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The Education of Max Bickford Season 1 Episodes

Season 1 Episode Guide

Season 1

22 Episodes 2001 - 2002

Episode 1

Pilot

Sun, Sep 23, 2001

Dreyfuss as a professor at a women's college who loses a much hoped-for endowed chair to one of his former students. This begins a series shocks and disappointments.

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Episode 2

Herding Cats

Sun, Sep 30, 2001

The head of the department is a job like herding cats. He can't fire his new assistant and everybody wants his time. He is told to scale back on his teaching and Andrea Haskell volunteers to take over. Nell is struggling.

Where to Watch

Episode 3

Who Is Breckenridge Long?

Sun, Oct 14, 2001

The college is celebrating alumni Adelle Aldrich with an honorary degree. She served under Breckenridge Long. Max has to present the award. He is incensed but nobody knows the history. Nell is conflicting with her band mates.

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Episode 4

Hearts and Minds

Sun, Oct 21, 2001

A nudie magazine is coming to campus and opinions vary including shunning any girls who would pose for it. Max is taken with a male visiting student but he chooses Andrea instead. Nell struggles to get her band off the ground.

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Episode 5

In the Details

Sun, Oct 28, 2001

Max's AA sponsor slips. Lester wants his bar mitzvah and comes into conflict with Max's doubts about God. Andrea has to deal with boundary issues. Judith Bryant has trouble brewing at home.

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Episode 6

Do It Yourself

Sun, Nov 11, 2001

Max is feeling his age. A fellow professor dies and he buys the old guy's old house. Fixing it is another issue. The college implements a plagiarism computer program and Andrea finds some cheaters. Nell makes fake IDs. Lester is pissed.

Where to Watch

Episode 7

Revisionism

Sun, Nov 18, 2001

Judith's mentor is visiting the college. Two students uncover an issue with her personal civil rights story. Erica dips her toe into the dating pool. Max and Andrea are ordered to check out a teacher in order to get his superstar wife.

Where to Watch

Episode 8

A Very Great Man

Sun, Dec 2, 2001

Daniel Ellsberg has come to speak to her friend Andrea's class. A student speaks up against Daniel and Andrea throws her out. Max has to take on a class to teach military history. Nell looks for her mother's things. Lester does Lincoln.

Where to Watch

Episode 9

It's Not the Wrapping, It's the Candy

Sun, Dec 9, 2001

Erica's ex-wife visits and she doesn't know that Steve had a sex change. Some students are protesting the school song and Max suggests Nell rewrite it. Andrea suspects that Nell knows about her affair with Max. One student is obsessed.

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Episode 10

The Good, the Bad, and the Lawyers

Sun, Jan 6, 2002

Max is getting sued by a student. He is also trying to pay for Nell's Columbia transfer. Lester goes to a dance.

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Episode 11

Save the Country

Sun, Jan 13, 2002

The one showcases 9/11. Campus has new security measures. "Things have changes." A favorite student is going to Pakistan to teach instead of Berekley. Nell as a singer gets interest.

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Episode 12

The Cost of Living

Sun, Jan 20, 2002

Max accuses Nell of dating music professor Felix Caldwell although she denies it. Meanwhile, his friend Josh Howlett faces a similar issue. All of it brings back Max's affair with Andrea. Lester accidentally outs Erica to her boyfriend.

Where to Watch

Episode 13

I Never Schlunged My Father

Sun, Jan 27, 2002

Max's father visits after a cancer scare. He pushes Max to get a health check. Max has to get a trainer and a colonoscopy. He keeps fighting with his father. He and Andrea get ready to do a radio interview together.

Where to Watch

Episode 14

Money Changes Everthing

Sun, Feb 24, 2002

It's alumni weekend. Alumni Kathryn Cahill is making a large donation although she has restrictions. Judith tells Max and Andrea to change her mind. Andrea fails right away and spends the weekend with her old friends. Max continues to try.

Where to Watch

Episode 15

Genesis

Sun, Mar 3, 2002

Max and son Lester travel to New York City to visit his dying hospitalized father. They are joined by his sister and later Nell. Andrea is infuriated by her estranged mother suddenly showing up after losing her apartment.

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Episode 16

An Open Book

Sun, Mar 10, 2002

Max finally finishes his novel. Lorraine is angered by what she reads and starts passing out copies. Everybody hates their fictional avatars. Max and Andrea get locked in the basement janitor's closet while the janitors are on strike.

Where to Watch

Episode 17

Past, Present, Future

Sun, Mar 17, 2002

Max is caught in the middle when the town proposes to build a mall in a parkland. He becomes the deciding vote which his mentor hopes to be against. Andrea gets a parking ticket and begins a relationship with the local cop.

Where to Watch

Episode 18

Murder of the First

Sun, Mar 31, 2002

Professor Walter Thornhill has invited hated conservative Lyle Dumont to speak on campus. Nell and other students plan to disrupt the event. Max accepts her issue but also his right to speak. They end on opposite sides.

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Episode 19

The Bad Girl

Sun, Apr 14, 2002

Sensationalist TV reporter Dan Franklin is interviewing the professors. He connects with Andrea. Lester is dating the school's bad girl. Max finds them at an unsupervised party thrown by her. She and her friends smoke weed.

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Episode 20

The Egg and I

Sun, Apr 21, 2002

Lester and his classmate have to take care of an egg. Jerry (Jay Thomas) is back after divorcing his superstar wife and becoming a male-advocate media guru. Nell considers selling her eggs. A great book agent is interested in Max's book.

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Episode 21

One More Time

Sun, May 12, 2002

Famed writer Sidney McKnight (Peter O'Toole) has come to recruit Max for Harvard. Max's sister arrives after their father called for a family meeting. He is getting married to someone new. Andrea is desperate to quit smoking.

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Episode 22

The Pursuit of Happiness

Sun, Jun 2, 2002

Max is overwhelmed by work. People tell him to get a hobby and everybody has a different suggestion. His class on the constitution focuses on The Pursuit of Happiness. Nell needs money to apply for a special program.

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