8 {EIGHT} SIMPLE RULES FOR DATING MY TEENAGE DAUGHTER: FINALE PART UN / FINALE PART DEUX {SEASON TWO FINALE} (TV)
Summary
The second season finale in this series about the attempts of Paul Hennessy's wife and children to make new lives for themselves following his unexpected death.
Kerry’s acceptance into a summer art program in France is stymied; Cate forgot to submit her medical records before the deadline, but promises to talk with her principal and fix things. C.J. meets Missy’s older sister Sissy and is immediately attracted to her. Cate is worried that Jim hasn’t made any new friends lately and recommends that he go to the local veteran’s association. Cate and Kerry go to speak to Ed Gibbs, the principal, and Kerry is surprised to learn that he and Cate are on a first-name basis with each other. It is revealed that they dated in high school but that Cate soon forgot about him, leaving Kerry feeling rather uncomfortable. They manage to convince him into letting Kerry submit her medical records after the deadline, allowing her to go on the trip.
Jim meets an older woman named Tina at the veteran’s association, and the two of them hit it off and start dating, much to Cate’s shock. Despite his excitement, Jim is nervous about dating Tina. Meanwhile, Sissy takes a liking to C.J. and proposes that they double-date with Rory and Missy, and they end up at the same restaurant as Jim and Tina. Unbeknownst to C.J., Sissy is getting engaged. Jim agrees to help C.J. pay for the expensive meal if he doesn’t reveal to Tina that he is living in his daughter’s house. The next day, Kerry becomes enraged when she discovers that her biology final will apparently consist of frog dissection. Missy tells Rory that Sissy surprisingly is attracted to C.J., so much so that she has broken off her engagement. Jim continues his relationship with Tina and gets into an argument with Cate about it. Sissy talks to C.J. about her feelings for him, but soon her aggressively cutesy behavior becomes too much for him to handle. Jim spends the night with Tina, upsetting Cate since she had hoped that he would eventually get back together with her mother. Jim notes that dating Tina has given him new purpose and vitality, and discerns the true reason for Cate’s behavior: that she is still unwilling to move on after Paul’s death.
Kerry organizes a sit-in protesting the frog dissection at Mr. Gibb’s office. Bridget takes credit for organizing the protest in order to protect Kerry from getting barred from her art program. For this, Mr. Gibb suspends Bridget from school. Cate meets with the kids over this turn of events, and they reveal the truth to her. She decides to speak with Mr. Gibb personally and get the matter straightened out. Meanwhile, C.J. attempts to secure a position as a roadie for Aerosmith, a seemingly unlikely prospect which nonetheless leaves him immensely excited. Cate’s mother breaks up with her boyfriend and calls Jim, who becomes contemplative about his relationship with her. Students at the school protest Bridget’s suspension, and even nominate her for president of the student body based on her “political ideals.” Cate and Kerry speak with Mr. Gibb and reveal the truth about the protest. He prepares to overturn Bridget’s suspension and suspend Kerry instead. Cate objects to this and he offers to speak to her later about the matter over coffee. Kerry is upset, believing that this meeting is actually a “date” between her mother and Mr. Gibb.
Bridget is elected student body president, much to Kerry’s displeasure, since it means that Bridget will be going to a “Future Leaders of America” summit in Washington D.C. for the summer. Over dinner, Jim announces that he is taking a trip to Florida to visit Cate’s mother and see if they can salvage their relationship. Rory becomes particularly upset when he hears about Cate’s upcoming “date,” and later explains to Jim that he’s worried about Cate remarrying and that he won’t have another male figure around the house to bond with like he did with his father. Jim offers to have Rory come along with him to Florida on a road trip, and Rory enthusiastically accepts. Cate approves of this decision, but realizes that since everyone is going away she’ll be alone in the house for the first time. Jim wants her to contemplate finding another man but she believes it’s too soon after Paul’s death to do so.
Cate meets with Mr. Gibb for coffee in the school cafeteria and discovers that Kerry’s protest was based around a misunderstanding; the frogs were in school for an unrelated matter and her test was purely computer-based. They figure out a legal loophole which allows Mr. Gibb to overturn Kerry’s suspension. He talks about the nature of his job and Cate discovers that he is a divorced single father. Jim and Rory continue to prepare for their road trip and they invite C.J. along as well, as Jim believes he cannot rely on “adolescent fantasies” like the Aerosmith job. C.J. comes to agree with him and joins them on the trip, even deleting a response message from the Aerosmith crew offering him the job. Cate concludes her meeting with Mr. Gibb and nearly refers to it as a “date,” but stops herself. However, he gets the message and asks her out to dinner, but soon retreats into his office, believing that he made a mistake in asking. Cate calls out to Paul to give her a “Biblical” sign of what she should do, and gasps in amazement when the hallway fills with frogs, seemingly in response. However, it turns out to be the work of Kerry and Bridget, who freed the captured frogs and are in the process of ferrying them outdoors. Includes commercials.
Details
- NETWORK: ABC
- DATE: May 18, 2004 8:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:59:55
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:82661
- GENRE: Comedy
- SUBJECT HEADING: Comedy
- SERIES RUN: ABC - TV series, 2002-2005
- COMMERCIALS:
- TV – Commercials – Bounty paper towels
- TV – Commercials – Chrysler automobiles
- TV – Commercials – Citi credit cards
- TV – Commercials – Coppertone suntan lotion
- TV – Commercials – Covergirl cosmetics
- TV – Commercials – Dove hair conditioner
- TV – Commercials – Dreyer’s ice cream
- TV – Commercials – Home Depot home improvement stores
- TV – Commercials – JCPenney department stores
- TV – Commercials – KFC restaurants
- TV – Commercials – Lincoln automobiles
- TV – Commercials – M&M’s candy
- TV – Commercials – Mazda automobiles
- TV – Commercials – McDonald’s restaurants
- TV – Commercials – Nissan automobiles
- TV – Commercials – Nivea skin cream
- TV – Commercials – Novartis blood pressure medication
- TV – Commercials – Quilted Northern toilet paper
- TV – Commercials – Silk soy milk
- TV – Commercials – Sony electronics
- TV – Commercials – Thompson’s water seal
- TV – Commercials – Venus shaving razors
- TV – Commercials – Wal-Mart department stores
- TV – Commercials – Wendy’s restaurants
- TV – Commercials – “Finding Nemo” home video release
- TV – Commercials – “Monsters, Inc.” home video release
- TV – Commercials – “Raising Helen” motion picture
- TV – Promos – “20/20”
- TV – Promos – “ABC Extreme Bloopers”
- TV – Promos – “According to Jim”
- TV – Promos – “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”
- TV – Promos – “Less Than Perfect”
- TV – Promos – “My Wife & Kids”
- TV – Promos – “Super Millionaire”
- TV – Promos – “The Bachelor”
- TV – Promos – “The George Lopez Show”
CREDITS
- Tom Shadyac … Executive Producer
- Flody Suarez … Executive Producer
- Michael Bostick … Executive Producer
- James Widdoes … Executive Producer, Director
- Tracy Gamble … Executive Producer, Created by
- Gayle Abrams … Co-Executive Producer
- Seth Kurland … Co-Executive Producer
- Ric Swartzlander … Co-Executive Producer
- Martin Weiss … Co-Executive Producer, Writer
- Bill Callahan … Supervising Producer, Writer
- Alan Padula … Producer
- Bonnie Kallman … Producer, Writer
- Paul Ciancarelli … Co-Producer
- David DiPietro … Co-Producer
- Bill Daly … Co-Producer, Writer
- Judy Rauh Simmons … Associate Producer
- Donald Beck … Consulting Producer
- David Flebotte … Consulting Producer
- W. Bruce Cameron … Based on the book by
- Dan Foliart … Music by
- Katey Sagal … Cast, Cate Hennessy
- Kaley Cuoco … Cast, Bridget Hennessy
- Amy Davidson … Cast, Kerry Hennessy
- Martin Spanjers … Cast, Rory Hennessy
- James Garner … Cast, Jim Egan
- David Spade … Cast, C.J. Barnes
- Adam Arkin … Cast, Ed Gibb
- Connie Stevens … Cast, Tina
- Elena Lyons … Cast, Sissy
- Jan Hoag … Cast, Secretary
- Billy Aaron Brown … Cast, Kyle
- Daniella Monet … Cast, Missy
- Liam Sullivan … Cast, Zac
- Dana Workman … Cast, Student #1
- Marisa Theodore … Cast, Student #2