Dierk Torsek

While Frankie focuses on rehearsing for a solo in her church's midnight Christmas mass, Mike takes over handling the chores of, setting up the Heck family Christmas. But Frankie becomes a bit jealous when it seems that Mike is doing a better job at organizing, the holiday than she would have done. Meanwhile, Frankie and Mike try to help Brick overcome a problem in order to get into the, holiday spirit.

Frankie's best laid plans go awry when she convinces Mike and the kids that the Heck family should host a foreign exchange student from Japan (guest star MATTHEW MOY) to expose him to life in an average American family. But the Hecks become frustrated when the student shows no sign of interest whatsoever in the family.

As Valentine's Day approaches, Frankie becomes elated when elusive son Axl asks her to accompany him to help pick out a present and choose a restaurant to impress his mysterious new girlfriend -- who may be way out of his league. Meanwhile, Mike inadvertently spills the beans about Brick's crush on fellow student Autumn (guest star ISABELLA ACRES), which totally humiliates his extremely shy son; and forgetting to get a name or e-mail address, Sue begins a diligent search for the boy she kissed during a Halloween hayride.

Axl is shocked to discover that he and Sue are enrolled in the same Life Skills class. And things only get worse for the "Ax-Man" when he is assigned to work with his sister on a big class project. Meanwhile, Brick's school therapist, Dr. Fulton (recurring guest star DAVE FOLEY), attempts to teach him how to reach out to his fellow students in order to make some friends; and Frankie and Mike find themselves dealing with an unreasonable insurance company after they discover a tree branch has fallen and broken the windshield of Frankie's car.

Mr. Ehlert takes a liking to Mike and presents him with two tickets to the Final Four - Mike's dream come true! But when Frankie's uncle passes away and the funeral is set for the day of the game, a battle begins to brew as Frankie forces Mike to choose which life event is most important to him. Meanwhile, Sue attempts to help Brick get out of going to a birthday party by impersonating Frankie over the phone but panics when she realizes that Frankie is going to make a call for real in order to get him out because of the funeral.

After having their power turned off because they couldn't afford to pay their electric bill on time, Frankie and Mike decide to cut out unnecessary expenses - starting with their cable TV. But while the kids adapt to the change by doing other activities, Frankie and Mike find themselves not knowing how to fill in the time they used to spend in front of the tube. Meanwhile, Brick and his fellow socially challenged friends are dealt a major blow when the school library is closed during recess, and they are forced into the outside world on the playground with their fellow students.