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The Best Episodes of Empty Nest Season 1

Every episode of Empty Nest Season 1 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Empty Nest Season 1!

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Widowed pediatrician Harry Weston is a miracle worker when it comes to dealing with his young patients, but he's more challenged by the other people surrounding him: daughters Barbara and Carol; his wisecracking office assistant,

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
    Empty Nest Season 1 Episode 1 - Pilot
    7.7/10(151 votes)

    #1 - Pilot

    S1:E1

    Harry is proposed to eighteen months after the death of his wife.

    Director:Jay Sandrich
    Writer:Susan Harris

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  2. Empty Nest Season 1 Episode 2 - The Check Isn't In the Mail
    8.0/10(126 votes)

    #2 - The Check Isn't In the Mail

    S1:E2

    Carol gets all dolled up for a date with her contemptible ex-husband. Harry thinks Dreyfuss may be sick.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  3. Empty Nest Season 1 Episode 3 - Barbara Gets Shot
    8.7/10(127 votes)

    #3 - Barbara Gets Shot

    S1:E3

    Harry tries to get Barbara to give up her police career after she is shot.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Don Reo

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  4. Empty Nest Season 1 Episode 4 - Fatal Attraction
    7.8/10(128 votes)

    #4 - Fatal Attraction

    S1:E4

    Neighbor Blanche thinks she is in love with Harry and comes on strong when showing her affection. An old friend of the family dies after an illness. Carol decides to move in and take care of her father.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Susan Harris

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  5. Empty Nest Season 1 Episode 5 - Father of the Bride
    8.1/10(120 votes)

    #5 - Father of the Bride

    S1:E5

    Harry is ecstatic when Barbara accepts her surgeon boyfriend's marriage proposal, but she has second thoughts the night before the wedding.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Susan Harris

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  6. Empty Nest Season 1 Episode 6 - Harry's Vacation
    8.3/10(119 votes)

    #6 - Harry's Vacation

    S1:E6

    Harry thinks he has become a burden on Carol and Barbara when they send him away on a vacation, despite his objections.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Susan Beavers

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  7. Empty Nest Season 1 Episode 7 - Tinker to Evers to Tucson
    8.2/10(117 votes)

    #7 - Tinker to Evers to Tucson

    S1:E7

    When husband Nick is traded to a Japanese baseball team, Laverne is forced to quit. A sick Charley camps out on Harry's couch.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  8. Empty Nest Season 1 Episode 8 - What's a Father to Do?
    8.2/10(117 votes)

    #8 - What's a Father to Do?

    S1:E8

    Harry makes plans to accompany Carol to see her photographs displayed in an art gallery, and also to attend a ceremony honoring Barbara with a gold medal of valor. The problem is, both events are on the same day.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Rod Parker

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  9. Empty Nest Season 1 Episode 9 - Harry's Friend
    7.8/10(117 votes)

    #9 - Harry's Friend

    S1:E9

    Harry isn't too happy when Carol begins dating his old friend.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Arnie Kogen

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  10. Empty Nest Season 1 Episode 10 - Libby's Gift
    8.3/10(115 votes)

    #10 - Libby's Gift

    S1:E10

    An organ that Libby ordered before dying finally arrives at the house and Harry becomes determined to learn to play it in time for his and Libby's anniversary. Barbara and Carol worry that he is going too far. A patient asks Harry for birth control.

    Director:Unknown
    Writers:Rob LaZebnik, David Sacks

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  11. Empty Nest Season 1 Episode 11 - The First Time, Again
    8.2/10(113 votes)

    #11 - The First Time, Again

    S1:E11

    Harry is encouraged to spend a weekend alone with his girlfriend. Jeffrey Millstein's imagination runs wild after he sees a scary movie.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  12. Empty Nest Season 1 Episode 12 - Full Nest
    8.0/10(120 votes)

    #12 - Full Nest

    S1:E12

    Financial trouble forces Barbara to move back in with Harry but it's not all fun and games. A lonely Carol soon decides to move in as well.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Susan Beavers

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  13. Empty Nest Season 1 Episode 13 - Here's a Howdy-Do
    8.0/10(115 votes)

    #13 - Here's a Howdy-Do

    S1:E13

    Harry doesn't understand why no one likes his new girlfriend, but soon realizes they were right. When the relationship ends, Carol, who actually liked the lady, questions her own instincts.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  14. Empty Nest Season 1 Episode 14 - Strange Bedfellows
    8.3/10(116 votes)

    #14 - Strange Bedfellows

    S1:E14

    Carol falls in love with a South American freedom fighter and announces she's going away with him. Jeffrey Millstein falls in love with Laverne.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  15. Empty Nest Season 1 Episode 15 - Tears of a Clown
    8.0/10(115 votes)

    #15 - Tears of a Clown

    S1:E15

    Carol becomes public relations director of the hospital and causes a multi-million dollar lawsuit when she reveals the mental problems of local celebrity Poko the Clown at a press conference. Charley convinces Barbara to pose as his fiance to get a promotion.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  16. Empty Nest Season 1 Episode 16 - Blame It on the Moon
    8.4/10(113 votes)

    #16 - Blame It on the Moon

    S1:E16

    The Westons laugh when Charley says the full moon will bring love, but then realize he could be right. A rude doctor catches Harry's eye. Carol's finds romance when a man returns run-away Dreyfuss (who in turn finds love in the man's female dog). A stake-out leads Barbara into the arms of a high-school boyfriend.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  17. Empty Nest Season 1 Episode 17 - Dumped
    8.6/10(121 votes)

    #17 - Dumped

    S1:E17

    Barbara falls in love with neighbor, Dorothy's nephew, but is surprisingly not phased when he dumps her. Dorothy and Harry have an argument when Dorothy blames Barbara for the breakup.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Susan Beavers

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  18. Empty Nest Season 1 Episode 18 - The More Things Change...
    8.2/10(117 votes)

    #18 - The More Things Change...

    S1:E18

    The hospital's new owner forces Harry to move his practice after 25 years in the same office. Meanwhile, Carol tries to amend the past after reading Emily's old diary and Charley tries out a new look.

    Director:Unknown
    Writers:Rob LaZebnik, David Sacks

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  19. Empty Nest Season 1 Episode 19 - Man of the Year
    8.1/10(112 votes)

    #19 - Man of the Year

    S1:E19

    When Harry receives a Man of the Year award, his estranged father comes to town for the ceremony, but Harry gets upset when he learns that his father didn't think he could make it as a doctor. Carol overhears the conversation and thinks her grandfather is dying.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  20. Empty Nest Season 1 Episode 20 - Cyrano de Weston
    8.7/10(113 votes)

    #20 - Cyrano de Weston

    S1:E20

    Harry gives Charley advice on how to impress a new girlfriend, who turns out to be the same lady Harry is seeing. When a relative dies and leaves Barbara and Emily money, Carol is anxious to see what she'll be getting but isn't too thrilled when it arrives.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Arnie Kogen

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  21. Empty Nest Season 1 Episode 21 - My Sister, My Friend
    8.1/10(114 votes)

    #21 - My Sister, My Friend

    S1:E21

    Harry promises to take Carol and Barbara with him to Paris if the two can go one month without fighting. Charley wins a greyhound in a card game.

    Director:Steve Zuckerman
    Writer:Unknown

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  22. Empty Nest Season 1 Episode 22 - A Life in the Day
    9.2/10(140 votes)

    #22 - A Life in the Day

    S1:E22

    Harry sees five patients: a week-old baby, a five-year-old whose father denies the boy's onset diabetes; a seven-year-old curious about sex; an eleven-year-old having the cast removed from his arm; a belligerent 14-year-old who uses drugs; and an 18-year-old picking up his medical records before going away to college. The end of the episode reveals that all of these have been the same patient at different ages.

    Director:Unknown
    Writers:Rob LaZebnik, David Sacks

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Season 1 Ratings Summary

"Pilot" is the best rated episode of "Empty Nest" season 1. It scored 7.7/10 based on 151 votes. Directed by Jay Sandrich and written by Susan Harris, it aired on 10/8/1988. This episode is rated 0.3 points higher than the second-best, "The Check Isn't In the Mail".