When well-liked George becomes the first guy to be promoted from the assembly line to plant manager at a Los Angeles airplane parts factory, his life becomes a little more complicated. His pal Ernie and former compadres on the plant floor tease him about joining management. George's first test in the new position is to terminate one employee. He must choose either his acerbic line-inspector mother, Benny, or Ernie. George's hardworking and patient wife, Angie, copes with Benny's constant wisecracks and cares for the couple's kids, precocious 9-year-old Max and 13-year-old Carmen, who is dealing with the traumas of being a teenager.

George worries about Carmen when she brings a boy home for the first time. He persuades Max to spy on them, but despite finding no impropriety, George threatens Duncan, embarrassing Carmen. Later, George replies to instant messages on Carmen's computer, pretending to be her. Although this infuriates both Carmen and Angie when they find out, George then goes to a party and further humiliates Carmen with his overprotectiveness. Finally, Carmen sadly ends the relationship with Duncan, not because of her father, but because Duncan tried to pressure her into having sex too soon. Carmen forgives George, who realizes that she is more responsible than he thought.

Much to George's unpleasant surprise, Angie and his family throw him a very belated surprise birthday party, while a new worker, accident-prone Amy, threatens the pride George takes in his workplace's safety record.

Benny and George find themselves holding open auditions for workers to replace Jim's position at the factory due to a bar fight, while George decides to prove something to Max when Max insists on George letting him walk to school on his own.

With Carmen still gone, George goes on a hunt for her and eventually finds her in San Francisco with rapper Chingy. He finally gets her to return home, but the problems aren't over yet...

When Carmen crazily redecorates her room, George snaps. When Carmen claims she should be able to do to her room what she wants, since she is an adult, George concocts a plan to get her to give up that thought. If Carmen wants to be an adult, she will act like one. She'll pay rent, bills and get her own food. But his plan soon backfires when Carmen doesn't relent and even resorts to getting a roommate who is a little over the edge.

After George forgets he and Angie's anniversary, he goes to drastic measures to make it up to her. He takes her to a jewelry store, but the ring she picks is far out of George's price range and he must find a way to pay for it - or feel Angie's wrath.

When Carmen's school refuses to let her back in, the recently laid-off Angie agrees to home school her. But the money cut also forces a postponement of George and Angie's wedding.

When a janitor with no life insurance dies at work, Angie finds out that George has been lying and does not have life insurance either. As Angie hounds him, he dozes off to classic TV which leads to a spoof of such classics as The Munsters, The Jetsons and Leave It To Beaver.

When Max starts hanging out with a new group of friends, everything looks like it is going up for the socially plagued boy. But the friends prove to be a little bit darker than Max, and it ends up getting him in trouble.

When George decides a new job opportunity may be for him, he takes the family to a little town in Colorado on "vacation". But when he gets the job, resistance from Angie as well as springing the news on the kids makes George reconsider his idea. And in a moment of romance, Benny and Vic kiss, to the horror of Ernie.

A horrible dinner that features a drunk Carmen and dirty secrets about the town, convinces the Lopez's that L.A. is till the place for them.

When George mistakenly thinks he is going to be named VP of Powers Brothers, he whips out his "VP Dance", only to find the company has merged with another corporation and jobs such as Benny's and Ernie's need to be cut. Plus, George is appointed a new co-manager, a beautiful and cunning woman who George fears will take his job.

When George thinks back to the lousy Christmas presents from his mother, he gets worried since she drew Max for the family's "Secret Santa" presents. So as a backup, George buys Max a great present, only to find after he gives it to him that Benny has finally come through with a great present.

When Carmen asks for birth control, George is immediately angry with her reunited boyfriend Jason. But when Jason informs him it was Carmen's idea, George goes on a search to find out the real story, where the birth control seems to be everyone BUT Jason's idea.

George is nervous to tell Ernie that his new pregnant girlfriend may not have been faithful to him.

When George becomes frustrated with Max's dentist, he lobbies to have the company's dental plan changed.

When George finds out money cuts are forcing Max back into normal classes, he goes to a PTA meeting to voice his opinion, but accidentally spills the beans to his unknowing sister about their family connections.

An earthquake unearthes some childhood fears in George that shake the rest of the family.

When Benny demands money for a box of George's old things, he is shocked to learn Benny (unbeknownst to him) helped he and Angie start up a life, but she also owes George money from a source he never knew about.

George uses a fake wedding for his boss as a cover to renew his vows with Angie, but with Angie planning the fake wedding, she begins to ask too many details.

When Angie and George discover Carmen has been going to Jason's unsupervised for the past month, they confront the couple, only to find Jason's parents are out of the country - because they've moved. When Jason goes to jail for throwing a party where drugs were brought, the police have to send him out of town, thus ruining his possible chance at a pro baseball career. Much to George's chagrin, he allows Jason to stay with the Lopez's -- as long as he and Carmen can keep their hands off each other.

With Carmen and Jason grounded for throwing a party at Jason's and getting arrested, neither is able to do much. But George does allow for some bending when it comes to Jason's baseball career which upsets Carmen and her feminist poet friend who is inspiring her anger. When Carmen questions George about going to college, George makes a big mistake in telling Carmen she has no potential.

When an old flame of Angie's moves back to town to become a news anchor, George becomes jealous with her giddy excitement over him. But George comes to find out that Angie has not told him the whole story about this former boyfriend.

George gets caught up in some bad family ties when he lets Vic give him money to go out on a date with his sister.