All About the Andersons

Having never sympathized with his son's dream of becoming an actor, Joe wants Anthony to abandon his hopes and take a "real job" working in the family beauty salon/barbershop. To complicate matters even further, Anthony's old room is being rented out to a beautiful Latina medical student, Lydia (series star AIMEE GARCIA), who also works part-time at Joe's shop, and Anthony must sleep in the garage with Joe's massive, beloved sedan.

When Anthony makes plans for his first date in 10 years, he turns to his parents for advice on how to gently tell his son, Tuga, the truth about the child's mom and why she left them six months ago.

When Anthony convinces his mom to become more independent and socialize without Joe, the men of the house are left to take care of themselves. Joe soon begins to realize that he should appreciate Flo's efforts more.

When Joe and Flo criticize Anthony's parenting skills and his leniency with Tuga, Anthony announces that he no longer wants their help. After a taste of life without the support of his family, however, Anthony realizes that Tuga needs a father more than he needs a buddy, and the family comes to terms on how they can raise Tuga together.

Anthony wrecks Joe's beloved car, and Lydia claims responsibility for the accident. But one lie quickly leads to another. When Joe discovers the truth, everyone learns a lesson about what it means to be Joe's favorite.

Anthony discovers that Tuga has lied to his teachers about Anthony's profession, which makes him realize that his son doesn't understand what he does for a living. After Anthony lands an acting job, he must make a decision about the role in order to make his son proud.

Joe criticizes the way Anthony coaches Tuga's tee-ball team and insists on taking over the coaching duties. Problems arise when Joe's "winning is everything" philosophy clashes with Anthony's easygoing style.

Anthony jeopardizes his career dreams when Joe bets that he can land an acting job before Anthony does. Meanwhile, Lydia is reluctant to speak at a medical school fund-raiser after she discovers she was only invited because of her nationality.

When Joe buys Tuga a bike, Anthony must admit the reason he is against the gift is that he never learned how to ride one. Meanwhile, Lydia tutors a boy-genius medical student, Andrew (MARTIN SPANJERS - "8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter"), but things get complicated when she realizes the teen is romantically attracted to her and wants Lydia to be his first lover.

When Tuga comes home from school with a bloody nose, Anthony vows to have dodge ball banned from school. But Joe is outraged, claiming that the children benefit from competition, and the men bring their argument to a parent teacher association meeting. Since the group is divided on the merits of the game, Anthony and Joe lead teams in a grownup game of dodge ball, each hoping to prove his point. Although Anthony's team wins, he realizes that it's fun and the children love it, so he stops trying to forbid it. Meanwhile, Lydia worries about her future as a surgeon when she repeatedly faints at the sight of blood.

Anthony and Joe become concerned when Tuga invents an imaginary friend named Kai-Kai and even blames Kai-Kai when a flowerpot is broken. When the men visit a child psychologist, Dr. Harvey (FRENCH STEWART - "3rd Rock from the Sun"), they learn that the problem may be with them rather than Tuga. They agree to stop arguing so much and write their feelings in journals, so Tuga will not feel so stressed in his own home that he has to make up a pretend pal. Even the journals become a source of competition between Anthony and Joe, until Anthony steals Joe's and reads that the reason Joe was reluctant to let Anthony move back in was because he is worried about losing him again. The guys reconcile--before discovering that shy Kai-Kai (LYNDON KARP) is actually a real boy.

Anthony helps Tuga create a collage of pictures for a Family Night at the school, but Joe and Tuga agree that a home movie would be more fun. Over Anthony's objections, Joe supervises the filming of himself, Flo and Tuga acting perfect and loving. But Anthony later conspires with Tuga to capture candid scenes of their life as it really is. On Family Night, Tuga shows the heartwarming and honest production and explains that even though he doesn't have a mommy, his family is great. Meanwhile, Joe eagerly raids the lost-and-found box at work as soon as the 30-day waiting period is over.

Joe is not happy to learn that Anthony has reunited with his longtime friend, Marcus (recurring guest star RONREACO LEE), a disreputable but likeable guy whom Joe always considered a bad influence on his son. Anthony tries to convince Joe that Marcus has changed, but when Joe's watch disappears, Joe immediately blames Marcus--and Anthony reconsiders when he later sees an identical watch in Marcus' apartment. But the truth is that Tuga innocently took Joe's watch to play with in his room. After Joe finally admits that he was wrong about Marcus and confesses that he believes Anthony can be successful in life, Joe and Anthony drive to Marcus' home to apologize.

When Tuga feels alienated at school, Anthony tries to help by taking Tuga and nine classmates on a camping trip. Doubting that Anthony can handle the task alone, Joe comes along. Joe's military approach contrasts with Anthony's more lighthearted leadership skills, but when the troop gets lost in the woods with no food or warm clothes, the men must work together to help the children through the tough night. Tuga gains some friends from the experience. Meanwhile, when Anthony earns money helping his friend host a lingerie party, Flo decides to host one of her own.

When Tuga wants to quit piano lessons, Anthony tells him that he regrets giving up his childhood dreams of playing the clarinet. Overhearing this, Flo rents Anthony a clarinet and signs him up with a frenetic private teacher, Lauren Wilson (JENNY McCARTHY - "Scary Movie 3"), who eventually sees Anthony's musical potential and invites him to join an ensemble. Unfortunately, it's a band of 10-year-olds, but Anthony remains determined to prove to his parents and son--and himself--that he can be a musician.