Justin Tolchuck has nearly everything any teenager could want: caring parents, a popular sister, and his own style. However, the one thing that Justin does lack is a social life. His mother, Franny, tries to fix this problem by hosting a foreign student who can perhaps make Justin popular. However, the Tolchucks are in for a very big surprise when the foreigner turns out to be not at all what they had expected.
Raja explains to his class how close he and Justin are, prompting rumors about the two being a couple to spread throughout the school. Thus, Justin turns to Claire for help, who advises him to completely ignore Raja. This later causes Justin to be more alone than ever because Raja instead befriends the geekiest kid in school. Meanwhile, Gary decides to get involved when Claire decides to call it quits with Jeffrey.
When Franny loses her sense of boundaries and requests that Gary remove the locks from all the doors, Justin and his friends find time for themselves by creating the Rocket Club, which is their secret excuse to hang out and do whatever they want. Raja, however, does not fit in well with the group because he does not like the fact that all they do is nothing.
Much to the family's surprise, Raja begins smoking due to midterms stress. Meanwhile, Claire is heartbroken when Jeffrey breaks up with her and when Justin tries to cheer her up she embarrasses him in front of the kids at school. However, Claire soon finds herself trying to regain Justin's affections.
Raja has trouble with a girl named Mindy. He starts spending time with her and finds out that she is annoying. After Justin tells Raja that Mindy believes that she is dating him, Raja lies to her in order to let her down. He tells her that they can't date because of their religious differences, but things get complicated when Mindy converts to Islam. Franny and Gary deal with a neighbor who is a registered sex offender.
When the PTA protests about smutty books at school, Justin and Franny are forced to read the books for the first time. Claire uses the protest as an excuse to getting out of reading "Pride and Prejudice." Justin turns to Raja when his parents find out that he has been drawing pictures of naked women.
Raja finds infatuation with Sadika Sadaqatmal, a local Muslim girl. Franny gets excited and plans a big date for them, which includes both sides of the family. Gary and Franny comment on how Justin doesn't even have a girlfriend yet, which causes him to ask out a neurotic girl named Donna. Claire begins dating the German exchange student staying with the Sadaqatmals.
Original pilot with different actor as the dad