Carol and the new principal face off on ""The Great Gatsby""; Mike and Nancy debate over whether to try for Baby #2; Phil goes all out to find a missing bowling ball, ""The Devastator"", which magically reappears; Warren reveals to Carol the secret of the class ""Bingo"" game; Molly objects to Ed defending a sleazebag salesman, but Ed maintains that said sleaze has done nothing illegal.

Ed's on the case after a bitter kid's show host talks a young boy into running away; Molly gives up on wooing Jim; Warren comes up with the worst idea ever on how to impress his classmates.

Carol is infuriated when Dennis cancels the annual budget meeting for all faculty. The entire faculty bands together to get rid of Dennis, including writing his end of the first semester review. Carol convinces the faculty to give Dennis a chance to prove himself. When he later takes Carol to task for her actions, she investigates further, discovering he was fired. Carol writes him a positive evaluation, which Dennis tears up and returns. Frustrated by his continued rebuffs, she kisses him.

A young lawyer, Joe Baxter, fresh out of the corporate world and full of energy, requests to join Ed's ""firm"". He observes Ed for a while, and launches his own ""bowling alley practice"" complete with Kenny, Shirley, and Phil-esque characters in his employ, and going so far as to steal Ed's clients. He advertises himself as the world's first bowling alley lawyer. When push comes to shove, Joe cannot deliver in the court room, and Ed happily regains his status.

Ed gets involved in the Carol-Dennis tiff

Ed represents a teacher who admits to refusing to cast a talented African American in a play--as Abraham Lincoln; Warren gets an image makeover; Molly resists her boyfriend's efforts to get her a new car.

Hoping to turn the case into a First Amendment issue to be heard by the Supreme Court, a celebrity lawyer offers to help Ed defend an ex-classmate being sued by a woman for embarrassing her on the Internet.

Mike resorts to extreme measures after Dr. Jerome decides to postpone his retirement.

Warren finds that the class clown who laughs first is the one who get the most laughs.

Carol breaks Ed's heart with a lie about her relationship with Dennis, who gives Miss Vessey cause to reconsider romance with him. Meanwhile, a Stuckeyville woman hires Ed to watch over her husband during his very unusual birthday celebration; Phil and Kenny set out to invent a new food; and Warren's first date with Jessica hits a snag.

Ed and Carol disagree about the propriety of reuniting Ed's high school garage band to play at the funeral of the band's songwriter; Warren spends a blissfull week dating Jessica and immortalizes the event with an infinity tattoo; Molly tutors Phil in chemistry so that he can pass his G.E.D. exam.

A beautiful, off-beat woman blows into town and sweeps Ed off his feet, while encouraging him to face his fears and live life to the fullest; everyone gets more than they bargained for when Carol gives her students a journalism assignment to videotape and report a news-breaking story at Stuckeyville High; Ed discovers an unpleasant truth about Jim and forces him to tell Molly, who is devastated by the revelation.

Ed's fast-talking big brother blows into town and ropes Ed into a risky plan to glam up Stuckeybowl; Nancy's Internet chat buddy turns out to be a little younger, but a lot older-acting than she expected; and Warren finally sees Diane in a new light after he fails to make headway with a college girl.

Ed agrees to coach the Stuckeyville High ""Quiz Bowl"" team and clashes with Dennis over a team member who's scholastically challenged; Dennis falls off the wagon; Phil tries to promote a boxing match; Warren sets out on a religious search to find the courage to transform his life.

The news that Dennis and Carol have moved in together has Ed scrambling to find the perfect way to revisit the past and win her back; Dennis decides to run for president of the senior class after disapproving of the frontrunner; Warren embarks on his first real date with Diane, only to find that the feelings they have aren't exactly romantic.

Ed wrestles with his nervousness about taking what he believes to be his last chance to tell Carol exactly how he feels after he discovers that she and Dennis are going away for the summer together and that Dennis plans to propose during the trip; Warren and Mark compete for Diane's affection; Stuckeyvillians vie for the title of ""The Most Talented Person in Stuckeyville"".

When a new lawyer arrives in Stuckeyville and encourages neighbors to sue each other, Ed hatches a scheme worthy of Phil to get Stuckeyvillans back together again; Carol urges Molly to become a candidate for Stuckeyville High principal, now that Dennis is teaching in Minneapolis; Mike prepares to take over Ed's crown as the Stuckeyville Recliner Rally champion; inspired by Mark's upcoming surgery, Phil connives with Eli to become the ""Jared"" of a local sandwich shop.

After Mike and Dr. Jerome get into an ongoing battle over the sign outside their office, Nancy initially brings in Toby to do some conflict management, but is later forced to take matters into her own hands to resolve the dispute; Mark feels responsible when another student's gastric bypass surgery doesn't turn out so well; Ed and Frankie work through the problems of an office romance as they represent an attorney who wants to be released from a contract to marry another lawyer; Carol is shocked and less than thrilled when Ed tells his friends about his romance with Frankie.