SYNOPSIS

Two appealing stars, some innocent kids and a can't-miss time slot right in the middle of ABC's Friday night lineup were but a few contributing factors in the success of this very funny family situation comedy.

Frank Lambert was a freewheeling, divorced contractor who had impetuously married widowed beautician Carol Foster when they met during separate vacations in Jamaica. They flew home to Port Washington, Wisconsin, where they both lived and told their kids - he had three and she had three - and that's when all the family problems began.

While Carol was orderly, Frank was chaotic. Her kids were: Dana, her teenaged daughter who was as unbelievably neat and clean as her Mother; Karen, the middle sister who was a budding fashion statement and Mark, the youngest of the the three and who was a worry wart. Frank's were: J.T., was very cool; Al, his pre-teen daughter who was into bugs and animals and Brendan, the youngest of the bunch who had a carefree spirit.

Carol worked with her Mother Ivy and sister Penny in her beauty salon. Cody was Frank's spaced-out 19-year-old nephew whose schemes and obsessions kept everyone in an uproar but who was really smarter than he let on. Showing up in early 1997, was Jean-Luc, a quirky hairdresser from France who opened a salon with Carol.

By the fourth season, the oldest kids were approaching adulthood. Dana entered college and J.T. was working as a car salesman. in May 1995, Carol gave birth to the couple's first child together, Lilly. Miraculously, Lilly grew rapidly, turning five and entering preschool in 1997! Stories included the kids' growing pains, their antics and numerous girl and boy friends. At the center of many of them was Rich, J.T.'s best friend and Dana's sometime boyfriend. A major vacation for the family - and a BIG advertisement for ABC owner, The Walt Disney Corporation - was a two-part trip to Disney World iin May 1996, paid for by Frank's mother (June Lockhart).

In the fall of 1997, the show moved to CBS and Carol decided to go to college, finding herself in many of the same classes as her freshman daughter Karen.