John Dorian, "J.D." to friends, is a boyishly handsome, self-deprecatingly funny, likeable guy who would be confident if he only realized his assets. Four years of medical school have prepared J.D. for his first day as an intern at Sacred Heart Hospital - but he has his doubts.

J.D. tries to persuade a smoker patient to quit smoking in order to impress Dr. Cox, who is just feeling lonely in his opinion. Elliot's attitude towards Carla annoys her, thus Turk is able to go on a date with Carla, when he convinces her to forgive Elliot.

J.D. begins to feel distant from Turk, when he leaves him abandoned every time that he tries to talk to him. Elliot fights with Kelso for calling her "sweetheart," and she seeks Dr. Cox's advice. J.D.'s relationship with Elliot goes in a time race, when he has 48 hours to kiss her before he is put into her "Friend Zone."

An assortment of moms and dads descend on their offspring at home and in the workplace. J.D.'s father is a gregarious yet lonely divorcee who's desperately trying to be just one of the guys. Elliot's folks, on the other hand, are a snooty couple whose pompous behavior dismays their daughter. Similarly rattled is Turk, unnerved by the bonding of his girlfriend, Carla, and his brassy mother. But the most vexatious parent by far is the janitor's dad.

Turk's competitiveness is starting to annoy J.D., especially when it crosses the line of personal jokes and comes to patient's matters.

Meanwhile, Dr. Cox finally has a taste of good coffee, but thanks to his feud with Dr. Kelso, the only nurse who was able to make it gets fired. Elliot meets a very attractive patient, whom she instantly identifies, but has a really hard time getting him to ask her out.

Relationships between the staff of Sacred Heart Hospital have been shaken since Jordan's revelations. Turk is sleeping on J.D.'s bed, after Carla kicked him out of his own. Elliot is having a hard time facing J.D. every day at work. J.D. desperately tries to get Dr. Cox's attention back, unsuccessfully.

J.D. flirts with the wife of a patient who's been in a coma for the past two years, whom they all call T.C.W. (Tasty Coma Wife). He feels guilty for doing that, even though she wants to go ahead with it. Meanwhile, he can't stand listening to any more relationship problems, as everybody dumps their issues on his ears: Elliot, sabotaging her relationship with Paul over beef jerky, Carla, finding out her engagement ring passed through a patient's digestive system and Dr. Cox's unsucessful attempts to get some attention from Jordan, who can only think about her baby right now.

Elliot finds herself perplexed over a simple procedure that leaves her questioning her career path. She goes to seek Dr. Kevin Casey's advice but becomes frustrated when she learns that the epiphany toilet, which the Janitor secretly installed on the roof, is getting more attention than she is.

Meanwhile, Turk asks J.D. to be his best man at his wedding, which sends J.D. into sheer bliss momentarily until he hears a phone message that makes him question his friendship with Turk.

J.D. hooks up with Danni again, after Sean returns, but he can't forget about his passionate night with Elliot.

Meanwhile, Dr. Cox realizes, that he might actually have a crush on the one doctor he loathes.

When J.D. meets a former writer from his all time favorite TV show "Cheers," he begins to picture his life at the hospital as a bland, multiple camera sitcom, where everything is perfect and wraps up nicely.

Back in reality, Cox is relunctant to fire an amiable cafeteria worker, while Turk and Carla struggle to keep their promise of constant romantic affection afloat.

J.D. is sick of perfect intern Keith and he's not the only one. Elliot's relationship with Keith is revealed, so the other interns think that he is getting special attention. In the meantime Dr. Cox boasts about being named "The Best Doctor in the City" by a local magazine, thus Dr. Kelso assigns him to the most difficult patient in the hospital to deflate his ego. Also, Turk and Carla continue to struggle in their quest for conception.

Kim goes into labor, and J.D. struggles to decide if he should tell her what he really thinks of their relationship. Turk, desperate to do something not baby-related, races to beat a video game before Carla discovers him. And Dr. Cox searches for someone he trusts enough to give his daughter a shot.