Dave's World

When Dave's column about Shel's childhood is picked by the head of Paragon Pictures to be a feature film, Beth urges Dave to take Shel on as a writing partner for the screenplay. Dave has never been able to ""work or play well with others"" since kindergarten and he's never had a writing partner. Beth gently reminds him of his speech to Tommy and Willie about brothers sharing and that he's always said he and Shel are like brothers. Meanwhile, Mia wants Eric to learn to swim so they can honeymoon in Hawaii and Kenny volunteers to be Eric's swimming coach. However, Mia discovers that the pool pep squad is a bevy of beautiful girl bent on ogling Eric. Guest Brandon Tartikoff formerly served as President of NBC Entertainment, Chairman of NBC Entertainment Group and Chairman of Paramount Pictures.

With Beth and the boys away for the weekend, Dave savors the time alone to do as he pleases -- if only he can get his friends to stop trying to keep him company. Dave's weekend is filled with all the things dearest to his heart: naps, television, beer, pretzels and not bathing. However, Mia and Eric want his expertise on where they should honeymoon, while Shel and Kenny are certain that all this time alone isn't good for Dave. Meanwhile, Beth learns that she is the last to know that Tommy has discovered girls in the form of the beautiful Angela when she chaperones his class on a field trip to see a space shuttle launch.

""Is it me, or did people used to be nicer to each other?"" Dave wonders, after Beth's insulted on the road and Shel has several run-ins with an obnoxious waiter who's out to get him.

Dave grounds Tommy for a prank the child insists he didn't commit. Then Eric's father, Eric Jr., invites the gang to the Coconut Strip Club for Eric's bachelor party, where they wind up in a brawl and get a taste of injustice themselves before a judge who hates celebrities, especially colunists. Meanwhile, Eric begs the guys to convince Mia he was forced to accompany them to the club.

When Dave, Shel and Kenny are sentenced to do community service at the beach as a result of the fight at Eric's bachelor party, a Cuban refugee drags himself out of the water and the boys must decide what to do with him. Dave takes the refugee, Juan, home with him and tries to introduce him to the Dave Barry version of what it means to be an American: lots of naps, snacks and television. Juan's desire to work hard and become a citizen gets Dave thinking about his grandparents and what life was like for them when they came to the United States from Ireland. Meanwhile, Eric isn't sure he wants to give Juan a job, especially in light of Mia's enthusiastic reaction to the refugee's good looks.

When Dave's home town of Pewauketucket, Ohio, honors him with the key to the city, Dave and Beth begin to think that it might be a better place to live than crime-ridden Miami. With Dave mourning the theft of his prize Mustang from right in front of their Miami home, he and Beth begin to look at Pewauketucket, with its safe streets, clear air and good schools, as a possible new home. However, Shel is more interested in the antiques he can buy cheaply from the locals, who he thinks won't know their real value, and Kenny is worrying that his prom night romance years ago may have produced the young hotel bartender who looks a lot like him. Meanwhile, Mia and Eric are babysitting for Tommy and Willie at home and Eric gets his own taste of what it might be like to be a father.