Rudy's fish Lamont dies, and Rudy has a hard time understanding death. Cliff gathers the family in the bathroom for a proper funeral.
Vanessa wants to see a horror movie but is not allowed because her parents think she is too young. She sneaks out one night to see it and has nightmares after watching it, causing her to sleep in Cliff and Clair's bed every night until they grow tired of her.
Theo makes the high school football team, making Cliff extremely happy that his son is carrying on the family tradition. Cliff tries to teach Theo some of his old moves and realizes that his son is terrible at football. Rudy is upset because Vanessa doesn't want to play with her.
Theo wants to buy an expensive shirt to wear for his date, but his parents won't give him the money. Denise offers to make him a replica of the shirt for one-third of the cost, but the final product does not turn out well. Cliff is sick but will not admit it to anyone.
Denise wants to attend Princeton like her older sister Sondra. Cliff's father pays a visit and tries to convince her to attend Hillman, a long-standing Huxtable tradition. Denise is wary at first until she learns that male students outnumber females on campus 8 to 1.
Clair babysits for a friend and thinks about wanting to have another baby, a disturbing thought for Cliff. Clair's mother Carrie visits and talks Clair out of this idea by reminding her how old she will be when the new child is grown up. Cliff and Theo play a spirited game of basketball in the backyard, and Theo beats Cliff for the first time.
Vanessa has a band recital coming up and is nervous because she's expected to play a clarinet solo and she's not very good. Cliff hires a music teacher to give her a crash course. The solo does not go well, but the rest of the band members are even worse.
Denise is nervous about introducing her new boyfriend to Cliff and Clair because she's afraid they'll scare him off. Cliff and Clair invite David over for dinner, and everything goes well until David insults the medical and law professions and tells Clair that she should be staying home with the children.
The Huxtable's eldest daughter Sondra comes home from Princeton for Thanksgiving. She tells her folks that she wants to go with friends to Paris for the summer; Clair is excited for her, but Cliff does not want her to go. The Huxtables holds a "family forum" to talk about Sondra's opportunity, and when everyone sides with Sondra, Cliff agrees to let her go.
Clair feels overwhelmed by work and her responsibilities around the house. Cliff plans a romantic night at the Biltmore Hotel, leaving Denise at home to watch the kids.
Clair prepares for an interview that might make her a partner in her law firm. She wants to hire a babysitter to take care of a sick Rudy, but Cliff tells Clair that he will take care of her. The man conducting Clair's interview talks a lot and falls asleep while she is talking, so she walks out, only to learn later that she has been made a partner.
When Clair notice Cliff wearing old pajams instead of the new ones she bought him for Father's Day, Cliff complains that he gets cheap and useless presents for Father's Day every year. He parades around the house in his past gifts and asks the family to put a little more thought into his gifts. Clair helps the children shop for thoughtful Father's Day gifts, even though it is two weeks until Christmas.
Theo gets his ear pierced when he stays over at a friend's house as a sign of independence and tries to hide it, until it becomes infected and Denise tells Cliff. Cliff invites his parents over to lecture Theo, and Theo's grandfather tells him a story about Cliff trying to straighten his hair to impress a girl and burning it all off. Cliff's mother then tells Theo a story about a bad tattoo that her husband got when he was young.
Cliff is named "Physician of the Year," and the family gets dressed up to attend an event in his honor. Cliff teaches Theo how to shave for the first time and gets called in to check on a patient who is having her first baby. He ends up having to miss the banquet for the delivery, so he has Theo give his speech and accept the award.
Cliff and Clair are going dancing with a group of friends, and Clair tells Cliff that his dancing embarrasses her. Denise wants to spend the night in a line to buy tickets for a concert, but she and her friends are denied by their parents. The friends come over to the house and begin dancing in the living room when Cliff starts to show off. Cliff and Clair's friends arrive, and it becomes one big dance party in the Huxtable household.
Clair discovers a joint in one of Theo's school books. When Cliff and Clair confront Theo, he tells them that he has never done drugs and that someone must have slipped it in his book. Theo's parents believe him, and Theo discovers that a fellow classmate slipped it in Theo's book so he wouldn't be caught. Theo tells the boy to confess to his parents, which he eventually does after seeing the trust between Cliff and Theo.
Sondra sues an auto mechanic for ripping her off, and Clair takes over the case when her colleague tries to settle. The family takes over the household chores while Clair works on the case, and Cliff is left with cooking for the family. Clair gets the mechanic to admit that he wrongfully charged Sondra for a new engine when all he did was repair the old one.
Cliff's college track coach calls him and asks him to participate in a charity relay race against their old rivals at Norton University. Cliff accepts and still holds a grudge against one of the opposing team members for bumping him during a past race. Cliff finds it difficult to get back in shape but manages to force a tie in the race by bumping his rival.
Cliff and Clair invite a widowed friend and his girlfriend over and are surprised to see that she is half his age. They are pleased to see that she is a very impressive young woman and that she makes their friend happy.
Rudy invites a large group of girlfriends over for a sleepover. Peter, a neighborhood boy who doesn't talk much, follows the girls into the house and endears himself to Cliff. To entertain the kids, Cliff plays a bucking bronco game where the kids sit on his bucking knee; Cliff is unable to buck Peter and almost throws his back out. When the kids get rowdy, Cliff's dad shows him the way to quiet them: bribing them.
The Huxtables volunteer at a community center run by their friend Tony. Clair gives legal counsel to people, and Cliff talks to a group of women about the stages of pregnancy.
Cliff's 48th birthday is approaching, and Clair wants to keep his gift a secret. She sets up an elaborate plan to make him think she is preparing a big family dinner, and when he arrives at the table, there is only a pizza.
Vanessa is placed in an advanced science class and makes a model of the solar system for the science fair. When she places 14th in the fair, she makes excuses and accuses her best friend Janet of getting help from her parents. After speaking with Denise and Cliff, Vanessa realizes she will have to work harder to succeed. Clair breaks the dishwasher, and when Cliff tries to fix it himself, he makes it worse and has to buy a brand new unit.