Hangin' with Mr. Cooper

June 21, 1997

After Vanessa accepts Mark's marriage proposal, Mark looks for a deal on a ring he can afford. But there's a misunderstanding about the price—after he gives it to Vanessa.

June 28, 1997

When Geneva feels she's in the way of the newlyweds-to-be and makes plans to move out, Mark enlists the help of Tyler's rambunctious young relatives to convince her to stay.

July 5, 1997

Mark meets Vanessa's extremely weathly parents for the first time, and hopes that they will pay for the wedding.

July 12, 1997

Vanessa's job working as an emergency medical technician is eliminated due to budget cuts, so she starts her own business selling African beauty supplies. Meanwhile, Mark takes an additional job at a security company.

July 19, 1997

Vanessa is very tense from planning her wedding, so her friend Florence invites her to a spa for relaxation. Mark becomes jealous when he realizes that the spa is staffed by attractive men who are eager to please their customers.

August 2, 1997

Tyler makes a date with a girl for his first school dance, but Mark gives him bad advice on how to treat women.

August 9, 1997

When Mark argues with the high school's girls' basketball coach, they decide to settle their differences with a one-on-one basketball game.

August 15, 1997

To help the school earn money for textbooks, Mark works at a carnival pretending to be a fortuneteller.

August 16, 1997

Mark and Vanessa get into an argument, but they both have conflicting viewpoints as to what really happened.

August 22, 1997

Vanessa pressures Geneva's longtime boyfriend, Ken, into asking Geneva to marry him. Geneva accepts, but Ken reconsiders after Mark inadvertently scares him about the seriousness of marriage.

August 23, 1997

Mark promises that he will introduce Tyler to his favorite rap star who happens to be an old friend of Mark's.

August 29, 1997

While Vanessa's friends give her a pre-wedding party at a strip club where her old boyfriend works, Mark's buddies host a similar party for him.

August 30, 1997

Vanessa wonders if Mark really understands her. She places an advertisement in a section of the personals and then tests Mark by telling him to determine which ad is hers.