Shhh! Don't tell anyone, but: Matt and Mary both have mysterious new friends; Simon and his new charge, Happy, could be in the doghouse; and Lucy keeps mum about the object of a crush.

Mary offers to shield Lucy and her "date" from Eric; Matt gets into a scrape while out with a young woman; and Annie goes to Arizona to bring her parents home.

Eric helps out a woman who is being abused by her husband. But when the good reverend is seen escorting the woman to a motel one afternoon, it's the talk of the town. Meanwhile, Matt warns Mary about an older guy she's seeing.

A tug-of-war ensues between Eric and his cantankerous parents over who will adopt a young orphan found hiding in the church.

Mary takes a walk on the wild side with a classmate she meets in detention; a former associate minister from Eric's church drops in unexpectedly; Simon and Ruthie ferret out a scheme to fund their college educations.

Simon becomes emotionally involved with his best friend's sister, Karen who's a gang member. Meanwhile, in a show of independence Lucy dons makeup and revealing wardrobe with her friend's to meet guys at the mall and gets caught by Annie and Ruthie. In addition, Ruthie questions the speed of light to everyone in the family.

Eric's no-nonsense father, John ""The Colonel"" (guest star Peter Graves) returns when he learns an array of problems in the Camden household. Mary is jealous of a new member of the basketball team who is getting a lot of the attention. Lucy's declining grades are due to her hanging around with a bad crowd, while Ruthie needs to copy Simon in his quest to be a magician. Meanwhile, Eric is oblivious to all of the family troubles around him as he's preoccupied with writing a sermon that is to be covered by a camera crew. Meanwhile, Annie is doing all the chores at home and at church alone while everyone else is doing their own thing.

Lucy must choose between her new boyfriend Rod and her former boyfriend Jimmy Moon after he is dumped by his old girlfriend Ashley, and wants Lucy back. While Lucy makes her decision, the rest of the Camden children are making bets to which guy Lucy will choose. Eric and Annie are at odds when they help newly married couples communicate with each other, but end up getting into a big fight themselves when discussing their burial plot arrangements within their own families. Also, a visit from Annie's father stirs up further problems in the Camden household when he arrives without Ginger after recently breaking up due to his hair piece (toupee).

Eric and Annie's parents arrive right in the middle of the crisis involving Mary and Matt; and Happy's original owner comes to take him back.

In the third season-opener, Annie is feeling a little depressed since she's 3 months pregnant. Ruthie is pretending to feel a little pregnant herself. Lucy is following the dating advices from 'The Rules' book she has. Matt moves in an apartment with three attractive girls. Eric is looking for the perfect 20th anniversary plan for Annie. Mary gets a lot of attention from guys, which makes Lucy jealous. Although, one of Mary's 'guy' friends asks Lucy out. Matt finally comes back home because of girl problems he was having with his new roommates. Simon's girlfriend is acting a little weird. Eric and Annie tell the kids they're having TWINS!

Eric's old Rock & Roll band has come to town for a small concert, although he is suspicious about their possible drug habit. The band is staying at the Camden home--- they have parked their trailer on the front lawn. Meanwhile, Simon starts to drink coffee and becomes very addicted. Lucy continues to be on the phone constantly talking to her boyfriend Jordan while Ruthie is constantly chewing gum. Also, Mary finds out that one of her friends from the basketball team, Diane, is taking natural pills to boost her energy and that everyone else on the team is taking them. Mary then decides to take a few pills herself when overhearing Matt in a conversation about his bottle of natural pills. Eric then yells at Matt when finding pills in his room. Matt says that he got it from a friend, but he didn't take any yet. Mary then tells her father that she got the same pills from her friend Diane. When Eric tries to talk to Diane and her father, they do not listen to him. Later that evening, while E

During a difficult labor, Annie asks Dr. Hastings for help. Lucy decides to break up with Jordan because she doesn't feel the same love for him as he feels for her. Simon continues to pray for twin boys. Happy is alone in the house causing some mess and trouble. Simon suddenly decides that he would ask his parent's if he could get his ear pierced. Matt is reluctant and scared about giving blood and also tries to calm everybody's tensions with the arrival of the babies. Lastly, Ruthie is the same as usual in this heart-warming episode; bad-mouthing the twins until they come.

Eric counsels a troubled couple on the brink of divorce, Ted and Emily. Matt decides to join the Army without consulting his parents about it. Also, Mary and Lucy are desperate to get out of the house and later get into a car accident with Ted who was driving drunk when going out to get some more beer for his new apartment. Matt can't join the Army because he's not fully measured for the job. Also, Simon tries to find his red-lightning ring to get out of his bad luck as being the new middle child of the family now. He will even try chain letters to get out of it. Lastly, Ruthie tries her best to get peoples attention when their focuses are on the new babies.

St. Valentine's Day delivers a few surprises for the Camden family. A grounded Simon is asked out by a senior. Annie's attempt to surprise Eric with romantic Valentine's plans backfires and results in a big fight. Mary discovers Robbie's plans with Joy. Lucy and Mary learn that Jeremy and Wilson both have dates for Valentine's. Matt seeks his fathers help as he wants to settle down, which leads him to seek out old girlfriends as to why they're no longer together. Ruthie is hesitant to go to a party because her friend tricked her into asking out a boy she's already going out with.

Matt is determined to settle down before heading off to medical school. While in search of a woman to marry, he goes out on a date Sarah, who is the daughter of a rabbi. Ruthie tries to set her brother straight by telling him not to do anything stupid. Eventually concern grows to fear for both families as both Matt and Sarah do not come home after their second date together in less than 24 hours.

Kevin is now living in the garage apartment and is madly in love with Lucy and waiting for the right time to ask Lucy to marry him. He invites his new rookie partner Roxanne over to meet Lucy who takes one look at her and flies into a jealous frenzy. Robbie is jealous of Kevin because he feels as though Kevin is like a new big brother taking over Matt's place. Robbie, who has been lamenting the departure of girlfriend Joy, may also be ready for romance when he runs into Kevin's partner Roxanne, an old classmate from 7th grade. Ruthie is asked to babysit a chimp which lives across the street. Ruthie also invites her boyfriend over which stuns Eric. Mary desperately tries to keep her mysterious new boyfriend a secret. When he unexpectedly shows up at the Camden home, no one is more surprised than Eric to see the good-looking 40-something pilot standing in the doorway.

Eric flies to New York in a last attempt to convince Chandler's dying father to make peace with Chandler before it's too late. Meanwhile, Matt and Sarah suspect that she might be pregnant and Matt's co-worker lets the news slip to Eric; Lucy fears she might also be pregnant, which causes her to panic and push Kevin away; Mary tries to find Eric to tell him that she did something stupid; Lucy offers her classmate Christine a temporary place to live, unaware that she's hiding a big secret; Simon is crushed when Cecilia refuses to go to the prom with him; and no one can understand why Ruthie is acting especially strange.

Unable to convince Chandler's father to see his son before he dies, Eric is forced into tricking him. Meanwhile, Eric, Annie and Sarah's mother Rosina get together to surprise Matt and congratulate him on the wonderful baby news. Mary confides a big secret to Lucy. Simon gets turned down by a potential prom date. Ruthie gets her period and tries to hide the news from everyone. Kevin recognizes Lucy's house guest Christine as a girl who was previously arrested for prostitution. Lucy takes a home pregnancy test without telling anyone. Lastly, bad news arrives on the Camdens' doorstep.

In the eighth season premiere, the Camden's spend the last week of summer at a beach house. At the beginning of the summer, Simon killed Paul Smith in an automobile accident. Simon is having a hard time dealing with the fact that he killed him and everyone tries to help him. Eric and Annie try to push Simon to go back to school which begins in a week. Eric would like Paul's parents (guest-stars Katie Mitchell and Mark Moses) to accept the insurance companies offer to the money. Paul's brother vandalizes the church by adding graffti to the sign saying "Thou Shalt Not Kill." Simon runs away to New York to get away from the troubles he is having in Glenoak. Also, Lucy and Kevin discuss possibly having a child. Peter is spending a lot of time around Ruthie and the Camden family. Ruthie finds out about Mary and Carlos being married.

Mary makes a surprise visit home to deliver unexpected news to Eric and Annie. Meanwhile, Simon tells Cecilia that he needs space. Also, Lucy and Kevin adjust to married life. Chandler breaks up with Roxanne after learning that she isn't comfortable with the idea of being a preacher's wife, while Roxanne seeks Kevin's advice on dealing with a dispirited Chandler. Also, the Camdens finally learn who's pregnant. Lastly, Eric ponders Simon's academic future and Annie prepares for a potentially tense dinner engagement.

With Annie out of town, Eric is left alone to accompany Simon on his visit to the Board of Education to discuss early graduation. During the meeting, Simon bonds with his advisor when they realize that they're both preachers' kids. Meanwhile, Lucy catches Chandler kissing a beautiful blonde woman at church and she agonizes over whether or not to tell Roxanne; Detective Michaels tricks Kevin into babysitting his six-year-old granddaughter; Peter makes a deal with the school bully in an attempt to protect Ruthie and Cecilia agrees to watch the twins which leads to a confrontation with Simon.

When a mysterious stranger wanders into the Camden home and spends the day with the family everyone assumes he is Simon's friend. Meanwhile, a disheveled, Rabbi Glass stops by to confide in Eric that he caught his wife kissing another man and discusses about splitting up. Kevin feels emasculated after being attacked and injured by a woman during a domestic disturbance call and goes on medical leave. His attitude toward Lucy changes drastically as he worries that Lucy isn't attracted to him anymore. Plus, Simon is concerned that no one seems to care that he's leaving for college in a couple of days. Lastly, Ruthie and Peter struggle with a school project.

In a video essay for his application to college, Simon recounts the experiences of his family members including their relationships, friends and mistakes that they've made over the years in Glenoak as well as his own pain at having killed a young boy in a car accident earlier in the year.

During his Sunday sermon, Eric proposes that instead of a financial contribution, everyone should make a commitment to reach out and help someone in need. Kevin suggests that he and Lucy work together to set up a neighborhood watch program, but she feels passionate about working with Habitat for Humanity. Eric calls his new son-in-law Carlos (guest-star Carlos Ponce) and asks him to fly in without Mary for dinner with the family, which makes Carlos very nervous. Also, Ruthie picks a shy new girl at school as her project and soon finds out that she has a secret. Meanwhile, Peter picks Ruthie as his project, which prompts her to tell him that they should spend less time together. Chandler and Roxanne keep running into each other stirring up old feelings. Lastly, Annie becomes jealous of all of the time the twins are spending with Cecilia.

Eric and Annie throw a "Welcome to the Neighborhood" party for Ruthie's Muslim friend Jill Dupree and her parents, but the Duprees are hesitant to attend. Eric is shocked and disappointed when he learns that his neighborhood is not a friendly place for Muslims. Meanwhile, Cecilia's house is robbed while she and her dad attend Kevin's first Neighborhood Watch meeting; Roxanne mentors a troubled sixteen-year-old and suspects that he might be involved in the robbery, and Chandler finds himself attracted to Peter's mom Paris.