List of ''Less Than Perfect'' episodes
Less Than Perfect is an American sitcom that aired on ABC from October 1, 2002, to June 6, 2006. The show follows a young female office employee named Claude Casey (played by Sara Rue) after being promoted from temp to permanent assistant for Will Butler, one of the most popular TV news anchors. The other assistants, Kip and Lydia, are out to get her, but Claude has friends watching her back.
Series overview
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | |||
| 1 | 22 | October 1, 2002 | May 20, 2003 | |
| 2 | 24 | September 23, 2003 | May 18, 2004 | |
| 3 | 22 | September 24, 2004 | April 25, 2005 | |
| 4 | 13 | April 18, 2006 | June 24, 2009 | |
Episodes
Season 1 (2002–03)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Pilot" | Ted Wass | Terri Minsky | October 1, 2002 | 542-N |
| Claude's dream comes true when she moves up from temp to a permanent position as the assistant to news anchor, Will Butler. But all is not quite as she had imagined when she realizes that her new co-workers, Kipp and Lydia, will stop at nothing to sabotage her. Meanwhile Claude's trusty friends, Ramona and Owen, begrudgingly help her transition from the comfort and safety of the fourth floor to the battlefield that is the 22nd floor. | ||||||
| 2 | 2 | "Ice Cream With Lydia" | Ted Wass | Christine Zander | October 8, 2002 | L212 |
| When Claude is unexpectedly asked out for dinner with Will, she quickly cancels her double-date plan with Ramona. But when the "date" turns out to be less of one than she anticipated, Claude finds solace in the company of Lydia -- who assumes that Claude slept with Will. Meanwhile, Owen tries to assert authority over Kipp and the two feud over an expensive pen. | ||||||
| 3 | 3 | "Claude the Liar" | Ted Wass | J.J. Wall | October 15, 2002 | L213 |
| When Claude is forced to lie for Will, she finds it difficult -- but after some mentoring from Kipp, she becomes a pro at it. Soon, however, she finds herself struggling with morality issues associated with the lies. Meanwhile, the employees attend a company-wide meeting where they have to pick a "floor buddy" -- Lydia gets paired with Owen and Kipp with Ramona. | ||||||
| 4 | 4 | "Queen of England" | Ted Wass | Justin Adler | October 22, 2002 | L211 |
| Claude is showered with gifts as Will's new assistant, leaving Kipp and Lydia filled with envy. Kipp deceives Claude by telling her that Will is not fond of her lowly 4th floor buddies, Owen and Ramona, and then Claude inadvertently offends them by saying they cannot visit her on the 22nd floor anymore. | ||||||
| 5 | 5 | "The Vacation" | Ted Wass | Tom Hertz | October 29, 2002 | L215 |
| Claude loves her job so much she doesn't want to use her vacation days. After reluctantly agreeing to take a vacation, she feels threatened by Luke, the popular temp who fills in for her. | ||||||
| 6 | 6 | "The Pole" | Ted Wass | Cynthia Greenburg | November 5, 2002 | L214 |
| Claude is unable to compete with Lydia for Will's attention, so Ramona drags her to a Strippercize class to help her gain confidence. Meanwhile, Kipp is unhappy with his I.D. photo and convinces Owen to return to his former job as an I.D. photographer. | ||||||
| 7 | 7 | "Future Shock" | Ted Wass | Mike Dieffenbach | November 12, 2002 | L217 |
| Claude sees her future self personified by a bitter, hardened assistant named Roz, and she's afraid she'll end up the same way if she doesn't get a life outside of the office. | ||||||
| 8 | 8 | "Meet the Folks" | Ted Wass | Terri Minsky | November 19, 2002 | L219 |
| Claude's caught in the middle when her well-meaning but overprotective parents come for a visit and Will backs out of a dinner engagement with them. Meanwhile, Kipp begins losing his edge at work when he becomes smitten with a journalism student. | ||||||
| 9 | 9 | "Claude the Heartbreaker" | Ted Wass | Christine Zander | November 26, 2002 | L221 |
| For the first time in her life, Claude is dating two men at once, one of whom happens to be Will's godson, Oliver (played by "The Bachelor's" Aaron Buerge). | ||||||
| 10 | 10 | "One Office Party Too Many" | Ted Wass | Cynthia Greenburg | December 10, 2002 | L218 |
| Everyone arrives at the Christmas party with an agenda... that none of them are able to fulfill. | ||||||
| 11 | 11 | "A Claude Casey in Production" | Ted Wass | F.J. Pratt & Dan Cohen | December 17, 2002 | L216 |
| Claude tries to make nice with Kipp by producing a demo of him showing off his anchorman capabilities... but unbeknownst to Kipp, the demo is disastrous. Meanwhile, Lydia desperately tries to remind Will of the anniversary of their fling; and Owen imitates his TV role model, Dr Phil. | ||||||
| 12 | 12 | "Claude's Got a Secret" | Ted Wass | Terri Minsky & Claudia Lonow | January 7, 2003 | L223 |
| Claude and Charlie try to keep their relationship a secret, but that's difficult with Owen and Ramona around. Meanwhile, Lydia asks big shot Norma Craft to be her mentor, but she only succeeds in becoming Craft's confidant. Jealous over Lydia's newfound mentor, Kipp asks Will to be his mentor. | ||||||
| 13 | 13 | "Telephone" | Ted Wass | Justin Adler | January 21, 2003 | L220 |
| When Will goes out of town, he leaves his apartment in the care of Claude and encourages her to invite friends over. Kipp, who blatantly stole a story idea from Claude, invites himself, much to the dismay of Claude -- and himself, when he discovers his mother's phone number on Will's speed-dial. Meanwhile, Lydia becomes obsessed with finding a crystal gazelle that she gave to Will -- and after she finds it, she spends the whole evening trying to rescue it from the fish tank. | ||||||
| 14 | 14 | "High Maintenance" | Ted Wass | David Blum & Stacy Kramer | February 4, 2003 | L225 |
| Will's got a new girlfriend, Dani, who insists on having Claude run errands for her. Ramona and Owen convince Claude to put her feet down and stop being a pushover for Dani. When she finally confronts Will's new girlfriend, she imposes him to choose between her and Claude. Although happy to see Dani out of her life, Claude has to put aside the pride and talk her into getting back together with Will, who's been miserable without her. Meanwhile, Lydia and Kipp start sucking up to Ramona and Owen when they find out they have access to the VIP area at an important party. | ||||||
| 15 | 15 | "Valentine's Day" | Terry Hughes | Tom Hertz | February 11, 2003 | L226 |
| It's Valentine's Day and Lydia is feeling jealous of Claude over a dozen roses she got from Charlie, who's on a road trip with his father. The next morning, two dozen roses mysteriously appear on Lydia's desk, and she wonders who is her secret admirer. Claude finds out it's Kipp, but decides to keep it down because no one would believe that. Meanwhile, Claude has the most embarrassing moment of her life when Will overhears her talking dirty with Kipp on the phone; and Owen is seduced by a gorgeous girl who only wants his sperm to make a baby, leaving Claude and Ramona the mission of opening his eyes not to let a child grow without a father. | ||||||
| 16 | 16 | "Breaking Up" | Ted Wass | Cynthia Greenburg | February 18, 2003 | L228 |
| After breaking up with Charlie, Claude gets sucked into escorting Will's fiance, Dani, to a bridal shop. When Claude has a meltdown in the dressing room, Ramona orchestrates an impromptu break-up/slumber party, led by Lydia. Meanwhile, Owen and Carl scheme to crash the slumber party across the hall; and Kipp tries to ghostwrite Will's autobiography, but Will can't seem to come up with any useful stories. | ||||||
| 17 | 17 | "Picture Perfect Party" | Terry Hughes | Dan Cohen & F.J. Pratt | March 11, 2003 | L227 |
| In celebration of two years in NY, Claude decides to throw a party at her place. But when Will says he'll go (a direct result from his publicist's attempt to popularize his image), she changes her party from casual to fancy. The only thing she wasn't counting on was Will showing up in casual clothes and turning her party into exactly what she wanted to avoid. In the end Ramona questions Claude about the reasons of her sadness and shows her that even though her party might not be the fanciest people sure are having fun. | ||||||
| 18 | 18 | "The New Guy" | Ted Wass | Tom Hertz | March 18, 2003 | L222 |
| Will's contract is up for renewal just as the head of the network arrives, flaunting a new anchor. Fearing that Will's job is in jeopardy and they'll be replaced, the staff bands together to pull of "The Gum Caper" to ensure Will a new contract. | ||||||
| 19 | 19 | "Oh Papa" | Ted Wass | Tom Hertz | April 29, 2003 | L223 |
| Learning that Owen has "sired" a child, Claude tries to arrange a get-together between Owen and the dad he's never known. Meanwhile, "braces guy" gets a promotion, so Kipp decides that he needs a gimmick to get noticed -- he becomes "bicycle guy." Also, a bad photo in the paper has Will feeling self-conscious about aging, so he recruits Lydia to make him over. | ||||||
| 20 | 20 | "A Little Love for Lydia" | Ted Wass | J.J. Wall | May 6, 2003 | L224 |
| Claude is caught in the middle when her charming older brother goes on a date with Lydia. | ||||||
| 21 | 21 | "Save the Squirrel, But Bet the Over/Under" | Ted Wass | J.J. Wall | May 13, 2003 | L229 |
| Will is asked to host a benefit dinner and chooses a squirrel clinic as the charity, which makes Claude's job of selling tables to the event a difficult one. Meanwhile, Carl gets Owen hooked on gambling and in trouble with a bookie. | ||||||
| 22 | 22 | "The Umbrella" | Ted Wass | Justin Adler | May 20, 2003 | L230 |
| On the season finale, a new Executive Producer, Ted Elliot, is brought in to GNB to shake things up, and Claude believes she can stay above the fray. She is shocked to learn, however, that not even Will can protect her from Ted's new way of business. For the first time, Claude is forced to question her future working for Will. | ||||||
Season 2 (2003–04)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 | 1 | "Choices" | Ted Wass | Justin Adler | September 23, 2003 | 202 |
| At Will's urging, Claude takes a job as Mr. Elliot's assistant, leaving her position to be filled by Kipp -- who Will can't stand. Meanwhile, Lydia unsuccessfully tries to impress Mr. Elliot; Ramona and Owen fight over a lunchroom meal plan; and Carl hangs around the office because he locked himself out of his apartment. | ||||||
| 24 | 2 | "From the Office of Will Butler" | Ted Wass | Rob LaZebnik | September 30, 2003 | 204 |
| When the video store that Carl works for goes out of business, Claude agrees to turn in an application for him at GNB. She types his resume on stationary that reads, "From the Office of Will Butler," so his application is rushed through and Carl receives a job as the cafeteria manager -- but Claude fears his performance will reflect badly on her. Meanwhile, Kipp's plan to climb up the corporation pyramid backfires when his elderly target ends up wanting him for sexual purposes. | ||||||
| 25 | 3 | "It Takes a Pillage" | Ted Wass | J.J. Wall | October 7, 2003 | 203 |
| When Claude's apartment is robbed, she decides to call a neighbor meeting and organize her building into a more friendly community. Her good intentions soon turn into an excuse for all neighbors to use her to run them errands. Finally, Claude decides that the building doesn't have to function as a small town and stands up for her freedom, even if it means telling Ramona and Owen that she doesn't want them living there anymore. Meanwhile, Lydia has another unsuccessful attempt of flirting with a superior. | ||||||
| 26 | 4 | "New York Evening" | Ted Wass | Cynthia Greenburg | October 14, 2003 | 206 |
| Claude finds an invitation for a Vogue retrospective at the Guggenheim museum in Will's junk mail and decides to take Ramona and Owen with her to a glamorous New York evening. But their plans hit a snag when Claude makes the last-minute decision to invite Carl. Meanwhile, Kipp makes a list of his ideal mate's qualities, which he leaves on Lydia's desk -- but Jeb finds it and assumes it's Lydia's. | ||||||
| 27 | 5 | "Shampoo" | Ted Wass | Terri Minsky | October 21, 2003 | 201 |
| Claude uses her high school's website to hook up with a down-on-his-luck former classmate and the sparks instantly fly -- until Claude discovers that he's better off than she realized. Meanwhile, Kipp and Lydia fight to get a $100 bottle of shampoo, and Carl gets his feelings hurt when he implements a suggestion box in the cafeteria. | ||||||
| 28 | 6 | "Rules" | Ted Wass | Justin Adler | October 28, 2003 | 207 |
| When Claude meets a man in the elevator, she refuses to give him her number. So, she takes his instead. She is trying out some new dating rules and decides not to call him until the initial 48 hours are over. There's a Halloween party coming up and Claude decides to take Trevor, but unfortunately his number was in the pocket of the jacket she traded in for a party dress. They track down the new owner, but he washed away Trevor's number. Despite her lack of luck, she manages to meet another guy at the party. Meanwhile, Kipp and Lydia smuggle an illegal cheese in order to impress their superiors and earn promotions, but the cheese is eaten by Ramona, Owen and Carl. | ||||||
| 29 | 7 | "All About Claude" | Ted Wass | Chuck Tatham | November 4, 2003 | 205 |
| Ramona is on guard when Vicki Devorski (Pamela Anderson), a former temp who stole her boyfriend, comes back to the office. Ramona jealously guards her current boyfriend so Vicki doesn't get her hooks into him. But when Ramona begins to neglect her friends, Vicki tries to make Claude her new best friend, all in an attempt to get at Ramona. Meanwhile, Owen and Carl discover their mutual obsession with catfights and hope to witness one in person. | ||||||
| 30 | 8 | "Roomies" | Ted Wass | Cynthia Greenburg | November 18, 2003 | 209 |
| Claude and Lydia get stuck rooming together when they travel to the White House Correspondents Dinner in Washington, DC. Lydia has a lot of advice for Claude on how to conduct herself in the nation's capital, but everything changes when Lydia runs into a childhood friend who exposes her middle class background. Meanwhile, Ramona gets upset when Owen asks Carl to move into their shared office space. | ||||||
| 31 | 9 | "Claude's Alternative Thanksgiving" | Ted Wass | Christine Zander | November 25, 2003 | 210 |
| Claude is throwing her first Thanksgiving for all her friends. Owen's two lesbian moms (Valerie Harper and Joanna Kerns) come to visit and share the holiday. The only problem is that his moms have always assumed that Owen is gay. Hoping to keep up the ruse, Owen asks his friends to play along, including asking Carl to pose as his lover. Meanwhile, Lydia and Kipp both get invited to Will's Thanksgiving party, where Kipp is briefly the star attraction. | ||||||
| 32 | 10 | "The Girl Next Door" | Ted Wass | Claudia Lonow | December 2, 2003 | 208 |
| After Carl asks Claude out for a spontaneous dinner, the office rumor mill kicks into gear, until Claude has a talk with him about where their relationship is going. Meanwhile Lydia's outrageous spending habits get her into financial trouble, so she enlists Ramona as her financial advisor. | ||||||
| 33 | 11 | "Claude the Terminator" | Ted Wass | F.J. Pratt & Dan Cohen | December 9, 2003 | 211 |
| Will tells Claude to fire his interior decorator, but Claude doesn't feel up to the task so she enlists Ramona to help... but Ramona quickly becomes drunk with power and begins going beyond the call of duty to help out Claude. Meanwhile, Owen reveals to Carl that Lydia is his ""fantasy girlfriend,"" so Carl claims her too -- and Kipp overhears their conversation. | ||||||
| 34 | 12 | "Santa Claude" | Ted Wass | Mike Dieffenbach | December 16, 2003 | 212 |
| Claude takes on the task of personally shopping for all of Will's Christmas presents for staff and later for his girlfriend, Dani. Her efforts start to go awry when Lydia and Dani's gifts get switched, making Jeb jealous and offending Dani. | ||||||
| 35 | 13 | "What About That!" | Ted Wass | Chuck Tatham | January 6, 2004 | 214 |
| After an altercation with the paparazzi, Will enlists Claude to write a public service announcement in hopes that it will clean up his tarnished image. Claude is ecstatic until she learns that he granted Lydia the opportunity to write one too. Meanwhile, Owen and Carl bask in the luxuries of the VIP men's washroom at GNB, but fellow trespasser Kipp tries to keep them from invading his turf. | ||||||
| 36 | 14 | "Two Camps" | Ted Wass | Justin Adler | January 27, 2004 | 215 |
| When Kipp stirs up a competition with Claude over whether Jeb is a better boss than Will, it escalates until Kipp discovers that Jeb's job is in jeopardy. Meanwhile, Carl gets a thermostat installed in Owen and Ramona's office, which Ramona demands that Owen keeps set on high heat.... leading Owen and Carl to hatch a revenge scheme that goes awry. | ||||||
| 37 | 15 | "Love Stinks (Sometimes)" | Ted Wass | Dan Tobin | February 10, 2004 | 217 |
| Claude sets her sights on Mitch, the new segment producer. In preparation for their date, Claude starves herself to get into a dress, but problems arise when they get to the restaurant and her drink instantly kicks in. Meanwhile, Will goes to great lengths to get Carl to trade Shaq to him in the office "fantasy basketball game," and Jeb and Lydia each try to determine if they are an exclusive couple. | ||||||
| 38 | 16 | "The Crush" | Ted Wass | Rob LaZebnik | February 17, 2004 | 216 |
| Lydia agrees to watch Jeb's son, George, when he comes for a visit, but she quickly pawns him off on Claude. But when George develops a raging crush on Claude, Lydia fears that it will hurt her standing with Jeb. Meanwhile, Ramona finally receives her grandmother's prized tomato seeds from probate and schemes with Owen and Carl to plant them outside of Jeb's office -- but they have to contend with Kipp. | ||||||
| 39 | 17 | "Claude's Apartment" | Ted Wass | Mike Dieffenbach | February 24, 2004 | 218 |
| Claude invites Mitch to her apartment for some dinner and romance, but her friends convince her that her decor is a bit childish. Kipp's mother, Diane (Lesley Ann Warren), steps into town to meet Will Butler for a fling of her own, and swipes one of Claude's childhood drawings to pass off as Kipp's. Meanwhile, Owen gets a motor scooter, Ramona gets tickets to a Mary J. Blige concert, and Lydia makes spa reservations for herself in Diane's name. | ||||||
| 40 | 18 | "22 Minus 1 Equals 4" | Skip Collector | Chuck Tatham | March 2, 2004 | 219 |
| Mitch uses his power to bump Lydia off the 22nd floor to make Claude happy. Even though Lydia's transfer has made life on the 22nd floor serene, Claude tries to bring her back from the 4th floor to ease Owen and Ramon's suffering. Meanwhile, Carl is angered that they're using his cafeteria to hold a blood drive, but he changes his tune when he meets a gorgeous nurse. | ||||||
| 41 | 19 | "Riding in Cars With Falafel" | Jonathan Weiss | J.J. Wall | March 9, 2004 | 213 |
| During a transit strike, Claude borrows Carl's beloved Buick Riviera and sets out on a quest with Ramona and Owen to find a better lunch... a quest that promptly ends when Claude wrecks the car. Meanwhile Lydia talks up Kipp in front of Jeb, who promotes Kipp to his assistant -- but Lydia fears that Kipp will reveal unflattering secrets about her. | ||||||
| 42 | 20 | "Dating Protocol at GNB" | Ted Wass | Cynthia Greenburg & David Metrick | March 16, 2004 | 220 |
| When Mr. Schmidtline holds a "Respect in the Workplace" seminar and cracks down on office romance, Claude fears for her relationship with Mitch... so she sets up Ramona with Schmidtline. Meanwhile, Jeb recruits Carl as a sound man to capture a taped confession from Lydia that he didn't coerce her into their relationship. Kipp calls Owen ""four eyes,"" which he should come to regret when he loses a contact and is caught wearing glasses -- but Owen can't muster a clever remark. | ||||||
| 43 | 21 | "Arctic Nights" | Ted Wass | Robert Bruce | April 27, 2004 | 221 |
| As Claude takes over editing the company newsletter due to the death of the previous one, she hires Owen to write a review comparing Carl to Eddie Smirkoff (Jim Belushi), the new sandwich guy. Meanwhile Will Butler orders her to destroy videotapes that she thinks are old pornography, but turn out to be evidence of his early career as an actor on a Canadian soap opera. | ||||||
| 44 | 22 | "Claude's Roxanne" | Ted Wass | Ron Lux | May 4, 2004 | 222 |
| Will hires Claude's old friend, Roxanne Fiedler (Tori Spelling), as a new secretary, even though she's totally unqualified for the job. Meanwhile Kipp is assumed to be going bonkers Gaslight-style, thanks to some pranks by Carl, Owen and Ramona. | ||||||
| 45 | 23 | "The Pimp Hat" | Ted Wass | Cynthia Greenburg | May 11, 2004 | 224 |
| Claude is heartbroken when Mitch goes on assignment to Budapest, so Owen and Carl try to lift her spirits with a game of "Pimp Hat," where everyone picks a name out of a hat and sets up a date for them. Kipp joins in the game, secretly plotting to ruin everyone's evening, and Lydia becomes jealous that she and Jeb don't have a good "first date story." | ||||||
| 46 | 24 | "Claude On One Knee" | Ted Wass | Christine Zander | May 18, 2004 | 223 |
| In an effort to get rid of Lydia, Claude helps Jeb realize it's time to propose to Lydia so she can quit her job and stay home. Jeb agrees and enlists Claude's help in setting up a romantic night for the perfect proposal. He also assigns Kipp the task of gathering some guys to hang out with for his final hurrah after the proposal, but all Kipp manages to find are Owen & Carl. | ||||||
Season 3 (2004–05)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 47 | 1 | "Supply Man Down" | Ted Wass | Mike Dieffenbach | September 24, 2004 | 303 |
| Will is jealous of the publicity other network anchors are getting for their pro-social work, so he asks Claude to suggest a policy that can get him some positive press. Claude suggests helping the environment by adopting the "paperless office," but fails to consider how the new policy will affect Owen -- head of office supplies. Meanwhile, Kipp and Carl lose the key to Will's expensive car down an elevator shaft and must journey to the depths of the building to find it. | ||||||
| 48 | 2 | "Claude Wants to Know" | Ted Wass | Justin Adler | October 1, 2004 | 301 |
| After Caleb (Will Friedle), a co-worker that Claude's dating, tells her he's not ready for a relationship, the very next day she and Ramona see him with another woman. Claude decides to confront Caleb to find out exactly what he didn't like about her. Meanwhile, Owen and Carl befriend Jeb by sharing with him their new hobby, the Roll-O board. And Will, who has started wearing an earring to get more publicity, has his interview with a journalist (Giuliana Depandi) interrupted by Claude's emotional crisis about her dating life. | ||||||
| 49 | 3 | "Ain't It a Shame, Claude?" | Ted Wass | Claudia Lonow | October 15, 2004 | 302 |
| Claude plays matchmaker between Ramona and the new office hunk, Mike (Erik Palladino), but unwittingly arouses Mike's interest in her. Meanwhile Jeb and Lydia skip out on work to handle affairs that not even Kipp may know about, while Carl has notions of becoming a secret agent and, along with Kipp, puts his "spy skills" to use to uncover the truth about Jeb and Lydia's activities. | ||||||
| 50 | 4 | "Ignoring, Lydia" | Ted Wass | Cynthia Greenburg | October 22, 2004 | 304 |
| Lydia, obsessed with planning her wedding, is driving her fiance, Jeb, crazy. Jeb decides to pay Claude to listen to Lydia discuss the wedding details so he doesn't have to, but complications result when Lydia begins to think of Claude as a real friend. Meanwhile, it turns out that the publicist assigned to promote Will's new biography, Tracy (Lucy Lawless), is an old flame, and they rekindle their romance. And Owen and Carl find that communicating through walkie talkies allows them to be more candid with each other. | ||||||
| 51 | 5 | "Knock, Knock Who's Dead?" | Ted Wass | Rob LaZebnik | October 29, 2004 | 305 |
| Ramona and Claude stumble upon an aged co-worker who has passed on, and when no one claims his belongings, Claude resolves to find his next of kin. Ramona, for her part, seizes the opportunity to move into the former colleague's office after finding out that Lydia wants to store her wedding materials in it. But a spirit seems to haunt the office, frightening Ramona and Owen and climaxing with supernatural events on Halloween Night. Meanwhile Carl, decked out as a Musketeer, flirts with a cafeteria patron dressed as a genie, and Lydia and Jeb fight over their costumes for the company Halloween party. | ||||||
| 52 | 6 | "From the Chair to the Couch" | Ted Wass | F.J. Pratt & Dan Cohen | November 5, 2004 | 308 |
| Will, upset about an on-air blunder during his news broadcast, blames his mistake on his faulty anchor chair. Claude has the chair checked out, learns there's nothing wrong with it, and tells him so. When Will continues to insist the chair was the problem, Claude calls him a diva. Hurt by the comment, Will sends Claude to see his therapist. Meanwhile Lydia sees Will's on-air slip as an opportunity for Jeb to step into the anchor position, and Kipp breaks up with his girlfriend, Annie, but is scared into reuniting with her after he finds a gun in her purse. | ||||||
| 53 | 7 | "Shoo-In" | Ted Wass | Terri Minsky | November 12, 2004 | 309 |
| Claude applies for the GNB Management Training Program, assured by Ramona that she is a "shoo-in" to be selected. But when Kipp also applies for the program, it remains to be seen what will be Claude's greater obstacle to acceptance, Kipp or her own blossoming confidence. Meanwhile, Jeb learns Lydia plans to stop working once they're married, so he enlists Kipp to convince her otherwise -- but Jeb should be careful what he wishes for; and Owen and Carl conspire to make big money supplying fish to the GNB cafeteria, but their plan is endangered when Ramona becomes suspicious. | ||||||
| 54 | 8 | "We're Bad People" | Ted Wass | Chuck Tatham | November 19, 2004 | 310 |
| When Claude and Ramona suspect Kipp is bankrolling his Lasik surgery with ill-gotten company money, they go undercover to learn the truth. Meanwhile, Lydia is shocked to learn Jeb is hiding a dirty little secret about the fancy hotel she's chosen for their romantic rendezvous, and Owen and Carl help Will train for the NYC Marathon. | ||||||
| 55 | 9 | "Moms the Word" | Ted Wass | Christine Zander | November 26, 2004 | 307 |
| It's the day after Thanksgiving and Owen's two moms visit GNB to meet his coworkers. Judy (Joanna Kerns) helps Will with his girlfriend problems and Judith (Valerie Harper) lives vicariously through Carl and Ramona, encouraging them to indulge in her passions for gambling and drinking. Meanwhile, Claude fears losing her job when Owen reveals that she's secretly interviewing for another job, and Lydia's first Thanksgiving with Jeb's family does not go well when his grandmother kicks the bucket under mysterious circumstances. | ||||||
| 56 | 10 | "Claude's Romantic Hideaway" | Ted Wass | J.J. Wall | December 3, 2004 | 306 |
| When Claude learns Carl's next "romantic" date with Vivian will consist of taking her out for pizza, she steps in to orchestrate a real romantic night for them. But when Vivian finds out Claude masterminded the date -- which takes place at Claude's apartment - she doesn't appreciate the interference in her budding romance with Carl. Meanwhile, jealousy rears its head when Jeb learns of Lydia's past relationship with Will, and a trivia contest brings out Owen and Ramona's competitive sides. | ||||||
| 57 | 11 | "Claude's 15 Minutes of Christmas" | Gary Shimokawa | Justin Adler | December 17, 2004 | 313 |
| Claude is put in charge of organizing the GNB on-air holiday greeting, but is alarmed to learn that there are strict criteria to determine who can represent the company - putting her in hot water with Owen, Ramona and Carl, to whom she had promised an appearance. Meanwhile Lydia refuses to rearrange her holiday plans with Jeb when he announces they must accommodate his son, George, and Kipp and his new girlfriend, Annie, encounter holiday relationship turbulence. | ||||||
| 58 | 12 | "Emotions Eleven" | Ted Wass | Earl Davis | January 7, 2005 | 311 |
| The crew arrives at GNB's annual retreat to discover former human resources representative Schmidtline fired up to point out all their workplace flaws. Claude struggles to lead the group in a team-building task, and when things go poorly, they decide to go AWOL. Meanwhile, Will and Jeb are left to fend for themselves in the office. | ||||||
| 59 | 13 | "You Can Leave the Lights On" | Ted Wass | Cynthia Greenburg | January 14, 2005 | 312 |
| Claude's ex-boyfriend, Charlie, returns to GNB and they decide to give their relationship a second try. Ramona convinces Claude to buy some sexy lingerie to reignite their passion, and Claude finally feels confident enough in her own skin to wear it, but is later embarrassed when she is strip-searched at work. Meanwhile, GNB has reinstated the studio tour, putting pressure on Ramona and Owen to perform as if they had an audience; and Jeb at last seems to appreciate Kipp's work, but when he makes a terrible mistake, Lydia jumps in to help her friend. | ||||||
| 60 | 14 | "I Just Don't Like Her" | Jonathan Weiss | Rob LaZebnik | January 21, 2005 | 314 |
| Carl's girlfriend, Viv, is friendly to everyone except Claude who, she thinks, is trying to steal Carl away from her. But when Carl breaks up with Viv for ridiculous reasons, Claude makes it her goal to get them back together. Meanwhile, Lydia convinces a restaurant to add Jeb's image on their famed wall, which forces Will off the wall. | ||||||
| 61 | 15 | "Playhouse" | Ted Wass | J.J. Wall | January 28, 2005 | 316 |
| Claude's boyfriend Charlie temporarily moves in after his landlord pays him ten thousand dollars to move out. However, when Charlie becomes too comfortable with his new wealth and free living arrangements and begins holding auditions for his new band in her apartment, Claude questions her decision. In the meantime, Lydia wants Jeb to take dance lessons to prepare for their wedding, and Owen is the perfect teacher. | ||||||
| 62 | 16 | "Distractions" | Skip Collector | Mike Dieffenbach | February 4, 2005 | 315 |
| Claude is excited to be starting the GNB Management Training Program with her new boyfriend, Charlie - until Kipp joins the program and befriends Charlie. Meanwhile, Owen volunteers to photograph Lydia and Jeb's wedding, but Lydia is uninterested until she sees his work up at a prominent New York art gallery. Paula Abdul guest stars as Kathleen, Will Butler's girlfriend and art gallery owner. | ||||||
| 63 | 17 | "Get Away" | Ted Wass | Suzie V. Freeman & Sarah Jane Cunningham | February 11, 2005 | 317 |
| Will gives Claude the keys to his home in the Hamptons for a romantic weekend with Charlie, but when they arrive they're surprised to find that Lydia and Jeb had the same idea. Meanwhile Ramona makes a romantic connection with the geeky computer technician, Morpheus (Mark Curry), Carl and Kipp compete for the affection of the beautiful yet unattainable new producer, Laura (Kimberly Williams-Paisley), and Will gets a private lesson in his office from his tai chi instructor, Xin Xao Pi (Regis Philbin). | ||||||
| 64 | 18 | "Pre-Wedded Bliss" | Ted Wass | Emily Cutler | March 4, 2005 | 318 |
| Claude steps in to help Lydia and Jeb with their pre-nup, but finds she may have opened a Pandora's Box. Owen offers to help Claude with Will's fan mail, and forges a relationship with one fan in particular, Louise. But when Louise (played by Joan Rivers) shows up at GNB to meet Will, it could be trouble for everyone. Meanwhile Ramona cooks up an internet auction scheme to get back at Kipp for insulting her. | ||||||
| 65 | 19 | "Claude's Extreme Makeover" | Ted Wass | Earl Davis | March 25, 2005 | 319 |
| Claude wins an extreme apartment makeover by the "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" design team at a charity auction. While designers Tracy Hutson, Michael Moloney and Paul DiMeo (guest starring as themselves) redesign the apartment, Claude has to spend the night at GNB -- where there is a surprising amount of late night activity and intrigue. | ||||||
| 66 | 20 | "Amicably Yours" | Ted Wass | David Metrick | April 1, 2005 | 320 |
| Claude discovers that Jeb and Lydia are pretending to be romantically interested in her and Kipp, respectively, as a means of making the other jealous. Meanwhile, Carl makes a long overdue visit to a doctor, played by Star Jones Reynolds, who makes him think he has more ailments than he really does. | ||||||
| 67 | 21 | "Casey v. Kronsky" | Ted Wass | F.J. Pratt & Dan Cohen | April 8, 2005 | 321 |
| To complete the GNB Management Training Program, Claude and Kipp must supervise a department. Claude is assigned to Supplies, where she struggles to assert her authority over hypersensitive Owen. Meanwhile Kipp is assigned to Operations, which he soon learns is the janitorial department. At first appalled at blue collar life, Kipp later embraces his new masculine side. Lydia fills in as Jeb's secretary, which proves awkward since they've broken up. | ||||||
| 68 | 22 | "Claude the Expert" | Ted Wass | Justin Adler | April 15, 2005 | 322 |
| Claude encourages Charlie to audition for a band, but then, when he makes the cut and has to leave town indefinitely, she realizes her relationship skills are better applied to Jeb and Lydia. Meanwhile, Owen and Ramona throw a surprise birthday party for Carl, but it turns out to be a much bigger celebration than they'd expected. | ||||||
Season 4 (2006)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 69 | 1 | "The Devil Wears Burberry, Part I" | Ted Wass | Christine Zander | April 18, 2006 | 401 |
| Upon returning from vacation in Italy, Claude learns that her boss, network anchor Will Butler, has resigned, leaving her jobless. Luckily her trusty friends, Owen and Ramona, have secured her a position as a temp on the 4th floor, right back where she started three years ago. Jeb Denton, the new anchorman, has promoted his wife, Lydia, to producer, and Claude's worst nightmare comes true when she's offered a job as Lydia's assistant. She hesitantly accepts the job on condition that she be given more responsibility, but working for Lydia proves to be a dangerous bargain. Meanwhile, Owen becomes addicted to Carl's new soft serve ice cream machine. | ||||||
| 70 | 2 | "The Devil Wears Burberry, Part II" | Ted Wass | Rob LaZebnik | April 25, 2006 | 402 |
| After quitting as Lydia's assistant, Claude is back to "floater" status. However, the only spot available is working with Lydia, so Claude reluctantly agrees to work for her, but with conditions. Lydia's first major assignment is to produce a complicated segment for the news. She pretends to have everything under control, but ends up breaking down and begging Claude for her help. Claude saves her only after she's given a raise, a promotion and an apology. Meanwhile, Ramona gets a call that she may need to quit and return to the National Guard, leaving Owen and Carl freaking out. | ||||||
| 71 | 3 | "A Crush Grows in Brooklyn" | Ted Wass | Claudia Lonow | May 2, 2006 | 403 |
| After a long week, Claude, Carl, Ramona and Owen enjoy a night out for happy hour at their favorite bar. A little tipsy, Claude and Carl head home, and, when one thing leads to another, they end up in bed together. They decide to keep it a secret from everyone at work to protect their friendship, but their attraction to each other makes that difficult. Meanwhile, Jeb incites a power struggle between Lydia and Kipp to keep them both distracted and out of his hair. | ||||||
| 72 | 4 | "Why Are You Hurting Claude?" | Ted Wass | Dan Cohen & F.J. Pratt | May 30, 2006 | 404 |
| Claude reveals to Ramona that she and Carl are sleeping together and asks that she keep it a secret from Owen. Owen then senses that something is going on, so he asks Carl, who reveals nothing. But later that night, Owen pays Carl a visit and ends up walking in on Claude and Carl having sex. Meanwhile, Jeb & Lydia are constantly fighting at work, and Kipp loses his trust fund and looks to Ramona to help him budget his money. | ||||||
| 73 | 5 | "Flirting with De-Feet" | Ted Wass | Steve Holland | June 6, 2006 | 405 |
| Claude is concerned when Carl doesn't seem to be affected by her flirting with Ethan, the copy repairman. Meanwhile, Ramona finds out that Kipp is making money on the side as a foot model, and she demands to get involved. Owen takes the photos of their feet together, but when they find them online, it turns out that someone has turned their shoot into a bizarre sexual scene. | ||||||
| 74 | 6 | "The Owl Specialist" | Ted Wass | Mike Dieffenbach | June 18, 2009 (on Lifetime) | 406 |
| Claude attempts to protect the owls living on her apartment building's roof. When her landlord tells Carl that he's having an owl specialist come take a look at them, Claude thinks he's going to "take them away" and attempts to protect them at all costs. When Lydia asks her to dog sit, however, things do not go as planned. Meanwhile, Owen desperately searches for someone to be his emergency contact. | ||||||
| 75 | 7 | "Red Carpet Claude" | Ted Wass | J.J. Wall | June 19, 2009 (on Lifetime) | 407 |
| When Jeb is described as boring, Claude decides to get him publicity as a fun guy by getting him into an important party. When Lydia cannot go, Jeb decides to take Claude as his date as a way to thank her. At the red carpet, an uninterested Jeb leaves Claude by herself, causing her to accidentally ends up getting it herself, which angers Lydia. | ||||||
| 76 | 8 | "Kip Steadman's Guide to Dating" | Sheldon Epps | Rob LaZebnik | June 19, 2009 (on Lifetime) | 408 |
| When Kip loses his apartment, Carl decides to take him in. Kip then gives Carl advice on how to date Claude, realizing he knows a lot more about her than he thought. | ||||||
| 77 | 9 | "Reinventing the Wheel" | Trevor Kirschner | Earl Davis | June 20, 2009 (on Lifetime) | 409 |
| Owen helps Claude deal with a moody Lydia and Kip finds out that Jeb picks on him because he is a weak target. Meanwhile, Ramona and Carl learn that they might be related through marriage after Carl recognizes one of his aunts in Ramona's family reunion photos. | ||||||
| 78 | 10 | "And the Award Goes to" | Gil Junger | Mike Dieffenbach | June 20, 2009 (on Lifetime) | 410 |
| When Lydia feels she doesn't get enough recognition, Jeb and Claude come up with a plan to give her a fake award, but they soon get too over their heads when Lydia gets too excited about the award. | ||||||
| 79 | 11 | "I Have An Ear" | Sheldon Epps | Lew Schneider | June 23, 2009 (on Lifetime) | 411 |
| Claude and Kip get into an argument when she is about to become assistant to Lydia and Jeb. | ||||||
| 80 | 12 | "Banished and Famished" | Skip Collector | Steve Holland | June 23, 2009 (on Lifetime) | 412 |
| Claude convinces Lydia to implement a set of new rules in the office to make working at GNB better for it's employees, but when reading the finalized list out loud, she learns that Lydia snuck in one more rule--anyone that doesn't work on the 22nd floor is banned from eating in its lounge--forcing Ramona and Owen are forced to eat in their office. | ||||||
| 81 | 13 | "Sex, Lies and Office Supplies" | Jonathan Weiss | Earl Davis | June 24, 2009 (on Lifetime) | 413 |
| In the series finale, Claude realizes that Lydia is about to cheat on Jeb after hearing a phone call. Apparently, Lydia and the man from London meet once a year, but Claude tries to convince Lydia to end the affair now that she's married. She later wishes she had stayed out of it when she meets the man at a hotel bar later on to end things on Lydia's behalf, as she ends up making out with the guy, despite being in a relationship with Carl. | ||||||
Home release
On September 7, 2010 Lionsgate Home Entertainment released Season One of Less Than Perfect on DVD. The 4-disc set contains all 22 episodes uncut and for the first time available in their original widescreen format and a complete lack of special features. However, the episodes do not run in the order they premiered on television, but rather in the order of their production code, which may have been the true order they should have been released (for example, Charlie is introduced as a new character in Episode 10/Production Code 218, having already made an appearance in Episode 9/Production Code 221). However, due to an error with episode 19 "Oh Papa" for some reason having the same production code as episode 12 "Claude's Got a Secret" it was placed last on the DVD, after the correct season finale "The Umbrella". "Oh Papa" should occur sometime after the "Valentine's Day" episode.
References
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