On his first day as news director for WNYX, Dave Nelson is tasked with firing his predecessor while meeting the rest of the staff and dealing with their eccentricities.
Matthew makes a verbal gaffe on the air and is afraid of losing his job. Dave and Lisa argue over how to handle the situation, but end up engaging in a secret office romance.
Bill has trouble dealing with the new workplace anti-smoking ordinance, causing Dave to help him quit by agreeing to kick his coffee habit. Lisa thinks Joe saw her and Dave together at the movies and is paranoid that he knows about their relationship.
After a subway accident occurs, Dave is determined to get access to send Matthew into the tunnel for a news scoop. The rest of the staff are more interested in the new desks that Dave had requisitioned for Matthew, bringing up accusations of favoritism.
Jimmy tasks Dave with figuring out how to distribute the annual bonuses to the staff. Bill gets frustrated with people constantly leaving food on his desk when he's not around.
Bill invites Beth to be his guest at a fancy broadcasters' luncheon, leaving Lisa to suspect his motives. Beth ends up embarrassing herself in an incident afterward.
After getting annoyed by Lisa's constant contact with her ex-boyfriend, Dave is encouraged to contact his former girlfriend back in Wisconsin, only to discover that he left things more open ended with her than he had thought. Jimmy wants to have a visionary interviewed on the air, but Bill proves uncooperative, thinking the man to be a fraud.
Beth asks for Lisa's advice in rekindling romance with her overseas boyfriend. Joe tries to find out who is stealing his gelato. Jimmy decides to spend his vacation at the station.
Jimmy gets the staff to try out a toy ball from a company he just purchased. Joe tries to set Dave up on a date with a model in their building. Bill thinks he has a stalker and requests a stun gun from Joe.
Dave and Lisa have a fight, causing turmoil in the office and putting Beth in the middle. Catherine tries to get revenge on Bill for revealing her age on the air.
Jimmy brings in Dr. Frank, a psychologist, for yet another visit to help the staff work out their personal issues. Though Dave agrees to it, he is skeptical that it will work.
To assist Beth on a filing job, Dave hires a temp who turns out to be her high school classmate that constantly copies her, including her style and interest in men. Bill is repeatedly denied entry to the office after misplacing his ID.
Bill gets a book deal to write an autobiography, but when Dave inadvertently mentions it to the rest of the staff against his wishes, he finds himself under pressure to come up with interesting stories despite his relatively dull career.
Jimmy announces that he is going to get married, but intends to find a wife out of a list of potential candidates. Lisa tries her hand as a reporter for MTV News.
Matthew injures his hand while goofing around at work, but lacks medical coverage; Dave tries to help him while Jimmy tries to cover himself. Bill gives commentary on excessive usage of words for male anatomy on the air.
