Buy Living with Fran

As if it weren't hard enough for rather timid Jewish suburban student Joshua 'Josh' Reeves (25), who stayed with his father after their divorce unlike his his bratty sister Allison (15), to tell his mother Fran that he has cracked under pressure of resident life, was kicked off med school and needs a comfort zone, the greeting committee also includes a tall, handsome stranger: contractor Riley Martin, Fran's hunky, much younger in-living 'goy toy' lover, only she never told Josh about having one. Riley is great under pressure and immediately proves understanding and helpful like an ideal big brother, but finding his room turned into a private gym and the closet inhabited by nearly naked musician Duane is more then even gentle Josh can handle without becoming verbally aggressive. It takes a few more scenes and Josh running off, but the two good boys soon realize the other isn't so bad and Fran loves and needs them both...
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Without telling anyone, Fran has invited Riley's parents for dinner. Mother Donna Martin, the one who accepted and suggested this 'surprise', is shocked to find Fran much older, and turns very hostile, as Riley points out a nasty habit with every girl he ever dated. Father Tom Martin proves as nice as Riley, and seems the supportive, tolerant father of Fran's boy Josh's dreams, even a prank partner. The question whether her age is an issue for him makes Riley so nervous he cuts his finger badly. In hospital Fran reminisces about their short past, without age issues. In hospital Alison, nasty as always, now has to get her nose checked out, butchered with a mail-order piercing kit.
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Josh has accepted a job as video-store clerk. Fran was looking forward to a backpacking trip trough Europe with Riley, but then her ex, surgeon Ted Reeves, calls by, suddenly unconditionally supportive of Josh, and offers Riley months of construction work. Fran feels certain Ted does it all just to spite her and wants Riley to refuse the big job. Then she learns Ted's second wife Tiffany just dumped him and he still looks down on 'loser' Josh...
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Fran is terribly nervous to be presented to friends Ryan's age at his high-school reunion, where Fran hangs out with a pregnant girl, telling the hard truth about motherhood, and is confused with a teacher there, called Feinman, while the boys from his sports team can't believe Ryan is really in love with a woman her age. Josh is happy that Ryan lends him his pick-up, which is pretty much a babe-magnet, so he hopes helping his friend Erica move will lay the ground-works to pick her up intimately. The next day, the happy couple hosts three couples from his reunion, but Ryan warns Fran her fancy preparations are pointless and her buying him clothes makes him feel like she's becoming a second mother. After separate talks among boys (including Josh, who starts feeling closer to Ryan) and girls, they all realize outsiders will never understand their relationship, and find out whether Fran was right to worry if Erica was just using Josh as a free mover.
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After hearing Fran, Josh and Allison reminisce with their photo-album, Riley feels left out and gets a shock when he makes a joke mentioning 'Riley junior': while kids of their own were a given in his 'junior' mind, Fran assumed it's obvious that maternal duties have taken enough out of her life, yet she has her eggs frozen. Ryan proves himself great father material when Allison, who asked him for a ride, gets stood up by her date. Josh overheard the couple and asks his ma why she considers another kid after he 'stole her youth', she assures him he wasn't planned, but hardly ever unwanted. Ryan is happy Fran proposes to try to get kids the fun way, and again, now they have a back-up plan, and for the time being brings another cuddly addition to bed...
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Josh goes big brother on his younger teenage sister Alison, when she is picked up by her new boy-friend Kurt, but neither Fran nor Ryan cares to check on her, well, Ryan doesn't dare to tell his wife. Behind their back, Fran does talk to Allison. Josh tempts her to check on Alison's e-mail from Kurt, now the daughter goes drama-queen on her 'privacy infringement'. When Josh complains about noise behind Allison's closed door while Kurt is there, that worries Ryan visibly, so ma and Josh barge in to find- the two love-birds actually studying...
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Fran is excited about her first Valentine's day with Riley Martin, but disappointed to hear he reserved at Antonio's, so she books at Carmella's instead, which ruins all his plans and breaks trust, so badly he cancels altogether because she took over once too often. Allison gets a cool handbag from a mystery admirer, and ma saw fitting wrapping paper in the Lombardis's trash can, so she hopes it's from 16 year-old Tony, whom she digs as a 'cotelet', alas... Josh was about to take Riley's advice to dump Lilly, whose excessive superlatives really get on his nerves, before Valentine's day, as doing that would make them seem to be going steady, but on Fran's advice she gets him tickets for the Nicks. Ever gentle Riley assures Josh his ma only meddles out of love, then draws his own conclusions.
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After 'family night' charades were a walkover for the girls, Fran is eager to find something Riley and Josh can do - in order to grow closer together, so when he has a construction vacancy, she decides her lover 'obviously' hires her son, never mind neither darling wants that. Both boys try terribly hard, but Josh is as gifted for construction work (roofing, in this case) as Hitler for equality programs. After a long day, Riley tells Fran he just can't keep such an incompetent worker on, and having hired Joshua she should fire him, but she just can't. Only after an extremely painful accident, which hits Riley by cascade from shoulder to nuts, Fran puts the 'father son' job out of its misery, or was that the wrong way to look at it after all?
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Ryan built a shoe-carousel for his six months anniversary with Fran, so what can she give him? She goes for strip- classes, from obviously queer dance instructor Allan. Josh expects a surprise for his birthday on Sunday, so when she asks him to make himself scarce on Saturday 'for a girls book club' -actually to strip for Ryan- he assumes that's to be his surprise party. Ryan loves his self-unwrapping present, till Josh walks in on them. Alison's unorthodox 'self-expressive' school project has Fran, Ryan and Josh visit the principal- it's a piñata in the shape of the team mascot, which spills not just peppermints but also condoms, as a protest that the school budget for sex seduction was cut to pay for new athletic equipment. After witnessing the atypical family dynamics, which they all defend, Josh not quite, Sir decides she turned out better then could be expected and lets her off.
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Fran breaks her promise to Riley not to talk about their love life with 'girl-friends' by elaborating about it to their new, gay neighbor Greg. However in her eyes Riley is 'far more wrong' when she discovers he never canceled his old city apartment. So when picking up Josh from the dentist Fran takes the kids there to snoop. Realizing the place is too untidy to be a love-nest, Fran believes Josh's theory Riley just needs a 'man-cave', and arranges everything in her basement. Alas, she got the street wrong, so it must all go back when Riley recognizes nothing, and he had another reason for keeping the apartment...
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Laurie, who used to be the fat girl in Josh's class and nobody was nice to except Josh, returns as a slim hottie. Josh gets interested and finds out that Laurie is an artist, who is too busy getting ready for her exhibition to date. Josh sees that the only time he can have with Laurie is at her studio. Laurie has an idea about her final naked body cast piece for the exhibition. Josh offers to be the model but Laurie wants Fran to be the one who gets plastered. Fran declines. Josh concludes that he has to somehow manipulate Riley so that he makes Fran change her mind and thus provides Josh another shot with Laurie.
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Josh's latest girl-friend Gina's phone number became partially illegible after Fran washed his trousers complete with his wallet, but he tries every possibility till he finds the girl, and dates for a concert. When they hear it's Ryan's favorite band, while his job forced him to rush off to building sites so often they hardly ever spend any time together anymore, Fran decides to pretend looking forward to it so they'll be together there, dragging Josh along. Alas Ryan's firm has another emergency, so she's stuck with a date-hungry guy and gets crowd-surfed off. When Gina invites Josh backstage with two friends, he generously invites Ryley and ma, provided they don't betray to be family, but Fran spots Alison, with disastrous consequences for everyone...
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Unlike Fran, who still can't admit she needs glasses, Riley remembered it's the first anniversary of his moving in with the Reeves family. So she decides to cook lobster Tetrazzini and he serves it bare-chested, but just then Allison brings her friend Becca for dinner, who thinks Josh is sexy too. Worse next: Fran's nasty ex Ted Reeves, the kids' dad, who dropped by with daughter Allison's laptop. After the way Ted takes Ryan's seat, constantly belittles him and the others practically ignore him, Ryan is out of the mood and wonders if he has any place at all. However the blond hunk's role is soon remembered when everybody needs a savior...
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After Fran embarrassed Josh by telling his former schoolmate Barry Regal, now in Wall Street, the med school drop-out is the video store's assistant-manager, everybody goes to the bar mitzvah of a certain Kenny Goldstein. Alas Fran's ex, Dr. Ted Reeves, is there too, badmouthing Fran and Josh and out-staging her hunk Riley with professional model and dancer Rachel Hunter. The united front gives Ted as good as it gets, but back home it hits Fran: so long after Ted's leaving, is he still a valid excuse for their own failures?
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Although Allison screamed she didn't want any fuzz for her 'sweet sixteenth' birthday, both parents decide to give her a memorable one. Fran comes trough: when she spots 'Queer Eye for the Straight Guy' presenter Kyan Douglas in Gregory's shop, she gets him to give Allison and her girlfriends a private make-over at home. Kyan even does the same for Josh, who is proud as a peacock and sends a picture to every girl who ever rejected him; only naturally radiant Ryan is simply too perfect as he is. Scumbag dad Ted had promised tickets for an Andy Vargas concert, but was dumped by Laurie Dean, who would have got them, so he forces Fran to bring the downer. Fran soldiers on till she gets everyone in, and made-up Josh hits on with charming Tina. Back home, the truth gets known, the make-up wears off and Ryan sweetly proves he listened when Fran blurted out she missed out on a memorable sweet sixteen herself...
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When Fran tells Ryan she is has no clue about all financial aspects of her interior decorating business, he suggests she should consider taking a business class, like Josh. To both boys' horror she takes that as joining Josh's class in college. As if Fran's boisterous style weren't embarrassing enough, so Josh pretends to be an unrelated 'Re-e-ves', she manages to cheat all too loud at desperately innocent Josh during the first marketing pop quiz, so both are thrown out. Allison has a new boyfriend, Todd, who is charming, bright, polite, slick- Ryan instantly hates him, even more then Fran, who considers Todd a younger version of her nasty ex Ted. If teacher Bryant thought he had seen the last of the Reeve students, that's only because he didn't know her tenacity- yet...
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When Fran and Riley find 'adult' son Josh has brought a girl, Taylor Urbanski, over in his bedroom, ever scantier dressed, that's okay, but when teenager daughter Alison is seen kissing her slick boyfriend Todd -the one who unwillingly gives gentle Riley violent phantasms- they are dead against it, so Josh is suddenly chased as 'a bad example', and Taylor's mother is a better housewife. Next the hunt is on to catch the teen couple in the act and Riley plants the seed of commitment fear in Josh's sound male bachelor mind...
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Riley's mother Donna called five times before his naive kid sister Jenny arrives, and she sure is a pot-plant, still engaged to Jeremy, her first boy-friend ever since Kindergarten. Josh and Allison make fun of Jenny, Fran takes her shopping as the girlish daughter she never had, to be told her taste is too slutty. Fran sends Josh to show Jenny New York, but they only return after a night when they 'accidentally' got married as drunk wedding witnesses for a couple they just met in a bar. Riley and Fran blame each-other as bad examples. Choosing a legal reason for annulment is painful for poor 'crazy' Josh...
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Riley and Fran realize they don't have many common friends because of their generation gap, but find her friend Becca and his Danny ideal for a double date on their anniversary. When the girls overhear Riley saying he pretended the cool leather coat she gave him is too delicate for him to wear in construction, she's livid but decides to test him further by giving instead an indestructible watch. Meanwhile Josh has fixed his nasty sister Allison a date with hunky Cory, but she and her cahoot dump the lovely boy just because he's a freshman, hence 'social suicide for sophomores'...
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Fran insists till Riley allows reporter Catherine Johnson to write a piece on them as a couple, supposedly as publicity for their businesses, in the local newspaper 'Long Island Life'. Just then Fran's ex Ted drops by to give Alison a driving lesson, but is too proud to decline helping Riley move the couch and gets a heart attack. Because Riley feels guilty even though he couldn't know, they take the recovering bachelor in at home. Josh finally sees a chance to get back at the ever abusive dad from hell when nurse Stacy declines Ted's flirting but eagerly goes out with Josh. When the reporter arrives, everything goes embarrassingly wrong...
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Fran's parents Hal and Cookie, full-blood Jews who retired to Miami, are visiting her. Riley get to feel barely subtly that he is considered beneath their daughter, as if he were a spineless German sponger. Fran is furious when ma, who disapproves of all her choices, even openly takes Allison's side when the teenager wants to take the pill against PMS, while Fran fears that will only lay her totally open to boy-friend Todd, whom she mistrust even more then teenage hormones. Meanwhile Riley fears he's doing his cause no good by accepting to bet against Hal behind Cookie's back, as Hal looses every time, so he uses his winnings... When the three generations of girls go shopping, they find Todd in the mall, who obviously lied to be out of town. The mothers reconsider...
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It's Halloween, so Josh is eager to get Riley and Fran out of the house, so he can entertain his present girlfriend Tina. It goes great, till the police drops off devilish sister Allison, only because all cells are full, for driving to a party -she told Fran that Todd drove- without ever having had a license. Meanwhile Riley learns to his light shock Fran has brought him to a costume party -he makes a very cute Indiana Jones- without invitation, as earlier to a funeral, so she can hunt for interior decoration customers. Alas one of the guests, bar-girl Beth, throws champagne in Riley's face, so Fran, who throws drama scenes as if he were Bluebeard, tails him, learns he lived nearly two years with Beth and stood her up at the altar... Josh decides to put Allison on the worst slave duties he can think up till she rather tells ma herself...
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When a waitress flirts with Riley at Fran's birthday dinner, adding she can see where Josh got his good looks, Fran is down and gets nightmares about all the Reeves family being ancient, fat and ugly, only Ryan still seems a young god at 70. When Riley gets her to see a gynecologist, the verdict is a hysterectomy, which stops her PMS, even if it starts menopause. Ted does the operation which goes well, everyone is at her bedside, but after a nightmare about Riley wasting his young life to take care of her, she breaks up unilaterally, pretending he now makes her feel old.
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Now Fran has dumped her true love Riley and thrown him out 'for his own good', both of them are miserable enough to become impossible to live with, Fran is filling the Reeves house with TV-sale appliances which do more harm then good. When dumb Becca turns out to be as good at singing ('The Way We Were', perfect for more waterworks from Fran) as Allison stinks at any form of performance, Josh decides to launch her at cousin Merrill's wedding to Riley's mate Danny. There the lovebirds face facts, Josh tells the true reason and conclusions are drawn...
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