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The Best Episodes of Family

Every episode of Family ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of Family!

The Best Episodes of Family

The lives of the middle-class Lawrence family in Pasadena, California.

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  1. 8.5/10(115 votes)

    #1 - Pilot (a.k.a. The Best Years)

    S1:E1

    Buddy hears Kate say something about her, and isn't happy. Also, Nancy walks in on Jeff with another woman.

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  2. 8.5/10(73 votes)

    #2 - A Right and Proper Goodbye

    S1:E4

    Kate's mother comes for one last visit.

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    Writer:N/A
  3. 8.5/10(58 votes)

    #3 - Coming Apart

    S2:E1

    Buddy gets a job at a bakery, and introduces Willie to her boss, ""Big Al""; Nancy gets involved with Peter, while she's finalizing her divorce from Jeff -- despite the latter's pleas for a reconciliation.

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    Director:N/A
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  4. 8.5/10(51 votes)

    #4 - Such Sweet Sorrow

    S2:E2

    Salina drops by, at a time when Willie is having problems with Alex; Doug is offered a great job in New York.

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    Director:N/A
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  5. 8.5/10(48 votes)

    #5 - Best Friends

    S2:E17

    Nancy attends her high-school reunion, meeting the guy she dumped to marry Jeff; T.J. asks Buddy to a formal dance, causing a rift with Audrey.

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    Writer:N/A
  6. 8.5/10(56 votes)

    #6 - We Love You, Miss Jessup

    S3:E6

    Buddy's English teacher gets outed; Willie suspects Nancy of being a home-wrecker.

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    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
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  8. 8.5/10(40 votes)

    #7 - Letting Go

    S5:E13

    Doug is upset when Buddy starts dating a 21-year-old; Annie is jealous of an old friend who has matured much faster than she has.

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  9. 8.4/10(82 votes)

    #8 - Monday is Forever

    S1:E2

    Kate has to wait until Monday to find out whether she has cancer; Buddy and her friend Laura Richardson have until Monday, when the latter's family is scheduled to move to Detroit.

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    Director:Glenn Jordan
    Writer:N/A
  10. 8.4/10(73 votes)

    #9 - Rites of Friendship

    S2:E10

    A friend of Willie's comes out of the closet; Buddy, after getting invited to the ""Junior Jump"" by a popular boy, asks Nancy to teach her to dance.

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  11. 8.4/10(41 votes)

    #10 - Expectations

    S4:E7

    Nancy's new boss pressures her to sleep with him; Buddy tries out for the cheerleading squad.

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    Director:N/A
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  12. 8.4/10(36 votes)

    #11 - Gifts

    S4:E8

    Annie, who still misses her parents, can't relate to the Lawrences' holiday cheer, and decides to run away until Christmas is over; Willie runs into his old barber, who is about to close up shop for good.

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    Writer:N/A
  13. 8.4/10(39 votes)

    #12 - Smarts

    S5:E12

    Annie gets picked on by her classmates, for being too smart; Buddy, studying for her SATs, worries that she's not smart enough.

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    Writer:N/A
  14. 8.3/10(70 votes)

    #13 - A Special Kind of Loving

    S1:E3

    Willie meets, and starts spending lots of time with, Salina -- leading to a tiff with Buddy, right when she needs him to help conquer her fear of diving.

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    Writer:N/A
  15. 8.3/10(63 votes)

    #14 - Coming of Age

    S2:E4

    Buddy officially reaches puberty; Nancy is caught between Kate's resentment of her thoughtlessness, Peter's proposal of marriage, and a come-on from a complete stranger.

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    Director:N/A
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  16. 8.3/10(62 votes)

    #15 - Skeleton in the Closet

    S2:E8

    Doug must face his sister Emily's alcoholism. Buddy tries to help a senior citizen she spots shoplifting food from the supermarket.

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    Director:John Erman
    Writer:N/A
  17. 8.3/10(56 votes)

    #16 - On The First Day Of Christmas (a.k.a. The Christmas Story)

    S2:E9

    Doug is suspicious when his father introduces his new, and much younger, girlfriend; Nancy and Jeff have a fight over who gets Timmy over Christmas.

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    Writer:N/A
  18. 8.3/10(47 votes)

    #17 - The Friend's Affair

    S4:E9

    A colleague and friend of Doug's is cheating on his wife; Annie suspects a next-door neighbor of having murdered his.

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    Writer:N/A
  19. 8.3/10(42 votes)

    #18 - Sleeping Over

    S4:E13

    Buddy's invitation to a sorority becomes a sore point in her friendship with Audrey when Audrey isn't invited to join. Willie sleeps with Kate's musician friend, leading to a serious mother-son rift over casual sex.

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    Director:N/A
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  20. 8.3/10(52 votes)

    #19 - When the Bough Breaks

    S5:E4

    Kate finds out she's pregnant; a friend of Buddy's, on vacation from her all-girls school, picks Willie as a seduction target.

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    Director:N/A
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  21. 8.3/10(41 votes)

    #20 - Hard Times

    S5:E5

    Two friends of Buddy's who have been going steady for 3 years are having relationship problems -- and when she tries to help, the results aren't quite what she expected; Nancy is having trouble at work, which starts to affect even Timmy.

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    Director:N/A
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  22. 8.2/10(60 votes)

    #21 - Thursday's Child

    S1:E5

    As Timmy Jr.'s christening approaches, the whole family (especially Buddy, who stubbornly refuses to take part) relives the painful memories of Timmy Sr.'s death.

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    Director:Glenn Jordan
    Writer:N/A
  23. 8.2/10(51 votes)

    #22 - Point of Departure

    S1:E6

    Doug resents Willie's attitude towards work, the universe, and everything; a string of burglaries sweeps through the neighborhood.

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    Director:John Erman
    Writer:N/A
  24. 8.2/10(57 votes)

    #23 - An Eye to the Future

    S2:E11

    Buddy (as ""Diamond In the Rough"") gets heavily into the CB scene; Kate decides to go back to college; Doug does a stint as a judge.

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    Director:Glenn Jordan
    Writer:N/A
  25. 8.2/10(53 votes)

    #24 - Mirror, Mirror on the Wall . . .

    S2:E14

    A daughter whom Elaine gave up for adoption years ago finds her, through Kate; Willie is intrigued by a pretty client at the photo studio where he works.

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    Writer:N/A
  26. 8.2/10(45 votes)

    #25 - Annie Laurie

    S3:E5

    Doug gets propositioned by a female lawyer.

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    Director:Alf Kjellin

Best Episodes Summary

"Pilot (a.k.a. The Best Years)" is the best rated episode of "Family". It scored 8.5/10 based on 115 votes. Directed by Mark Rydell and written by Jay Presson Allen, it aired on 3/9/1976. This episode scored 0.0 points higher than the second highest rated, "A Right and Proper Goodbye".