Amy wants to get into college, and Wayne wants to help impress the recruiter who's coming to dinner at the Szalinski house. Worried about being embarrassed by her family, Amy convinces Diane to talk to Wayne about acting normal during dinner. Diane talks to Wayne while he's working on the Psycho-Cybernetics Generator, a machine that makes one's thoughts happen in real life. Diane blurts out that she wishes they were a normal family just as she's zapped by the generator. The next day Diane becomes frozen in time and, lost inside her thought of a normal family, learns that normal can be boring. Worried that Diane might not know she's trapped in a dream, Wayne wires them both to the generator, which projects his thoughts into Diane's head. If Wayne can join Diane in her thought, he can help her get back to her very non-normal life.

Things go wrong when Wayne tries to fix the fridge as his hinge ruins the kitchen so now they have to clean the kitchen. Mishappenings just keep happening and as usual Jennings makes things worse. Can they get everything back in order before the family comes back? Amy, Diane, and Nick are at the zoo trying to save it. Amy, who usually messes everything up, lets a journalist in, against the zoo's wishes, because he was "cute" so now they must get the guy out.

Amy writes a good story about her dad and his inventions. Two mobsters, one that looks like Wayne, finds Wayne and decides to switch, so they can get in the clear. They kidnapp Wayne and the bad guy goes into the house. After a while Wayne gets taped and tied at a hotel and Amy figures out what's going on. Will the bad guys get caught and will Wayne get home safely?