7.1/1032 votes#1 - Merle the Pearl
Season 4 Episode 1 - Aired 9/5/1979
Nicholas and Susan meet Merle the Pearl, a local minor league baseball player. Nicholas is upset that his young girlfriend is moving out of town and wants to introduce her to Merle the Pearl to impress her before she leaves. Frustrated by the gas shortage, Tom agrees to buy a new, fuel-efficient car. Merle falls for Susan and Nicholas gets his first kiss
Director: Stan Lathan
Writer: N/A
6.9/1026 votes#2 - The Cupid Crisis
Season 4 Episode 2 - Aired 9/12/1979
David returns and is determined to win Janet back from her new boyfriend. Merle confides to Nicholas that he wants to propose to Susan but Susan is upset when the entire Bradford family knows about before she does. Nicholas acts as the go-between for everyone
Director: Leslie H. Martinson
Writer: N/A
7.7/1029 votes#3 - I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do
Season 4 Episode 3 - Aired 9/19/1979
David and Janet set a wedding date but it turns out to be the same day Merle and Susan decided to move up the wedding day to accomodate Merle's ballplaying career move. Nancy gets a job delivering singing telegrams and is hired to deliver one at the double wedding for David and Janet and Merle and Susan.
Director: Harry Harris
Writer: N/A
7.7/1028 votes#4 - Ten Ships in the Night
Season 4 Episode 4 - Aired 9/26/1979
Chaos hits the Bradford house when everyone's activities go around the clock. In order to get her Ph.D. more quickly, Abby attends school full-time and has little time for the family. Tom is upset when no one is home when Nicholas gets home from school. Tired of getting dead-end jobs because of her looks, Nancy gets a job at a brokerage firm. All this drives Tom bananas and he finally calls a family meeting at 3 a.m. by playing loud music to rearrange the goings on.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.6/1029 votes#5 - The Night They Raided Bradfords
Season 4 Episode 5 - Aired 10/3/1979
Things are not as they seem at the Bradfords when Merle's sister, Linda Mae, comes from the farm and visits the Bradfords and is shocked at what she finds. Joannie talks Nancy into playing a stripper in her play. Susan panics when she hears that Merle was injured in a game. It's a comedy of errors when Linda Mae calls the police after misunderstanding the family's crazy life style.
Director: N/A
Writer: Chris Manheim, Patricia Green
7.4/1024 votes#6 - The Devil and Mr. Bradford
Season 4 Episode 6 - Aired 10/24/1979
Joannie gets a job in the research department of a TV station. Mary finds a hidden home pregnancy test and tries to find the owner. Joannie ""scoops"" Tom on a story on a porno theater for her new job at a television station. The problem is that the theater is owned by a public corporation and Tom is a stockholder. Tom is upset that a porno theater has opened in his neighborhood but then discovers that he is part owner of it.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
6.9/1025 votes#7 - Big Shoes, Little Feet
Season 4 Episode 7 - Aired 10/31/1979
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.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.3/1030 votes#8 - Fathers and Other Strangers (1)
Season 4 Episode 8 - Aired 11/7/1979
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.
Director: Harry Harris
Writer: N/A
7.6/1028 votes#9 - Fathers and Other Strangers (2)
Season 4 Episode 9 - Aired 11/7/1979
Still in Hawaii, Tom and his father contemplate whether they can or should bother to reconcile their relationship.
Director: Harry Harris
Writer: N/A
7.7/1028 votes#10 - Letter to One Bradford
Season 4 Episode 10 - Aired 11/14/1979
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.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
8.0/1028 votes#11 - Separate Ways
Season 4 Episode 11 - Aired 11/21/1979
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.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.4/1028 votes#12 - Arrivals
Season 4 Episode 12 - Aired 11/28/1979
Tom and Abby believe that Susan is depressed because Merle is gone but learn that she is pregnant. The girls try to cheer her up. Joannie meets a psychic and holds a seance to help Susan. Merle arrives to win her back and finds out she is going to have their baby. Ernie and Tommy use Nicholas as bait to meet girls.
Director: Harry Harris
Writer: N/A
7.6/1026 votes#13 - Brotherhood, Sisterhood
Season 4 Episode 13 - Aired 12/5/1979
Tom talks David into hiring Tommy as a construction worker but Tommy has to prove himself to his fellow workers by standing up to them on his own. Nicholas needs to write a speech about Tom and follows him around for a day at the office to get material. Elizabeth is looking for advice on how to meet men in college.
Director: Harry Harris
Writer: N/A
7.7/1026 votes#14 - Mary, He's Married
Season 4 Episode 14 - Aired 12/12/1979
Joannie tries to convince her boss that she is ready for more responsibility at work. Joannie wants to do a documentary on her family. Mary learns that being an adult can be painful when she falls for a resident at the hospital who is unavailable. Eager to earn extra money, Nicholas sells guaca dew, a wrinkle remover, door to door.
Director: Irving J. Moore
Writer: N/A
7.7/1027 votes#15 - My Son, the Prom Queen
Season 4 Episode 15 - Aired 1/9/1980
Upset that an all girl band was chosen to play at prom, Tommy protests by running for prom queen. Joannie pushes her boss for some on-camera work.
Director: Irving J. Moore
Writer: N/A
7.7/1032 votes#16 - The Courage To Be
Season 4 Episode 16 - Aired 1/16/1980
Tom is upset that everyone is neglecting their household duties so Abby and the kids pool their resources to hire a maid. Tommy tries to help his friend Ernie, who won't admit he has an alcoholic problem. They split-up over this and Bradford steps in to help. Nicholas and Marvin try to get into the Book of World Records.
Director: N/A
Writer: Gil Grant
7.2/1026 votes#17 - Semi-Centennial Bradford
Season 4 Episode 17 - Aired 1/23/1980
Abby tries to cheer Tom up on his 50th birthday. Tom feels the pressure of teh youth movement at work and believes that the Register wants to replace him with a younger columnist. Merle and Susan try to pick names for their baby. Nicholas is helping Merle come up with a name for the new baby.
Director: Bernard McEveety
Writer: N/A
7.7/1030 votes#18 - The Commitment
Season 4 Episode 18 - Aired 1/30/1980
Tommy is upset when Jill's idea of a commitment is not the same as his and then misinterprets signals from Mary's friend, Kerry, and gets deeper into trouble. Tommy presents Jill with a class ring. Abby and the girls plan a surprise baby shower for Susan. Nicholas plays go-between for Marvin but ends up with the girl instead.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.3/1027 votes#19 - Seven More Days in February
Season 4 Episode 19 - Aired 2/6/1980
It's winter break and Joannie, Nancy, and Mary meet strange men that drive Tom and Abby crazy. Tom fixes Tommy up with his boss's niece.
Director: John Patterson
Writer: N/A
6.8/1026 votes#20 - The Return of Joe Simons
Season 4 Episode 20 - Aired 2/13/1980
Tom's new temporary secretary is overly attentive. Joe Simons, the con man who helped Nicholas return from San Diego, shows up pretending to have struck it rich in the Yukon and drives the family bonkers. He claims to have found a gold mine. Joannie offers to produce a TV commercial for David's construction company.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
6.9/1028 votes#21 - Bradford vs. Bradford
Season 4 Episode 21 - Aired 2/27/1980
Ernie misreads Elizabeth's friendly gestures. David is jealous that Janet is working long hours with a male colleague. Tom counsels David and Abby counsels Janet, and they end up happily together. Bored with his own house and family, Nicholas has more fun playing at a friend's house but his friend has more fun at Nicholas's house.
Director: Leslie H. Martinson
Writer: N/A
6.2/1027 votes#22 - Memories
Season 4 Episode 22 - Aired 3/5/1980
Abby needs time to deal with memories of her late husband after a fellow prisoner of war shows up in Sacramento. She works out her feelings and returns to the family. Nicholas goes steady for the first time, and finds going steady is not all fun when the girl is more interested in the bracelet he gives her than in him. Nancy gets tired of loaning money to the other Bradford children.
Director: Vincent McEveety
Writer: N/A
7.1/1024 votes#23 - Official Positions
Season 4 Episode 23 - Aired 3/19/1980
Merle recruits the girls for a charity basketball team. Tom is jealous when a publisher offers to publish Abby's thesis and Tom can't get his accepted. They pool their efforts, after competitive feelings are straightened out, to co-author his book. Nicholas gets his friend's mom a job helping with the book. Nicholas's friend is upset to learn that his mom works for Abby and not the other way around.
Director: Leslie H. Martinson
Writer: N/A
6.6/1025 votes#24 - A Matter of Mentors
Season 4 Episode 24 - Aired 3/26/1980
Joannie gets an important assignment at work but Jeffrey believes that the boss will be expecting a favor in return. Joannie blows her chance at a big story. An experienced reporter makes her his partner and the result is an important scoop. Nicholas has a problem with a bully that he can't hit back. Fed up with the way that Tom divvies up the family's discretionary funds, Tommy takes over budgeting for it.
Director: Vincent McEveety
Writer: Chris Manheim, Patricia Green
5.9/1035 votes#25 - Roll Over Bradford
Season 4 Episode 25 - Aired 4/2/1980
Tom is upset that Tommy hasn't sent in any college applications but Tommy wants to be a musician and is not interested in college. Auntie V brings her new fiance to meet the Bradfords. Auntie V encourages Tommy to pursue his musical dreams. Tommy wants to be a professional musician rather than go to college. Though Tom disagrees, he still is able to encourage him, which brings them closer.
Director: Stan Lathan
Writer: Gil Grant
The Best Episodes of Eight Is Enough Season 4
Every episode of Eight Is Enough Season 4 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Eight Is Enough Season 4!
Eight Is Enough is an American television comedy-drama series that ran on ABC from March 15, 1977, until August 29, 1981. The show was modeled...
Genres:DramaComedy
Network:ABC
Season 4 Ratings Summary
"Merle the Pearl" is the best rated episode of "Eight Is Enough" season 4. It scored 7.1/10 based on 32 votes. Directed by Stan Lathan and written by N/A, it aired on 9/5/1979. This episode is rated 0.2 points higher than the second-best, "The Cupid Crisis".