Doug and Deacon, who are out of work because of a strike, resort to playing sophomoric pranks, along with Arthur, to keep from going stir crazy. But they're driving Carrie and Kelly nuts. Eventually, Doug and Deacon return to work leaving Arthur alone.

After a great Thanksgiving, Doug and Carrie tries to recall their first Thanksgiving together who said, "I Love You" first. They consult Arthur who quickly recalls some other Thanksgivings and finally recalls 1993 when he was having a fight with his new wife Lily. When Doug arrives to the house to meet Carrie's family, Carrie, ashamed of her family, runs off and leaves Doug to have a dinner with each parent one at a time. Even though he physically engraves and rebuffs the bowling balls, Arthur criticizes Doug's job at IPS to be replaced by a robot in the near future. When Carrie comes back, they both express their love for each other as Arthur proclaims that her relationship with Doug will not last.

Doug and Carrie watch Deacon and Kelly's kids while they are out of town. When one of the kids sees them making love, they must keep him from telling his parents...

A battle of who got the cheaper gift begins; Lou Ferrigno moves next door.

During the Palmer's separation, Doug and Carrie go to the movies with Kelly while Deacon takes the kids. While there, Carrie runs into a co-worker who seems interested in Kelly. The two end up going on a date, and when Deacon finds out he is ready to patch things up with her.

Doug rear-ends Kelly and Deacon's car and he and Carrie insist that they personally pay for the damage so they can leave the insurance company out of it. But, when the Palmers give them an estimate of almost twelve hundred dollars, Doug and Carrie are taken aback, and what started off as a nice evening out with friends turns into two couples complaining about each other's cheapness. Meanwhile, Spence is babysitting Kirby and goes from being the "Spencinator" to the "Scaredinator" once Kirby finds out that he is allergic to peanuts.

Doug decides to buy a pumpkin to get into the Halloween spirit, but as soon as Arthur sees it, he smashes it and banishes the celebration of Halloween. Doug, frustrated by Arthur "forbidding" things, takes it upon himself to go all out with decorations and ends up scaring Arthur so badly that he nearly has a heart attack and ends up in the hospital. When Doug finds out about Arthur's traumatic childhood and the reasons why he hates Halloween, he feels guilty for what he has done and tries to make it up to him by driving around town, looking for Arthur's favorite childhood treat. Deacon, on the other hand, is determined to find his son Kirby a superhero costume, but is frustrated because there aren't any black superheroes. Deacon resigns himself to the fact that Kirby is gay because he turns down the Darth Vader costume so he can be a Power Puff Girl.

Doug and Carrie get free tickets to her firm's annual golf outing at a private club. They have four tickets and usually bring Deacon and Kelly, but with their recent separation, things have changed. Not wanting to lose out on the opportunity, Deacon meets an available gal, Leslie, who he brings along to complete the foursome. Doug and Deacon are having a great time, but unfortunately, Carrie is not feeling the connection with Leslie and makes an attempt to set Deacon up with another co-worker while at the golf course that she thinks she'd have a better time with. In the meantime, Deacon asks Holly to watch his kids over the weekend while he's gone but doesn't realize that Holly may be pining away for him.

Carrie and Doug begin preparing for tax time and realize that their charitable giving leaves a little to be desired. In an effort to get out of feeling guilty and to make amends for what they see as "selfish living" in the past year, they decide to make a donation to the local kid's library at Deacon's son's school. However, Carrie's charitable spirit starts to be about recognition rather than the actual joy of giving. When the administration mistakenly thinks the Heffernans gave $500 rather than $50, Doug and Carrie scramble to keep the recognition without having to pay the price.

In the first half-hour, Doug believes that his new dentist --who once had a crush on Carrie--is hurting him on purpose.

The second story, which marks the show's 100th episode, focuses on Carrie's dad, Arthur. When Arthur's volatile behavior gets out of control, Doug and Carrie insist he visit a psychiatrist. During the session, Arthur recalls via flashback a disturbing encounter with his own disgruntled dad that may be at the root of his abrasive personality.

The fourth season concludes with Arthur visiting a psychiatrist and recalling via flashback a disturbing encounter with his dad that may explain Arthur's abrasive personality.

Deacon asks Doug to help him coach his 8-year-old son's football team and the boy challenges Doug to try out for a semi-pro team, but Carrie isn't thrilled with the idea until she sees an interesting photo of him.

Doug loans Carrie to Deacon to help prepare Thanksgiving dinner. When Deacon ditches her for Holly's services, his web of lies soon gets out of control. Trying to cover it up, Doug continues to dig a hole for himself.

A toy from their childhood leads to a rift between Deacon and Doug. Meanwhile, Carrie tries to give her father a great Christmas gift, but this proves hard to do when everyone thinks of the wrong gifts they are receiving, altering their original gift choices.