When Burt starts gambling again to try and win back the items he lost 20 years ago, Jimmy and Virginia get addicted to gambling themselves, which causes them to forget about Shelley's play that Sabrina wrote and Hope stars in.

Bored and increasingly desperate for a distraction even they can afford, Burt and Virginia try out various hobbies, until they agree improvisation acting fits them scoundrels. When Jimmy feels Sabrina a lost cause after her engagement with Wyatt, they also advise making her jealous of an imaginary perfect girl. Jimmy fails to wriggle out of a double date, so he needs to hire Mary-Louise from the acting class to play one. That proves harder but also more rewarding then expected.