The WORST episodes of Grounded for Life
Every episode of Grounded for Life ever, ranked from worst to best by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The worst episodes of Grounded for Life!
Having started procreating at a young age, Claudia and Sean aren't sure they're ready for parenthood - even after having three kids. This series tells the story of kids - as well as the adults - growing up.
#1 - You Better You Bet
Season 5 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/15/2004
Claudia is upset with Sean when she finds out he gambled the money for the baby's crib and used the winnings to buy a new TV. When Claudia accidentally breaks the TV, she convinces Eddie to bring her to the track so she can win money to repair the set. Meanwhile, Jimmy must endure a painfully long day of father-son bonding to keep Sean from finding out about the broken TV, and Lily enrolls in a Big/Little Sister program, but is dumped by her Little Sister.
#2 - Baby, You Can't Drive My Car
Season 2 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/26/2001
After the family car goes missing one night, the Finnertys find themselves at an impasse: Sean is in mourning over the loss, while Claudia hopes to gain from a slightly inflated insurance claim. But when the battered remains of the car are towed to the house a few days later, it becomes clear that Lily has been covering her tracks about an ill-fated joyride -- and the reason why her parents have to buy the missing parts from Eddie's maniacal mechanic.
#3 - Dream On
Season 2 - Episode 2 - Aired 10/3/2001
Claudia's dream about Eddie has Sean out to relight his wife's fire, until he goes down in flames during an impromptu visit to her work. Meanwhile, Lily bombs out with a new boy after guzzling Jimmy's spiked cider. (TV Guide)
#4 - Don't Let Me Download
Season 2 - Episode 3 - Aired 11/21/2001
Claudia is shocked to find some racy pictures downloaded on Jimmy's computer, and insists that she and Sean confront him about it, but Sean wants to ignore the situation. Later, Sean confesses to Walt that he downloaded the pictures, and its not long before Claudia discovers that Sean is the guilty culprit. Meanwhile, Lily gives Jimmy a picture of Sister Helen which they doctor and use as an e-mail joke. But when the e-mail is sent to Sister Helen, things aren't so funny anymore.
#5 - Rubber Sold
Season 2 - Episode 4 - Aired 11/28/2001
Sean freaks out over Lily's attending a bash at Brad's after he spots the nerdy neighbor stocking up on certain sexy party supplies.
#6 - Bang on a Drum
Season 2 - Episode 5 - Aired 12/5/2001
Sean and Eddie revive their old high school band to play a wedding reception, but Sean gets nervous when Lily seems way too interested in their hot new drummer. Jimmy convinces Henry that the reson he can't find baby pictures of himself is that Henry's a robot.
#7 - Smoke on the Daughter
Season 2 - Episode 6 - Aired 12/12/2001
During a stressful day at work, Claudia takes a puff of a co-worker's cigarette which quickly turns into an entire cigarette and then a daily habit. Desperate to keep her smoking habit from Sean and the kids, Claudia tries her best to smoke without being found out, but is busted by Lily. Lily makes a deal with her - she won't say anything if Claudia will get her a cell phone and Claudia agrees. Sean thinks that Claudia's bizarre behavior lately has something to do with him, prompting him to buy her the expensive armoire Claudia was admiring recently at the flea market. When her quest for a cigarette leads to her digging through the trash and landing outside Brad O'Keefe's window, she realizes she has hit a new low and swears off her habit. Meanwhile, after setting a date with Dean on her new cell phone, Lily is humiliated to find out Dean heard her gushing about him when the phone didn't turn off.
#8 - I Saw Daddy Hitting Santa Claus
Season 2 - Episode 7 - Aired 12/19/2001
Sean gets ticked off with Walt, who's playing Santa Claus, when he promises Henry a $350 Astro Jammer Battle Buggy for Christmas. So Sean responds by bringing violence to Santaland. Meanwhile Lily tries to figure out if the blurry giftcard on her boxershorts reads ""from Brad"" or ""from Dean.""
#9 - Let's Talk About Sex, Henry
Season 2 - Episode 8 - Aired 1/2/2002
After Henry unexpectedly catches Sean and Claudia having sex, Sean is determined to handle the inevitable topic of the birds and the bees with Henry in a better way than Walt did with he and Eddie. After having a father/son talk with Henry about sex, Sean feels good about how he handled things. When Sean and Claudia catch word that they have a ""reputation"", they discover that Henry told his entire class about what he caught Sean and Claudia doing, forcing them to do some damage control.
#10 - Is She Really Going Out with Walt?
Season 2 - Episode 9 - Aired 1/16/2002
The Finnertys' plan to push Walt (Richard Riehle) back into the social scene backfires when he's social with a lady they don't like. Meanwhile, Lily fears that her bad behavior has thrust Brad into Kristina's arms.
#11 - Mr. Roboto
Season 2 - Episode 11 - Aired 1/30/2002
Jimmy and his class are having a robot science fair. Sean goes all out to create a ""first place"" robot for Jimmy. When the judge of the fair calls Jimmy's robot ""substantial robot"" and ""you could prop a door wide open with this!"" Sean stands up and admits that he made his son's robot. He requests that the other parents do the same (It's obvious that the other robots were made by the parents.) In the end, Jimmy and his robot, fight Benji (his classmate) and his robot in a robot battle! Benji, who was marvelously acted wins!
#12 - Don't Fear the Reefer
Season 2 - Episode 12 - Aired 2/6/2002
Sean's takes a swing at tree surgery and ends up causing a blackout during the superbowl. But his biggest concern is what he saw through Lily's window while chopping the tree -- Lily holding a bag of pot. But what's even more shocking is where Lily got the weed: out of Sean's closet. With the blackout, Dan O'Keefe moves his Superbowl party to the Finnerty home, where they listen to a play-by-play given by Jimmy from his 5-inch TV.
#13 - Eddie Said Knock You Out
Season 2 - Episode 14 - Aired 2/20/2002
Sean accepts a challenge from his obnoxious neighbor, Mr. O'Keefe, for a boxing match. But he has second thoughts when he discovers Eddie's tried to fix the fight. Meanwhile, Claudia becomes enraged when she learns about a rumour that she's had breast enhancement surgery.
#14 - Safety Dance
Season 2 - Episode 15 - Aired 3/6/2002
While Sean and Claudia are chaperoning at Lily's school dance, Sister Helen catches Lily and Dean red-handed with a bottle of liquor while they are making out. Lily insists she is innocent and that the booze is not hers. But it comes as a surprise to both Lily and Sister Helen when the real culprit is revealed. Meanwhile, Eddie has taken to using Walt as his goon to shake down his shady business associates.
#15 - Relax!
Season 2 - Episode 16 - Aired 3/27/2002
Sean tries to talk a gay co-worker into coming out of the closet before it gets out that Sean has already done it for him. Meanwhile, Lily's ready to rumble for her man after realizing that women keep hitting on Dean.
#16 - The Kids Are Alright
Season 2 - Episode 17 - Aired 4/3/2002
When Sean and Claudia win a free weekend in Atlantic City, Eddie offers to look after the boys while they are away. At first suspicious of his offer, they succumb because they desperately want the time away. But when they return from their trip to find Jimmy and Henry locked in the basement, they are shocked to find out that it was Lily and not Eddie who put them there. As Lily tries to explain what happened at home over the weekend, it becomes clear to Sean and Claudia that, surprisingly, Eddie was not such a bad choice to take care of the kids after all, even if he really did have an ulterior motive.
#17 - Swearin' to God
Season 2 - Episode 18 - Aired 4/10/2002
Sean exploits a nun's foulmouthed slip of the tongue to get Claudia and the kids everything they've ever wanted from St. Finnian's.
#18 - Eddie and This Guy with Diamonds
Season 2 - Episode 19 - Aired 4/17/2002
Sean winds up in jail for buying some shady diamond earrings for Claudia from Eddie's so-called ""connection""; Lily protests the nuns's donkey-basketball game.
#19 - I Fought the In-Laws
Season 2 - Episode 20 - Aired 4/24/2002
The minor insults of Claudia's visiting parents get so far under an insecure Sean's skin that it starts to look like he's gone out of his mind. Meanwhile, karaoke leads to an unlikely liplock between Brad and Lily.
#20 - Dust in the Wind
Season 2 - Episode 21 - Aired 5/1/2002
Sean and Eddie plan to honor their late cousin's wishes by scattering his Tupperware-borne ashes over the old water tower; Lily meets a cute guy at the funeral.
#21 - Oops!...I Did It Again
Season 2 - Episode 22 - Aired 5/8/2002
A home-pregnancy test in the trash has Sean convinced Lily is with child, but it may be Claudia who has something unexpected to tell him. Meanwhile, Lily learns the truth about the musical circumstances surrounding her birth; and Jimmy sings the blues about the zit that is taking over his face.
#22 - Oh, What a Knight
Season 3 - Episode 12 - Aired 5/16/2003
Sean joins the Knights of Hibernia in order for Lily to compete in their beauty pageant.
#23 - Tom Sawyer
Season 5 - Episode 10 - Aired 1/7/2005
Lily becomes insecure when she learns that she's ""not school smart."" So when Brad snags an interview at Yale, she becomes jealous and connives to land her own interview. Sean takes a second job as a limo driver, to avoid doing work at home. Claudia tries to convince her neighbor, Arianna, that the Finnerty clan is not trash. Jimmy seeks advice from his uncle Eddie for his debut in the school production of Tom Sawyer.
#24 - In My Room
Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 1/17/2001
Sean inadvertently finds a fake ID in Lily's bedroom. Sean and Claudia confront their daughter about her rebellious behavior, but they get few answers. They decide to hack into her e-mail to find out more about Lily's trouble-making friends. While they are checking, an e-mail comes in from a ""SweetandNastee."" Sean responds, pretending to be Lily. SweetandNastee gives Sean an address to a rave party in Yonkers. Sean and Eddie go to the address which turns out to be a dry cleaners. Convinced the rave is really at the dry cleaners, Sean and Eddie try to gain access to the party but end up getting beaten up by the dry cleaners' owner. Back at home, Sean and Claudia confront Lily, but she slams them for invading her privacy. Turns out she knew they broke into her e-mail account because she was online at a friend's house when she saw her name logged in. Lily made up the rave to teach her folks a lesson about snooping.
#25 - Cat Scratch Fever
Season 3 - Episode 3 - Aired 12/3/2002
Things get tense at the bar when Sean hires his high school fantasy girl as the bartender. And Lily freaks out when she tells Dean she loves him at a concert and can't hear his reponse.