In the first episode we are introduced to Eddie and Joy Stamm, who have been married for 8000+ days while their new next door neighbors Steph and Jeff Woodcock are young newlyweds. The young couple ends up having an argument over a pool table which ends up migrating next door.

When it is realized that Eddie is grouchy because he isn't sleeping well he gets treatment. Unfortunately Joy can't sleep without him snoring so now she is the grouchy one.

Eddie & Joy prepare for Jeff’s birthday dinner. Eddie doesn’t want to give lingerie as a gift. Eddie decides to give his own gift. At the birthday dinner with a few other couples, Eddie orders 2 desserts for himself. Steph tries on the lingerie. Jeff feels like Eddie doesn’t pay any attention to him. Jeff’s feelings are hurt when he realizes only Joy gave him the gift. Steph gives up on trying having a romantic evening. Eddie gets a perfect bottle of wine for Jeff which Jeff likes. Joy finds out that Eddie gave Jeff a special $1,000.00 bottle of wine she’d been keeping in their house. Eddie and Joy try to get the bottle of wine back and Jeff finally realizes that Eddie is trying to retrieve it. Joy and Eddie get kicked out of the Woodcock’s house, but Jeff eventually gives the bottle of wine back and the two of them bond over a shared drink.

When the Starks meet Simona and Stephen for dinner, they decide to ditch them with the bill resulting in an all-out dining war between the couples. Meanwhile, Joy makes Eddie's life miserable at work.

Eddie tries to get a raise so he and Joy can go on vacation, but he has a tough time convincing his principal. Meanwhile, Doug's delusion that he is a character on a sitcom gets even worse.

When Joy and Eddie experiment with role-playing to spice up their love life, they realize that pretending to be someone else isn't as sexy as being themselves. Meanwhile, to supplement his income, Kenny tries finding lost dogs to collect the reward money.

When Eddie's friend Karl introduces him to his second wife, Eddie becomes jealous of Karl's relaxed marriage and convinces Joy that they should try out a "second marriage." Joy has her own ideas of how a "second marriage" should be causing Eddie to re-think his suggestion

When Joy convinces Eddie to visit Simona for an annual check-up, he catches a nasty head cold before his big interview with a Hindenburg blimp survivor. Meanwhile, Joy can't understand why Simona won't pay her a compliment.

When Eddie thinks Joy made a fool of herself at Steph's birthday party he decides it is time to tell her about her irritating habits. She lets him know about his own irritating habits. Steph isn't happy when Jeff gives her a gift she has wanted for a long time.

Eddie and Joy's free-spirited daughter, Ally, returns from a trek in the Ecuadorian rain forest with her new husband, Doug. When Ally and Doug decide to set up camp in a trailer in the Starks' backyard, they ultimately ruin Eddie's plans for installing a Jacuzzi. Meanwhile, Eddie and Joy attempt to overcome their dislike of Doug and accept him as a member of the family.

Eddie and Joy pick sides when their friends break-up, but when they get back together it ends up costing them.

When Eddie befriends a new teacher at school, they find they have a lot in common, but Ms. Duffy has other plans for their relationship. Meanwhile, Eddie and Joy reminisce about the music they loved in the 1980s.

Eddie and Joy want to downgrade to a smaller house, but Doug and Ally aren't ready to move out on their own. Meanwhile, when Duffy dumps Whitey (guest star Martin Mull), he moves in with Eddie and Joy as a way of coping, but he quickly overstays his welcome and Joy wants him out.

When Joy gets angry at Eddie for forgetting her birthday, she decides to cash in on all the coupons he has given her over the years for massages, pedicures and chores. Meanwhile, Kenny convinces Eddie that he needs to surprise her with a handbag in order to be forgiven. Unfortunately for Eddie, Joy decides to return the handbag and finds out the hard way that it's a fake.

Joy's fun and beautiful new friend Eileen also happens to be Eddie's ex-girlfriend. At first, the friendship doesn't seem to be a problem until Joy invites Eileen over to the house and Eddie gets himself in trouble by reminiscing a little too fondly about the past. Meanwhile, Kenny thinks he's doing something nice for his new girlfriend by babysitting her kids, but doesn't realize she may be using him.

When Eddie buys a high-definition television without checking with Joy first, she decides to join in the spending spree. Meanwhile, Doug suspects he is living on a sitcom.

When Joy urges Eddie to get a check-up from their doctor, Simona (Susan Yeagley), Eddie becomes enamored with her and her husband, Stephen (Kevin Nealon), and their seemingly perfect life. Joy becomes annoyed when Eddie becomes ardent about taking Simona's advice, even though Joy has been nagging him for years, and decides to prove to Eddie that Simona isn't as perfect as she seems.

Jeff recruits Eddie for a faculty basketball team, but Eddie has a secret despite his height he is terrible at the sport. This is a problem because Eddie lied to Joy about his supposed prowess while they were dating, and he never told her the truth.

Steph decides that she wants to watch an adult video with Jeff, who has never seen one, so he asks his colleagues at school for advice. That's how Eddie gets into trouble with Joy, who is in no mood for nonsense following a disastrous visit to the gym.

When Joy purchases two new bedroom lamps, one lamp works and the other one is broken, prompting Eddie and Joy to fight over the working lamp. Meanwhile, Jeff fights for the right to go to bed whenever he wants.

When Eddie and Joy try to live without complaining, Eddie finds that repressing his true feelings makes him sick. Meanwhile, Kenny creates problems for parents when he works as a mall Santa.

When Eddie and Joy befriend Stephen (guest star Nealon) and his wife Simona, Eddie clicks with them right away, which causes Joy to feel left out. In an effort to win Joy over, Eddie coaches their new friends on her all her likes and dislikes. Meanwhile, Kenny starts a new job as a supermarket sample salesman only to realize that sample distribution can be a competitive biz

When Ally and Doug announce that they're going to be parents, Joy has a meltdown about becoming a grandmother, forcing Eddie to call in his mother-in-law for help.

Joy goes overboard planning for Ally's baby shower and becomes obsessed with baby gifts. Meanwhile, Mr. White has difficulty giving Ally and Doug their shower gift, and Dr. Bialik invites her "Blossom" castmates to participate in a therapy session for Doug.

When Steph introduces Eddie to yoga and Jeff turns Joy on to tennis, the couples spend more and more time with their friends and less time with each other. The swap seems successful until Jeff's competitive streak emerges and Joy tries to bow out of tennis lessons.