Tom and Susan, newly transplanted to Kansas City, are invited over for dinner and game night. The reserved Tom, terrified at the prospect of being thrown in feet first with such a tight-knit group of people, begs Susan to decline the invitation. But, of course, she accepts and soon Tom finds himself thrust into the close-knit Kelly clan – complete with game-playing, dinner-song-singing and collective corn-shucking, and initiated into the dreaded "doghouse system."

After Tom loses a taco-eating contest to the Kelly men, he tries to prove his machismo by hosting a barbeque – but he can't assemble his new grill and Susan can't cook.

Tom meets a girl in a clothing store and decides to set her up with his socially awkward brother-in-law Lewis. The date seems to go well until Lewis reveals to Tom that he already has a girlfriend.

Tom tries to convince Chris that the family is taking advantage of his overly-helpful generousity and decides to loosen him up by taking him golfing. Eventually Tom's plan to make his brother-in-law less helpful and more laidback backfires when the family starts to rely on Tom to takeover all of Chris' chores.

When Tom meets fellow New Yorker Bob they instantly become best friends but the same can't be said when their wives meet. Susan tells Tom that Bob's wife was a girl that Mary and she hated back in high school. Meanwhile, Dave talks Chris into betting on a football game behind Mary's back.

Tom feels awkward around Bill because he thinks that they don't have anything in common. Meanwhile, Mary and Chris prepare to compete in an annual folk-dancing contest.

Sandy isn't happy when Tom and Susan buy a small car because it means that they're not thinking about starting a family any time soon.

Susan finds out that Tom is still renting their old New York apartment after Lewis decides to skip Thanksgiving dinner with the family so that he can take a trip to the Big Apple.

Tom becomes so preoccupied with getting Chris a great present for his birthday and trying to impress the family at the birthday party that he inadvertantly reveals something about Susan that she didn't want her family to know about.

Tom and Susan are obliged to stay overnight at the Kellys' on Christmas Eve to help with Sandy's frantic Christmas preparations, and Sandy has to face her first Christmas without her mother.

Tom breaks a promise to join Susan and her family for dinner and instead goes drinking with the gas utility man.

The rivalry between Tom and Mary heats up when he shows her up at her own award presentation and is invited to be a guest speaker at her university. Meanwhile, Lewis decides that it is time for a name change so he asks everyone to start calling him Lew.

Tom wants to turn a storage room into his own private sanctuary so he hires a contractor named Mike after meeting the man's parents, who are good friends of the Kellys, only to learn that his work is suffering due to his failed marriage. Meanwhile, Mary is feeling guilty because she never told Chris that she dated Mike in high school.

Tom discovers that the family is throwing Lewis a childish birthday party in honor of his 21st birthday so he convinces Chris to treat the birthday boy to a night of guys-only partying. Meanwhile, Susan finds out that her new job as a restaurant hostess may cause her to miss her brother's birthday entirely.

Tom wants to socialize with couples other than Mary and Chris, so Susan – who has a history of disastrous set-ups – secretly sets up his friend, Bob, at Mary's Oscar viewing party.

Mary moves in with Tom and Susan after she has a fight with Chris. Meanwhile, Lewis invites his girlfriend over for dinner.

Mary sets up a talk-radio interview for Tom to brag about the Kellys. But when the bitter talk show host twists Tom's every Kelly compliment, the entire community turns against Tom.

When Susan's sister, Lisa, comes home after studying abroad, Tom finds himself back in the doghouse when he supports her decision to quit school and backpack around Europe. Meanwhile Lisa's gay roommate, Shannon, seems to pay a lot of attention to Mary – which makes Susan jealous.

Chris loses his job but doesn't tell Mary, Susan worries that she and Tom have no long-term financial plan, and Lewis decides to move out after Bill asks him to pay rent.

Chris borrows money from Tom to start his own house-refurbishing business, and Tom is offered a job ghostwriting a book for a famous football player.

Tom's pretentious parents from New York attend Bill and Sandy Kelly's anniversary party in Kansas, and Chris refuses to sell the house he just refurbished.