When a house in the neighborhood is put up for sale, Archie starts a petition to keep ethnic groups out. Henry Jefferson joins the effort when a Hispanic couple show interest. All this happens during a stifling heat wave in New York City.
Edith brings home an elderly man who ran away from the nursing home where he is a resident. Archie complains about the situation while Edith tries to contact the man's family.
Archie showers the family with expensive gifts, then is pressed to explain. Archie finally admits he's been betting on the horses, something he vowed he'd given up 20 years earlier.
An early satire on computers: A mix up on a rebate results in Edith inheriting a fortune in quarters from a prune company; Archie is (mistakenly) declared dead.
When the rest of the family is away for the weekend, Archie accidentally locks himself in the basement, and has only a tape recorder and a bottle of vodka to keep him entertained.
Gloria buys a black wig and when she models it for Mike, he gets really turned on. But what happens when she takes off the wig leads to a huge fight about their sex life.
When Archie boasts that men are superior to women in every way in sports, Irene sets out to prove him wrong ... by challenging him to a game of pool at Kelsey's Bar.
Archie's family and friends throw a surprise party for his 50th birthday, but Archie insists that he's only 49, and is upset to find out he's older than he thinks.
Archie learns that the mentally disabled have some real abilities, not to mention savvy, when he causes Gloria's friend, a stock boy at Ferguson's Market, to lose his job. The young man then finds himself another job.
The Bunkers, Stivics and Jeffersons attend Lionel's engagement party. His fiancée is a young woman whose father is white and mother is black, much to the chagrin of Archie and (especially) George.
Archie learns that the canned mushrooms he just ate may have been part of a product recall because of reports of food poisoning. Mike urges Archie to investigate, but Archie decides he's sick and needs hospital treatment.