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Private Notes
When Cliff, the owner of the newsstand in the same New York office building as Pops' diner, dies, Shawn borrows money from Pops to buy the business, and hires Marlon to help out. But Marlon would rather help himself to a down-on-her-luck heiress named Monique, who struts into their lives with rich tastes and empty pockets.
Distraught over a recent breakup, Shawn becomes instantly enamored with domineering Rachel, a woman he meets at the newsstand. Rachel gives him lots of love and attention, as well as expensive gifts, and Shawn is convinced he has met his perfect woman. However, Marlon notices that Rachel seems to have an unhealthy obsession with Shawn and attempts to convince his unbelieving brother to get away from her.
After a leader of the art world buys Marlon's paint-smeared dropcloth, Marlon turns into a temperamental artist, much to Shawn's disgust. But Marlon's artistic career hits a snag when Lou catches a vandal putting graffiti on Pops' diner: the art patrons become so impressed with the graffiti artist that they abandon Marlon.
Shawn and Marlon find an infant left at their door with a note to the unnamed father from ""T."" Which one is the daddy? Each claims it's the other until the bonding begins.
Shawn, Marlon, Pops, Lou and Monique dream of the good life when they find $100,000 in an ashtray in the lobby. But Lou is determined to carry out the Niedermeyer Building rule requiring a classified ad be placed in the newspaper so that the owner can come forward -- and if it's claimed within five days, their dreams will go up in smoke.
Marlon gets jealous when Monique pretends to be married to Shawn in order to impress Otis Campbell, her college rival. When Otis takes the ""couple"" to a chic Moroccan restaurant, Marlon sneaks in and convinces Shawn to leave so that he can convey his strong feelings to Monique. Monique is surprised to see Marlon, but more horrified that he will ruin her cover by letting Otis know she really isn't married. When Marlon confesses his emotions, Monique is embarrassed, but then proudly sends Otis away, realizing that Marlon is sincere. In the end, she agrees to be friends with Marlon.
Every Halloween, Pops puts out a cup of coffee and a doughnut to please the spirit of a dead woman, Cassandra Malloy, which he believes resides in the building. As a joke, Shawn and Marlon sneak in and eat the offerings. Soon, strange things begin to occur at the building and the guys admit their prank to Pops. To resolve the problem, Monique agrees to perform an exorcism.
When Marlon finds out that President Clinton's motorcade will be passing by Pops' diner, and that the bathroom will be made available to the leader should he need to use it, Marlon determines to shake the President's hand.
Shawn listens carefully to Pops' lecture on the evils of poker -- then risks everything on a single hand, losin g his newsstand to T.C. After T.C. takes over ownership, Shawn's pride is on the line, and he challenges T.C. to double or nothing, with Pops' diner as the prize.
When Marlon quits the family basketball team, Pops turns to Monique, who can make his son jump through hoops. It's the basketball game of the season for the Williams brothers when they go up against the Jones brothers -- their life-long arch rivals. But before the match begins, Shawn and Marlon begin arguing over strategies, and a disgusted Marlon storms off the court in disgust. A forfeit seems inevitable, until Monique steps in and convinces Marlon to express his own individual style while following Shawn's game plan.
Shawn and Marlon dread a visit from their rural cousin Sheila. When she arrives, they discover how distraught she is over losing her boyfriend. In an effort to cheer her up and improve her social life, the guys change her image and turn her from a plain girl into a hip-hop beauty. But her new ways turn off Shawn and Marlon, who wish they'd kept her down on the farm.
Santa's loading a gun and checking it twice, then taking Pops and the boys hostage for not showing the right Christmas spirit. He's only a part-time, dress-up Santa, but the gun is for real.
Shawn and Marlon become desperately lonely men, and at Pops' suggestion, attend a church bazaar where Shawn meets the girl of his dreams. The situation is complicated when Shawn discovers something about his new love which may make their romance difficult to continue: she insists on staying a virgin.
With Pops secretly enjoying being sick in bed, the boys try to force his hand by turning the diner over to White Mike, hoping he'll do so a bad job that Pops with rush back. But Mike turns the diner into a health-food spot to attract the gym clientele, and a suspiciously delicious ""fat-free"" cheesecake proves very popular -- leaving Pops feeling unwanted and unnecessary.
After an argument with Shawn, Marlon decides it's time for him to claim his independence and move out. Marlon ends up rooming with White Mike, while Shawn takes in T.C. Unexpectedly, Mike and T.C. dump Shawn and Marlon as roommates, forcing them back together -- something we later discover was engineered by Pops, who wanted the boys to reconcile.
Shawn's romantic Valentine's Day plans go awry when his girlfriend wises up to his two-timing ways and spurns him for Marlon. Meanwhile, Dee thinks her secret admirer is Pops, but it's really Maurice the custodian.
White Mike asks Shawn to ghost write a love letter for him to Tatiana, the new waitress at Pops' diner. The letter gets into Dee's hands and she mistakenly believes Shawn left it there for her. The letter continues to inadvertently get passed around the lobby, with each recipient jumping to the wrong conclusions. The miscommunications build up to the annual Valentine's Day party in the Niedermeyer Building, where the truth is revealed and White Mike succeeds in winning over Tatiana.
When the producer of a Regis & Kathie Lee type morning talk show invites Pops to cook his chili on the program, Marlon and Shawn tag along as his assistants. They're a hit and get invited back, only to discover that the show's hosts, Ken & Kiki, want the boys to do the segment without Pops, who they think is too old to appeal to the ""younger demographic."" Upset about Pops' firing, the boys sacrifice their budding TV careers and get even with Ken & Kiki by chiding the two hosts into an on-air brawl with each other. Meanwhile, street hustler T.C. becomes a security guard.
Shawn rescues a boy hit by a car in front of the Niedermeyer Building. After reviving him with CPR, Shawn goes to call 911, leaving Marlon with the boy. When the boy regains consciousness, he thinks Marlon saved him. Before Marlon can contradict him, a crowd gathers, cheering his heroism. Caught up in the adulation and subsequent publicity, Marlon begins to believe he truly was a hero -- and to envision his own line of action figures -- until Pops helps him see the truth.
When Dee falls for a con man, a smooth-talking jewelry salesman who rips off lonely single women, Shawn and Marlon must find a way to open her eyes before the wedding.
It's decision-making time for Shawn when Mrs. Niedermeyer, the owner of the building where his newsstand is housed, makes a pass at him, and Shawn must decide whether he will return the attention to keep his lease intact. While Mrs. Niedermeyer is beautiful, she's also got a jealous husband. Shawn is torn between doing what's right and saving his newsstand.
Marlon's acress friend Stacey convinces him to help her audition for the Tisch School of Performing Arts. Marlon begins to consider an acting career for himself -- an idea that Shawn thinks is ridiculous and unrealistic. Pops helps Shawn come to see that he should be offering Marlon his support, not doubting his abilities. Meanwhile, Marlon uses the anger from his argument with Shawn to fuel his performance in the audition and ends up getting a scholarship. Special appearance by NBA star Brent Barry
Marlon slips in Shawn's spilled coffee and breaks his leg, which knocks him out of the cash prize he was sure to win in a dance contest. Marlon sues Shawn in small claims court for the two grand, but in the end admits all he really wanted from Shawn was an apology.
