Series synopsis
Grounded for Life is an American family comedy television series that premiered on FOX on January 10, 2001. It ended on January 28, 2005. It was created by Mike Schiff, Bill Martin. It stars Donal Logue, Megyn Price, Kevin Corrigan and Lynsey Bartilson.
Right out of high school, Sean Finnerty got his girlfriend Claudia pregnant. Now she’s his wife, and at just 32, he’s somehow found himself with 14-year-old daughter Lily, two little boys, and a constant struggle between his need to be responsible and his desperate desire to be irresponsible. His judgmental father Walt and devil-may-care brother Eddie are no help at all. When they all get together, stories always start to fly. Of course, Sean’s family will never let him finish a story; they inte ...
Premise
Right out of high school, Sean Finnerty got his girlfriend Claudia pregnant. Now she’s his wife, and at just 32, he’s somehow found himself with 14-year-old daughter Lily, two little boys, and a constant struggle between his need to be responsible and his desperate desire to be irresponsible. His judgmental father Walt and devil-may-care brother Eddie are no help at all. When they all get together, stories always start to fly. Of course, Sean’s family will never let him finish a story; they interrupt, they debate, they derail, they defend themselves; just like any good family would.
Cast and characters
Leading cast
- Donal Logue as Sean Finnerty
- Megyn Price as Claudia Finnerty
- Kevin Corrigan as Eddie Finnerty
- Lynsey Bartilson as Lily Finnerty
- Griffin Frazen as Jimmy Finnerty
- Jake Burbage as Henry Finnerty
- Bret Harrison as Brad O'Keefe
- Richard Riehle as Walt Finnerty
Guest cast
- Jerry Ferrara as Boy #2
- Natasha Lyonne as Gretchen
- David Stenstrom as Bitterman
- John Kassir as Musgrove
- Valerie Perrine as Maureen Bustamante
- Ashton Kutcher as Scott
- Alonzo Bodden as Security Guard
- Ashley French as Leah
- Loudon Wainwright III as Dr. Weidlinger
- Curtis Armstrong as Curtis
- Mike Vogel as Dean Piramatti
- Nikki DeLoach as Chrissy
Episodes
This series spans 6 seasons with 97 episodes.
| Season | Episodes | First aired | Last aired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Season 0 | 6 | ||
| Season 1 | 15 | January 10, 2001 | May 23, 2001 |
| Season 2 | 22 | September 26, 2001 | May 8, 2002 |
| Season 3 | 13 | September 17, 2002 | May 16, 2003 |
| Season 4 | 28 | September 5, 2003 | May 7, 2004 |
| Season 5 | 13 | September 17, 2004 | January 28, 2005 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Donal Logue: Meet The Finnertys | |
| 2 | Lynsey Bartilson: Life As Lily | |
| 3 | Claudia: Not the Sitcom Mom |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Lily B. Goode In a desperate grab for attention, Lily makes out with the nerdish next-door neighbor, Brad O'Keefe, in his car; when Sean catches them, he responds in a rather unorthodox way--by throwing fried chicken at the windshield. Meanwhile, Walt babysits Jimmy and Henry and teaches them how to dig a hole; and Eddie tries to hook up illegal cable so he and Sean can watch softcore porn. |
January 10, 2001 |
| 2 |
In My Room Sean inadvertently finds a fake ID in Lily's bedroom. Sean and Claudia confront their daughter about her rebellious behavior, but they get few answers. They decide to hack into her e-mail to find out more about Lily's trouble-making friends. While they are checking, an e-mail comes in from a ""SweetandNastee."" Sean responds, pretending to be Lily. SweetandNastee gives Sean an address to a rave party in Yonkers. Sean and Eddie go to the address which turns out to be a dry cleaners. Convinced the rave is really at the dry cleaners, Sean and Eddie try to gain access to the party but end up getting beaten up by the dry cleaners' owner. Back at home, Sean and Claudia confront Lily, but she slams them for invading her privacy. Turns out she knew they broke into her e-mail account because she was online at a friend's house when she saw her name logged in. Lily made up the rave to teach her folks a lesson about snooping. |
January 17, 2001 |
| 3 |
I Wanna Be Suspended Jimmy’s science project is late, because his parents made him go with them to a Ramones’ concert. When Sean pleads Jimmy’s case with the principal, he only succeeds in getting Jimmy thrown out of school. |
January 24, 2001 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Baby, You Can't Drive My Car After the family car goes missing one night, the Finnertys find themselves at an impasse: Sean is in mourning over the loss, while Claudia hopes to gain from a slightly inflated insurance claim. But when the battered remains of the car are towed to the house a few days later, it becomes clear that Lily has been covering her tracks about an ill-fated joyride -- and the reason why her parents have to buy the missing parts from Eddie's maniacal mechanic. |
September 26, 2001 |
| 2 |
Dream On Claudia's dream about Eddie has Sean out to relight his wife's fire, until he goes down in flames during an impromptu visit to her work. Meanwhile, Lily bombs out with a new boy after guzzling Jimmy's spiked cider. (TV Guide) |
October 3, 2001 |
| 3 |
Don't Let Me Download Claudia is shocked to find some racy pictures downloaded on Jimmy's computer, and insists that she and Sean confront him about it, but Sean wants to ignore the situation. Later, Sean confesses to Walt that he downloaded the pictures, and its not long before Claudia discovers that Sean is the guilty culprit. Meanwhile, Lily gives Jimmy a picture of Sister Helen which they doctor and use as an e-mail joke. But when the e-mail is sent to Sister Helen, things aren't so funny anymore. |
November 21, 2001 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
We Didn't Start the Fire Claudia learns the results of her pregnancy test and Sean celebrates the news with a major purchase: a bar that Eddie plans to burn down for the insurance money. Meanwhile, Lilly and Brad try their luck at getting liquored-up; and Henry develops a craving for a different kind of watering-hole delicacy. |
September 17, 2002 |
| 2 |
Mustang Lily Sean blows his shot at snagging a loan from Claudia's dad (Stephen Root) after losing the car he gave Lily for her birthday in a street race. Meanwhile, Henry and Jimmy put the squeeze on their grandfather for some hefty Tooth Fairy funds. |
September 24, 2002 |
| 3 |
Cat Scratch Fever (a.k.a. The Bitch Is Back) Things get tense at the bar when Sean hires his high school fantasy girl as the bartender. And Lily freaks out when she tells Dean she loves him at a concert and can't hear his reponse. |
December 3, 2002 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Your Father Should Know (1) After Sean confronts Brad's father, who's boasting that Lily and Brad have slept together, he confronts Claudia -- and finds out she already knew too. So when Brad mysteriously gets injured by an airborn Christmas decoration, everyone thinks Sean finally lost his temper. Meanwhile, the boys have spent Sean and Eddie's Liberty quarter collection, and Eddie is disgusted. So Eddie takes the boys out to teach them a lesson about stealing from other people -- by stealing a toy machine that Henry loaded with quarters. |
September 5, 2003 |
| 2 |
Your Father Should Know (2) Claudia feels it's time to smooth relations between the two families by having the O'Keefes over for dinner, but the evening falls apart when Brad's mother blames Lily for taking Brad's innocence. Meanwhile, Eddie teaches Jimmy and Henry a lesson in respecting other people's property after he finds out that they used his coin collection to play arcade games. |
September 5, 2003 |
| 3 |
All the Young Nudes Sean and Eddie hire strippers for the bar to help make ends meet -- then wind up being protested by the PTA. But what's most shocking is who set the PTA on their tails. Meanwhile, Brad asks Lily to break up with Dean. Lily doesn't want to hurt Dean, but agrees, only to find that he takes it far easier than she expected. |
September 12, 2003 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
The Policy of Truth Brad, after admitting he hooked up with his space camp buddy, Lana (guest star Mila Kunis), begs for forgiveness from Lily until he learns of her infidelity. |
September 17, 2004 |
| 2 |
Man, I Feel Like a Woman Sean's feeling sick, and Eddie convinces him that he has sympathetic pregnancy syndrome. Brad and Lily decide to just be friends but their hormones get the best of them. Jimmy tries to impress the new neighbor girl by pretending to be a sports fanatic. Eddie resumes his relationship with his ex, Faye, who's become more bitter and angry than ever. |
September 24, 2004 |
| 3 |
One Is the Loneliest Number Now that Eddie is spending all of his free time with Faye, lonely Sean finds every possible thing wrong with her, including the way she parks her car, which he ""accidentally"" smashes into. Meanwhile, Lily's attempt to make Brad jealous by dating Mocha Joey backfires when Brad points out that Lily and Mocha Joey have nothing in common; and Claudia gets upset when she finds out that Sean has told everyone that she is pregnant. |
October 1, 2004 |
Production
Release
| Original network/platform | FOX |
|---|---|
| First aired | January 10, 2001 |
| Last aired | January 28, 2005 |
| Runtime | 22 minutes |
| Status | Ended |
| Schedule | Friday |