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Eight Is Enough Season 4 Episodes
Season 4 Episode Guide
27 Episodes 1979 - 1980
Episode 1
Merle the Pearl
Wed, Sep 5, 1979
Susan captures the attention of a minor league baseball player; Nicholas is in the throes of puppy love with a girl on his little league team whose family is planning to move; Tom trades in his sedan for a new car; Tommy conspires to get a sneak peek at a blind date for an upcoming dance.
Episode 2
The Cupid Crisis
Wed, Sep 12, 1979
After returning to Sacramento, David sets out to win back Janet, who is engaged to another man; Susan finds Merle's courtship efforts lacking, so Nicholas plays Cupid for them.
Episode 3
I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do
Wed, Sep 19, 1979
A tale of two weddings: David and Janet's elopement is derailed by Susan and Merle's plan to tie the knot the same weekend so she can join him on the road; Nancy lacks the necessary skills in her job delivering singing telegrams.
Episode 4
Ten Ships in the Night
Wed, Sep 26, 1979
When Abby goes back to school to finish her PhD, Tom turns to the ranks for help in looking after Nicholas; Nancy tries to prove her worth as she goes to work at a stock brokerage.
Episode 5
The Night They Raided Bradfords
Wed, Oct 3, 1979
Appearances are deceiving -- or are they? -- when Merle's provincial sister arrives from Arkansas on an average day in the Bradford home, which leads to a comedy of errors -- and a vice raid.
Episode 6
The Devil and Mr. Bradford
Wed, Oct 24, 1979
Joannie's investigative research for a stunt journalist implicates Tom in a potential scandal; Mary and Abby search in vain for the owner of the pregnancy test kit Mary finds hidden in the linen closet; Tommy is tasked with teaching Nicholas how to mow the lawn.
Episode 7
Big Shoes, Little Feet
Wed, Oct 31, 1979
Three Bradfords struggle to meet the expectations of others: Nicholas turns truant to escape the long shadow of his siblings; Tom's boss pressures him to participate in a father-son golf tournament; Nancy feels compelled to date a stockbroker uniquely positioned to help David's slumping business.
Episode 8
Fathers and Other Strangers: Part 1
Wed, Nov 7, 1979
Tom's sister Vivian sweeps into town with an offer to take the entire family on vacation to Hawaii, where she secretly plans to reunite Tom with their estranged father.
Episode 9
Fathers and Other Strangers: Part 2
Wed, Nov 7, 1979
Still in Hawaii, Tom and his father contemplate whether they can or should bother to reconcile their relationship.
Episode 10
Letter to One Bradford
Wed, Nov 14, 1979
When Tommy is rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery, Mary and Nicholas both feel culpable for different reasons; Merle and Susan adjust to the give and take of married life; Nancy plays travel guide for a visiting colleague from China who doesn't speak English.
Episode 11
Separate Ways
Wed, Nov 21, 1979
The furnace is on the blink, causing a cold front in the Bradford house, but Tom dismisses Mary's offer to fix it; Susan's chance for an internship conflicts with Merle's offer to play winter ball in Puerto Rico; Nicholas goes on strike for a raise in his allowance.
Episode 12
Arrivals
Wed, Nov 28, 1979
On the heels of splitting up with Merle, Susan discovers she's pregnant; Joannie is intrigued by a man with extrasensory perception; Tommy uses Nicholas as bait to pick up girls.
Episode 13
Brotherhood, Sisterhood
Wed, Dec 5, 1979
Elizabeth has difficulty meeting eligible men on campus; Tommy is hazed by the crew when he goes to work for David, which causes a fallout between the brothers; Nicholas has to write a paper on Tom for a class assignment.
Episode 14
Mary, He's Married
Wed, Dec 12, 1979
Mary begins spending time with a doctor at the hospital where she is studying. She reassures her family it is just a platonic relationship when they spot them after a movie. Things get out of control after they kiss. Meanwhile, Nicholas has two weeks to prove his skills at door-to-door sales with face cream made from avocado pits. Also, Joannie is frustrated when she is not given more responsibility at the news station. She decides to create a documentary on her father and the family at home with unsatisfactory results. Lessons all around.
Episode 15
My Son, the Prom Queen
Wed, Jan 9, 1980
When an all-girl band beats out Tommy's group for a gig at senior prom, the boys protest gender equality by nominating Tommy for prom queen; Joannie's first on-camera assignment is interviewing a director who recently repudiated her at an audition; Abby and Janet try to pursue a friendship apart from the pandemonium of the Bradford family.
Episode 16
The Courage to Be
Wed, Jan 16, 1980
Overwhelmed and overextended, the family pools its funds to hire a part-time housekeeper; Tommy comes to realize that his best friend has a drinking problem; Nicholas tries to break a world's record.
Episode 17
Semi-Centennial Bradford
Wed, Jan 23, 1980
Tom experiences a midlife crisis as he approaches his fiftieth birthday; Nicholas searches for the perfect name for Susan and Merle's coming child; Nancy has second thoughts when the dull stockbroker she dumped begins seeing Elizabeth.
Episode 18
The Commitment
Wed, Jan 30, 1980
The Bradfords plan Susan's surprise baby shower; Tommy's frustration with his girlfriend's inexperience leads him to pursue a much older friend of Mary's; Nicholas inadvertently plays Cyrano for a school chum.
Episode 19
Seven More Days in February
Wed, Feb 6, 198030 mins
The annual winter break festivities lead to offbeat romances for Mary, Joannie and Nancy; Tom's boss coerces him into setting up Tommy with his visiting niece; Elizabeth's new beau is forced to cancel their date for the Valentine's Day dance.
Episode 20
The Return of Joe Simons
Wed, Feb 13, 1980
Nicholas's grandfatherly friend Joe Simons returns to Sacramento under false pretenses; Joannie tries to come up with a TV commercial to boost David's struggling business; Tom is smothered by a temp when his secretary goes on vacation.
Episode 21
Bradford vs. Bradford
Wed, Feb 27, 1980
Nicholas learns the meaning of class distinction when he befriends an underprivileged schoolmate; David's jealousy over Janet's work colleague may be justified; Tommy becomes overprotective when his best friend begins seeing Elizabeth.
Episode 22
Memories
Wed, Mar 5, 1980
Nicholas is targeted by an assertive classmate who wants to go steady with him; Abby's grief is triggered by the visit of a friend of her late husband; Nancy becomes overdrawn at the bank because of all the money she's been lending her siblings.
Episode 23
Official Positions
Wed, Mar 19, 1980
Abby hires the unemployed mother of one of Nicholas' classmates; Merle puts together a women's basketball team comprised entirely of Bradfords; Tom's effort to finish his novel is undercut when Abby gets published first.
Episode 24
A Matter of Mentors
Wed, Mar 26, 1980
When Tommy protests Tom's frugality, Tom teaches him a lesson by putting him in charge of the family's finances; Joannie begins to doubt the intentions of the higher-up who gave her a plum assignment; Nicholas dukes it out with the class bully, who happens to be a girl.
Episode 25
Roll Over Bradford
Wed, Apr 2, 1980
Tommy decides to forego college in favor of a music career; Tom's sister Vivian returns with her new fiancé; Elizabeth tries out theories from her psychology class on the family.
Episode 26
A Little Triangle
Wed, Apr 9, 198060 mins
Nancy bonds with her boyfriend's daughter; Tommy tries to help Ernie find a date for the prom; Nicholas tries running a dog grooming business.
Episode 27
Finally Grad Night
Wed, Apr 30, 1980
The family makes itself scarce for Tommy's intimate graduation party, but when Tommy is called away to help an injured Irving J. Moore, word gets out that the Bradford house is unoccupied, leading to an all-out brawl for the Class of 1980.
