It is Harry Bentley's birthday, and the Jeffersons have invited him and the Willises over for a dinner party. But the occasion turns sour when Tom shows up wearing the same tuxedo as George, causing George to become jealous. Meanwhile, Helen is trying to hide the fact that she was mugged a few days earlier, and if Tom knows about this he will surely move his family out of New York City.

George and Louise decide to take a cruise for their first-ever vacation, but then have to figure out how to tell Mother Jefferson that she's not invited.

A young woman shows up at the Jeffersons' doorstep, claiming that she is Louise's long-lost daughter. Louise and George deny her claims, but Mother Jefferson brings up the disturbing news that Louise dated a man years ago - when George was at Korea.

Harry Bentley's new girlfriend Daphne appears to be insinuating her way into his life, much to his chagrin. Meanwhile, George plots to bribe the building inspector.

Upset that she is not being paid attention to by George, Louise and Lionel during a visit at their apartment, Mother Jeffersons fakes a fall to garner attention.

George and Louise's anniversary bicycle ride leads to a minor collision and a legal summons for George. But Louise insists on telling the truth rather than corroborating George's ethically shaky account of the incident.

Mother Jefferson is upset over an encounter with an elevator masher, who turns out to be Tom Willis' elderly Uncle Bertram, a retired firefighter in town to visit his relatives.

George feels that his fortunes are taking a turn for the worse when his business is making less profit and his banker won't return his calls.

George is all excited about being invited to speak in front of some youths at what he believes to be a college concerning his success, that is until he discovers the place he is to speak at is in Harlem, in the neighborhood where they used to live, to a gang which Lionel used to run with as a teen. Later, George's fears are justified when his delivery van is looted by the gang. Charles, a social worker, and Lionel, who is able to retrieve the van from George the gang's leader, Ronnie, a buddy of Lionel's when they lived in the old neighborhood, are both finally able ...

Jenny's stubborn grandfathers won't set foot in the Willis apartment because of Tom and Helen's mixed marriage, so Jenny and Louise try to orchestrate a meeting on neutral ground - in the Jefferson apartment. But how will George react?

George's Navy pal, Wendell Brown, pays him a visit. However, Wendell is more interested in getting fresh with Louise than in reminiscing old times with George.

When the manager of one of George's stores quits, longtime employee Emily campaigns to replace him. But George shows his male chauvinism by refusing to consider her because she is a female.

During a severe snowstorm, Lionel accidentally dented George's company van; however, he would not tell him because Lionel took the van without his father's permission. Unfortunately, George thinks that he himself dented the van due to a hit and run he thinks he caused.

Mother Jefferson expects George to take her to their monthly lunch date, to the dismay of Louise because she wants George to accompany her to a family friend's funeral on the same day.

When George finds out that Lionel turned down a well-paying engineering job, he hits the roof. The resulting late-night argument expands to Tom and Helen Willis' apartment upstairs.

Lionel comes home in a fury and informs his parents that his English professor is forcing him to rewrite a term paper and make it flawless - or else he will get a failing grade and therefore cannot graduate. George, wanting to see his son be the first Jefferson to graduate college, pays a freelance writer to write that term paper instead and expects Lionel to just turn that one in. While the Willises and Louise thinks that is a bad idea, Lionel likes it, and this results in an argument between the two families and soon a break-up.

Three days have passed after the Jeffersons and the Willises have broken up, and George is the only one happy about the present situation. He later meets a foxy lady at his cleaning store and decides to invite her to meet Lionel - a clear attempt to make sure Lionel and Jenny will separate for good. Unfortunately, George, despite Bentley's warning, is oblivious to the fact that the lady is a "working girl."

Florence shows out-of-character actions one day, including cleaning the Jeffersons' entire apartment without griping and giving Louise a prized possession of hers. As a result, Louise suspects that Florence is contemplating suicide.

Mother Jefferson visits George, Louise and Lionel on her birthday, expecting them to throw her a surprise party. However, after they realized they've forgotten about the big day, George, Louise and Lionel scramble to find the surprise Mother Jefferson is anxiously waiting for.

To George's disgruntlement, Louise is offered to write a cookbook.

George and Louise accepted an invitation to dinner with Harry Bentley and his sister; however, George realized at the last minute he got invited to a party hosted by Mr. Whittendale. Therefore, he wants to blow off the engagement with Bentley and attend Whittendale's gathering instead.

Lionel becomes drunk on his graduation day, fearing that he will not live up to being as successful as his father.

George accepts Judge Markel's invitation to join the all-white Windsor Tennis Club for networking purposes, then finds out he was only invited to be the club's "token minority" and appease the local media.

George and Louise plan to renew their wedding vows. But then George shows his male chauvinism and enrages Louise by failing to treat her as an equal partner in their marriage.