Louise and Florence run into members of the Ku Klux Klan at the CPR class held for the tenants in the building. Meanwhile, a rash of robberies in the building prompts Tom to start a meeting with the tenants. He later gets invited to one already scheduled unknown to him it's a Ku Klux Klan meeting and he invites George to come along with him.

George is trying to drum up some cleaning business from a famous fashion designer, Camille Hendricks. George tricks Jenny into swinging by the apartment to meet her in order to show her some of her designs, however Jenny is unprepared for this unexpected surprise.

George's latest business deal is with a black man married to a white woman, so when he invites them over for dinner, he also has Tom and Helen come over, to make it look like he doesn't have racial prejudices. However, when Tom and Helen discover his plot, they storm out before the guests have arrived. This leads to George having Florence and Ralph impersonate Tom and Helen.

Florence breaks down and tells Louise that she's losing her apartment due to the fact that the building is going to be torn down, this leads Louise to offer Florence a live-in maid position at the Jeffersons. Now the only problem is to get George to allow her to accept the job.

On the night of a big banquet for Tom, George runs out at the last minute to do an errand at his store in Queens. Once there, we're taken back to 1968 and witness the grand opening of Jefferson Cleaners and we see how George earned his first dollar.

One early morning, Louise and George are startled to discover a man in the kitchen, it isn't until after George threatens to beat him with a trophy, that he learns that Florence let him spend the night. This leads to a major argument resulting in Florence quitting her job.

After being ignored, a hurt Mother Jefferson fakes a fall and gets all the attention she wants and proves to be an even bigger burden to Louise than usual.

Florence goes on a cleaning spree in the Jefferson's apartment as well as behaving extremely strange including, kissing Harry and giving away a swimming award to Louise. This leads Louise to believe Florence is contemplating suicide.

Mother Jefferson is all excited about it being her 70th birthday and even more excited about what George is giving her for a gift. However, George and Louise have totally forgotten all about it leading them to scramble to come up with something to please the old bitty.

George is all excited about having a magazine expose done on him and his cleaning business. However, the magazine wants to present a non-stereo typical view of blacks, and this is a problem for Otis, a shoeshine man who has his stand right out side of George's Harlem store.

The Jeffersons have moved on up and are now enjoying living in their new high-rise apartment. Louise has made a new friend in Diane Stockwell, who is having a hard time believing that George made his way up the ladder without doing anything shady. However, bigger problems are brewing when George insists that Louise hire a maid but Louise is totally against the idea.

Louise is expecting a visit from her Uncle Ward, a man who happens to be a butler. His job is what makes George and Lionel put him down, calling him an "Uncle Tom." Meanwhile, a fight at school prompts Lionel to get kicked out.

Mother Jefferson encounters a masher in the elevator and later discovers he's Jenny's uncle. Things get out of hand when she locks him out on the balcony. Meanwhile, George wants to buy antique furniture, much to Louise's dismay.

Jenny is tired of the bickering between her two grandfathers who have been against each other ever since Tom and Helen wed. So this leads Jenny, Louise and Mother Jefferson to concoct a scheme to get the two together at the Jeffersons' apartment since neither of the grandfathers will step foot in the Willis' apartment.

George's old navy buddy, Wendell comes for a visit and immediately begins making passes at Louise. Louise quickly finds herself in a difficult situation, especially since she likes the unexpected attention, since George has recently not been spending any time with her.

Louise realizes that Mother Jefferson has a strong hold on George when he refuses to cancel a monthly lunch with his mother and go with Louise to a funeral for a family friend.

Louise finds a perfume soaked letter in the mail to George from an old girlfriend. After a discussion, Louise decides to allow him to meet with her, which turns out to be a big mistake. Almost as soon as she arrives, she pulls a gun on him with intent to kill him.

Florence is all excited since her and her church choir are going to Ohio for a competition. However, Florence loses her faith in God when the Reverend steals the money they needed to enter the competition.

Louise becomes concerned when she sees Lionel beginning to act more and more like his father. Things come to a head, when Lionel tries to get Jenny a seat on a campaign committee by using bribery. Meanwhile, Tom and Helen are at odds when they each back opposing candidates.

Jenny's globe-trotting brother surprises his family with a visit home. While Tom and Helen, debate on the reason for Allan staying away so long, Jenny is anything but happy about his visit and her reason has nothing to do with him staying away for so long.

It's Harry Bentley's birthday and the Jeffersons are planning a birthday party at there apartment. However, the joyous occasion is anything but when Tom arrives wearing the same dinner jacket as George. Meanwhile, Helen keeps the fact that she was mugged from Tom due to the fact that Tom is at the end of his rope with New York.

Lionel is desperate to pass a course but his odds are slim since his passing hinges on a paper he has to write about homosexuality. This leads George to buy a term paper for him, but this leads to a tremendous blow up ending with Jenny and Lionel breaking up and Louise and Helen ending their friendship.

Tom and Helen debate on whether or not to take the first step and try to patch things up with George and Louise while Louise debates the same thing. Meanwhile, Lionel makes a final decision about whether or not to use the ready made term paper.

George is excited that he's going to finally meet Mr. Whittendale, however a previous engagement with Harry could foil George's plans. Things get even worse for George when he becomes trapped in the bathroom with Tom and Helen.

George's rival in the dry cleaning business, Cunningham, is running a campaign due to the Bicentennial celebration. This prompts George to come up with his own campaign and decides to dress up as Thomas Jefferson to lure in new customers.