It's November 1963 and Meg Pryors dream is to appear on the Philly Based American Bandstand.Thanks to her best friend Roxanne, Meg finally gets the chance to appear, but her hopes are dashed when at dinner that night, Jack refuses to let her go on. While at the same time J.J. drops a bombshell on his dad and announces he doesn't wanna play football anymore, so he quit the team. Jack blames his girlfriend Beth and she storms out. Defying her father, Meg goes and does the show, in place of seeing Patty's spelling bee. Jack sees her on TV and when she's asked back as a regular, he refuses to let her appear. Meanwhile Helen struggles with her decision to stop having kids, of which Jack doesn't wanna hear,but finally accepts it.J.J. tells his coach he doesn't wanna play fottball, because he's being forced too and that took the fun out of it, but his coach says he should play anyway.Helen tries to talk Jack into letting Meg appear on the show,but he's made his decision. Which surprises and d

Advance Preview It's Thanksgiving week in 1963, but, in the wake of the JFK assassination, no one feels thankful. Even Meg's selection as a Bandstand regular seems hollow to her---especially since best friend Roxanne (Vanessa Lengies) wasn't chosen. And the resentful Roxanne isn't going easy on Meg (Brittany Snow). Meanwhile, East Catholic's football team has a hole at running back without J.J. (Will Estes); and Helen (Gail O'Grady) gets together with the worldly Rebecca Sandstrom (Virginia Madsen) at Temple University.

To Meg's utter amazement she is asked to dance by Bandstand regular Jimmy Riley,before he is whisked away by another regular Teresa. J.J. quietly rejoins the football team. While Henry's son Sam earns a track scholarship to almost-all-white East Catholic. Jack invites Sam to dinner to meet J.J., being that their both now on the track team. Meg is informed by Teresa to be wary of Jimmy Riley. J.J. gets upset when he finds out Beth applied to Stanford. Helen tries to find a class that will fit her busy schedule at Temple. A Rumor starts circulating about Meg and Jimmy Riley "doing it", which Roxanne thinks is great, because it means Meg's important now. J.J. hears Beth's father call him a "Catholic kid from West Philly" to his country-club friends. Meg is asked out on her first date by Jimmy Riley and she readily accepts. While J.J. dominates the competition in his return to the gridiron.

Jimmy (still sporting a shiner from their first date) asks Meg to be his partner on Bandstand. A Notre Dame recruiter is interested in JJ, but when J.J. doesn't show Jack will have to carry the ball for his son. Patty wants a new water heater and goes around timing everyone's showers to show they need one. Beth tries her best to get through to J.J., but he brushes her off and while Jack is meeting with the recruiter, he gets drunk with Tommy. Helen's walks out on the doctor,when she firsts goes about birth control.Megs thinks her and Jimmy are destined to be a real couple,but he says he only wants to be friends. Jack gives J.J. the cold shoulder over his blowing off the Recruiting meeting. Helen returns to the doctor a second time and it goes much smoother. Things change at the big game,when the team needs a big play, J.J. fakes an injury, before scoring the game winning touchdown on the play Jack taught him.

Meg is angered to hear Luke, the new record shop employee, talking bad about the music she's about to buy. Elsewhere, a sudden cancellation of his deal to supply a hotel with all there new TV's, forces Jack to examine his family's financial outlook and question his own business philosophy. Sam, who is still adapting to life at East Catholic high school deals with a prank gone too far by the football team, while JJ looks on, unable or unwilling to intervene. While Roxanne uses her Bandstand connections to start her own business of selling autographed 45's, starting with Marvin Gaye. Discovering Luke slipped her a Bob Dylan record instead, Meg rushes back to the store to conmfront him. The Prank gets Tommy suspended and he threatens Sam until J.J. intervenes, which draws a nasty response from Sam. Michael shuts down Roxanne's new business, while Jack tries in vain to still make the big Hotel sell, but it's all for not as Mr. Healey refuses to buy them. Lastly, the bitter cold of the nigh