Too Close for Comfort

Sara arranges for a medium to conduct a séance to connect Mildred Rafkin with her deceased brother in an attempt to find a missing antique broach. However, an accusation leveled by Rafkin's "spirit" threatens to split up Henry and Muriel, when the voice of the Rushes' late tenant accuses Henry of marital infidelity.

Henry is fired by Mr. Wainwright when he refuses to publish an apology for his recent Cosmic Cow comic strips that poke fun at President Reagan. Rather than face the indignity of taking unemployment compensation, he makes the regrettable decision to pursue his passion for painting and lets Muriel accept an offer for a full time job she doesn't really want.

Out of pity, Henry reluctantly allows Monroe to crash on his couch for Easter week when Monroe's parents decide they don't want him to visit them in Miami. Henry soon regrets his generosity when he learns that Monroe has ruined his unpublished Cosmic Cow drawings, and in turn his own planned vacation.

A woman arrives at Sara and Jackie's door accusing Sara of dating her husband. However, the woman has the wrong Rush daughter, Jackie is the one and doesn't see anything wrong with it since they are separated. Still, she begins to feel her relationship coming to an end and quick.

A football player, Buck Krulik, is in town and a fan of Henry's Cosmic Cow comic strip, so he comes by for a visit and has Jackie, Sara and Muriel fawn all over him. After admiring some of her photography, Buck remember her when a nude centerfold photo shoot goes awry and he calls her in to take over. However, she may not be quite ready for a male nude spread despite, Henry forbidding her.

Henry's father, Huey breaks out of the nursing home, or rather is thrown out when he has a romantic interlude with another resident. He arrives in San Francisco to stay with Henry but soon his presence sends the household into an uproar. Meanwhile, Jackie debates over whether or not to accept a job offer in New York.

Henry is not happy with the fact that he has been called in for jury duty. However, things get pressed when Henry's boss, Mr. Wainwright, wanting to avoid any problems associated with a possible strike, orders Henry to cough up next week's comic strip. This forces Henry to stay up all night and leads to him falling asleep in court the next day.

Rich Holland, a man who took Muriel on the road with a band when she was young arrives in town looking just as young as ever. Henry soon feels old and becomes insecure, however, Muriel also becomes insecure when Rich takes an interest in Jackie.

Sylvia Walker, an old college friend and recently divorced friend of Muriel's arrives in town for a visit and decides to make the most of the rest of her life. Meanwhile, Henry becomes insecure about his age after glancing over the obituaries and thinks he may be on death's doorstep soon. However, things turn around for him, when Sylvia makes a play for him.

Monroe has been struggling with the fact he is still a virgin and seeks out a psychologist for help. The psychologist suggests that Monroe hire a sex surrogate to solve his problem, but unfortunate circumstances cause Monroe to mistake Mrs. Rafkin for the surrogate, and the surrogate to mistake Henry for Monroe.

Sara and Monroe are ecstatic when a movie director decides Jackie and Sara's apartment would be perfect to film a movie. However, Henry and Muriel are totally unsure of the situation. Things get out of hand when a lion, being used for the film, gets loose and takes up residence in Henry and Muriel's kitchen.

Henry is worried about his job when the new mystery loving boss, Arthur Wainwright, takes over and begins a steady practice of age discrimination. However, things may swing his way, when Muriel invites Arthur over for dinner which quickly embroils him in a quest to find the man who had snatched Sara's purse.

When Sara gets a part-time job at Jackie's bank, things go smoothly. Jackie quickly warns her of the branch manager, Mr. Wolfe, and his "friendliness" toward the women tellers. However, Jackie quickly finds herself changing her mind about Sara, when Sara begins dating him and then suddenly gets a promotion.

The furniture of the previous tenant, Rafkin, has become Jackie and Sara's but when his sister shows up to claim his belongings, they find themselves in an unfurnished apartment. When Henry refuses to pay for new furniture, the girls decide to move out and into an unsafe part of town.

Jackie and Sara have split the cost of rent but when Sara is unable to pay her half, Henry tells her to go out and get a job. Sara easily gets a job as a waitress, but Henry is in no way thrilled with the skimpy costume that she has to wear. This leads to a blow up between Henry and Muriel leading her to move in with Jackie and Sara.

Sara befriends Monroe Ficus, a recently dumped young man, who quickly follows her all over the place even following her home. Meanwhile, Henry and Muriel plan on celebrating their anniversary but just before heading out for the evening they get a phone call from Sara and Monroe with news that they have been arrested.

Jackie, who works at a bank, tries to make a money delivery to a supermarket, but finds it closed. After calling her boss, she finds herself in charge of a bag with $100,000 in it. Meanwhile, Muriel and Henry are convinced that the ex-convict plumbers are going to rip them off, but soon Jackie's bag of money enters the fray.

With Sara and Jackie living downstairs, Henry has become a snoop-aholic. Sara asks for permission to go to Lake Tahoe for the weekend, leaving behind birth control pills that Henry assumes is hers and Jackie lets her navy boyfriend spend the night, causing Henry to hit the roof.

Henry and Muriel Rush are the owners of a duplex in San Francisco, where they live with their two adult daughters: 21-year-old banker Jackie and 18-year-old college freshman Sara, in a cramped, awkward arrangement. Henry is a cartoonist of a comic strip called Cosmic Cow, while Muriel is a former musician currently working as a photographer. When Henry and Muriel's downstairs tenant, Myron Rafkin, suddenly dies, the family discovers Rafkin was living a secret life as a transvestite, and the many mysterious women Henry had been opening the door for all those years were actually Rafkin himself. Sara comes up with the idea for her and Jackie to convince their parents to let them to move into Rafkin's former apartment. Henry rejects the idea at first, but after Henry interviews a couple of prospective tenants he doesn't approve of, Muriel convinces him that having the girls move in may not be such a bad idea.

April's father sends her his baby grand piano, and she takes up Monroe's offer to move it into the apartment with the help of a large friend for $20. This proves to be a big mistake when everyone gets trapped in the apartment just as Muriel begins feeling labor pains and Henry's just-married friend becomes desperate to be reunited with his bride.

Jackie's boyfriend Brad has recovered from his gunshot wound and decides he can't work a desk job, which causes him to reconsider the appropriateness of a long term relationship with her. Meanwhile, the Rushes' furnace goes out, and Monroe's desire to help only increases Henry's agony.

Henry refuses to accept Sara's decision to drop out of college to become the weather announcer on a local television station, which causes her to announce that she's moving out in protest. Meanwhile, Monroe's clumsy method of wallpapering the baby's nursery has an unexpected outcome, and a wealthy family friend brings the Rushes a much appreciated gift.

In order to reduce the cost of a trip to Europe, Jackie and Sara swap apartments with an English couple who wants to visit America. Henry's misgivings are confirmed when he accidentally opens a piece of their luggage that contains a high powered rifle, and concludes they are on a mission to assassinate a Russian ambassador.

Just before heading off on a Las Vegas vacation, Henry reluctantly lends $100 to Sara, April, and Monroe so they can start a business selling home-baked cookies using Grandma Rush's recipe. However, a promising and profitable start quickly turns into a disaster that includes a trashed kitchen, hefty fines, a potential lawsuit, and a visit from the immigration service.

Henry's generous offer to arrange a job interview for an attractive art student backfires when she begins showing affection for him, which puts him in the doghouse with an increasingly insecure Muriel and causes him to panic when Monroe tells him that she tried to jump out a window after her last break up. Henry and Muriel also host a Lamaze class in their apartment, which turns out to be a bad idea.

Muriel secretly asks her mother Iris stay with her until she recovers from childbirth, much to the chagrin of Henry, who has always found her to be overbearing. When Muriel unexpectedly takes a stand against her mother's nonstop criticism, it's up to Henry to straighten out the mess, and he learns a big secret about Muriel in the process.

Upon realizing the birth of his third child is only six weeks away, Henry feels a sense of guilt for not spending enough time with his two daughters. He decides to invite them on a weekend ski trip, but the experience doesn't turn out quite the way he envisioned when the girls meet a couple of brothers and he discovers that Monroe packed the wrong suitcase in the car.

Henry is contacted by a rival cartoonist who has perpetrated several practical jokes on him over the years, and Henry schemes with Monroe to pay him back during a dinner visit. However, when Henry is unable to stop the prank after the man claims he is dying, Henry feels obligated to assist him in an elaborate plan to cheat on his wife.

April secretly arranges for her father Bill to meet face to face with his brother Henry, so they can attempt to reconcile after a petty childhood dispute caused them to stop speaking forty years ago. The effort may be for naught, however, when Bill eats a piece of cheesecake baked by Monroe, who did not realize it was an old Russian recipe for homemade poisoned rat bait.

A fan of Henry's Cosmic Cow comic strip who has been sending him increasingly bizarre fan mail breaks into the apartment one night through the unlocked front door, kidnapping his puppet and vowing in a note to return before the end of the weekend. Interpreting the note as a threat on his life, Henry and Monroe set up a stakeout at the apartment with the help of a police officer, who abruptly leaves them to fend for themselves when he is called away.

Henry is going up the wall with April keeping such late hours, spending time with her latest boyfriend. However, Henry and Muriel are in for a shock when they discover her boyfriend, Don is old enough to be her father. Henry puts his foot down and that's when Don asks April to move in with him, which she gladly accepts.

Jackie falls madly in love with a police officer who responds to a false burglary report at the apartment due to April sneaking in late one night after getting stuck on Alcatraz with her boyfriend. She immediately accepts his marriage proposal after just a few dates, refusing her parents' plea to consider the difficulties of being a police wife.

Muriel unwisely commits herself to do a coveted helicopter photo shoot, which Henry demands she cancel due to her pregnancy. The back and forth fighting cause a big headache for the girls, who are forced to change their minds several times whether to cancel an elaborate surprise 25th anniversary party they had previously scheduled.

Monroe enrolls in an assertiveness class on the advice of the Rush girls after being pushed around at a concert, but the class proves to work a little too well. Meanwhile, one of Henry's colleagues suggests Henry demand a raise from Mr. Wainwright.

Hearing a story about a man who died intestate causes Henry to have a terrible nightmare, which compels him to finally make out his will. However, he soon regrets his decision to follow Monroe's advice to do it on videotape in the presence of his family.

An older man dressed like a bum shows up at the Rushes' doorstep looking for the transvestite persona of Rafkin, their deceased former tenant, because they always got together for Thanksgiving dinner. Feeling bad for him for several obvious reasons, they invite him to join their own disastrous get together, and later find out that he too has a big secret that involves his appearance.

Muriel goes in for an amniocentesis, but she and Henry decline to learn the sex of the baby. This doesn't sit well with Henry's mischievous father Huey, who is in town to bury his deceased friend. In the meantime, Jackie makes an unexpected decision after taking part in a successful strike at her bank.

Jackie openly dreads a visit from an annoying, nerdy guy who had a crush on her when she was a kid. However, when Sara is the first to discover his physical appearance has changed completely and starts dating him, Jackie becomes extremely jealous and vindictive.

Muriel and Henry read a newspaper article about a nurse who had switched babies in the maternity ward of the hospital that Sara had been delivered at. They quickly set out to find if indeed Sara had been switched at birth. However, they aren't too pleased when they discover the only other baby girl in the maternity ward is now serving time in prison.

Henry's free-spirited niece, April, shows up on his doorstep after moving from Delaware to start a song writing career, and he reluctantly allows her to stay in the guest bedroom of his apartment until she's able to get established. However, their relationship starts off on the wrong foot, and Henry hopes it isn't too late when he finally figures out why.

A doctor informs Muriel that she's pregnant after she faints at a restaurant while celebrating her 42nd birthday with her family. While she and Henry are initially elated, they find themselves faced with a serious decision as they begin to realize all of the implications of having another child at this point of their lives.

After Iris gets mugged, the Rushes decide to add on a room for her. Unfortunately, the male workers hired are young and inept, as Henry informs their mother who runs the business. She hires a female foreman, much to the boys' surprise.

Henry is shocked to find his friend is marrying a much younger woman.

Henry is upset with Monroe after he accidentally damages the living room wall while hanging a self-portrait of Henry. He chases Monroe out the door, causing him to fall down a flight of stairs. While Monroe is sent to the hospital, Henry is racked with guilt after his conscience starts speaking to him through the portrait.

Andrew's hungry and his nursing mother is at work, so Henry takes the baby to the photo session.

Iris' gift of a trip to Paris backfires when Muriel needs a passport and her birth certificate reveals she was adopted.

An attractive messenger, after being out all night, passes out in the Rush's bedroom leaving Henry and Monroe to think fast on how to get her out of the house before Muriel gets home.

Sara is upset that Henry only supports and celebrates Jackie's accomplishments so she poses for a men's magazine.

Jackie has an argument with her fiance over her working after they're married which prompts Henry, Muriel, and Iris to separately recount an incident that nearly broke up the Rush couple.

The Rushs are robbed after Sara lets the burglers into the apartment. Henry decides to get a gun.

Iris falls in love with a man who she believes is highly successful.

Muriel's famous old singing partner comes for a visit prompting Muriel to wonder "what if" she never stopped performing.

Jackie invites a sweet old Santa home for Christmas, which prompts Henry to think the worst of him.

Henry has to get a physical for a life insurance policy.

Iris is feeling depressed. When she doesn't show up at the Rush's everyone is worried.

Henry gives Monroe advice on how to land a woman (or so he thinks) who refuses to go out with him.

While Muriel was taking portraits of babies, Andrew is accidently taken by a confused grandmother leaving her grandson behind.

Muriel wants to renew their vows for their anniversary in a small get-together that soon balloons out of control.

Henry ruins a date for Iris.

Henry has intimacy issues with Muriel after the baby is born.

Henry threatens to move out when Muriel's mother says she's moving in.

Henry makes it to the hospital in time for Muriel to give birth.

After several false alarms, Muriel finally goes into labor while Henry is at work.

Henry considers taking a job in New York City when a new, younger executive takes over at Wainwright Publishing.

Jackie considers a move to Dallas to find a job in fashion. That is, until she meets Sara's date and they hit it off. Sara and Jackie's relationship is tested.

Muriel's best friend, Sylvia, is recently divorced and enjoying every minute of her new life and loves. Muriel is envious of her freedom and decides to start working again to gain a little of her own. Her new male client is very complimentary and throws her for a loop.

Iris visits in order to meet up with the Lothario who broke her heart. He lures her there with the premise to ask her "a very important question.

Muriel's biological mother writes asking to meet. Despite being angry and bitter, Jackie and Sara convince Muriel to meet her.

After Muriel's camera is stolen at a gallery opening, her attempts at retrieving it lead Henry to think she's having an affair.

After Henry breaks his arm, his boss sends a young artist to help keep up with his deadlines. The young artist is cocky, abrasive, and very good which upsets Henry.

Jackie and Sara return from a Hawaiian vacation with their grandmother Iris. Jackie fell in love with her surfing instructor and plans to marry him. Henry is opposed to the union until he finds out that he's not just a beach bum.

Henry almost misses an important meeting with his boss because the guard dog Monroe agrees to watch overnight, traps him in the kitchen.

Monroe gets a computer and wins big in the stock market and horse racing thanks to computer tips. Soon after, Henry wants in on the action.

As Monroe nears graduation, he is having a hard time finding a job. Monroe twists Henry's concern into an assistant's position.

Monroe asks if a friend could spend a week with him, but neglects to tell Henry the friend is female and a runaway. When Henry runs into her in the middle of the night, the jig is up.

Henry eagerly sets Sara up with a major league baseball star. Sara begrudgingly agrees to one date but ends up falling for him. Henry's enthusiasm quickly wanes after he finds out about the star's past drug use and worries it may not be in the past.

Henry's cartoonist friend suggests donating his early work to a college with the hopes of being awarded an honorary doctorate - and a guaranteed tax break.

Henry runs into his cantankerous former Navy commander who is now a doorman. Despite their antagonizing relationship, Henry invites him to dinner as a way of burying the hatchet. His significant other throws Henry for a loop.

Henry suffers from a case of writer's block. Surprisingly, Mrs. Rafkin ends up being extremely helpful.

Henry witnesses a robbery and works with the police to identify the suspect. The suspect then threatens Henry not to testify.

Henry's father visits to ask if he will be his best man at his upcoming wedding. The happy news is dampened by Henry's suspicions of his father's much younger fiancée.

Monroe's father comes for a visit.

The Rush's home is scheduled for demolition by the city in order to build a new subway station

Sara auditions for an anchor position at the station and thinks she's a shoo-in next to her plain Jane competition.

Jackie is envious of Sara's many dates, so she decides to get breast implants to make herself more attractive.

The Rushes rent their newly built apartment to Monroe

Sara agrees to go on a blind date with a man that Muriel had set her up with. To everyone's amazement, Bob is gorgeous. After several dates, Bob and Sara make plans to move in together, which Henry is totally against.

Henry's married pal chases Muriel's friend.

Jackie has been offered a job working at The House of Aldo, an Italian designer, but she doesn't tell her father about it. She invites Senor Aldo to the house without telling Henry who he is. When the man tells Henry he wants Jackie for his House, Henry thinks he's a dirty old man so he throws him out. Later, he is told the truth. Jackie can't believe what Henry did so she decides to move out. Henry calls the man and tries to apologize. He asks him to give Jackie a chance, but Aldo doesn't think it would be good for Jackie because of how overprotective he is.

Monroe and Sara decide to help a teenage boy who was going to juvenile hall for stealing. The boy has a history of being abused, and when Henry tries to step in to offer his own help the boy rejects him and runs away.

Henry poses with Cosmic Cow in a photo with a politician which causes his job to be in jeopardy.

Henry takes drastic measures to avoid paying a high penalty for library books that are 5 years overdue.

Henry discovers that his war-time buddy visiting from England is still a womanizer.

Monroe's new love interest is not only mature but possibly married. Henry and Muriel butt in to make sure Monroe doesn't get his heart broken.

The Rush's recall how they met Monroe.

Henry and Monroe find a bag full of money and decide they want to keep it, but then hear their neighbors have been robbed.

Monroe is kidnapped and raped by two women in a van. When the police dismiss Monroe's story, Henry searches for the rapists himself.

The Rushes hire an illegal housekeeper with good looks, minimal English, and an urge to become a naturalized citizen.

Muriel considers cosmetic surgery to revive Henry's interest in her.

Henry and Muriel end up in counseling thanks to the strain of helping another couple settle a squabble.

Jackie drops a bomb on Henry and Muriel when she announces that she wants to become a single mother.

The Rushes' friend Paul pretends to be a member of their family to impress his long-lost son.

Budgets are tight throughout the Rush household. Henry coaches Monroe to ask for a raise at work, but the coaching backfires and Monroe is fired. Henry works overtime to find Monroe a new job.

Andrew might be a genius and is recruited by a school for gifted children.

After his father's death, Henry decides it's time to plan his own funeral. He soon starts to examine his life decisions.

Henry decides to work at a downtown office, due to life at home getting crazier, but it turns out there were more distractions downtown than he bargained for.

Lisa is overjoyed when she wins $5 and becomes addicted to playing.

Monroe reviews a comedy club, and thinks that the comedians at the club were not up to par; he decides to go onstage himself to try his hand at stand-up comedy. On the night Monroe is performing, under the stage name Buddy Ficus, the audience does not think his jokes are funny and everyone (except Muriel, Henry, Hope and Lisa) leave. Monroe falsely thinks he did a great job, and it is up to Henry to tell Monroe that stand-up is not Monroe's forte.

Henry suspects Iris' Greek fiancé is after her money.

Henry suddenly becomes editor of the paper when Mrs. Stinson quits. Henry realizes he needs her at the paper and Mrs. Stinson realizes quitting was the wrong move.

Henry and Muriel are caught in the middle of Herb and Marsha Kennedy's marriage problems after it's discovered that Herb has had an affair.

Henry rallies behind two rock musicians who were banned from performing at a local music festival.

Muriel quits the Marin Bugler when Henry decides to use a reader's photo in a story instead of hers.

Mr. Forester asks for Henry's help in writing a personal ad, which turns Henry into a ghost writer of sorts for all of his correspondence with the women who answer.

Monroe's life is threatened after he gives a singer a bad review.

When Mrs. Stinson's niece begins works as an intern at the newspaper, it causes friction.

Muriel is offered a photography job from a famous oceanographer for his next expedition.

Monroe and Henry learn about a coverup with regards to death of a friend of Mrs. Stinson.

Henry decides to buy a car for Lisa. He attempts to show his business prowess by getting the best deal but in the process gets far less than he bargained for.

Henry's admiration for a famous author diminishes when he learns the man (Peter Haskell) gets his inspiration from the bottle

The Rush's housekeeper Lisa enrolls in classes to become a naturalized American citizen

All Henry wants to do is spend a relaxing day in bed, but is constantly interrupted

Henry strikes up a deal to run the Garfield comic strip in the Marin Bugler

The Marin Bugler holds a beauty contest with unexpected repercussions for the winner

The Rushes and Mrs. Stinson help a Vietnamese family who opened a restaurant achieve the American dream.

The Rush's friends visit and overstay their welcome.

Monroe publishes a front page story about corporate pollution and gets sent to jail for not revealing his source.

Henry, Muriel and Monroe move to Mill Valley, CA. The Rushes buy a new home. Henry bought a 49% share in a newspaper with a demanding 51% owner. Monroe is now his assistant and Muriel his photographer.