jumps at the chance, solely so he can be near Ms. Morgan. Tawny is shocked at what Louis is doing, but he's serious enough to go to a mascot boot camp, where he impresses the crusty instructor so much that he give Louis a jet pack that he himself used as a mascot long ago. Ren's attempts to be the peppy, perky, perfect cheerleader, and soon she is leading cheers even when she's answering algebra questions! Steve and Eileen Stevens are beginning to worry about their daughter's new obsession. Meanwhile Tawny is hurt by the way Louis has been ignoring her.

Uncle Chuck

Dad's bought a new car, but he disappoints the family by buying a boring minivan. But who should come rolling up in a monster 4-wheel drive truck but Chuck Stevens, Steve's brother and the favorite uncle of Louis. Dad isn't too thrilled about his brother's visit because he's an immature ne'er-do-well with lots of half-baked get-rich-quick schemes that never work out, and also a bad influence on Louis. When his parents stop Louis from pulling a prank on Larry Beale at school, Uncle Chuck encourages him to do it anyway. While Louis is washing the van, Chuck tells him to forget about it and come to the mall with him. The guys leave the hose running and fill the van with water. Louis tries to takes all the blame on himself. Louis is grounded, but Uncle Chuck sneaks him out at night and takes him and Twitty to Larry's house to TP (toilet paper) the yard. When Larry and his ferocious dad Colonel Beale come after them, Uncle Chuck takes off in the truck, abandoning the boys. Luckily Steve Ste

The Thomas Gribalski Affair

Louis and Twitty are playing a game of stinky sockball. Tom is there, too, but he doesn't care to join in. He is excited, though, when Mr. Stevens brings home a carve-your-own-leprechaun kit. Louis suggest his dad start without him and use Tom to help instead. Soon, though, Louis is surprised and dismayed when Tom gets on a first-name basis with his dad and begins spending more and more time with him. Louis confesses to Tawny that he fears Tom is taking the role of his dad's son away from him. Tawny suggests he find a shared interest with his dad. Steve Stevens is surprised one afternoon at the golf course when Louis shows up, ready to play. But Tom is already there too. The threesome plays, with Louis doing badly while Tom earns compliments from Steve. Louis finally makes a tough shot, but Steve and Tom aren't paying attention. Louis' frustration boils over and he tells Tom he can take his place as Steve's son. Both Tom and Mr. Stevens are stunned--they didn't realize Louis felt this

Ren-Gate

Ren is efficiently doing her job as student administrative assistant to Principal Wexler, while Louis is getting into trouble, as usual. When he whacks Mr. Wexler in the face with his locker door, the principal calls in Mr. and Mrs. Stevens. Steve and Eileen suggest to Wexler that instead of more punishment for Louis that he be given some responsibility like Ren has. Wexler agrees to do it, and gives Louis the job of hall monitor. When Twitty and Tawny hears of this, they think it's great, that their friend Louis will let them be late for class, etc. But things turn out differently when Tom, who takes his job as hall monitor very seriously, gets ahold of Louis. Tom takes the new recruit down to a basement for a secret, cult-like initiation ritual. From then on, Louis begins to take the job seriously too; so serious, in fact, that he busts Twitty and Tawny for violations! Principal Wexler is surprised that Louis is doing so well, and he agrees to Louis' idea of putting up surveillance c

Tight End in Traction

Donnie is going to be inducted into the Lawrence Jr. High Wombat Hall of Fame and Louis is getting a little perturbed at his brother because of all the things he gets away with simply because he's an athletic star. His dad ignores his complaints, so Louis plans his own stunt to get even. At the Hall of Fame induction ceremony, a choked-up Coach Tugnut introduces Donnie and tells him that the Texas State University football coach Specs Richardson is on his way to Sacramento right now with plans to offer Donnie a full athletic scholarship. Donnie is set to demonstrate his title-winning gymnastics routine on the pommel horse. Louis has tampered with the horse, though, and when Donnie gets on, it bucks like a mechanical bull. Donnie is thrown high in the air and lands hard on the ground, as Louis and Twitty look on in shock. Meanwhile, Ren is fed up with Beans (who seems to be at the Stevens house all the time) and his practical jokes and uncivilized behavior. But she soon gets frustrated

Influenza: The Musical

Even though she's burning up with fever, Ren still wants to go to school so she can qualify for a perfect attendance award, but her mom Eileen won't let her. Louis tries to fake illness to avoid Coach Tugnut's fitness test, but his dad Steve is not fooled. Ren is in bed with Mr. Pookie watching a musical. A big puff of steam comes from the humidifier and... Ren is at school after all, but when she comes in the office she gets a big surprise--Principal Wexler is singing the ""Morning Announcements,"" complete with a troupe of dancing students! She sees Louis, Twitty and Tawny in the hall. Louis is still looking to get out of gym class, and he and his friends start singing and dancing to the song ""I Always Find a Way."" Ren meets Ruby and Nelson for lunch. They remind her that her science presentation is due today in 6th period. Ren has forgotten all about it and isn't prepared. But Larry Beale is--and he intends to win the science medal with his presentation. While Ren stumbles around tryi

Gutter Queen

Ruby and Monique are reluctant to sign up for the mother-daughter bowling night that Ren is organizing; they're afraid their moms will embarrass them. However it turns out those girls have fun with their mothers while it's Ren who is embarrassed by her mother Eileen's awful bowling. Ren is glad that the one-time bowling night is over, but Mom brings home a surprise: she had so much fun that she enrolled herself and Ren in a mother-daughter league. Meanwhile, Louis has used the $500 he won in a radio station's stinky feet contest to hire a butler, Chives. His servant waits on him hand and foot, at home and at school, even serving detention for Louis. Beans is hanging out at the Stevens house, being his usual annoying self and Louis orders Chives to toss him out. Ren comes to see Louis to tell her about her problem with their mom and the way she's embarrassing her, but Louis has her thrown out of his room too. Although, Chives the butler steps out of her servant's role and scolds Louis for turning away his sister when she needed his help. At the bowling alley Ren tries to get her mom to take the bowling seriously but Eileen is as bad as ever and still having fun. Louis and Chives put on maintenance uniforms so they can sneak in behind the pins and replace Eileen's ball with a magnetic one, plus they put a metallic bowling pin in as well. The result is strike after strike for Eileen. Louis and Chives are found out and are chased around the bowling alley. Ren tells her mom that she was embarrassed by her terrible bowling but she was also puzzled that her mother wasn't concerned about how bad she was. Eileen says that she just looked at it as a fun way to relax from more important things, like her job. At home, Chives returns with the bad check that Louis gave him. To pay him back, Louis must now wait hand and foot on Chives and Beans too, as Louis serves up some bacon for the pair.

The Kiss

Loius and Tawny are having lunch together at school when she says that she's got something in her eye. Louis takes a close look--and unexpectedly kisses her! Both of them sit there stunned when Ren comes along and snaps them out of it by taking Tawny off for a costume fitting for the play she's writing and directing. Louis tells Twitty about the kiss, but says he doesn't know what Tawny's reaction was. Twitty goes to the play rehearsal to try and find out. Tawny tells him to have Louis meet her the next morning by her locker. Meanwhile, Coach Tugnut, the unlikely theatre advisor, tells Ren her play about Abigail and John Adams is deadly dull and needs to be spiced up. The next day Louis waits for Tawny nervously, but she surprises him by saying she'd like to be his girlfriend! The happy couple walk off hand-in-hand. At home, the Stevens family is watching an old romance movie on TV which gives Ren the idea to give her play a more romantic theme. Donnie is concerned the the movie didn't

Where in the World Is Pookie Stevens?

Louis badly wants a set of drums he's seen in a pawn shop window, but his parents say that he (and they) have accumulated too much junk that just sits around the house. Louis proposes they have a garage sale. Steve and Eileen go for the idea and tell their son he can buy the drums if they make enough money. Meanwhile, Ren is apprehensive about Scott Brooks coming by to be her ""study date,"" and Ruby is there to help get the two together. While the three are studying, Ren's favorite stuffed animal from her childhood, Mr. Pookie, gets mistakenly included with the items to be sold at the yard sale. The sale is successful--even Donnie's old unwashed uniforms and cleats are bought by Coach Tugnut. But when Scott leaves, Ren looks for Mr. Pookie, who was hidden away during the study date. She can't find him, and her mom breaks the bad news to her: he was sold at the yard sale! Ren accepts the news maturely at first, but later she finds out from Ruby that Scott has gone back to his old girlfri

My Best Friend's Girlfriend

Louis and Twitty are indulging in their favorite new pastime--playing in the defective packaging material dump--when Twitty spies Allison Wong, a girl he has a crush on. Louis encourages him to talk to her, and he does. Allison seems to like Twitty too, and they make plans for later. At school Principal Wexler and Coach Tugnut host the dedication of a new rock-climbing wall named after Donnie. Tawny and Louis notice Twitty and Allison in the audience looking mighty cozy. Louis tricks Ren into competing against Donnie in a rock-climbing demonstration. Amazingly, Ren wins. Donnie says nothing but is upset. At lunch, Twitty brings Allison to the table with Louis, Tawny and Tom. The new couple are obviously getting very close and Louis is beginning to feel frozen out. Later Louis is happy when Twitty drops by his house--until he sees Allison with him. Louis can't find anything for the three of them to do together and Twitty and Allison leave, acting like lovebirds. Also at the Stevens hous

Your Toast

Ren is excited to get a job at the coolest shop in the mall's food court. It's a place called Your Toast, where they serve up toast all different ways and put on a show while doing it. The only problem is the ""wormy"" assitant manager Mr. Squirelli, who runs the place like a dictator. But Squirelli likes the way Ren works, and after she runs off a troublemaking customer--her bother Louis--he promotes her to assistant assitant manager, a job Ruby was in line for. Later the manager finds that someone broke one of the ""Ten Commandments of Toast"" when he finds a half-eaten piece behind the counter. He interrogates Ren while trying to find out who did it, but she won't tell on Ruby. Squirelli fires Ruby anyway, though. Ruby blames Ren for her losing her job, and co-workers Hector and Denise do, too. One day when Squirelli is gone from the store, Hector and Denise see Ruby shoping at the mall and go to talk to her, leaving Ren alone with tons of customers. Larry Beale sees that Ren is in trou

Band on the Roof

In the form of a ""rockumentary"" directed by that noted filmmaker Tom Gribalski, we witness the ups and downs of the Twitty-Stevens Connection, the rock band featuring Alan Twitty on guitar, Louis Stevens on drums, Ren Stevens on vocals, Tawny Dean on keyboards and Artie Ryan on bass, who is replaced by another bass guitarist--would you believe Beans? The rest of the Stevens family is delighted and amazed to find that Ren and Louis are actually getting along and working together as songwriters. But a problem soon arises. Louis comes up with an idea for a rooftop concert to be given at the school, a la the Beatles and U2, even though Principal Wexler will not give permission for it. Ren won't go along with the idea, leading to a big argument between her and Louis, and she quits the band over the dispute. Louis pushes ahead with his idea and the group manage to sneak their equipment onto the roof past Mr. Wexler and Coach Tugnut. But one by one the nervous band members drop out of the pro

Little Mr. Sacktown

Louis and Twitty are not too impressed when Tom shows off his cousin Grayson, the reigning two-time winner of the ""Little Mr. Sacremento"" pageant, but when they hear there is a $1000 prize for the contest winner, they team up with Tawny to try and groom Beans to be a contestant. It isn't easy though; Beans' only talent is--ah, making a certain kind of noise with his cupped hand and armpit to the tune of ""Polly Wolly Doodle!"" Louis tries to teach him another talent, but is frustrated. Beans overhears Louis complaining to his mother than the youngster is hopeless. With his feelings hurt, Beans goes to drown his sorrows in a plate of bacon at the Bacon Shack. Louis finds Beans and tells him a secret: he himself was once in the Little Mr. Sacktown pageant, but he blew his chance many years ago. Beans thinks that Louis is realy trying to satisfy his own ego and tells him that he'll stay in the pageant, but he won't use Louis' help. With the Stevens family watching on TV, the pageant begins,

Raiders of the Lost Sausage

When an emu that Louis ordered arrives through the mail, his dad Steve puts his foot down on his son's get-rich-quick schemes. But Louis is not so easy to stop. While he's bowling with Twitty and Tom in his basement using milk cartons and a frozen turkey, Louis knocks a hole in the wall revealing a heretofore unkown tunnel. Louis does some research and finds that a rich businessman who made sausages once owned the land their house is on, so along with the other boys and Beans they start excavating the filled-in tunnel hoping to find some of the man's lost wealth. When Steve finds out he's upset with Louis, but soon he goes on an Indiana Jones-type mission with him to recover the treasure Louis has located: A large gold-encrusted sausage! Also, Ren and Larry Beale's rivalry is responsible for Principal Wexler getting a couple of pies in the face, so he sends them to the school's somewhat flaky counselor Miss Shannon, who decides on a radical therapy: she tethers them together! After a c

Close Encounters of the Beans Kind

Ren gets stuck tutoring Beans in a writing program. Meanwhile downstairs at the Stevens house Louis and Twitty get spooked after watching a show about possible alien life on Earth. They get even more scared when a mysterious man in black named Mason comes to the door looking for Beans. But the youngster has disappeared all of a sudden just as mysteriously. Louis and Twitty's imaginations begin to run wild. What do they really know about Beans? Could he be...an alien from outer space? Nervously, the boys secretly track Beans home to his house. Louis and Twitty are laughing at themselves for being so paranoid, but then they look in the window to see Beans greeting his parents--two gigantic bugs! The guys run away screaming. When the boys tell the story to Ren she of course thinks they're nuts, but after she sees the story that Beans has written is printed in indecipherable symbols, she too begins to get paranoid. Once again Beans, as always, pops up mysteriously in the house. But the gov

Short Story

Some students from Jefferson are temporarily going to Lawrence Junior High, and Ren, Ruby and Monique are checking out the boys for possible dates to the upcoming semi-formal dance. Ren is sharing a locker with a Jefferson student named Travis Gresham. She is infatuated with him, but she's never actually seen him yet, despite her efforts. Meanwhile, Louis is incurring the wrath of all sorts of people, including Twitty, Principal Wexler and a girl named Charlene (who stomps on his feet!) because of the pranks he's been pulling. But in truth, Louis isn't the one doing those things; it's some other mysterious guy. Ren finally hears someone address Travis by name at lunch, so she goes over, sits down and talks to him. After a while, she asks him to the dance. Travis is everything she's been looking for--until they both stand up and she sees that he's half a head shorter than she is! Ren is looking through the school files when she comes upon a Jefferson student named Loomis Freeman. The gu

Hutch Boy

Louis is being threatened by Lloyd, a bully at his school. Tom tells Louis that he needs to stand up to Lloyd, but Louis dismisses Tom's advice, inferring that he's a wimp who doesn't know what he's talking about. But Louis isn't handling Lloyd very well, and in shop class Lloyd humiliates Louis by putting the smaller guy into a hutch (cabinet) that he's building. Tom decides he's seen enough. As calm as Clint Eastwood, he strolls up to Lloyd and tells him to stop. Then he surprises everyone by putting on a dazzling display of karate moves, breaking boards and other pieces of wood left and right! Lloyd immediately backs down. In an instant, Tom changes in the eyes of Louis from a wimp to a hero. He tells Tom he wants to be his student and learn his ways. But before his first lesson, Louis impulsively calls up Lloyd and invites him to meet in an alley for a showdown. Tom then tells him it will take Louis nine years to learn his teachings! Louis learns all he can in one day, then goes to

Hardly Famous

Ren and Pricipal Wexler are giddy with excitement when famous actor Barry Hudson Jr. shows up at Lawrence Jr. High to help judge auditions for the new Sacramento Arts Conservatory for Creative Youth (SACCY, or ""sassy'). So is State Senator Eileen Stevens, who takes Barry right out from under Ren's nose and takes him on a tour of the school. Tom Gribalski is excited about auditioning, but Louis and Twitty ridicule his ambition at lunch. Tawny listens and gets irritated; she's getting fed up with her friends' endless practical jokes and childish behavior. She defends Tom and tells off Louis and Twitty. The boys go to the audition to make fun of the performers. Tom sings a severely off-key song for his audition (accompanied on piano by his mother Doris!) Louis and Twitty are about to leave when, surprisingly, Tawny gets up to take a turn in front of the judges. She does a dramatic monologue which moves everyone and she gets an ovation from judges and spectators. Louis realizes Tawny is a

The King Sloppy (aka The Big Sloppy)

Boy on a Rock

Twitty has broken up with his girlfriend Allison, but he says things are OK between them and they are still friends. Louis is surprised, though, when Allison starts giving him ""the eye"" right away. Louis tells Tawny about this. She's very skeptical, and bluntly asks Allison if she's been checking out Louis. Tawny is surprised when Allison say yes, ""I like his look."" Louis is even more surprised when Allison asks him to meet her at a local park with a reputation as a place to make out. Louis is confused about what to do. He's concerned how his best friend Twitty will react to himself and Allison as a couple so soon after breaking up with her. His conflicting emotions are played out in his head in the form of a couple of old guys sitting around in a deli talking! Despite his fears, Louis tells Twitty he can't hang out after school and goes to the park to meet Allison. But when she asks Louis to put on a bathing suit she's brought along, he stops her, saying that this is all wrong and he'

Dirty Work

Principal Wexler gives his student assistant Ren the task of investigating a new organization at school called the ""Lumberjack Club."" It seems that Louis got fifty signatues on a petition, allowing him to get $218 from the school to start a new club. Ren finds out it's what she expected: Louis is pulling another scam. The only purpose of the Lumberjack Club is to provide Louis, Twitty, Tawny and Tom with lots of pancakes and high-quality syrup! Ren is ecstatic when she finds that Principal Wexler has given her a desk of her own right outside her office, with a nameplate and all the works. But she's not so happy when she ends up doing all of Wexler's work while he goes out riding in his new car. When Wexler tells her she must fire the school's old janitor, she puts her foot down, saying she won't to the principal's dirty work for him. An argument ensues, and Ren quits her job as student assistant. But right away she misses being out of the action, so she goes back to apologize, only to

The Big Splash

Tawny, Twitty and Tom wait for Louis, who they are supposed to meet in the gym. To their great surprise, they find out that he's a member of the school's diving team! But when Louis does his first dive in competition, it's a ragged cannonball that splashes about half the water out of the pool, to the crowd's great amusement. Meanwhile, Ruby has the early word on who is going to win in the class favorites voting. Ren is set to sweep the big awards, but when she hears that another girl, Kelly, is ahead in the ""Best Smile"" voting, it brings out her competitive nature and she determines to win that award too. When Louis comes home late, he doesn't want to tell his parents where he's been, but Ren spils the beans about him being on the diving team. Steve and Eileen are delighted at this news. Ren works on her smile that night and the next day at school she and Kelly are involved in a big ""smile-down."" At Louis' next diving meet, his dad brings along his boss Mr. Kupchek to see his son. But

Beans on the Brain

Louis, Twitty and Tom are engaging in one of their usual crazy pursuits (this time trying to walk on the ceiling!) when they find that Beans has once again snuck into the house and is annoying them. Beans says he has a cousin named Chris that the guys might like to meet, but they throw him out anyway, only to find out that not only is Chris a girl, she's a pretty one, too! Now all of a sudden Louis and his friends are fawning all over Beans, hoping that he will introduce them to his cousin. Beans puts them through a test and decides he'll let Louis meet her. Louis arranges to take a gondola ride with Chris, but she shows up with Beans in tow. Louis manages to ditch Beans, and on the gondola ride sparks start to fly between him and Chris. She gives him permission to kiss her, but when Louis starts to move in on her, Chris' head morphs into a replica of--Beans!! Louis screams in horror! At school Twitty and Tom want to know all the juicy details about Louis' date, but Louis is still trau

Snow Job

In Mr. Lopez's algebra class, Tawny and Twitty are doing great, but Louis is pretty much clueless. Despite his teacher's warning about the upcoming mid-term, Louis shows no concern about learning the material. Instead he spends his time with Beans working on some strange device. We soon learn what its purpose is: it's a snow machine, and Louis takes it to Principal Wexler's house to try and fool him by faking a blizzard so he will cancel classes on the day of the algebra exam. The ruse almost works until Ren comes along and blows Louis' cover. In a meeting with Mr. and Mrs. Stevens, Wexler comes down hard on Louis, suspending him for a week. Eileen Stevens takes the job of tutoring her son while he's out of school and she puts him through a tough course of learning. But Louis still gets nowhere with the algebra. Ren confronts Louis and asks why he went to such trouble to get out of a test. Louis admits that he just doesn't understand anything about algebra but is embarrassed to admit t

Stevens Manor

Louis has a scheme to raise money for a snowboarding trip for himself, Twitty, Tawny and Tom. While everyone else is out of the house on a weekend night, he plans to turn his home into ""Stevens Manor,"" a bed and breakfast inn, and he's already got guests' reservations! When his parents leave on an anniversary trip, he and his friends put on monogrammed shirts, redecorate the house, and greet their new arrivals, who find that the staff includes Tawny playing cocktail-lounge piano and Beans as a masseur! Despite some near-disasters (like Tom turning out to be an obnoxious waiter), the guys seem to be pulling off their plan. Meanwhile Ren is at a sleepover at Ruby's, who is down after breaking up with her boyfriend. The two plan a ""boy-free"" evening, but when her ex calls on the phone, Ruby spends the night talking to him. Ren goes home in disgust and climbs in her bed only to find--there's someone already in it! Ren hits the roof when she finds out what Louis has done and is immediately

Model Principal (aka This Year's Principal)

A tearful Ren can hardly believe it--Principal Wexler is leaving his job at the school! What's more, he's going off to pursue a career as A MODEL! Louis and Twitty are extremely pleased with themselves, since it was their doings that gave Wexler the idea he could be a successful model. Now the new man in the job will be Vice-Principal Landau, a real soft touch who's mostly interested in performing magic. For a while everything goes the way the boys want it and the school is in total chaos. That's when Ren goes to Mr. Landau and convinces him to crack down, saying there are other ways to do it besides screaming and yelling at students, which he's not good at. So Landau comes up with an idea to make the students wear ""Scarlet Letter""-type signs around their necks for every infraction of the rules, from ""I Am a Troublemaker"" for Louis to ""I Am an Eye-Roller"" for Tawny! Louis asks Ren for help in stopping Landau's new policy, but she doesn't have much sympathy until she notices that every

Surf's Up

In Ren We Trust

At school, Louis and Tom are fooling around with Tom's boomerang when Louis flings it in the direction of Ren, Ruby and Monique, nearly hitting them. The group looks for the lost boomerang, but instead of finding it Ren stumbles upon something else. a metal briefcase, the kind used to carry large sums of cash! When the gang gets home, they open it up and check it out. Amazingly, they find that it IS full of money--$4,412 to be exact! Everyone starts mentally dividing up the loot and deciding how they are going to spend it--except for Ren, of course. Though the others are reluctant, they finally listen to Ren when she tells them the money is not theirs and must be turned over to the proper authorities. They all agree that Ren, being the most responsible one, should take the money to the police. But on the way to the station, Ren sees a pair of lizard-skin pants in the window of an expensive botique. She stops in to look, and the saleswoman there does quite a sales job on her, so much so

Leavin' Stevens

As the Stevens family watches the television anxiously on election night, Eileen is declared the winner of a seat in the United States House of Representatives! This means big--and immediate--changes for everyone, as the family makes hasty plans to move to Washington, D.C. On Louis' last day of school, he and Twitty are sorry to be parted, of course, but neither seems quite as upset as Tom, who's nearly in tears. When it comes time to say goodbye to Tawny, she and Louis awkwardly grope for the right words to say. Louis is on the verge of telling her that he'll miss her, but instead says he'll miss the cafeteria's chili fries! Ren, Ruby and Monique aren't having any trouble expressing themselves, however; all three girls are upset. True to her usual efficient self, though, Ren goes out and finds a new best friend for her two mates. Her name is Denise, and she's a virtual clone of Ren! Meanwhile when Donnie tells Coach Tugnut he's leaving town, the news sends the coach into a catatonic