Lizzie tries out for cheerleader but doesn't do very well. Later that night she and Miranda chat online. Lizzie jokes that Kate made the squad because she stuffs her bra
Lizzie, Miranda and Gordo all have big problems on the day their pictures are to be taken for the junior high yearbook. Lizzie searches and searches for the right thing to wear, but her mother insists she put on a ""hideous"" sweater that her grandmother gave her. Miranda runs afoul of Kate when they both show up wearing the same outfit
Lizzie is looking forward to the science class field trip, but she is mortified when she finds out that her mother is a last-minute replacement as the girls' chaperone. Lizzie fears that her mother will embarrass her to death, and Mom does a pretty good job of doing just that while they are competing with the boys on a nature walk. But Mrs
Lizzie and Miranda are ecstatic about being invited to a pool party given by their heartthrob, Danny Kessler. Mrs. McGuire is excited for Lizzie too until she finds out it's on the same day as grandma's 80th birthday party
Lizzie is dissatisfied with being an ordinary ""B"" student and is looking for something at which she can excel. Surprisingly, she finds out in gym class that she has a real talent for rhythmic gymnastics. But she thinks the sport is stupid and is ambivalent about competing
Gordo is sure that Mr. Pettus is giving him ""B""s instead of ""A""s because Pettus doesn't like him. His state of mind isn't helped any when the teacher gives the class an aptitude test which shows that Gordo is best suited to be a blackjack dealer
Lizzie and Miranda are excited about the news that singer Aaron Carter is coming to their town to do a video shoot. They enlist Gordo to help them figure out where the shoot will take place so they can crash the set and meet Aaron. Matt horns his way into the group also
When a babysitter cancels on the McGuires, Lizzie suggests that she's old enough to do the job for her brother Matt, but mom and dad say no. After much persuasion from Lizzie they relent, and Miranda and Gordo also come over to help. After Mr
Lizzie and friends are frustrated--the only candidates for school president are super-popular cheerleader Claire Miller and oddball Larry Tudgeman, who promises to eat a worm for every vote he gets. Gordo encourages Lizzie to run as a ""normal"" candidate and Miranda seconds the motion. Lizzie agrees to do it
Mrs. Stebel pairs up the students in her social studies class for a mock marriage assignment. Each set of partners must draw a job from a jar at random, work up a fictional lifestyle and report back at a pretend 20-year reunion
Lizzie falls in with a bad crowd when she befriends "bad girl," Angel, at school
Lizzie and Miranda note that when a girl gets her first bra, her personality somehow seems to change. They decide they are ready for their first, and hatch a plan to get Lizzie's mom to take them to the mall where they will shop for ""school supplies."" Lizzie is a terrible liar, though, and blurts out the real reason for the trip
Gordo, always the nonconformist, has a new passion: 1950s & '60s Las Vegas lounge culture, as epitomized by Frank Sinatra and the ""Rat Pack."" Lizzie and Miranda don't care for it, but they buy Gordo a Rat Pack CD. Ethan Craft listens to it on the bus and, surprisingly, likes it, which makes the girls reconsider their opinion
Lizzie, who is writing for the school newspaper, asks for the assignment of covering the school's production of Mr. Escobar's play ""Greasier."" Miranda is overjoyed when she unexpectedly gets the lead in the play
Lizzie is in a frenzy because Ethan Craft has asked her to sit with him at lunch the next day. But at home she still has to put up with bratty brother Matt, who put honey on the phone receiver and messed up her hair. Lizzie is furious with him and this time his parents are also very upset, too
The various obsessions of Lizzie, Matt and Gordo are driving friends, family, teachers and themselves to distraction. Gordo is intent on winning the Science Olympics at all costs against defending champion Larry Tudgeman. Matt becomes hall monitor at his school and gets carried away with his own power, giving out citations to schoolmates by the dozen and even trying to do the same to teachers and family members
Matt is irritating Lizzie with his magic tricks while she's trying to do homework. Soon they are fighting like cats and dogs--or brother and sister--much to the annoyance of their parents. But as soon as Sam and Jo stop them, they go right back to fighting
Lizzie's fantasy almost comes true when she is paired up with Ethan Craft in a CPR class at school, but he's so dense that the teacher chooses Tudgeman instead to give Lizzie mouth-to-mouth! Lizzie, Gordo and Miranda realize they are about the only three in school who haven't seen the latest blockbuster movie Vesuvius: The Eruption, which is rated R, and they're determined to get in to see it. When their parents all say ""no"" to their arguments, Gordo decides they should say they are going to play miniature golf, then go see the film. Lizzie is very nervous about lying to her parents, but she pulls it off with ease
Lizzie and Miranda feel neglected, when Gordo spends more time with his new girlfriend, Brooke. They are unable to come to terms with the fact that Gordo has a girlfriend now and he is drifting away from their group. Meanwhile, Matt learns about "percentages" from his father and starts accepting bets from his friends, but he eventually lands in trouble when his mother finds out about this
Gordo wants to raise money for a new stereo, so Miranda and Lizzie suggest he tutor students who need help in math. His first student is Ethan Craft, much to the girls' delight. When Gordo is working with Ethan at the Digital Bean, Lizzie and Miranda keep trying to horn in on the action and end up spilling drinks all over the guys' papers
Ethan invites Lizzie, Gordo and Miranda to go bowling with friends on the weekend. Of course the girls are thrilled but Gordo isn't so happy--bowling is something he's not good at. In fact, he got so nervous doing it before that his fingers swelled up and the ball had to be cut off his hand! Miranda says she will be Gordo's ""life coach"" for bowling and tries to teach him him a kind of mystical philosophy (""Be the ball!"") Meanwhile, Matt and Lanny are trying to think of what they can do to stop the bully Heywood Biggs from picking on them
Director Stan Jansen is filming a documentary at the junior high and everyone is trying to get on camera--except Gordo, who wants to be a director himself. But Stan singles out Gordo as his star and tells him his appearance in the film could lead to a career in directing. Gordo is eager to go along, so when the director tells him he wants conflict, Gordo trashes Kate on camera
Lizzie auditions to be in a fashion show presented by "Teen Attitude" magazine at a local mall and she gets accepted. At the show Lizzie looks great on the stage. Afterward, popular girl Jessica asks Lizzie to come to a party at her country club
The middle school is putting on a big Fright Night celebration for Halloween. Lizzie wants to appear as Vampira, the dungeon mistress, but Kate is in charge and she keeps the job for herself, making Lizzie clean out the janitor's closet and then giving her the role of a clown handing out balloons. Miranda brings her parents, who are helping her celebrate a Mexican holiday, the Day of the Dead
Hoping to win a trip to Miami, Lizzie, Miranda and Gordo team up to enter the school's ""Fact-athlon."" Their rival team consists of Kate Sanders, Larry Tudgeman and Claire Miller. But things start to look a little bleak when the faculty advisor Lizzie and company chose is replaced by substitute teacher Mr
Lizzie finds out in square-dancing class that a guy has a crush on her--but it's Larry Tudgeman! She asks her mom's advice about how to get rid of him, but Mom suggests she find out what he's all about first, intimating that her dad was kind of a geek when she first met him. This isn't what Lizzie wants to hear, but she doesn't want to be mean and consents to go out with Larry. To her surprise, he shows up for the date looking very nice, and--bigger surprise--she actually has fun on their trip to the science museum
Gammy McGuire sends Lizzie one of her frequent ""birthday"" gifts--a role-playing game called Dwarflord: The Conquest. Mom insists that Lizzie play it at least once, so she recruits reluctant Miranda and Gordo for a game. The girls can't understand the incredibly complex rules but Gordo likes it
Gordo and Miranda visit Lizzie after she was out sick and bring her some scary news--in social studies class she has to pair up on a project with---KATE!! Lizzie reacts hysterically. She tries to get out of going to class the next day but her parents make her go. Kate is mad about working with Lizzie also, but she comes by the McGuire house to work on their project, cooking a Latvian dish called an Alexander Tort (a raspberry pastry )
When Miranda falls head over heels for Ryan Adams after seeing him perform in drama class, Lizzie vows to do all she can to get them together. But when Miranda gets tongue-tied after meeting Ryan in the halls, she wants Lizzie to tell her exactly what she should say to him. At lunch, Lizzie hides in a garbage can and feeds lines to Miranda as she talks to Ryan
Gordo has his camera and is filming Lizzie and Miranda in the school cafeteria. He forgets the camera when they leave, and when he goes back for it, he finds it was running the whole time. When the friends view the footage, they see Kate telling Claire a big secret--she's fourteen, a year older than the other seventh graders, because she was held back in kindergarten! This gives Gordo an idea
Gordo is feeling a little left behind: the girls are going crazy over Ethan Craft, who gets a new dirtbike for his 14th birthday, just like all the ""men"" in his family have. Even Larry Tudgeman is shaving now, though not very well! Gordo now wishes he had celebrated his bar mitzvah, the Jewish ceremony performed on the 13th birthday that marks the passage of a boy into manhood. Concerned about what makes a boy a man, Gordo takes his camera interviews many different men to get their experiences