Oliver can't take a good picture and a new suit for picture day won't solve the problem. So he decides to wear a superhero costume instead. Ted is jealous when his beloved baseball coach starts spending time with Elke.
Oliver is overjoyed meeting Swedish foreign exchange student Elke (Maggie Grace) until Ted calls dibs. His parents go on a date but the old club has changed. They hate the new jazz music and then the funky smoke takes its effect.
Oliver, Joyce, and Michael are eager to be contestants on a TV game show. Forced to attend, Ted plans a prank. Mother cheated on dad with dentistry. After Joyce's parents decide to divorce, Oliver starts wondering about his own parents.
It's the summer. Oliver is desperate to follow his crush Bonnie to the Capri Beach Club. His mother is tired of the overheated non-air conditioned apartment and father's terrace club. Father relents and takes the family to Capri.
Oliver is tired of being unmanly in front of Bonnie. Inspired by the space race, he jumps the great north wall and lands on Floyd Gilbert, the only negro student. With no witnesses and Floyd's accusation, Oliver is branded as a racist.
Oliver must do a course in ballroom dancing for gym class. Ted is convinced their building's superintendent is communist spy. Jerry says hurtful things to Charlotte while playing charades with another couple.
Oliver buys X-ray specs from the comics which don't work. Both Joyce and Michael were cheated by Astounding Novelties. The kids confront owner Barnaby Rollins. Mother's stewardess sister Connie visits and Ted is haunted by a naked glimpse.
Mother is desperate to go to the O'Shaughnessy boat party. Dad's nemesis George Novogroder gets into the way. Dad entices the O'Shaughnessys to his party by a fake promise of Oliver's comedic idol Buddy Fontain. Even Elke is coming.