The WORST episodes of Empty Nest
Every episode of Empty Nest ever, ranked from worst to best by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The worst episodes of Empty Nest!
Widowed pediatrician Harry Weston is a miracle worker when it comes to dealing with his young patients, but he's more challenged by the other people surrounding him: daughters Barbara and Carol; his wisecracking office assistant, nurse LaVerne Todd; and obnoxious neighborhood mooch Charley Dietz. Thank goodness he always finds a friendly shoulder (and a warm, wet tongue) in Dreyfuss, his enormous dog.
#1 - The More Things Change
Season 1 - Episode 18 - Aired 2/25/1989
The hospital's new owner forces Harry to move his practice after 25 years in the same office. Meanwhile, Carol tries to amend the past after reading Emily's old diary and Charley tries out a new look.
#2 - Pilot
Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired 10/8/1988
Harry is proposed to eighteen months after the death of his wife.
#3 - Cyrano de Weston
Season 1 - Episode 20 - Aired 3/18/1989
Harry gives Charley advice on how to impress a new girlfriend, who turns out to be the same lady Harry is seeing. When a relative dies and leaves Barbara and Emily money, Carol is anxious to see what she'll be getting but isn't too thrilled when it arrives.
#4 - Harry's Friend
Season 1 - Episode 9 - Aired 12/10/1988
Harry isn't too happy when Carol begins dating his old friend.
#5 - Take My Mom, Please
Season 2 - Episode 22 - Aired 3/24/1990
Carol and Barbara hire a maid, and then realize the family silver is missing. A young patient in need of a father sets Harry up on a date with her mom.
#6 - Lessons
Season 2 - Episode 21 - Aired 3/10/1990
A student has a crush on Barbara, who is working undercover at a high school. Meanwhile, Charley takes up golf, Harry teaches Dreyfuss to fetch the paper, and Laverne is convinced she'll become fat after looking at a family album.
#7 - Strange Bedfellows
Season 1 - Episode 14 - Aired 2/4/1989
Carol falls in love with a South American freedom fighter and announces she's going away with him. Jeffrey Millstein falls in love with Laverne.
#8 - Pardon My Flashback
Season 5 - Episode 16 - Aired 1/30/1993
While gathered around the television for the Super Bowl, the Westons, Laverne, and Charley reflect on old times.
#9 - Good Neighbor Harry
Season 4 - Episode 22 - Aired 3/28/1992
A good deed backfires on Harry when a neurotic woman refuses to leave him alone. Carol's new boyfriend seems perfect except for his hideously annoying laugh.
#10 - The Check isn't in the Mail
Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 10/22/1988
Carol gets all dolled up for a date with her contemptible ex-husband. Harry thinks Dreyfuss may be sick.
#11 - Would You Believe...
Season 7 - Episode 9 - Aired 12/17/1994
Harry is attracted to the minister Charley is dating. Meanwhile, Maxine buys Laverne's beloved truck.
#12 - Libby's Gift
Season 1 - Episode 10 - Aired 12/17/1988
An organ that Libby ordered before dying finally arrives at the house and Harry becomes determined to learn to play it in time for his and Libby's anniversary. Barbara and Carol worry that he is going too far. A patient asks Harry for birth control.
#13 - Full Nest
Season 1 - Episode 12 - Aired 1/14/1989
Financial trouble forces Barbara to move back in with Harry but it's not all fun and games. A lonely Carol soon decides to move in as well.
#14 - Remembrance of Clips Past
Season 7 - Episode 22 - Aired 6/17/1995
While at Laverne's going-away party, the gang remembers old times as she prepares to get married and move back to Hickory.
#15 - Partly Cloudy with a Chance of Pain
Season 7 - Episode 10 - Aired 12/17/1994
Maxine gets unwanted attention when dating a television weatherman. Carol and Charley make a bet: He can't mooch from the Westons for one week, and she can't call Harry ""Daddy"" for one week.
#16 - The Woman Who Came to Dither
Season 7 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/15/1994
Sophia, who is fed up with the strict Shady Pines manager, moves in with the Westons. Carol tries to help with the problem and ends up bringing all the retirement home residents to the house. Meanwhile, Maxine doesn't trust Doris, Laverne's temporary replacement at the clinic.
#17 - A Chip Off the Old Charley
Season 7 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/8/1994
Charley discovers he has a son, who is a 17-year-old flautist. Carol fills in for Laverne at the clinic and tries to put a damper on Maxine's smoking.
#18 - Fatal Attraction
Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 11/5/1988
Neighbor Blanche thinks she is in love with Harry and comes on strong when showing her affection. An old friend of the family dies after an illness. Carol decides to move in and take care of her father.
#19 - My Sister, My Friend
Season 1 - Episode 21 - Aired 3/25/1989
Harry promises to take Carol and Barbara with him to Paris if the two can go one month without fighting. Charley wins a greyhound in a card game.
#20 - Here's a Howdy-Do
Season 1 - Episode 13 - Aired 1/28/1989
Harry doesn't understand why no one likes his new girlfriend, but soon realizes they were right. When the relationship ends, Carol, who actually liked the lady, questions her own instincts.
#21 - My Nurse is Back and There's Gonna Be Trouble...
Season 4 - Episode 12 - Aired 12/14/1991
Harry's old nurse Winifred returns to fill in while Laverne goes out of town, and a war erupts between the two ladies when Winifred reveals that she's out to get Laverne's job. While on a trip to New York with Barbara, Carol manages to annoy the entire planeload of passengers (including a nun).
#22 - Blame It on the Moon
Season 1 - Episode 16 - Aired 2/11/1989
The Westons laugh when Charley says the full moon will bring love, but then realize he could be right. A rude doctor catches Harry's eye. Carol's finds romance when a man returns run-away Dreyfuss (who in turn finds love in the man's female dog). A stake-out leads Barbara into the arms of a high-school boyfriend.
#23 - The Son of a Preacherman
Season 4 - Episode 13 - Aired 1/4/1992
As a favor to a minister friend, Harry takes in his brilliant young son as an observer, but becomes distressed when the boy confesses it's only his father's pressure that makes him want to be a doctor. Carol is excited about catering her friend Suzanne's posh Palm Beach wedding, until the groom gets excited by Carol.
#24 - Lonely Are the Brave
Season 4 - Episode 10 - Aired 11/23/1991
Just as Carol conquers her emotional problems, she becomes jealous of Barbara, who is up for a medal of honor for saving a man's life (something she did by accident). Laverne upsets Harry when she asks for a second opinion after he diagnoses her visiting niece's symptoms as allergies.
#25 - Talk, Talk, Talk
Season 4 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/16/1991
Harry becomes host of a call-in radio show; Carol, Barbara, and Charley enter a chili cook-off.