In the pilot episode, Doug (Kevin James) and Carrie Heffernan (Leah Remini) were happy. Doug had just gotten the perfect basement with a large TV and foosball table. However, Carrie's father, Arthur Spooner (Jerry Stiller), accidentally burns his own house down with his "lucky" hot plate after his wife died. As a result both he and Carrie's sister Sara (Lisa Rieffel) have to move in with Doug and Carrie. Doug therefore loses his basement to his father-in-law. During this time, Doug finds living
Stunned by an old photograph of Carrie's mother, Doug convinces Carrie to go on a diet and must pretend he is going on one too.
When Carrie keeps skipping softball games with Doug and the guys, Doug wonders what's going on. Doug finds out that Carrie is working late for her boss, and he's starting to wonder why Carrie fell for him. He tries to make it up to Carrie by going to a cello concert with her.
After having dinner with Richie (Larry Romano) and his wife, Doug finds out that Richie's wife cheats on him, he must confront him with the news. However, Doug has some trouble telling his friend about his wife, afraid that he will hurt him and finally tells him in Atlantic City while gambling. Meanwhile, Arthur depends on Doug for deodorant issues, but Doug is too distracted.
Doug and Carrie throw a wedding anniversary party for themselves. Doug invites his Aunt Sheila (Brenda Vaccaro), and finds out that his aunt and uncle are having problems. When Arthur meets Doug's aunt, he falls for her. Carrie eventually lets him date her but ends up regretting it, leaving Arthur with plans to propose to her.
After a stressful day of working and accompanying Arthur on errands, Doug receives a "very special thank you" in the form of oral sex from Carrie. Doug realizes that if he spends more time with Arthur, Carrie might keep "thanking" him. Doug soon pretends to be very good friends with Arthur, but his plan backfires after Arthur clings to him and harasses his friends.
Carrie is offered a large sum of money to sell her engagement ring. Doug and Carrie decide to sell it and buy a hot tub and satellite dish. When Doug first tries out the new channels he is determined to see all the channels and grows to dislike the dish. Meanwhile, Doug and Carrie find trouble with their new hot tub when Arthur starts to ruin their time by putting up the heat and using it without any undergarments.
Carrie feels that she and Doug are getting stupid as a couple, so she enrolls them and Spence (Patton Oswalt) for a class where they read a book and then discuss it, but Doug fails and steals Spence's answers.
Doug allows Ray Barone (Ray Romano from Everybody Loves Raymond), a sportswriter to cheat off his test during a driving exam at the DMV and gets his license suspended. Ray attempts to make it up to him by taking him to a New York Jets game with his brother Robert (Brad Garrett). On the drive home, Ray convinces Doug to drive his car but it makes Robert jealous and finds out that Doug does not have a license to drive and pulls him over. After Doug finally passes his driving test he gets hit by Ra
While looking for a parking space, Carrie steals a parking space from a woman named Helen (Christine Rose), whom the former later needs help from to make a Thanksgiving dinner. Doug finds his friend, Richie in the lines and is having trouble getting out. Doug also meets up with someone he does not know but claims to know him and manages to have conversations with him and finally invites him to dinner when he somehow insults him. Arthur is upset when he finds out Carrie plans to use TV dinners as
At Christmas time, Arthur buys Doug and Carrie a very squatty, mini car, which, of course, Doug and Carrie dislike. Richie advises Doug and Carrie to abandon the car in an area where it will most likely be stolen, but they hesitate because it was a gift from Carrie's father.
Carrie arranges a date with a work friend and Spence, but after a saucy piece of advice from Doug, Spence scares the girl off.
Doug, Carrie, Deacon (Victor Williams) and Kelly (Merrin Dungey) attend a wedding of a man Carrie had sex with once, but Doug did not know until right before the wedding and he does not tell Carrie he knows. Guest star: Peter Tork (of the Monkees) as the band leader
The Heffernans' neighbors the Sackskys (Bryan Cranston and Dee Dee Rescher) have an annoying barking dog. Doug and Carrie complain about it, but Doug feels sorry for the dog when he finds out that all he needs are walks and secretly adopts it. Arthur thinks "Charlie Brown" is based on him.
Doug subscribes for an ultimate fight on television, not realizing it falls on the same night as Carrie's birthday. Luckily for Doug, Carrie is depressed about her new age, so Doug makes up a lie about having plans so he can sound like he remembered. Doug invites Deacon and Kelly, but in bad timing when Deacon's mother comes to visit. During the course of the celebration, several things go wrong such as Doug forgetting a card and having dinner outside in the cold.
On Valentine's Day, Arthur attends a party at his senior center and meets a woman Mary (Jerry Stiller's real-life wife Anne Meara) and the two begin a love affair. Carrie is waiting for Doug at restaurant but Doug is stuck at Spence's birthday party, but when Spence arrives, he and his mother (Grace Zabriskie) get into a fight and Doug, Deacon and Richie are stuck at his home with Spence's mother; while waiting for Doug, Carrie meets a "schmuck" (Shaun Weiss) at the restaurant and transforms him
Carrie is asked out on a date by a police officer (Daniel Roebuck) who pulled her over the previous day (she was wearing gloves and therefore the police officer could not see her ring). After getting some advice from Richie, Doug gets Carrie to go on a date with him so he will not testify against her.
Doug gets promoted after the sudden severe illness of his manager at IPS. Carrie gets excited but Doug hates the job, feeling guilty when Deacon says he wanted the promotion.
Doug invites Richie over to talk to him about his recent divorce, but in the last minute Doug bails to play golf with sportswriter Ray Barone. Meanwhile, while Doug and Ray are playing golf, Ray's mother Marie (Doris Roberts) keeps Carrie company.
Doug gets paired together with Julie Patterson (Julie Benz), a new trainee, whom he's attracted to and is afraid to tell Carrie. As always, Carrie finds out, but she does not care because she thinks of Doug as "nice". Angered by this, Doug tries to get his trainee to sexually harass him. Meanwhile, Arthur has his own millennium problem with a tombstone.
Carrie's boss invites her and Doug to an elegant party. Doug, who is not able to eat all day, discovers that there is no food served at the party and is desperate enough to eat raw, out of date eggs, mints, and plant food. He ruins the party by retching and almost throwing up during a show. Meanwhile, Arthur and Spence plan a business idea, but are worried about what will happen once the patent runs out and knock-offs are produced.
Tim and Dorothy Sacksky give their beach house to Doug and Carrie because they are getting divorced. Dorothy is too upset to hand over the key. Carrie gets Richie to hit on her so she will feel better, and they have sex. Now Dorothy is more upset than ever. Meanwhile, Arthur seeks answers from an ointment company after developing a nasty rash.
Doug and Carrie get Arthur out of the house so they will have more time together. They decide to try to pawn him off on somebody for a weekend. After they can't get anyone else to do it, Doug calls his cousin Danny (Gary Valentine), whom he hates, and gets Arthur to work at the pizza place Danny is working at and stay with the latter for a weekend, but then Danny wants to hang out with Doug more.
Doug is ecstatic when Arthur moves out of the basement and gets his own apartment following an argument between the two men. But Carrie is saddened by her father's move and wants Doug to ask him to return.
After dinner with the Palmers watching Doug play with Kirby, the Palmers announce that Kelly's pregnant with a soon-to-be Major, leaving the Heffernans with dreams of having their own baby.