8. Band on the Run

Complete story — includes the ending

After repeatedly failing to secure dates for an upcoming school dance, Cory and Shawn mope around at Chubbie's. Their luck seemingly changes when a patron asks them to watch his guitar for a few moments, prompting a group of impressed girls to mistake the duo for actual rock musicians. Realizing the romantic potential of the misunderstanding, Cory and Shawn lean into the deception and decide to form a fake band so that they can impress girls. They hold humorous, non-musical tryouts and recruit two classmates, including a boy named Thor, who possess no musical talent but excel at striking stereotypical rock star poses. Cory enforces a strict rule to protect the charade: the band must never actually play a single note. The plan backfires when the scheduled band for the school dance the Demon Seeds, abruptly cancels. Driven by the enthusiastic demands of Cory and Shawn's adoring fans, Acting Principal Mr. Feeny officially books the boys' fake band as the night's entertainment. Panicking, Cory confesses to the fake members that he signed real performance contracts, prompting them to instantly quit. Desperate, Cory and Shawn hire a real local band to play hidden backstage while the duo lip-syncs and air-guitars on stage. However, they lack the money to pay the musicians, who walk out right before the set. Left alone on stage, Cory and Shawn frantically stall the audience by shouting generic rock concert questions to exploit the cheering crowd before finally admitting the truth. Meanwhile, the boys' musical deception inspires Alan to reconnect with his youth and track down his former garage bandmates. While Alan is excited to recapture his glory days, he is disheartened to find that his old friends have fully embraced middle age and have absolutely no interest in living like young rock stars anymore, leaving him to grapple with his own feelings about growing older. Special guest stars: Micky Dolenz as Gordy, Rick Nielsen as Norm, Billy Vera as Larry Guest stars: Jhoanna Trias as Sonia, Jewelie Hull as Sherry, Rembrandt as Scream, Adam Scott as Senior, Matthew Stephen Liu as Thor, Andrew Fuentes as Flip Absent: Lily Nicksay as Morgan Matthews