Chris (Tyler James Williams) commutes to and is bullied at a predominantly white school to fulfill his mother, Rochelle's (Tichina Arnold) wish for a better education, and also move out of the projects into a house. His schedule for this one school day is to go to school, buy lunch with money, come home from school on time to pick up his siblings Drew (Tequan Richmond) and Tonya (Imani Hakim) and ensure that his father (Terry Crews) maintains a stable rest & meal. Unfortunately, the day does not go as planned.

Chris tries to impress the girl of his dreams (Aree Davis) after she is hired to tutor Drew. Chris is soon heartbroken when he finds Keisha and Drew kissing.

Because he's black, Chris is recruited by the basketball team despite the fact he can't play. His instant popularity amongst the teachers and other students hurts his friendship with Greg (Vincent Martella).

Julius buys a crate of cheap sausage for the family to eat for a week but the family soon begins to dislike it and Tonya tests Rochelle's patience by outright refusing to eat it.

Chris has to deal with bullying by Caruso after false rumors spread that he beat up Caruso, and has to deal with an unfair school administration and sentence three days in detention.

Chris finds himself in hot water when he, disregarding his father's warning, allows a neighborhood kid to ride his bike who then takes off with it. Julius's coworkers go on strike, so he fills his free time with doing housework, much to Rochelle's dismay.

Chris is excited to go to a Halloween party that an older girl invites him to, before he can go to the party, he must take Drew and Tonya trick-or-treating.

Julius and Rochelle go out to a restaurant for a night, leaving a babysitter (Erica Hubbard) to watch the kids, but disasters occur both at home and at the restaurant.

Julius finds $200 in food stamps, but Rochelle is too embarrassed to use them, so she dips into the family's spending money and has to keep it a secret from a suspicious Julius.

Chris and Greg have a falling-out over a science project they are working on together.

Chris decides to go to Greg's house to play some video games, but neither boy's family is entirely okay with it at first. (Greg's father, Art: Gary Basaraba).

Chris wants a portable cassette player for Christmas but his parents cannot afford to buy one, despite them obliging his siblings and themselves. At school, Chris brings in canned goods for the needy, but his teacher insistently believes that he is one of the needy.

Chris learns the value of a dollar when he begins to work with his father to save up the money needed to get a leather jacket, which he believes will make him look cool.

As school picture day approaches, Chris wants to find the perfect outfit with his mother's help. He finds the perfect outfit, but during gym class, someone steals his clothes out of his locker.

Rochelle begins a job as a cosmetics saleswoman to earn extra money.

Chris breaks up a fight between his "bus crush" (Raven Goodwin) and her boyfriend, while Greg gets his first girlfriend.

Chris gets involved in a rivalry as he tries to hold on to his fame as the best Asteroids player in the neighborhood.

Julius tries to win the lottery for extra money.

While Julius has the gout, he discovers his passion for The Young and the Restless, a passion he shares with several of Rochelle's female friends.

Chris' beloved maternal grandfather (Jimmie Walker) dies from an unexpected heart attack while paying a visit. This causes Chris to become the mother of the household when Rochelle is too upset to do anything.

Chris tries to get himself expelled as he grows intolerant of his constant physical & verbal bullying at Corleone. Julius finds a new job that pays more than his previous two jobs combined, but fast and adamantly does the family become tired of one of its new consequences.

Feeling inferior to his younger brother Drew, Chris takes karate classes and uses a move taught by his karate teacher to break Drew's hand in a fight.

Chris steals his father's Playboy magazine from his toolbox. He brings it to school where it soon gets confiscated by the vice principal.

When Julius discovers that his Playboy magazine is missing, he desperately tries to get it back.

Chris is selling cookies to raise money for a field trip to Washington, D.C. Chris sales start to skyrocket where he starts to saying that the cookies "Fell off the truck this morning" which is slang for "stolen".

When Keisha moves away, a girl in the neighborhood catches Chris eye, which prompts Chris to ask her on a date.

The new next door neighbor, Louise Clarkson (Whoopi Goldberg) moves in next door and pressures Rochelle to organize a neighborhood watch patrol.

After volunteering to be a crossing guard, Drew has girls all over him.

Chris runs for eighth-grade class president against Caruso.

Julius learns he has high blood pressure and tries to reduce the amount of stress in his life.

In order to win votes for class president, Chris tries to write a campaign speech.

Rochelle rents out the upstairs apartment to a funeral director (Ernest Thomas) with a long list of lady friends.

Jerome assumes that Chris and Tasha are a thing and tells the entire neighborhood after he sees Tasha give Chris a kiss. Chris does not encourage nor stop the rumor because of the better treatment he gets at school.

Julius wants to get something fun with his collection of trading stamps but Rochelle wants a new refrigerator.

Chris gets robbed by Malvo, a local thug after Doc lets him work the cash register at the corner store and he fears the thief will kill him if he snitches.

The new school principal, Mr. Edwards (Jason Alexander) teams Chris with Caruso on a field trip in hope that the two will bond.

Tonya accidentally loses one of Rochelle's hoop earrings after being told she cannot wear them.

Students want to impeach Chris as class president after he fails to deliver on his campaign promises.

Rochelle's never-do-well brother, Michael, visits after their mother kicks him out of her house, and asks if he can stay. Rochelle agrees but Julius is not happy about it.

Chris is given a holiday assignment for Thanksgiving and is told that he must write about what he's thankful for.

Things start going Chris's way at home and at school after he wears his dad's lucky socks.

Chris falls ill while working with Julius at a department store as Santa Clause and one of Santa's elves. While in the hospital, he meets a mysterious man named Kris (Richard Lewis), who helps him see how blessed he really is.

Chris must care for an egg like it is a baby for a week as part of a social-studies project on parenting, but when Rochelle finds out that Chris was going to keep it in the refrigerator for the week, Chris finds out being a parent isn't as easy as it sounds.

Drew finds out that Tonya is afraid of werewolves. So he tells her that werewolves appear at nighttime, which causes her to not want to sleep.

Chris becomes a hall monitor at school to get some respect, but no one takes him seriously.

Julius grows weary of Rochelle coming home complaining about her new job.

Chris is the only one that shows up when Corleone is closed for a snow day and has to stay with Principal Edwards until they can get in touch with his parents.

While going to get Chris from school, Julius has an extremely tough journey getting there.

After Ms. Morello goes to Africa, Chris is excited to get a black substitute teacher (Orlando Jones), but his enthusiasm quickly turns to dread when the substitute pressures him to get an A.

Julius gets frustrated with Mr. Omar because he keeps borrowing his phone.

When Ms. Morello is away for the day, Chris and Greg cut school so they can see Ghostbusters and end up getting busted.

Rochelle helps out Tonya and Drew at their school's book fair, but ends up being a pain in the butt to other parents and the kids.

Malvo demands Chris steal a gold chain for him after Chris foils his plans of stealing one.

Tonya tries to win tickets to a Billy Ocean concert from a radio station, but she repeatedly fails.

Chris becomes a DJ after the neighborhood DJ, Hilly Hill (DJ Quik), is arrested. He borrows Rochelle's James Brown album but accidentally scratches it and has to get the album replaced.

Chris must decide whether he wants to go to a Mets game with Julius and Drew or to go see Back to the Future with Tasha.

Rochelle's slacker brother asks her hairdresser, Vanessa (Jackée Harry), out on a date, and Rochelle tries to talk her out of going.

Tanya has been waiting a month to get a picture from the Billy Ocean fan club, but Rochelle realizes she never mailed Tanya's letter.

Chris earns extra money when he starts giving Doc tips on picking winners in pro basketball games. Chris earns the nickname "Chrissy the Black" but is soon threatened by the neighborhood bookie, Paulie (Vincent Pastore).

Even though he knows that Rochelle hates gambling, Julius goes behind her back to bet on an upcoming basketball game—not realizing it is his son, "Chrissy the Black," giving the tips

Chris starts telling dirty jokes at school after he secretly listens to his parents' Redd Foxx album.

Realizing that her mom, Maxine (Loretta Devine) is becoming lonely, Rochelle tries to set up a blind date for her.

Chris has trouble learning algebra, so Rochelle tries to teach him. But when he has problems with her, he goes to his grandmother, a former algebra teacher herself, for help.

Julius gets Risky a job helping him deliver newspapers.

It is the last day of school, and Chris wants revenge on Caruso for making his life miserable. He puts cat food in the heating ducts and everywhere around the school, and blackmails Caruso for it.

Julius tries to fix Mr. Omar's clogged drain, but only makes things worse and gets reported to the housing authority.

Chris fails an assessment test and is sent to the guidance counselor (series co-creator Chris Rock), who doesn't have a clue how to help Chris.

Caruso gets beat up by a kid he picked on and abdicates his role as school bully. Unfortunately, the situation makes life even more troublesome for Chris, as everyone else in the school becomes a bully and is vying for Caruso's old post.

Julius asks Chris to move the family car across the street, but Chris ends up driving it to school even though he doesn't have a license.

Chris is allowed to get a dog, which Julius names Blackie, after a burglary at the home.

Because the TV has been stolen, Tonya and Drew decide to entertain themselves by making prank calls.

Chris is left alone in Mr. Omar's apartment when his family comes down with the flu and Mr. Omar leaves for an entire day. With advice from Greg, Chris asks Tasha to come over while Mr. Omar is away.

After joining the writing staff, Chris makes up a story about a serial killer that causes a panic in the community after he is insulted for his writing skills.

With his dad out of town, Greg comes to stay at Chris' house and gets special treatment from Rochelle, which upsets Chris.

Chris quits his job at Doc's store and gets another job at a Chinese restaurant called Hoo's Hunan because he isn't getting paid minimum wage. Also, Chris embarrasses Greg by telling a girl he likes her which causes the two to fall out.

Rochelle becomes a hair model for an upcoming hair show.

For a school assignment, Chris must help Kill Moves find his estranged mother (Phylicia Rashād).

Chris adapts from a 'nice guy' into a 'bad boy' when he discovers Tasha likes bad boys.

After finding out that Tasha is going to "spin the bottle" parties, Chris is determined to get an invitation to the next party so he can finally experience his first kiss.

Rochelle runs into an old boyfriend while she, Tonya and Julius are out for lunch, Julius becomes extremely jealous and asks Tonya to spy on Rochelle and find out whether she still has feelings for her ex.

When Tasha breaks up with her boyfriend, Chris is more than happy to step in and serve as her escort for the Easter Pageant, but first he has to figure out how to be in two places at the same time without his mother finding out.

Rochelle is confident that she'll win the Easter Pageant Hat-Off competition for the fourth year in a row, but she has to up her game after finding out that the church's newest member intends to take away her title.

In an attempt to keep Drew, out of further trouble, Chris reluctantly agrees to skip school and accompany Drew on a mission to find his idol, hockey great Wayne Gretzky.

Tonya was supposed to go on a school trip to Philadelphia, which was unsuccessful as Julius couldn't afford to take her. So she stays at home and purposely gets on Julius' nerves.

Chris is so desperate to raise the funds to go to a Run–D.M.C. concert that he jumps at the chance to participate in Mr. Omar's Black Funeral Directors' (BFD) scholarship fund.

Chris attempts to help Malvo, a career criminal who was recently released from jail, turn his life around by going back to high school.

Rochelle is alarmed by the parenting skills of one of Tonya's friend's parents (guest star Shar Jackson) and decides to share her wealth of knowledge.

Chris must come up with a school project for Earth Day, so he decides to collect cans, believing it will be an easy task and something Julius can help him accomplish.

On a mission to become one of the "cool" kids, Chris is caught with cigarettes and suspended from school. Tonya intercepts the call from Chris' school letting his parents know he has been suspended and decides to charge him to keep her mouth closed. While on suspension, Chris starts to hang out with the cool kids in the neighborhood.

When Chris is the only boy without a date for the ninth-grade dance, Greg suggests he ask out Carrie but when he does, word spreads of the inter-racial couple.

Tonya asks Rochelle if she can take ballet lessons.

When Chris attempts to buy Rochelle expensive perfume as a Mother's Day gift from a store, he discovers he cannot afford it and buys a knock-off from Risky. However, Rochelle breaks out in hives and takes Chris to the store she believes he bought it from.

Drew is getting rid of some old junk in order to get enough money to buy Rochelle a gift. After selling it, Drew and Julius find out that an old toy Drew had is worth $150, so they desperately try to get it back.

Tonya finds a special deal in a mail where she can buy 8 music records for one cent.

Chris' joy at graduating to junior high school is short-lived when he finds out Greg is going to a different school next year, so he tries to raise enough money to go to Greg's school.

Rochelle volunteers Drew to be Tonya's partner in "Swan Lake" ballet performance after her partner suffers an ankle injury.

Chris enters high school and is placed in an all-white homeroom with a rather jerky teacher.

Chris is asked to tutor an androgynous classmate named Angel (Hector Garcia). Angel tells Chris that he can help Chris get the attention of Maria (Chris's eye candy). Meanwhile Tasha's ex-con mother, Peaches (Tisha Campbell-Martin) asks Rochelle for help to turn her life around. In the end, Greg is kicked out of the Bronx Academy of Science and becomes a nerd again.

When Mr. Omar goes away for a week, he asks Drew and Tonya to watch after his goldfish.

Chris is thrilled when Jenise Huckstable (Tristin Mays) asks him to the homecoming dance. His nerves begin to get the better of him when Jenise tells him that her father Dr. Clint Huckstable (Orlando Jones) and mother Blair Huxtable (Devika Parikh) want to meet him before the dance. Feeling depressed and miserable after being at The Bronx Academy, Greg goes missing.

Drew tries to get Doc to feng shui the store when he takes over Chris' hours.

Chris is assigned to do a book report on Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man, but decides to watch the movie of the same name, and Greg lies that the movie that Chris watched has nothing to do with the book itself.

Julius and Rochelle are at a Broadway musical for their anniversary, and Chris witnesses a shooting outside a movie theater when he's supposed to be babysitting Drew and Tanya. When Julius accidentally hits one of the performers, he and Rochelle get thrown out.

Upon learning that she is actually a year younger than she thought, Rochelle adopts a youthful attitude while Chris receives help from a complete stranger named Stan Levine (Steve Landesberg) during a city-wide blackout. Meanwhile, Greg tries to create a new identity apart from his friendship with Chris.

Chris and Greg try to obtain fake IDs in order to attend an age-restricted Fat Boys concert. Meanwhile, Rochelle plans a surprise party for Julius and Drew tries to return a faulty pair of X-ray glasses he received through the mail.

Chris is told that if he is late to school one more time, he'll have to repeat grade 10. This happens 2 days later inspiring him to drop out of school and get a job. At first Rochelle is against the idea but she decides to support him once Julius backs Chris up. Chris takes the G.E.D. test and if he passes he will be able to get a job. Meanwhile Drew wants to perform at the Apollo for amateur night but later realizes he doesn't have talent as all he does is bang drumsticks on a bucket with a talented dancing girl and Tonya is graduating from grade 6. Chris then has his last moment with Greg before Caruso comes to confess to and befriend Chris, subjecting Greg to bullying for the rest of his school life. In the last scene, Rochelle, Drew and Tonya meet Chris at a diner and are waiting for Julius, The episode ends with the entire family sitting around a restaurant table, listening to and singing along with Bon Jovi's "Livin' on a Prayer" and eating fried crust. Julius brings the G.E.D. results and the last thing said is Chris asking, "What's it say?". The scene then blacks out, ending the series.