Family Changes

This sitcom stars Jane Seymour as Sharon Burkhardt, a 45-year-old wife, mother, and floral shop owner living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Sharon and her loving husband of close to 25 years, Craig Burkhardt (Tim Matheson) have three beautiful children: Kyle Burkhardt, 21 (Billy Aaron Brown), Ally Burkhardt, 18 (Andrea Bowen), and Maddie Burkhardt, 8 (Abigail Breslin). Craig is a successful bank executive. Kyle is going to community college to become a EMT/Paramedic. Kyle is also very serious with his steady girlfriend, Courtney Daniels (Ashley Tisdale). Ally is an ambitious high school senior who has big dreams of going out to Harvard Law School (after getting accepted). Maddie is just your average second grader who's enjoying her childhood. To the average bystander, the Burkhardt seems to be the All-American family of perfection--they couldn't be any more wrong. Turns out, Kyle just recently popped the question to his girlfriend, Courtney-who accepted. Kyle and Courtney are keeping their engagement underwraps and waiting for the right time to tell their parents and families. Craig just recently received some life-threatening news about his health, which he is in denial about and neglects to inform Sharon and the kids about. Sharon and Ally's mother-and-daughter relationship is a bit tainted, due to the fact that Ally resents her mother meddling in her personal life. Ally experiences symptoms of middle-child syndrome; also, Sharon and Ally tango often mostly because they are more alike than different.


Cast:
Jane Seymour as Sharon Burkhardt
Tim Matheson as Craig Burkhardt
Billy Aaron Brown as Kyle Burkhardt
Andrea Bowen as Ally Burkhardt
Abigail Breslin as Maddie Burkhardt
Ashley Tisdale as Courtney Daniels-Burkhardt

Episodes

Ep1: Pilot Episode:
Kyle pops the question to girlfriend, Courtney, who gladly accepts his proposal. Kyle and Courtney vow to keep their sudden engagement underwraps until the time is right for them to tell their families (who don't necessarily see eye-to-eye always). Also, Craig gets upset and goes into denial after a doctor's appointment where Craig is told that his job is causing a lot of stress on his heart and his health. Craig neglects telling the news to Sharon and the kids. Meanwhile at home, Sharon and Ally buttheads once again, this time over Sharon overhearing Ally's phone conversation with a boy about some "adult content".

Ep2: Mom! Mom! Mom!:
Sharon becomes hair-raised and exhausted by her demanding and selfish kids. Kyle asks Sharon for some gas money for his gas-guzzling truck, Ally asks Sharon for her cell phone back after getting it taken away from her "adult conversations" with boys, and Maddie asks Sharon for help with her science project. Sharon finally blows and demands Kyle to help Maddie with her project in order to get more gas money, and as for Ally-Sharon still refuses to give back the phone. When Craig comes home, all three kids are nice and pleasant--which irritates Sharon beyond words.

Ep3: Overworked and Underwear:
Craig continues working twelve-hour nights for two weeks straight, causing Sharon to feel like he is neglecting his family for work. Craig is upset by Sharon's accusations, which leads to a big argument-resulting in Craig leaving to the place he calls his "second home" (his work) once again. Meanwhile, Ally walks in on Kyle and Courtney alone in Kyle's room in nothing but their underwear. After being questioned if they had sex by Ally, Kyle clams up as Courtney accidently spills the beans that "it's okay because we're engaged". Ally is shocked, then immediately bribed to keeping it a secret.

Ep4: The Call From The Doctor: Part One
Craig's doctor, Dr. Roberts (Alan Thicke) calls to talk to Craig, but (he's working and) Sharon decides to take a message for her husband. Meanwhile, Sharon learns from Dr. Roberts about her husband's so-called secret health problem and is anything but happy about Craig not telling her. Sharon decides to march down to Craig's work and have a "talk" with him. Meanwhile, Craig is having a very stressful day as it is, then when Sharon arrives and voices her opinions, this doesn't help his day get any better. After shrugging an upset Sharon off by saying "it's not a big deal", Sharon gives up and heads back home--yet just reaches for the door when she hears a scream from one of the bank tellers, it was about Craig. He's collapsed to the ground, clutching his arm, and experiencing symptoms of a heart attack. Sharon frantically rushes to her husband's side, demanding someone to call 911 immediately.

Ep5: Attacking The Heart: Part Two
Sharon secretly feels guilty and responsible for causing her husband's heart attack. Just as Dr. Roberts (Alan Thicke) returns to the waiting room to inform Sharon about an update about her husband, Sharon and Dr. Roberts are joined by Kyle, Ally, Maddie, and Courtney. Dr. Roberts informs the Burkhardts that Craig has had a massive heart attack and his left side of his heart is blocked and pretty much damaged. The family is completely saddened, before Sharon could get out a word, Kyle steps up and begs the doctor to "do something, do anything you can to save my dad".

Ep6: The Minimual Chance Of Hope: Part Three
Dr. Roberts informs the family that Craig can be a candidate for quadruple bypass surgery, but if that doesn't work, there's not much they can do beyond that. Maddie runs off crying and sobbing, after hearing her dad might die if the surgery fails. Sharon and Ally start to go after Maddie, but Kyle and Courtney go instead. Meanwhile, Sharon and Ally share an uncomfortable moment while just the two of them, but Sharon does something she think will break the silence: she gives Ally her cell phone back. Ally breaks down and hugs and cries on her mom's shoulder. Elsewhere, Kyle and Courtney find a truly upset Maddie curled up in a ball in the cafeteria, the three of them share a good cry while a group hug & group cry.

Ep7: Big Decisions:
Sharon and the kids agree to have Dr. Roberts perform quadruple bypass surgery on Craig. Sharon encourages Maddie to write a poem for her dad for when he gets better (in order to keep her quiet and her mind off what is happening). Sharon and the kids are luckily joined at the hospital by Craig's visiting parents: Dan and Helen (Hal Holbrook, Dixie Carter).

Ep8: Tick, Tock, Watch The Clock: Part One
The Burkhardt family awaits while Dr. Roberts is doing quadruple bypass surgery on Craig (a five hour surgery). Meanwhile, Kyle, Courtney, and Ally take a trip down to the gift shop, where they bump into one of their high school teachers-Mrs. Foster (Jane Krakowski) who is 9 months pregnant and staying the same hospital. Yet Mrs. Foster begins to go into labor all the way downstairs in the gift store, while her husband is outside in the parking lot. The kids help their former teacher get up to the main level for doctors are, while trying to find her husband-who just so happens to hit (and out cold) by a car in the parking lot. Sparing her the details right away until after having the baby, Kyle jumps in and fills in for Mr. Foster as his teacher's birthcoach--and helps her deliver a happy, healthy baby boy-Samuel Kyle Foster.

Ep9: Telling And Not Telling: Part Two
The doctors inform Mrs. Foster and the trio of kids that Mr. Foster's hit-and-run accident in the parking lot, that is leaving him with bumps and bruises, and a broken leg, but is doing well. Meanwhile, after Craig's bypass surgery, Dr. Roberts and the other doctors do not tell the Burkhardt family any information about Craig or his surgery, which irritates Sharon, Craig's parents, and the kids greatly. Sharon ends up experiencing an emotion meltdown, snaps and blows up at the doctors and nurses after they "can't disclose any information yet" about her husband.