No Free Launch

The "cool" girls court Carmen, but not her best friend; George is tempted by another firm after he's dissed by his bosses.

George goes into denial when Max is thought to have dyslexia, and things only get worse when Angie suggests he may have it, too.

Carmen goes into a funk after her best friend moves away; George is ordered to fire a worker with calamities in his personal life.

Max's coach asks George to have him sit out the next game. Rod Carew, Steve Garvey, Joe Morgan and Jim Palmer have cameos.

Sandra Bullock, one of the executive producers of the series, reprises her role as "Accident Amy," a klutzy employee who works under George's supervision. And her bout of bad luck may continue, courtesy of George. As the new PTA secretary, Amy is charged with keeping track of candy sales when the school tries to raise funds so the students can attend a space-shuttle launch. With Amy's daughter and George's son in the same class, the parents engage in competition for sales among the ranks at the factory. But when one of the kids fails to make the quota, the only thing that is launched is a war of words between the adults. Debbie: Connie Ray.

Angie doesn't mind when George offers their backyard for a friend's wedding reception. But his refusal to dance there is another story.

After George's warning about the evils of boys, Carmen comes home with a hickey; Ernie uses Max to meet single moms.

After learning Benny had a one-night fling with a co-worker 35 years ago, George believes he has finally found his father. He meets Lalo - whose picture bears a striking resemblance to George -- and invites him over for Thanksgiving dinner. But George's bond is tested when he learns the truth.

When Angie finds she has more free time around the house, she volunteers with a variety of charities. Feeling invincible, she soon finds herself joining more organizations than she can handle, and it's up to George and the family to help her get back on track.

When Angie's parents, Vic and Emilina, come to visit the family for Christmas, George thinks they still believe he's not good enough for their daughter. But George shows he can take care of his family without their help and battles it out with Vic for the best Christmas.

George is sick of being unappreciated by Benny, so with the urging of Angie, he decides to remodel his mother's run-down bathroom. Hoping for a simple thank you, George's plan backfires and Benny continues to be her ungrateful self. But after a much needed heart-to-heart, George and Benny realize their significance in each other's lives, and in turn express their gratitude.

The Lopez family finds out that Benny's estranged brother, Uncle Joe is dying. George and Angie convince Benny to reconcile with Uncle Joe-but Benny's more interested in getting Joe's Super Bowl tickets. Meanwhile, since Benny never taught George how to cope with death when he was younger, he has difficulty attending the funeral.

When George gives Angie a disappointing gift for Valentine's Day, Angie has a flashback to high school in the '80s, when George painted a great mural of her for the holiday. But when Angie takes the entire family to look at the mural - only to find out it will soon be torn down - the truth comes out about the origins of the mural.

After Carmen ends her relationship with her classmate Adam, he tries to ruin her reputation at school. George and Angie want to repair the damage, but school counselor Tommy, who knew George when they were kids, refuses to right the wrong-prompting Carmen to take action in her own defense.

George and Angie want a loan for Carmen's schooling, but they find out they have bad credit when they go to the bank. He says that can't be right, but he finds out that it actually is another George Lopez, who owns a skateboard shop. When he finds him, he is shocked to find they have the same birthday, social security number and father. It is George's half brother. He says he came from a poor family and has no money, and dropped out of high school. But the bank calls and syas Arizona State University needs him to pay back his student loan. When he confronts the other George, he finds that his father was actually rich, and that he just needed money. He understands when George makes him leave. In the end, Angie answers the phone and says it is George's father, and that the other George gave him their number. George gets up, picks the phone up, and hangs it up.

As a surprise for Angie's birthday, George arranges for her father Vic and sister Gloria to visit for the celebration. Upset about her upcoming divorce and jealous of her sister's marriage to a good man, Gloria makes an inappropriate advance towards George-which Max witnesses.

The airplane parts factory where George works is under consideration by the federal government for more business. Afraid that a certain employee's ethnic background will hinder the company's chances of getting the contract, George's boss orders him to demote the worker. George must decide whether or not to jeopardize his career by being ethical.

When Benny learns that George's father, who left her years ago to care for George alone, is now wealthy, she decides that she deserves to get rich herself. After getting drunk on her lunch hour, she falls down on work premises, pretends to be hurt and hires a lawyer to sue the company. George begs his mother not to be dishonest. Meanwhile, Benny continues her rivalry with co-worker Gina.

After giving a young ex-gang member, Marisol, a job at the factory and a chance for a new life, George is shocked when Angie takes further pity on Marisol and allows her to live in the Lopez home instead of with her abusive boyfriend. But after impressionable Carmen becomes intrigued with Marisol's lifestyle, even Angie must admit that she may have made a mistake. Meanwhile, Max joins a scouting troop and develops some disturbing new habits.

Carmen's friend is over to study and wants to change out of her dress. When Max hars this, he pulls aposter off his wall to reaveal a hole. He looks through but Carmen sees him and sprays perfume in his eyes. George shrugs it off and tells Max not to do it again. Carmen gets revenge though by taking a picture of Max sleeping with a stuffed animal. This leads Max to bebeaten up at school. While getting stitches, George and Carmen argue and Carmen says George loves Max more. George comes to realize that maybe that is true since he doesn't understand Carmen as well, so he sets off to spend some quality time with her.

George has to fill out employee evaluations, and doesn't know what to put for Ernie. He puts all 9's when his mom tells him it is because they are trying to figure out who to layoff. It turns out they were making the top 4 team leaders, and that's Ernie. George wants to take it, because he knows Ernie can't handle it, but he doesn't know if he can do it, when Ernie tells him how much he really wants it; Angie learns how to sell makeup products.

When George and Angie get into major financial trouble, Benny secretly asks Lydia, the second wife of George's estranged father, for help. Meanwhile, George does his best to obtain extra money-leading him to encounter some disreputable characters.

After George's estranged father gives him a huge loan to save the family from financial ruin, George vows to visit him in Phoenix. But George's difficult personal journey becomes a family vacation when Angie insists on joining him with Benny and Max. Along the way, George reminisces about his upbringing. Meanwhile, Ernie might finally have some success with women.