More Awesome Than You!

Disclaimer: I'm lazy (hence why I'm not testing this myself). Recently, I've been playing TS2 more, and noticed that family members don't seem to apply to the friend count for jobs (talking about family members in separate residences, obviously I don't expect those in the same household to count). So, if Fred lives alone, and is friends with only his brother, the friend count on the job panel shows 0 friends. Is this a TS2 thing or do I have a hack that's causing it? If this is a TS2 thing, is there a fix? 'Cuz really what's the point of being friendly with family if theres' no benefit (also the strategy I take in RL)?

So, you're too lazy to figure this out for yourself, but you expect us to take the time to answer?  Better get out your bullet-proof vest now.

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/Rage_face.png)

family relations never count as family friends in TS2, and that includes in-laws as well.

No, it doesn't.

The total household friend count only applies to family friends that are outside of the household

The OP is aware of that, and even pointed it out. However, family members outside the household still don't count as family friends, unless they're friends with someone in the household who's not directly related to them (doesn't have the little 'family' icon in the relationships tab).