All of Us

Robert James (series star DUANE MARTIN), an entertainment reporter for a local Los Angeles television station, is handsome, smart and thoroughly modern in his thinking--as he should be, considering his romantic and familial entanglements. On the verge of finalizing his divorce from the somewhat self-absorbed Neesee (series star LISARAYE McCOY), the mother of their 5-year-old son, Bobby Jr. (series star KHAMANI GRIFFIN), Robert madly loves Tia Jewel, (series star ELISE NEAL), a funny, clever kindergarten teacher. Although the two women are not the best of friends--and sometimes get downright territorial--they tolerate each other out of mutual caring for Bobby Jr.

The competition intensifies between Neesee and Tia, who try to outdo each other by planning separate birthday parties for Bobby. Robert attempts to restore peace between the women and bring everyone together for one big birthday bash. At the party, Neesee and Robert remain amicable for their son's sake, but Bobby becomes confused, and his friends Darryl and Reggie (TREY SMITH and recurring guest star JADEN SMITH, real-life sons of executive producer Will Smith) mistakenly convince him that his parents are getting back together. DEBI MAZAR ("That's Life") guest stars as Neesee's friend Alex.

When Robert allows Tia to keep some of her clothes in his house, she is pleased. But while cleaning out a closet, Tia finds Bobby's old crib and is disturbed by how possessive Robert becomes when Neesee tries to take it. Her fears about Robert's nostalgia for his old life are amplified when she watches a videotape of Robert and Neesee's touching wedding. Confused by Tia's behavior, Robert thinks she found a tape of him and Neesee having sex that he also possesses. After figuring out what really happened, Robert convinces Tia that he loves her more than he ever did Neesee, and his past experiences are what made him the man she loves.

Tia finds that she cannot escape Robert's ex-wife, Neesee--even in her own workplace--when Neesee volunteers to be the school's newest kindergarten "room mom." To make matters worse, Neesee forms an instant bond with Tia's best friend, Jonelle (recurring guest star TERRI J. VAUGHN). Meanwhile, R&B singing sensation and actress BEYONCÉ KNOWLES (herself - "The Fighting Temptations," "Austin Powers in Goldmember") reverses roles with Robert during an interview when she starts asking him personal questions.

When Neesee accidentally forgets to sign Bobby's permission slip for a class field trip, Tia signs Neesee's name for her. Later, Neesee becomes upset because Tia signed Neesee's maiden name. Tia relays the incident to Robert while they shop for their engagement gift registry, and Robert is shocked when Tia admits that she's not going to change her name to James after they're married. Dirk agrees with Tia and tells Robert that no woman wants to be the second wife. Robert goes to Neesee to demand his name back but is speechless when Neesee confesses to keeping his surname for Bobby--not because of Robert. At Tia and Robert's engagement party, hosted by Tia's friend Jonelle, Neesee arrives to talk with Tia. Both Tia and Neesee admit to trying to best the other, but Tia is receptive when Neesee explains that having the same last name as her child means that they're family. Tia tells Robert that she's willing to hyphenate her name to Tia Jewel-James.

Robert gets upset with Neesee when he learns from Bobby that Neesee is dating a new man--her handsome dentist Marcus (BORIS KODJOE - "Soul Food" television series). Robert insists that he meet any man who's going to be involved in his son's life. Later, Robert goes to Neesee's house and sees Bobby and Marcus playing with racecars. Robert becomes jealous and tries to compete with Marcus. As the two men discuss the difficulty of dating someone who has children, Neesee overhears an unpleasant remark from Marcus. She decides to stop seeing him and agrees to let Robert meet any other potential boyfriends. Executive producers JADA PINKETT SMITH & WILL SMITH wrote the episode.

When the station does a profile on Robert's home life, he insists that both his fiancée, Tia, and his ex-wife, Neesee, be included. But when Neesee is edited out of the version that airs, the kids at Bobby's school joke that Neesee must be the nanny. Meanwhile, Neesee retaliates by filing a complaint with school administrators that Tia and Robert's relationship is in violation of the rule against teachers dating students' parents. Later, when Robert demands that the story air with Neesee included, he discovers that management would rather fire him.

Since Tia spends so many nights at his house, Robert asks her to move in with him. Not everyone is happy about this suggestion--except Jonelle, who wants to sublet Tia's apartment. Dirk thinks Robert should enjoy what freedom he has left before marrying Tia. Neesee initially acts nonchalant, but Bobby sees her crying privately. At Robert's house, Bobby angrily throws Tia's clothes outside and refuses to speak to his dad about why he's upset. Finally, Dirk learns the truth from Bobby. Later, Neesee brings Bobby and his favorite game, Twister, to Robert's house where they all play, and Bobby sees that everything will be okay with the new living arrangements.

Jonny Scott (Executive Producer WILL SMITH - "Men in Black" films), a recently divorced college friend of Robert, Dirk and Neesee's, comes to town. After seeing Jonny and Neesee kiss, Robert isn't happy to learn that the two of them want to date. Later, Tia gets upset when she finds out that Robert doesn't support the budding relationship between his good friend and his ex-wife. Will Smith's children TREY and JADEN reprise their roles as Bobby's friends Darryl and Reggie, while recurring guest star DEBI MAZAR ("That's Life") returns as Neesee's friend Alex.

Now that they're living together, Robert and Tia worry that Bobby may have witnessed them having sex. To make matters worse, they fear that Bobby has drawn a picture of what he saw and may show it to his mother. Meanwhile, Neesee wants to use Robert's contacts to help launch her catering business.

When little Bobby witnesses Robert dressed as Santa Claus and kissing Tia, Bobby becomes furious that his future stepmother would kiss someone other than his father. Struggling to explain, Robert admits that he's not really Santa, and that someday Bobby will portray Santa for his own kids. However, this only confuses Bobby more, and Neesee tells Robert to restore Bobby's faith in the real Santa. Meanwhile, Tia is happy to host her recently widowered father, Lucas (JAMES AVERY - "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air"), and a dear female friend of her deceased mother's--until she finds the two visitors in bed together.

Neesee's catering business with her partner and friend, Alex (recurring guest star DEBI MAZAR), is so successful that Bobby feels neglected. He misbehaves, fighting with his friend Reggie (recurring guest star JADEN SMITH, real-life son of executive producer WILL SMITH) and pulling the fire alarm during Robert's television show. At Robert's suggestion, Neesee quits her job to spend more time with Bobby, but Tia becomes angry that Robert would assume that Neesee should be the one to sacrifice career for family. With the women in his life in the rare position of agreeing with each other, Robert must make a difficult decision. Meanwhile, Dirk is enamored with a brilliant lawyer but cannot persuade anyone that he loves her mind as much as her body.

Despite Dirk's warnings that a man and a woman cannot be friends without eventually wanting to have sex, Robert welcomes Tia's oldest and dearest friend, Larry (ALLEN PAYNE), to his home. Robert and Larry enjoy each other's company--until Larry drunkenly makes a toast and proclaims that he has always loved Tia. Although Tia is embarrassed and furious, Robert finds out something even more shocking that makes being angry at Larry very difficult. Meanwhile, Neesee and her friend Alex (recurring guest star DEBI MAZAR) borrow Robert and Tia's kitchen for their catering business, and the contrast with Tia's poor culinary efforts is painfully obvious to everyone.

Neesee gets angry when she learns that Robert has taught their 5-year-old son, Bobby, how to box, especially after Bobby comes home from school with a black eye. Meanwhile, Alex (recurring guest star DEBI MAZAR) works out with a new trainer, Scotty (boxing champion SUGAR SHANE MOSLEY). Later, Jonelle must try to find a way to control her expensive shopping habits to avoid squandering all of her money, getting evicted and losing Tia's sublease.

In a special one-hour episode, Robert's best friend and college buddy, Jonny (executive producer WILL SMITH - "Men in Black" movies), returns to see Neesee, and the gang heads off to Las Vegas on a road trip. However, when Neesee proposes to Jonny, the newly engaged couple is too scared to tell Robert. Meanwhile, Robert's friend Turtle (recurring guest star JAMES VINCENT) tries not to destroy the house while baby-sitting Bobby.

In a special one-hour episode, Robert's best friend and college buddy, Jonny (executive producer WILL SMITH - "Men in Black" movies), returns to see Neesee, and the gang heads off to Las Vegas on a road trip. However, when Neesee proposes to Jonny, the newly engaged couple is too scared to tell Robert. Meanwhile, Robert's friend Turtle (recurring guest star JAMES VINCENT) tries not to destroy the house while baby-sitting Bobby.

Dirk's estranged brother Roni (TYRA BANKS - "America's Next Top Model") shocks everyone when he reveals that he's had a sex change and is in town to try out for the reality show "America's Next Top Model." Dirk has a hard time adjusting to the fact that his brother is now his sister. Meanwhile, when Robert's mom, Marva (PATTI LaBELLE - "A Soldier's Story," "Out All Night"), collapses during a visit, she's forced to tell her family about her recent diagnosis of diabetes. Since Bobby witnessed his grandmother's incident, the adults must find a delicate way to explain death to the 5-year-old.

When Robert's younger sister Carmen (TISHA CAMPBELL - "My Wife and Kids," real-life wife of series star DUANE MARTIN) unexpectedly visits, she brings chaos into everyone's life. Carmen, who has a history of failed financial ventures, wants Robert to invest in her latest scheme: a low-fat, sugar-free donut business. But he refuses. Trying to bond with her future sister-in-law, Tia agrees to loan Carmen the money and writes her a check without informing Robert. This creates problems for Neesee when she tries to cash Robert's child-support check, but there are insufficient funds in his bank account. Tension among the three women escalates to the point of throwing paint on one another. Finally, Carmen returns the check to Tia after finding another unsuspecting investor--Dirk. Meanwhile, Jonelle and Dirk are repeatedly unsuccessful in their attempts at romantic intimacy.

Believing he must prove his love to Tia by outdoing his first wedding to Neesee, Robert goes to great lengths to pay for an extravagant ceremony, despite the fact that Tia insists she only wants a simple, intimate celebration. Meanwhile, like any 5-year-old, Bobby believes the way to a woman's heart is through pushing and taunting her. But when his mom, Neesee, explains to him that girls like gifts, Bobby decides to win the heart of the girl he likes at the playground with an expensive item from his mom's jewelry box.

Robert doesn't realize he has completely forgotten Tia's birthday until Neesee and Bobby arrive with a present, so he enlists Neesee's help to cater and arrange a party that's a surprise for everyone involved. Meanwhile, Tia mistakenly believes that Robert remembers her birthday and anticipates his surprise--but she doesn't expect to get stuck in the car while he reports on a stuntman union strike.

When Robert and Neesee learn that Bobby doesn't socialize with the other students in his school, they immediately arrange a play date for Bobby with the most popular kid in class, Sammy (BRANDON RATCLIFF). But Robert feels awkward when Sammy's mom, Traci (NICOLE PARKER - "Soul Food" television series), brazenly flirts with him. Meanwhile, after discovering that Bobby's shyness stems from a fight with Alex's (recurring guest star DEBI MAZAR) son, Neesee and Alex attempt to get the boys to reconcile, but the women argue over whose son should apologize first.

As Robert and Tia's wedding date approaches, Robert has unsettling sexual dreams involving Neesee, causing Tia to question her relationship with Robert after she realizes that spending the rest of her life with Robert also means spending the rest of her life with Neesee. All of the tension at home affects the tired couple, putting them out of synchronization at the gang's tango lessons, taught by Antonio (MICHAEL DeLORENZO - "Resurrection Blvd.," "New York Undercover").