Step by Step (1991–1998): Season 5, Episode 4 - Midnight Caller - full transcript

J.T. and Dana help a friend man a crisis hotline as part of a class project. While the two are alone, a call comes in from a suicidal subject named Todd, whose living situation is much like the Fosters and Lamberts. Dana and J.T., who have never handled an actual crisis, realize they must put aside their grievances with each other to talk Todd out of making a mistake that would cause his family even more pain and suffering. Meanwhile, Carol frets about being unable to make baby daughter Lily fall asleep in her arms - so she becomes envious when Cody seems to have the magic touch.

Lilly, be quiet for a moment,
please.

Frank, she's been crying
over an hour now.

I'm afraid she's gonna wake
everybody up.

Well, maybe some scotch
would help.

You can't give a baby scotch.

Come on, Lilly,
please stop crying.

Please, honey, be quiet
for daddy?

Coochie-coo, honey,
coochie-coo.

Okay, we took a vote.

Really, Mother,
stick something in her mouth.

Hook her up to
the old milk machine.



Nah.

I tried that.
Nothing works.

You know,
this reminds me

of the amazing crying baby
of Borneo.

Her cry was so piercing
that it could actually
be heard by pearl divers

fifty feet under the sea.

How did they get her to stop?

They didn't.

Man!

Sorry, Cody.

I've tried everything.

Why don't you let me
take a look under the hood?

You know, I'm kind of
sympatico with babies.

Maybe I could have a little
pal up with the munchkin
and find out what's wrong.



Well, all right.

Here, go to Uncle Cody.

Come here!

That's it.

Tell your cousin Codeman
all your problems.

Psh.

Dude, that gives me gas too.

Dudesie.

She stopped.

God bless you, Cody.

Gee, thanks, Cody.

Here, let me take her.
I'll put her in her crib.

-Okay.
-Okay.

Shoot.

Here. Why don't you
give her back,

-All right, here.
-Okay, cool.

Looks like I got
the midol touch.

You know what, why don't
I spend the night with her
right here on the couch.

You don't have to
do that.

Yeah, come on now, honey.

And it's not good for you
either, you need your sleep.

I guess you're right.

Okay. Night, Lilly.

All right, I'm just gonna
take a little snoozie
on the couch

with the Codeman.
All right.

Got a little Pee-wee
slumber party?

I adjust.

Why don't you just
eat my shorts?

Here is an idea, J.T.

See, that's what I like
about you, Barkie.

Even though you're ugly,
you got a really bad
personality.

Welcome to another
addition of Family Feud.

So, what's the problem today?

So, the professor is forcing us
to do a project together.

Eight hours observing some place
called the Family Helpline.

Yeah, yeah. And now I have to
spend my Saturday nights with...

Yeah? Well, I'm rubber
and you're glue.

What are you,
like a three years old?

I know you were
born in May.

God, grow a brain.

Make me.

J.T., shut up!

- Make me!
- Go away!

Make me, make me,
make me!

Come on, Lilly.

I did everything
the book said to do.

You're supposed to
stop crying now.

Honey, why don't we call
Cody and let him try?

He seem to have
the magic touch last night.

No, I'm her mother,
I can get her to stop crying.

No, honey, I think
we're missing a golden
opportunity here, now.

If we let Cody
take Lilly then...

he can perform his
bedtime magic and...

then I can perform mine.

Frank, I can't think
about sex now.

I'm in mother mode.

None of us can
sleep, so...

I brought
the baby pacifier.

Yeah.
Sad man patrol
reporting for duty, sir.

It's okay, I think
Lilly is getting a little
quieter now.

Mom, you're not
cutting it.

So, hand over the baby
and nobody gets hurt.

Let Cody
give it a shot.

Hon, it did work
last night.

I see. Everybody thinks
that all I have to do

is give Cody the baby
and she'll stop crying.

Well, all right.
I'll show you it is
not as easy as that.

Yeah, it's not like
she's just hand
the baby over

and all of a sudden
she's gonna...

stop.

Dude, it's not
your mom's fault.

It's probably like
a coincidence, you know.

No, I would hate
have you do that.

No, I don't mind.
It's kind of fun.

- All right. Okay.
- Here, come on , honey.

- All right. Okay, okay.
- All right.

Okay, everybody try
and get some sleep.

Boy, Lilly, you're
driving your mother crazy!

Come on now,
Carol.

Don't feel bad.

Everything is gonna be fine.

Besides we're alone now.

You, you thinkin'
what I'm thinkin'?

My baby hates me!

No, no, no!
That wasn't what
I was thinking.

Hi! Is this
the Family Helpline?

No, it's the house of blues.
I'm B.B. King.

You must be J.T.
and Dana.

I'm Howard.
Come on in.

Hello!

Helpline!
What's your problem?

I'm just
really bummed?

My mom's always
on my case.

My basketball coach,
he doesn't like me.

And I just got a D
in algebra.

Your life's tough.

Here's what you do.

Quit basketball,
be nice to your mom,

crack a book
once in a while,

and stop feeling sorry
for yourself.

Okay.
Bye.

Have a nice life.

Another crisis averted.

So, this is the kind of advice
people get when they call
the Family Helpline?

Look, this isn't exactly
rescue 911.

Most people just have
simple problems,

they just need someone
to talk to.

Today, I had three,
"My mom doesn't understand me,"

just one, "My boss
won't give me a raise,"

and one kid took 14 showers
and he still thought he had
B.O.

And I handled the mob,
balanced my check book,

and scored 50,000 points
on Game Boy.

You got Game Boy?

Cool.

Hello, helpline.
What's your problem?

My water just broke,
I think I'm having a baby.

Yeah, calm down.
Where's the father?

Howard,
you're the father!

Cathy?
That's my wife.

We're having a baby.

You, J.T., You look like
you're smart. Well,
you're in-charge.

Wait a minute.

You can't go.
What if somebody calls?

Just be sympathetic
like me.

What if there's something
serious?

The number's on that list
next to the phone.

Yes! Yes, 10,000 points.

Man, being a mental health
worker is a lot more fun
than I thought.

God. What're we gonna do?
We're not trained
to handle this?

Relax. I'll handle this.

I'm the smart one, remember?

Hello, helpline!

Hello, helpline!

Helpline, what's your problem?

Hi, my name's Cindy.

Yeah, I'm here for you, Cindy.
Tell me what's on your mind.

A couple of months ago, I started doing some modeling.

You're a model?

See, my boyfriend's
the jealous type

Well, Cindy...

It seems to me that
you're just in a lot of pain.

Cindy,
what are you wearing
right now?

Are you crazy?
This is a helpline

not the psychic
sex connection.

Hey, hey, hey, you help
your way, I'll help mine,
okay?

I'll take care of this one.

Don't you touch that,
you testosterone driven fool!

Hello. Welcome
to the Family Helpline.

We're here to listen
to your problems,
be sympathetic,

and help you through
all the most difficult times
of your life.

I got big family problems.

I don't see it ever
getting better.

I mean, I just don't
see a way out.

I think I'm gonna drive
up to Lookout cliff.

Take the big plunge
and end it all.

What do we do?

Can we put you on hold
for just a minute?

What are you doing?

What's that?

My God.
It's Howard's beeper.

Me?

"Alcohol, drugs,
pregnancy, zits."

Why is there nothing
in here on suicides?

I don't know.
I'm gonna go to the bookstore
and find something, okay?

J.T., no!

We can't keep this guy
on hold forever.

Then talk to him.

Hello.
Thanks for holding.

I said I'm gonna
drive off a cliff
and you put me on hold?

Okay, that was a mistake.

But we're back
and we're glad
that you're here.

What's your name?

Don't give him your real name.

Why not?

Although that would have
pushed them over the edge
already.

Hey!

Are you gonna tell me
your name or not?

My name's... Barkie.

Barkie?

It's a pet name.

My partner's name
is Spud.

Great.

Look, that's not the point here,
why don't you just tell us
what's bothering you?

My dad just got re-married
and he's practically ignoring
me now.

His new wife and kids
are moving into our house
tomorrow.

Now I have a step-brother
and step-sister.

Total morons.
You have no idea
what that's like.

Yes, we do.

Tell me something.

When you look at your
new step-siblings,

do the words
"Trailer trash"
spring to mind?

It's just that all these strange people are gonna be moving into my house,

using our stuff
and putting all their junk
in my closet.

You think that's bad, buddy?

Let's talk bathroom, okay?

Try to get a little privacy
to read the sports page

while some witch is banging
on the door saying,

"Are you done yet?
I have to put on my makeup."

Like makeup's gonna help.
You know what I mean?

Listen, greaseball,
we're supposed to be
helping this guy.

Who are you calling
greaseball?

-Don't make fun of my hair.
-Okay.

You know, Dana,
you're a real pain
in the butt.

That's witty.

- Throw up!
- Please.

Todd?

Todd?

Todd! Todd!

- Hello?
- Todd!

Todd, we're here for you.

Todd!

What did the say?

Okay, Officer,
thank you, bye.

The police are up
at Lookout cliff.

Todd hasn't been there yet.

Good.

We screwed up huge.

That kid was desperate
for somebody to talk to.

Yeah. We really blew it.
All we could do is

rag on each other
about our stuff.

You know, I remember what
it was like when you guys
moved into our house.

Yeah, me too.

When dad told me
we were moving in
with a bunch of strangers,

I felt...

really, really scared.

Yeah. Yeah, me too.

It probably would have been
easier if we had somebody
to talk to

who had been through
the same thing, you know.

Hi, is this
the Family Helpline?

Yeah, but don't expect
too much from us.
We stink.

Tell me about it.
I'm Todd.

You must be Spud
and Barkie.

Thank God you're okay.

But now that you're here,
we can... we can have a rational
dialog.

And we can deal with
all the issues that are
troubling you,

and we can get to
the root of your depression,

so you can become
a complete,

and fully functioning
human being once again.

Anyway, we're really glad
that you came here to talk.

Okay, look, we know getting into
a step-family is really rough,

but trust me, it is not worth
driving off a cliff.

Well, I know that.
It's just that these
new people moving in,

everything's changing so fast.

And... nothing seems to make
sense anymore.

It takes time
to get used to the whole...

step-family thing.

But, it gets better,
I promise.

Especially if you have
a sense of humor.

Exactly! If you're gonna be
part of the same family,

you gotta learn bust
each other's chops
once in a while.

I mean, look,
if I didn't like Dana,

you think I'd be able
to call her a butt-ugly
cow pie?

And if I didn't like J.T.,

That was a good one.

- Stop it.
- No, really.

- No!
- Really, that was great.

- Gimme some skin on that.
- Stop!

You know, being in
a step-family is starting
to sound kind of cool.

You got any good slams
for a real dorky step-sister?

Ho-ho, he is the king.

I got a million
of them.

All right, here is the key.

Dog names work
really well...

So, how're you
doing, honey?

Fine!

Why should I be fine, Frank?

I bet her first word's
gonna be "Dudesie."

It's much more serious
than that, Frank,
I was reading this book.

There's a chapter that tells
about what's happening,
it's called

"The maternal hate syndrome."

They have over 50
documented cases

where babies naturally
hate their mothers.

Carol, Lilly is a normal,
beautiful little girl
who loves you.

She's not gonna hate you
till she's a teenager.

No!

And she's coming.

Hey, guys. Thought you might
want to say night-night
to little muffin

before we head down
to the couch.

Honey,
just hold her
for a moment, okay?

Okay, sure,

Now, don't cry,
okay, Lilly.

Please.!

Lilly!

Please stop crying!

What?

You know, I'm not
Dr. Obi-G-Y-N Kenobi,
dude, you know.

- Tense?
- Yeah, just a little.

maybe babies can tell
how uptight you are.

And, dude, you gotta find
a way to relax around Lilly.

Cody, how can I relax?
She's been crying,

I haven't slept for a week.

Yeah, I hear you.

You just got to
find a way to work
past all that, you know, like...

Hey, no matter
how much her crying
just drives you crazy,

gnawing on your nerves
and everything.

You gotta just pretend
you like it.

Kind of like
a Joey Lawrence concert.

I'll try anything.

- Okay.
- What do I do?

Okay, first thing, like,
just sit down, relax.

-It's a nice chair over here.
-Okay.

- Okay, cool.
- Okay.

-Now, take a deep breath.
-Yeah.

-And just get mellow.
-Okay.

-Mellow.
-Mellow.

Okay, Lilly.

All right.

Yes, yes.

See?

Your mommy will be here
all night here, yes.

Yeah.

You got it.

- It worked.
- Yeah.

Thought it wouldn't?

- Thank you.
- Okay.

Goodnight, Carol.
Bye, Lilly.

You guys.
Night-night,
Uncle Frank.

Honey.

You did it.

She's quiet.!

Carol,
I'm so proud of you.

In fact, I'd like to
give you a little reward.

Okay, there, Lilly.

Now, you seem like
an honest kind of chick,

You mind if I ask you
a couple of questions?

Is it just me

Totally. Yeah.

That Screech dude is starting
to get on my nerves too.

Okay, number two, now.

What is with that
President Clinton's

funky running shorts?

I mean, his shorts
are like that big

and his but's only about
that big up till here.

Totally.

Yeah. Man,
I tell ya' what,

we got one mind or what?