After having their power turned off because they couldn't pay their electric bill on time, Frankie and Mike decide to cut unnecessary expenses - starting with their cable TV. But while the kids adapt to the change by doing other activities, Frankie and Mike find themselves not knowing how to fill the time they used to spend in front of the tube. Meanwhile, Brick and his fellow socially challenged friends are dealt a major blow when the school library is closed during recess and they're forced into the outside world onto the playground with the other students.

Mother's Day for Frankie is anything but serene when she finds herself doing more for Mike and the kids and less for herself. But she learns that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree when she escapes the family for a few hours to go to her mom's and ends up acting like a child by making her mom wait on her hand-and-foot. Meanwhile, Sue feels guilty when she steals a motivational magnet from a store whose message actually enticed her to shoplift it.