Empty Nest
Season 1
22 listed hours · 1988–1995 · NBC
From the desk
How this season is filed
Richard Mulligan's widowed pediatrician next door to the Golden Girls — Miami as a shared sitcom universe, adult daughters moving home, and Dinah Manoff as the chaos agent. Crossovers keep the cheesecake continuum alive. Proof a neighbor-spinoff can run seven seasons on grouch charm without needing Blanche in every scene.
TV Flash files Season 1 of Empty Nest (1988–1995) on NBC as the first listed season of 7 — 22 listed hours, 1988-10-08–1989-04-01 from “Pilot” (S01E01) to “A Life in the Day” (S01E22). Titles, dates, and synopses on file — no invented recaps.
Desk essentials in this season
- S01E01 Pilot
The Pilot is widowed pediatrician, adult daughters home, Manoff as chaos agent: the neighbor-spinoff contract, cheesecake continuum implied.
- S01E04 Fatal Attraction
Fatal Attraction borrows a movie title: grouch charm as the seven-season engine, Blanche not required in every scene.
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S01E01 Pilot
A colleague tells Harry to marry her or stop having dinner with her.
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S01E02 The Check Isn't in the Mail
Carol's dinner plans with her loathsome ex-husband puzzle Harry and Barbara. Meanwhile Harry has ongoing problems with his dog.
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S01E03 Barbara Gets Shot
Harry starts out the day with a child who does not want to get a shot then progressing to being told Barbara is in the hospital after being shot on the job.
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S01E04 Fatal Attraction
Carol fears that Harry is going to die after a longtime acquaintance of Harry's passes away. Meanwhile, Blanche who has the hots for Harry keeps making passes at him.
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S01E05 Father of the Bride
Barbara plans to marry a surgeon which sets Carol off because of just having broken up with her trainer.
- S01E06
Harry's Vacation
Harry takes a trip to the Bahamas and encounters problems.
- S01E07
Tinker to Evers to Tucson
Charlie gets sick and imposes on Harry; Laverne's husband is in a slump and the owner of his baseball team wants to trade him to another team in Tucson.
- S01E08
What's a Father to Do?
Harry gets into a bind when both his daughters have special events on the same day and he promises to show up at both events without realizing it is the same day.
- S01E09
Harry's Friend
Carol ends up dating a lifetime friend of Harry's which causes some problems for him.
- S01E10
Libby's Gift
Harry gets delayed delivery of a gift from his wife; guest Estelle Getty.
- S01E11
The First Time, Again
Harry is ill-at-ease about a weekend with a woman (Barbara Babcock).
- S01E12
Full Nest
Barbara moves back home; Harry tries not to act like a parent.
- S01E13
Here's a Howdy-Do
Everyone except Carol thinks Harry's new girlfriend is wrong for him.
- S01E14
Strange Bedfellows
Carol falls in love with a South American freedom fighter.
- S01E15
Tears of a Clown
After Dr. Weston recommends Carol for a hospital PR job, Carol ends up making the lady in charge mad over the way she presented some personal information.
- S01E16
Blame It on the Moon
Barbara arrests a familiar suspect while Harry has a argument with another doctor at the hospital.
- S01E17
Dumped
Barbara falls for Dorothy's nephew (John Scott Clough); guest Bea Arthur.
- S01E18
The More Things Change
Harry fights his office's relocation.
- S01E19
Man of the Year
After a lifetime of bad relations with his father, when Harry is going to be given the prestigious Man of the Year award at a banquet in his honor, Harry hopes things will change when his father offers to present the award.
- S01E20
Cyrano de Weston
Harry plays Cyrano for Charley by helping him to woo a lady that Charlie has a crush on, only to have it backfire on him.
- S01E21
My Sister, My Friend
Harry offers to take Barbara and Carol with him to a doctors convention in Paris if they can stop their infighting.
- S01E22
A Life in the Day
Harry encounters young patients who keep him on his toes.
More from the 1980s.