Ellen's holidays are bittersweet, thanks to an acerbic new employee and a sugarcoated suitor. Meanwhile, Paige agonizes over what to get her overly sensitive mother for Christmas.

Paige refers Ellen to a handsome dentist and Ellen hopes the professional visit might lead to a personal relationship. However, her serious flirtations have unexpected results when a few whiffs of laughing gas unleash her primal instincts. Meanwhile, Adam can't seem to decide whether he wants to date a woman or not.

When Ellen learns that the show-biz party she crashed was for charity, she tries to make amends by going on a volunteering binge.

Ellen flips for a customer whose visits to the bookstore spice up her life, but her rising hopes for romance fall flat when she learns he's a pizza delivery man who savors his work.

Stumbling upon evidence that someone in her reading group dislikes her, a downcast Ellen stoops to spying in order to root out and win over the malcontent.

When Ellen's blind date, whom she remembers as a childhood weirdo, turns out to be a perfectly normal guy, she's eager to pursue the relationship, but a series of complications convinces him that she's the one who's strange.

Ellen feels threatened by Adam's visiting friend, Theresa, whose humor rivals her own. But when Ellen sees her own jealousy drive her comic competitor away, she literally flies to make amends.

When Ellen hosts the wedding rehearsal dinner for her brother and his bride-to-be, she unintentionally causes their breakup.

Convinced that Ellen is limiting his potential, Adam moves out, leaving Ellen with limitless possibilities as to what to do with his vacant room.

To help Paige appease her demanding movie-producer boss, Ellen pretends to be his exercise trainer. But when the boss offers Ellen a development job, Paige has a fit.

Ellen speaks her mind to her cranky old neighbor who then dies. Meanwhile, she hires a pushy new bookstore manager with a history of mental problems.

Ellen tries to make a new friend without offending Audrey, the person who introduced them. Meanwhile, Adam inherits historical family letters.

Ellen goes on a scholastic kick to expand her cultural horizons, and impresses an attractive college professor along the way. Meanwhile, unlikely lovebirds Joe and Stephanie move in together--at the bookstore.

Ellen is determined to help Audrey find an apartment, as far away from hers as possible. Meanwhile, Paige dates an alternate juror for a high-profile Hollywood trial and Adam tries to catch a newspaper thief.

Paige persuades Ellen to relieve stress at a health spa, but the rigorous regime creates tension between them. Meanwhile, Adam tries to broaden his circle of friends, starting with Joe.

Determined to fulfill a childhood dream, Ellen takes ballet lessons and sets her sights on dancing the lead in her class recital.

After her apartment is robbed, Ellen goes on a safety spree, but her obsession with security makes her a model of insecurity.

When Ellen starts losing sleep over her erotic dreams about Adam, she goes into therapy. However, Audrey is having fantasies about Adam also, vowing to make them reality.

Ellen reluctantly becomes a contestant on American Gladiators, then becomes fighting mad when her female combatant, Ice, ruins her budding romance with gladiator Nitro.

Ellen feels like an angel when she donates her tax refund to charity, but she has a devil of a time recouping the cash when Uncle Sam demands it back.

Ellen joins an animal rights group, gets thrown in jail and winds up in the custody of her parents.

Ellen feels guilty about lying to her mother, but when her therapist prescribes a dose of total honesty, the truth proves to be more than the family bargained for.

Ellen rekindles her romance with ex-boyfriend Dan, who returns from Rome with a brilliant new career. However, Ellen soon discovers that his venture involves a shady substance.

Ellen's relationship with Dan heats up, Adam caves in to Audrey's burning desire, and Paige feels left out in the cold.