Judy is holding a book club meeting at the house, but Bill's macho behavior, including screaming and dropping pizza on the floor, gets in the way of her book discussion. Bill eventually noses himself into the club and steals Judy's attention, making her jealous because she was supposed to be ""the smart one."" She tries to take his mind off of books with sex, but that doesn't work. At the next club meeting, they fight over who gets to discuss first and end up getting kicked out of it. Judy is disappointed, but soon regains her self esteem when she finds out Bill had their son read the book for him in exchange for cash.

Bill loans a co-worker $300 to buy a big-screen TV without realizing the guy has a reputation for not repaying debts, which is worrisome considering Judy needs money to replace a broken hot-water heater.

Bill and Linda decide to help Lauren with her science project to show her that they care about what she's doing and end up making the science project for her. After they get an A, Lauren's teacher decides to move her to the advanced science class and Lauren is desperate. Linda and Bill promise to help, but Lauren ends up using them to do all her work while she goes to mall to date a boy. When her parents discover her lies, Lauren says she only got interested in science because the boy she's dating is a science geek.