After thinking about doing so for quite some time, Bailey finally has the nerve to ask Johnny out on a date. While Johnny knows that the outing will just be the two of them, he considers it something quite different than Bailey. Their date may end up taking a back seat in Johnny's life when he receives a telephone call from new ageist Buffy Denver, with who he had a two year relationship in Los Angeles after his first divorce and who, in town, wants to meet with him. As Johnny considers Buffy one of the great passions in his life, he does whatever he can to make his reunion with her special. Beyond romance, Buffy may have other things on her mind. These two dates lead to some misunderstandings among the other staff at the station, some thinking "the date" referring to Johnny and Bailey, while others thinking it referring to Johnny and Buffy.

It's in the evening at the radio station. Venus is in the control booth finishing up his show. Mr. Carlson and Andy are working late on the financials. And Bailey is wandering around feeling sorry for herself having been stood up by Johnny, the two who were supposed to go on a date - what would have been their first - to see a Humphrey Bogart movie. The quiet at the station changes when Venus receives a frantic telephone call from Johnny, who, at Jennifer's apartment, is trying to figure out what to do about Buffy's vow to sue him for half of everything he has. The four at the station, including Bailey, rush over to Jennifer's apartment to help their friend. While they all do try to figure out how Johnny should deal with the matter, the question then becomes if Johnny will remember that he, in turn, was a heel for standing up Bailey. The situation takes another turn when Buffy returns both with a confession and counter to what she stated she was going to do to Johnny earlier in the evening that may have an even more negative effect on him.

As he covers all the news including sports, Les unilaterally accepts a $200 wager from Clark Callahan, station manager at WPIG, on a co-ed slo-pitch game between the two radio stations. Les, who never played any sports, including softball, when he was growing up, he stuck inside taking violin lessons instead, sees the game and the challenge as a rite of passage he never went through but should have as a child. No one else at the station wants to play, largely because they don't want to lose as, unaware to Les, WPIG plays in a city league and plays well. But a series of statements leads to the staff changing their minds and agreeing to defend WKRP's honor on the mound. As sports director, Les still wants to lead the team, including pitch, but quickly learns he is way out of his depth. And despite having played in college, Mr. Carlson shows that his softball prowess doesn't live up to the hype that surrounded him. Although they do devise ways to keep the game close, both Mr. Carlson and Les will literally and figuratively have to step up to plate if WKRP has any hope of winning. That task is all the more difficult as all Les can hear in his head is himself playing the violin, which, to him, is the antithesis of what he is now trying to achieve.

To help make ends meet, Herb is selling insurance on the side, he seeing his first potential customers being the staff at the station. While some are able to avoid Herb upon hearing what he's doing, others, like Les and Mr. Carlson, are relatively easy prey for Herb's heavy handed sales tactics, Les in particular who Herb is able to oversell. Part of Les' issue is that he is in a funk, largely in having to gather and report on the largely depressing news, which is getting into his psyche. Once Andy finds out about Herb's moonlighting job, he wants to put an end to it at the station as he is being paid to do other work while he's at the office, and as he believes, if Herb is involved with them, they must be a fly by night operation. Herb may ultimately regret this new sales job and Les may get out of his funk all related to their encounter with a middle aged British couple who just wanted to have a quiet cuppa tea in peace.

Jennifer is in love with a blonde haired model of a guy named Steel Hawthorne. The only problem? He is poor. And he also seems interested in her because she has money. Is he treating her the way she treats other men?

Carlson runs for city council. His only hope for victory is a bit of gossip he finds out about the incumbent's drinking problem and poor attendance at council meetings.

In reference to the garbage strike happening in the city, Johnny, on the air, makes a flippant comment that if the city won't pick up people's garbage, the people should bring their garbage to the city by dumping it on the steps of city hall. Much to Johnny's surprise, hundreds of his listeners take the words to heart and dump their garbage at city hall. Their actions have repercussions on the station, Mr. Carlson and Andy who have to deal with the liability of the station by Johnny's words, the situation which is only inflamed by further on-air words by Les. While Mr. Carlson wants to fire Johnny, Andy is able to come up with a workable solution where Johnny needs to apologize on the air. However, getting Johnny to do so is easier said than done, as his realization of the responsibility that he has in this role results in a larger issue for Johnny in his livelihood as an on-air personality: he develops mic fright and freezes in the control booth. While Venus and Andy in particular try to help Johnny, it may be the reminder of words Johnny himself said to shy Bailey that may be the medicine that Johnny needs.

Arthur's wife Carmen believes that she may be pregnant, causing Carlson (Gordon Jump) to consider whether or not he is ready for another child at his age.

When the station's ratings fail to improve to Andy's expectations, he wonders if he is accomplishing anything with the screwy staff.

Les is forced to hire another newsman to relieve him of some of his broadcasts. A protesting Les doesn't want anyone, especially when Andy thinks it should be Bailey.

Christmas is coming up and everyone at the station is anxious to leave and start their holiday plans...everyone, except for Jennifer. Jennifer seems as if she has no holiday plans and is dismayed that the rest of the staff don't want to celebrate Christmas as a family. The gang joins together to give Jennifer a warm Christmas.

Andy tells Les that Arthur hired someone else to do the sports reporting on the radio - the former manager of the Red's baseball team, Sparky Anderson, who is a hero to Arthur. When Sparky is a disaster on the radio, Arthur has to fire him.

Johnny wakes in the middle of the night and thinks he hears someone. He determines it is God speaking to him. His performance on the radio in the morning is changed because he is touched by God, and he wants to spread the word to everyone.

Andy's sister Carol is visiting and Andy sets her up on a blind date with Johnny. But when Carol visits the radio station, she meets Venus and they set up their own date. Andy does not approve, but then he has to prove his is not a racist.

Herb's father visits the station to see his son. Herb Sr is a born salesman just like Herb Jr, and has run away from the retirement home where he was living. Herb Sr wants his son to give him money so he can go to California.

Herb's wife is out of town for 10 days. And he decides this is the time to go wild and get Jennifer to finally go out with him. When Jennifer finds out she has to deal with Herb for 10 days, she tells Bailey she can't make it. Bailey's advice to Jennifer is just to take Herb up on it and he'll chicken out. The next time Herb asks her, she accepts and her troubles begin, because Herb doesn't seem to be backing down. As the time approaches Herb does seem to be backing down, he is thinking about his family and missing them. It's around this time that Les tells Herb what he had overheard the ladies saying about how they expected to put an end to Herb's chasing of Jennifer. With this news, Herb decides he's got to go for it.

Despite Andy's directive to the contrary, Les continues to broadcast editorials of his own unique views under the guise of they being the station's views. He also wants to use his news credentials to further those views. As such, anti-Communist hog aficionado Les, with Bailey tagging along as his paid babysitter to ensure he doesn't get into trouble, plans to, in his own words, torpedo a news conference being held by a traveling group of Russian hog experts. At the sparsely attended press conference, Bailey, through a note slipped to her, learns that one of the Russians, Ivan Popasonaviski, wants to defect to the US. Bailey is able to sneak Ivan to the station where Ivan hopes to seek political asylum. Most of the staff, with the clear exception of Les, wants to help Ivan. But none of them have a clear idea of what they need to do in this cloak and dagger role, and discover that defecting in Cincinnati, just in its national position as a relative backwater city, is not the easiest place in the country to defect.

Newsman Les Nessman is surprised to learn he has a female "groupie" who loves his news show very much, but also loves him to the point of unreasonably interfering with and taking over his life at home and work.

The staff find themselves consumed with guilt for promoting a Who concert at Riverfront Coliseum when its general admission policy causes a terrible tragedy.

After being separated for 7 years, Johnny's daughter, Laurie, comes to visit her father, bringing with her a new boyfriend. Johnny immediately steps into the role of the disapproving father and learns that there's a lot he doesn't know about his daughter.

Andy and Jennifer agree do a photo shoot for a charity. While dressing after the session is done, the photographer for the photo shoot, takes nude photos of Jennifer without her knowledge and tries to blackmail her.

After the nude photos of Jennifer and the blackmail plot is revealed, the radio staff tries to recover the photos and negatives from the unscrupulous photographer.

Venus is offered a job as Program Director at another radio station. At WREQ, he finds the programs are auto run programming and he does not have to do anything. They only want him as an affirmative action hire.

At an award ceremony for radio stations, Johnny is selected the most popular personality, but the station loses in the most improved station category. At work, everyone starts bickering over everything and they have to work out their issues.