It's Adam's first day of high school, which means a clean slate for him and his nerdy friends. So he tries to reinvent himself with a new "bad boy" rep, dressing just like Judd Nelson's John Bender character in The Breakfast Club. Barry tries to establish himself as a jock, while Erica wants to have an awesome senior year by doing whatever she wants. But their plans are threatened when Beverly receives her teaching certificate to become a substitute teacher at their school. One thing leads to another, and Beverly, the Goldberg children, and Lainey all end up in Saturday detention.
- Air Vent Escape: Barry attempts to escape the library this way like in The Breakfast Club. He only makes it a few feet before the ceiling gives way.
- Embarrassing Relative Teacher: Beverly gets her teaching certificate and applies to be a substitute teacher, to the horror of her children.
- Insult Backfire: Adam tries to play up his bad boy persona, even using the same Barry Manilow comment Bender uses in the film for Principal Ball. Ball replies that he's "quite the fan-ilow".
- Whole-Plot Reference: To The Breakfast Club.
