Guys with Kids Episode 1.06 Apartment Halloween

Emily, Nick and Violet are busy decorating the hallway of their apartment building. It's a Halloween fright fest with cobwebs, bloody handprints, spiders and skulls. Gary arrives and compliments them on their work on this year's traditional haunted hallway. Nick proudly states he's raided his 401k for the occasion. Sheila and Chris arrive with little Ernie; Sheila and Nick immediately begin trading barbs. Victor, the building maintenance guy, stops by to tell the gang some bad news: Miss Crane, the head of the building's co-op board, is dead.

Gary heads back to his apartment to tell Marny the news of Miss Crane's death. Marny is shocked and saddened, but only for a minute. Their neighbor's death means they can now buy her old apartment and finally expand their place. Meanwhile, a disappointed Emily, Violet and Nick step outside their apartment to find their haunted hallway decorations have been pulled down and placed in a pile. A note from Lydia Allmendinger, the new co-op board president, informs them that their decorations violate the building's bylaws. Facing a despondent Violet, Nick vows to persuade Lydia to change the rules. Emily's skeptical. A determined Nick grabs Chris (he is his lawyer after all) and they head off to Lydia Allmendinger's apartment.

Marny and Gary check out the empty apartment next door. Victor's there, cleaning up. They tell Victor how excited they are to have a chance to finally buy the place and expand their home. But Victor explains that the building's rules state that any vacant unit must be placed on the open market for at least one week before it can be purchased by an existing tenant.

Nick and Chris bump into Sheila in front of Lydia's apartment. Sheila's also been served with a notice of violation, for an illegal doormat and doorbell. She's brought a bottle of wine as a peace offering in an attempt to also get the rules bent on her behalf. As Lydia opens the door, Nick snatches the wine bottle from Sheila and offers it to Lydia as a gift. He's all smooth and smiley, but Lydia is all business; she gives Sheila the cold shoulder, too. Lydia's disgusted that some people think they can just make their own rules. But she changes her tune when she spies Chris. She's clearly smitten. While Sheila and Nick can't get any traction, it looks like Chris can do no wrong.

Nick and Emily squabble over who will break the bad news about the Halloween hallway to young Violet. Nick appoints Emily. The news, as predicted, does not go over well. Nick can't stand to see his little girl distressed. He doesn't know how he'll do it, but he vows to get the rule changed. Violet is happy again. Emily's irritated that Nick always gets to play the good parent. Chris stops by to tell them that Lydia seems to be putting the moves on him.

Nick stops over at Sheila's apartment to conspire. He proposes a partnership, since they both want something from Lydia, and they both have something Sheila wants: Chris. In return, he laments, they'll have to give Chris what he wants: for them to be friends with each other.

Realizing that the apartment next door is being shown to potential buyers, Gary and Marny hatch a plan. With Yoda and Clark in tow, they stop over to introduce themselves to prospective buyers, cueing the kids to blast away on their musical instruments. The prospective buyers are unfazed by the din, but do grow reluctant when Marny mentions that the previous tenant died in the unit. Sensing a deal-killer, Gary lays on the story of the death extra thick, driving the buyers off. They repeat the scare tactics (including a haunting) to a parade of buyers, all of whom are put off by the grisly details Gary and Marny share.

Sheila and Nick are at Cagney's bar, sharing a plate of curly fries. They've summoned Chris to show him how well they're getting along - and to ask a little favor. Moments later, Lydia Allmendinger shows up, excited that Sheila and Nick told her that Chris is interested in her. It's news to Chris, of course. As Lydia heads to the bar, Nick tells Chris he only needs him to distract Lydia long enough for him to pull off his haunted hallway; Sheila wants Chris to secure Lydia's permission to decorate her apartment the way she wants to. Chris considers it all and agrees that if Sheila and Nick will be friends, he'll do his best. Lydia returns and Chris has Sheila and Nick demonstrate what great friends they are: sharing burgers, hugging etc. Lydia wants to take Chris home.

Marny and Gary are excited; the apartment's as good as theirs, they reason. They share the good news with the older boys, but Clark and Yoda want nothing to do with the place next door: it's haunted! Gary explains that they made it all up, but the boys aren't so sure.

The haunted hallway is in full swing, as neighbors traipse through for tricks and treats. Sheila comes as Mary Shelley, toting little Ernie as a tiny Frankenstein.

Meanwhile, Lydia's coaxed Chris into her apartment. She invites Chris to try on some clothes for her. He emerges in a powder blue leisure suit, circa 1975. Lydia's stunned by the remarkable resemblance: Chris now looks exactly like her long-lost father. She explains that he left when she was a child. "Brush my hair daddy," she implores of Chris. Creeped out, Chris makes a hasty retreat to the haunted hallway.

A perturbed Lydia tracks down Chris and begins a tirade about how illegal the party is. Now it's Emily who can't stand to see Violet disappointed. She stands her ground with Lydia, threatening to run against her in the next co-op board election. Sheila chimes in that she'll run against her too. Lydia heads off in a huff, with Victor.

Sheila and Nick wonder what else they can do to keep Lydia appeased. They decide that Chris should continue to romance her - maybe take her on a father-daughter trip to the Grand Canyon in an RV. Listening nearby, Chris has had enough gigolo work. He tells Nick and Sheila that he no longer needs them to be friendly.