Millie receives a letter from Rex Alexander, a famous sculptor she met while modeling in New York. After Rex arrives, Millie throws a tea party to have some of the towns people meet him. Rex has been in town for a week and has grown quite fond of the place. He tells Sam and Millie he would like to create a sculpture for the town as a gift. The piece is called "The Struggle" and the crowd looks at it in awkward silence. After the crowd disperses, Rex is worried the people don't like it. Sam and Millie try to reassure him that everyone loves it. It's decided that Howard would subtly try to find out from Rex what the piece represents. Rex says that it represents man against machine. Aunt Bee introduces Anthony Harper, a curator from the Raleigh Art Museum. The plan is that the sculpture will be permanently loaned to the museum so that many more people will be able to enjoy it.

Alice buys a harp, and gets lessons. Her teacher makes her very nervous and she almost gives up on the instrument.

At the county fair, Howard and Goober meet Roscoe, who booked a dog act there. He's unhappy that he no longer books people. Sam, who is the emcee, announces it's time to crown Miss Farmerette who will be queen of the fair. The winner winds up being Millie. The next day, Roscoe comes to Mayberry and tells Millie he wants to make her a movie star. Roscoe convinces Millie to do a screen test, but she doesn't have the money for it. Howard has a home movie of Millie that Roscoe thinks he can use. Roscoe sends the film to producer Frank Springer in Hollywood. Millie's scared but goes to see Mr. Carr, the casting director. Millie's reading for the part of a southern girl doesn't go well. Sam, Millie and Roscoe are at a restaurant. Roscoe is depressed and Millie is relieved. Roscoe gets excited when the beautiful Cashier has a southern accent. Sam hears from Roscoe that the Cashier got the part.

Mayberry gets an invitation to join a sister city program by the United States government. The city council approves of the idea and is then to arrange for a delegation from their Mexican sister city, Puerto Bello, to visit Mayberry. Mayor Juan Nunez and Pablo Santos arrive in town. Juan presents the town with a very expensive looking goblet. Sam has the men over for what he thought would be a simple lunch. But Aunt Bee has a fancy meal served with Goober as the butler. While the men are outside, Sam tells Aunt Bee that she shouldn't be putting on airs the way she is. Aunt Bee says they must come from a very rich town and they should be treated that way. Sam overhears the men talking about how impressed they are with Mayberry. Sam also hears that they spent half the town treasury to buy the goblet. He tells Aunt Bee what he heard. That night at the ball, Aunt Bee finds a gracious way to return the goblet and she presents her sign to Mayor Nunez.

Howard's hippie nephew visits him

Alice's harp teacher asks her to marry him.

Sam and Emmett help put on a show for the church.

Mike becomes the foster father of a little girl in Hong Kong

Sam tells housekeeper Flora that he was chosen to be part of a Farmer Exchange Project with Russia. Professor Luboff is to spend two weeks with Sam. Everyone is surprised when Professor Luboff turns out to be Professor Tanya Luboff, a woman. Tanya is very proper and reserved and tells Sam and Millie that she was the only woman picked for the exchange project. Millie thinks she might have a good time at the dance on Saturday and asks Sam to get a date for Tanya. Sam talks a reluctant Howard into taking her to the dance. That night when Howard asks Tanya to be his date, she politely turns him down. She later overhears Flora telling Sam and Howard that Tanya hasn't discovered that it's fun to be a woman. Millie talks Tanya into going to the dance and helps her get ready clothes and hair wise. She also gives Tanya advice on how to act. It's the night of the dance and Sam and Millie arrive with a beautiful looking Tanya. Tanya dances with several men and has a great time.

Millie doesn't know that her new employeers are actually bookies

Goober is elected a church elder, only to be caught in a scandal in which he used the church money for gambling.

Goober gets lost in a cave.

Sam's cousin, Vince, is coming to visit. He used to be a jockey but now he trains horses. The next day Vince arrives with a horse named Gingersnap. Vince says that the horse has not lived up to its potential as a race horse. He's looking to sell the horse to finance a restaurant he wants to partner in and was hoping Sam could find a buyer. Aunt Bee thinks it's a shame to turn Gingersnap into a saddle horse. Emmett tells Sam that Mr. Bowers might be interested in the horse. But Aunt Bee manages to intentionally ruin the deal. She tells Sam her intuition tells her to put the horse in a race. Sam reluctantly agrees. Aunt Bee sets things up and gets the horse into a race at Morgan Downs. The day of the race, Aunt Bee gives the Jockey a pep talk. After the race starts, Gingersnap is in last position. The horse comes from behind to win. When Vince hears the good news, he decides to keep Gingersnap.

Howard meets Walter Michaels, a neighbor and realizes he's a big Hollywood producer. Howard, Emmett, Goober, Sam and Mike then head off to a cowboy breakfast horse ride. A cowboy then sings a song for entertainment and Emmett recognizes him as former singing cowboy movie actor King Beaumont. King comes by with a movie script he wrote for a Western that he would like Howard to give to Walter. Howard reads the script to the others and decides to set up a meeting with King and Walter. Sam thinks Howard might be getting in over his head. The next day, Howard talks to Walter and he reluctantly agrees to have a meeting later that day. That afternoon, King comes by with his partners Jennie Mae Swanson (Jeanne Bates) and Shorty Williams and they meet Walter. The three perform a scene from the film. Walter doesn't seem impressed and he says the time might not be right for a film like that. Walter leaves and King thanks the guys for trying. King then sings Red River Valley.

Emmett's wife joins a women's lib group.

Goober housesits at a rich man's house, and falls in love with a rich girl, only to find out the only reason the girl's mother likes him is because she thinks he's rich.

Howard tells the church committee that the church is in need of funds. The problem is with the annual charity play. Howard believes the problem is that Clara, the producer, hasn't kept up with the times. Clara is not happy when she is told she will be replaced. Because she has a little theater experience, Millie is offered the job to direct "Sleeping Beauty". An old friend of Millie's named Nick comes to town. He offers her a good job in a dance production in Raleigh. Millie wants to stay in Mayberry and turns him down. Clara tells the church committee that Millie used to be a chorus girl. The Reverend suggests replacing Millie, but Sam vouches for her. Sam talks to Millie and she admits to once being a chorus girl. It's the night of the play and the show is running smoothly. The Reverend and Sam think everything will be OK. Then the play ends with Mike singing "A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody" and the girls do a chorus line fan dance. The audience loved it.

Goober meets Frank Wylie, who rented the house. Frank says he's a writer and he's hoping a change of scenery will inspire his creativity. Sam comes by and tells them about Frank being a writer. The club hopes to get Frank to speak at their next meeting. The next day, Howard and Aunt Bee speak with Mrs. Audrey Wylie. Audrey accepts the invitation to speak on Frank's behalf. What the town doesn't know is that Frank writes monster comic books. Goober asks to join the literary club, but is turned down because all he's ever read is comic books. Sam feels bad about it and asks Aunt Bee to invite Goober to the next meeting. Meanwhile, Frank is having a hard time coming up with something new. Frank goes to the gas station again and Goober inadvertently gives Frank a fresh idea. It's the night of the meeting and club members are worried about Goober being there. Frank starts his speech and mentions getting inspiration from a new collaborator.

Harvey Smithers is opening a new pet shop in Mayberry. Harvey is moving his business from the smaller town of Blue Hill. Mike asks Sam if he can have a dog, but Sam says he's not responsible enough. Mike visits the pet shop and befriends a mutt there. He asks Harvey if he could have a job there after school and on weekends. Harvey wants Mike to get Sam's permission. Mike talks to Aunt Bee and the two of them convince Sam to let Mike have the job. While at work, Mike tries to talk people into buying the mutt. Aunt Bee, Mike and Millie finally get Sam to agree to Mike having a dog. Mike brings the mutt home and names him Fritz. But, they soon learn that he is allergic to the dog. At the pet shop, Aunt Bee embellishes the dog's background and talks Howard into taking Fritz.

Mr. Morelli announces that he will be closing his restaurant due to the lack of customers. He says that everyone is going to Pagano's in Mt. Pilot because they feature a floor show. Howard and Millie offer to help by going to Raleigh to hire an act from Charley Pierce's theatrical agency. They hire a local act known as the Claghorn Brothers. Word spreads and Mr. Morelli is expecting a large crowd. But then the Claghorn Brothers cancel due to a family emergency. Because it's the last minute, Howard can't find another act. Sam used to entertain when he was in the Army and Howard and Millie hope he will help. Sam says that it's been too long since he did that type of entertaining and turns them down. Everyone is now upset with Sam. Sam changes his mind and that night he performs as a song and dance scarecrow.

Goober receives a letter from his older brother Braden that he is returning to his hometown for a visit. Braden joined the Navy nearly 20 years ago and stayed in California. Goober believes he works in a factory and probably had to save up for this trip. He hopes Braden will be impressed with the fact that he owns his own gas station. In reality, Braden is a successful and important engineer in the government's space program. Goober arranges a dinner party for when Braden arrives. When Braden sees Goobers room, he decides to not tell Goober about his job. At dinner Braden receives an call from his job and the men discover he's an engineer. The waitress says that he also has calls from Washington D.C. and NASA. Sam then remembers reading about Braden and the space program. This makes Goober feel inferior, and something Emmett says makes Goober feel even worse.

Aunt Bee, Sam and Mike stop at a spot in Grover's woods that she is quite fond of. Sam tells her that the county is putting a road through there to make a shortcut from the highway to Mayberry. Aunt Bee and the garden club decide to send Sam to the County Seat to protest. Sam at first turns her down as he believes the road will be a good thing. But he reluctantly agrees to go to Mt. Pilot. Sam, Clara and Aunt Bee go to see Commissioner Osborne. Osborne tells them the road has to be built. The day that construction is to start, the ladies arrive to protest and block the tractors from going through. Osborne tells the ladies the project will be temporarily postponed while he looks into the matter. Osborne comes up with a plan to put the road in without cutting down a tree. Howard figures out that will make the shortcut a half mile longer than the current road.

Sam gets a new housekeeper, a former Army officer

Andy and Sam think it would be a good idea to have a "Civic Youth Day". They would have some children take over as Sheriff, Head of City Council and County Clerk. But just for a few hours. Mike is chosen to be Sheriff, Arnold Bailey will be Head of City Council and Martin Barton will be County Clerk. The boys study for two weeks about their jobs. On the day, Sam, Andy and Howard quickly find out that the boys know quite a bit about the jobs. Later at a luncheon, the boys are to tell what they learned that morning. The boys don't have much to say. Sam apologizes because the men really didn't give the boys the added knowledge that they obviously wanted. The boys clearly embraced their roles with far more enthusiasm than anyone thought.

The corn crop is coming in and Sam needs to hire someone to help him. Andy suggests using ex-prisoners from the county prison. Sam talks to Aunt Bee and she reluctantly agrees. Andy introduces Sam to Harry Davis and Charley Wilson. The men start picking corn and after a while, Sam gives them some money to run a few errands in his truck. They stop at Goober's gas station. Millie tells them that Goober's not there and they should just help themselves. They stop at Emmett's fix-it shop to pick something up for Sam. Emmett has to leave and he asks the men to watch his store. Meanwhile, Millie drops off a little more than $500 to Aunt Bee. Later, Sam and Aunt Bee find the money and car gone. Harry and Charley go to play cards with Big Louie. Andy and Sam show up and Harry and Charley say they were just trying to win the rest of the money for the pool. Big Louie gives Andy an additional $500 for the pool.