Phoebe is discovered by a record producer who wants to make "Smelly Cat" a video. Ross's new relationship with Rachel makes Monica feel like she's living with her brother again... and she hates it. And Joey considers moving back in with Chandler, but Chandler has a new roommate.
Susan's friend interferes with Jerry's planned jokes; Susan's doll reminds George of his mother; Frank Costanza builds a billiard room.
Lisa, Kate and Mimi are candidates to head the store's personal-services department, and Drew has trouble deciding among them.
White Mike asks Shawn to ghost write a love letter for him to Tatiana, the new waitress at Pops' diner. The letter gets into Dee's hands and she mistakenly believes Shawn left it there for her. The letter continues to inadvertently get passed around the lobby, with each recipient jumping to the wrong conclusions. The miscommunications build up to the annual Valentine's Day party in the Niedermeyer Building, where the truth is revealed and White Mike succeeds in winning over Tatiana.
When the producer of a Regis & Kathie Lee type morning talk show invites Pops to cook his chili on the program, Marlon and Shawn tag along as his assistants. They're a hit and get invited back, only to discover that the show's hosts, Ken & Kiki, want the boys to do the segment without Pops, who they think is too old to appeal to the ""younger demographic."" Upset about Pops' firing, the boys sacrifice their budding TV careers and get even with Ken & Kiki by chiding the two hosts into an on-air brawl with each other. Meanwhile, street hustler T.C. becomes a security guard.
At a Salary Review Meeting, Gibby has some good news for Martin; Martin's to be put in charge of his own division at Whitestone, a quality publishing imprint called Camelot New Press. Things get off to a bad start however when the first round of author interviews yield nothing. Through a quirk of fate, Martin remembers an old manuscript he admired, ‘The Barrel Maker' by Julian Keppel and stays up all night reading it. He contacts the emotionally fragile author and promises to make it Whitestone's next bestseller.
Julia is pregnant. She's not sure if she wants to have an abortion. Charlie finds her pregnancy test in the trash and talks to her. She wonders what will be like to have that baby, and Charlie opens her eyes on everything she would be giving up. He confesses to her that when he was in college one of his girlfriends got pregnant and had an abortion. Julia feels awful and so does Justin. They have a fight because he will get over it soon, but she has to carry this fact for the rest of her life. Claudia finds out and gets shocked. Bailey and Sarah plan on sleeping together, but she makes it too special. Bailey asks her to make it simple, but Julia's news scares them. Julia tries to talk with Sarah about her pregnancy, but Sarah says that if her mom decided to have an abortion, she wouldn't be there. Julia has a miscarriage. Claudia apologizes to Julia and Julia tells Charlie that he's a good brother.
Almost everything around you, from paper clips to computers, was thought of, designed, and built by humans. An invention can be a totally new idea, or an improved variation on something that already exists. Inventors invent to solve problems and make life easier. Anyone can be an inventor, even you. All you need is an idea, and sometimes you don’t even need that. Silly Putty, sticky notes, X-rays, pretzels and nylon were all accidents that became great inventions after more research, experimentation, and design.
Tamera gets a lesson in economics and employee relations when she and Tia take jobs from striking workers. Meanwhile, Lisa needs some quick basketball instruction. Lisa's boyfriend Terrence is the manager of a local grocery store. When several employees of the grocery store go on strike in hopes of getting higher wages, Terrence asks Tia and Tamera to come work for him. Tia, on the side of the striking workers, refuses to cross the picket line. However Tamera takes Terrence up on his offer. When Tia sees Tamera living it up on the wages from her new job, she abandons her principles and also begins working at the store. Tia and Tamera begin feeling exploited when they find out they are working for no benefits and half the money as the regular workers. They tell Terrence that they and the other replacement workers will go on strike unless they are better compensated. Their threat causes Terrence to reach an agreement with his regular workers, leaving Tia, Tamera and the rest of the repla
Ellen is heralded as a hero when she rescues a lobster from a restaurant and tries to set it out to sea, but the elderly lobster has other plans.
Caine has a vision in volving Capt. Simms, gunfire and an underworld figure. Then, witnesses see Simms shoot the mobster.
Xanatos is buying up Native American land, and Elisa's father and sister decide to find out what he plans to do with it.
Paul Robinette places the system on trial when he defends a young black woman accused of kidnapping her biological baby from his white, adoptive parents.
After suffering damage to their spaceship, Goku, Trunks, and Pan are forced to crash land on Planet Imecka. The trio is enamored by the festive atmosphere of the city until they realize that the Imeckians are money-hungry swindlers. At first the travelers from Earth are trying to escape with their wallets, but it soon becomes clear that they'll be lucky to escape with their lives!
Colin visits Kelly and announces that he has kicked his cocaine habit. Kelly maintains that they are bad for one another and breaks up with him. Kelly gets a roommate, a troubled teenage runaway named Tara. Valerie has the house to herself as Steve and Brandon leave for a ski weekend with Clare, Susan and David. She hooks up with Colin. Susan challenges Brandon to a ski race, and they leave the designated runs. Susan injures her ankle on a jump, and the duo must fight the elements while awaiting a rescue team. Depressed by his split with Valerie, David mopes around the lodge. Everyone keeps introducing him to blonde girls named Mary. Donna hears news of a medical breakthrough that could save Joe's career. She must convince Joe to pursue the treatment (he doesn't want to get his hopes up), and goad her father into using his connections to Joe's benefit.
Dolores, Harry's wife, comes to Harry's Hardware and Tim's marital advice causes them to split up.
Dick's one lonely guy when Dr. Albright goes on vacation. Sally and Harry are lured by skin-care products that promise eternal youth.
When Maris gets in trouble with the law, Niles seeks the help of a shady character who will solve the problem in return for a "favor."