Upon returning from vacation, Claude learns that her boss, network anchor Will Butler, has resigned, leaving her jobless. Luckily her trusty friends, Owen and Ramona, have secured her a position as a temp on the 4th floor, right back where she started three years ago. Jeb Denton, the new anchorman, has promoted his wife, Lydia, to producer, and Claude's worst nightmare comes true when she's offered a job as Lydia's assistant. She hesitantly accepts the job on condition that she be given more responsibility, but working for Lydia proves to be a dangerous bargain. Meanwhile, Owen becomes addicted to Carl's new soft serve ice cream machine.

After quitting as Lydia’s assistant, Claude is back to “floater” status. However, the only spot available is working with Lydia, so Claude reluctantly agrees to work for her, but with conditions. Lydia’s first major assignment is to produce a complicated segment for the news. She pretends to have everything under control, but ends up breaking down and begging Claude for her help. Claude saves her only after she’s given a raise, a promotion and an apology. Meanwhile, Ramona gets a call that she may need to quit and return to the National Guard, leaving Owen and Carl freaking out.

After a long week, Claude, Carl, Ramona and Owen enjoy a night out for happy hour at their favorite bar. A little tipsy, Claude and Carl head home and, when one thing leads to another, they end up in bed together. They decide to keep it a secret from everyone at work to protect their friendship, but their attraction to each other makes it difficult. Meanwhile, Jeb incites a power struggle between Lydia and Kipp to keep them both

Claude reveals to Ramona that she and Carl are having sex with each other. Unfortunatley, Owen also finds out about this on his own.

Claude is concerned when Carl doesn't seem to be affected by her flirting with Ethan (Joey McIntyre), the copy repairman. Meanwhile, Ramona finds out that Kipp is making money on the side as a foot model, and she demands to get involved. Owen takes the photos of their feet together, but when they find them online, it turns out that someone has turned their shoot into a bizarre sexual scene.

Claude has owls living on her apartment roof and does her best to protect them, but gets distracted by Lydias dog, who ends up scaring them away. Meanwhile Owen tries to get someone to be his emergency contact, but no one wants the responsibility since he's so accident prone.

Claude brings Jeb to a hip magazine party with the intention of raising Jeb's profile; Owen and Ramona start a protest at the cafeteria.

When Kip reveals he lost his apartment with his trust fund, an unwitting Carl takes him in. Kip then gives advice to Carl about dating Claude. Kip reveals, through their hatred, he knows a lot more about Claude then he thought. Ramona and Lydia listen to Claude talk about her and Carl's relationship. Meanwhile, Jeb receives a watch from Lydia that he hates. But in the hands of Owen, it's not safe.

Claude realizes that part of her job is predicting Lydia's mood swings and Owen gives her a tool to do it.

When Lydia feels she doesn't get enough recognition, Jeb and Claude come up with a plan to give her a fake award, but they soon get too over their heads when Lydia gets too excited about the award.

Claude and Kip get into an argument when she is about to become assistant to Lydia and Jeb.

Claude makes an announcement; the fourth floor workers are banned from the snack bar; Ramona and Owen are forced to eat in their office.

Claude intervenes when she realizes that Lydia is about to cheat on Jeb. Meanwhile, Owen plans to seduce Lydia, and Jeb loses his voice.

As Claude takes over editing the company newsletter due to the death of the previous one, she hires Owen to write a review comapring Carl to Eddie Smirkoff, the new sandwich guy. Meanwhile Will Butler orders her to destroy videotapes that she thinks are old pornography, but turn out to be evidence of his early career as an actor on a Canadian soap opera.

Claude wins an extreme apartment makeover by the ""Extreme Makeover: Home Edition"" design team at a charity auction. While the designers (and Owen) redesign her apartment, Claude has to spend the night at GNB -- where there is a surprising amount of late night activity and intrigue. Upset over his breakup with Lydia, Jeb bonds with Carl and the two go on a bender; Lydia arrives in hooker attire, claiming that she's fleeing the police; and Kipp makes out with the cleaning lady.

Claude encourages Charlie to audition for a band, but she's dumbfounded when he reveals he got the gig and has to leave town indefinitely. Will wins Kipp from Jeb in a card game and gives him to Claude as a gift -- so Claude willingly lets him do her job. Meanwhile, Ramona and Owen plan a surprise birthday party for Carl. Depressed over her breakup with Jeb, Lydia (""the spinster Weston"") becomes Owen's ""pancake whore,"" but Claude interferes and Lydia winds up having an impromptu wedding with Jeb at Denny's.

Claude babysits Kipp after his laser-eye-surgery and comes to the realization that he may have paid for the procedure with the company's missing funds that Ramona's been looking for. Meanwhile, Lydia is shocked to learn Jeb is hiding a dirty little secret about the fancy hotel she's chosen for their romantic rendezvous. Owen and Carl help Will train for the upcoming NYC Marathon, but they have a difference of opinion on how Will's diet should be handled.

Claude discovers that Jeb and Lydia are pretending to be romantically interested in her and Kipp, respectively, as a means of making the other jealous. Meanwhile, Carl makes a long overdue visit to a doctor, played by Star Jones Reynolds, who makes him think he has more ailments than he really does

When Kipp stirs up a competition with Claude over whether Jeb is a better boss than Will, it escalates until Kipp discovers that Jeb's job is in jeopardy. Meanwhile, Carl gets a thermostat installed in Owen and Ramona's office, which Ramona demands that Owen keeps set on high heat.... leading Owen and Carl to hatch a revenge scheme that goes awry.

After an altercation with the paparazzi, Will enlists Claude to write a public service announcement in hopes that it will clean up his tarnished image. Claude is ecstatic until she learns that he granted Lydia the opportunity to write one too. Meanwhile, Owen and Carl bask in the luxuries of the VIP men's washroom at GNB, but fellow tresspasser Kipp tries to keep them from invading his turf.

Claude invites Mitch to her apartment for some dinner and romance, but her friends convince her that her décor is a bit childish. Kipp's mother, Diane steps into town to meet Will Butler for a fling of her own, and swipes one of Claude's childhood drawings to pass off as Kipp's. Meanwhile, Owen gets a motorscooter, Ramona gets tickets to a Mary J. Blige concert and Lydia makes spa reservations for herself in Diane's name.

On the day after Thanksgiving, Owen's two mothers pay a visit to the staff at GNB and begin meddling in their lives. Judy (Joanna Kerns) advises Will on his issues with women, while Judith (Valerie Harper) lives vicariously through Carl and Ramona, encouraging them to indulge in her passions for gambling and drinking. Meanwhile, Claude fears that she'll lose her job when Owen blabs about her interview for another job; and Lydia fears that she'll lose Jeb because she accidentally killed his ""Gamma Toots"" at his family's Thanksgiving celebration.

To complete the GNB Management Training Program, Claude and Kipp must supervise a department. Claude is assigned to Supplies, where she struggles to assert her authority over hypersensitive Owen. Meanwhile Kipp is assigned to Operations, which he soon learns is the janitorial department. At first appalled at blue collar life, Kipp later embraces his new masculine side. Lydia fills in as Jeb's secretary, which proves awkward since they've broken up. Carl recieves 18 health code violations in the cafeteria, but the inspector agrees to wave them if he'll sleep with her.

When a new guy starts at the office, Claude is oblivious to the fact that he has a crush on her, so she tries to set him up with Ramona. Meanwhile, Jeb and Lydia sneak off to have plastic surgery, but a misunderstanding leads Kipp to believe that Jeb's been kidnapped; and Carl has aspirations of becoming a spy.

Claude is put in charge of organizing the GNB on-air holiday greeting, but is alarmed to learn that there are strict criteria to determine who can represent the company - putting her in hot water with Owen, Ramona and Carl, to whom she had promised an appearance. Meanwhile Lydia refuses to rearrange her holiday plans with Jeb when he announces they must accommodate his son, George, and Kipp and his new girlfriend, Annie, encounter holiday relationship turbulence.