In this first episode, we meet the rowdy frat brothers of the Delta House on the Faber College campus in 1962 and see how they love to play pranks on the uptight preppies of the Omega House and torment Dean Wormer.
Dean Wormer is impressed by how far Blotto can punt a football, so he recruits him for the football team for the upcoming big game. But when Blotto refuses to play, the Deltas secretly substitute Flounder in his place, who by his own admission does not have a sports gene in his body. So it is up to the rest of the Deltas to figure ways to help the team win and keep Flounder from...floundering on the field, and not give the Dean a reason to eject Blotto from the college.
The Deltas lure the Omegas into town and away from campus by making them believe they are leading a parade for a local Congressman. Meanwhile, the Deltas switch the Greek letters on their house and the Omegas' house. So the Deltas' moms and dads are visiting them in the clean Omega house, while the Omegas' moms and dads end up in the messy Delta house. The Deltas switch the letters back before the Omegas return. Naturally, the Omegas never find out that this has happened.
A speech by John F. Kennedy during the Cuban Missile Crisis leads to Omega opening an elite bunker for survival with campus security funds. When a faulty test alarm sounds like a real warning of missiles launching, everyone goes into action, the Deltas throwing a Welcome Russians party to end all parties, while the Omegas just prepare for the end. Meanwhile, Professor Jennings gives Flounder an interesting assignment... prove that he exists!
Dean Wormer gives Delta House one week to clean up the house for face expulsion, so they hire a house mother to help get things together. Meanwhile, Blotto enters a weightlifting contest to win the money that is required to make repairs to the house.
Dean Wormer fixes it so that D-Day receives his draft notice, so the Deltas throw him a party to see him off. But tensions arise between the Deltas after D-Day's departure, which leads to Hoover moving to the Dorm, Flounder and Pinto to a civil rights activist's pad, Otter alone in Delta House and Blotto up a tree...literally!
Pinto's acne makes him self-conscious about his looks, so his frat brothers try to help him regain his confidence. Meanwhile, Dean Wormer tries angling for grant money for the science program from a visiting military officer and his best chance at getting it is Hoover's science project!
When Kent "Flounder" Dorfman falls in love with Mandy Pepperidge, it is up to the Deltas to make her see him as the man of her dreams, the new big man on campus.
After Dean Wormer's wife finds him in his office with a young co-ed, she reports him to the trustees, who meet to vote him out and replace him. The Deltas are ready to celebrate Wormer's departure, until they find out his replacement is far worse than Wormer, so they plot to help the Dean save his job.
Due to poor grades, Dean Wormer happily expels Blotto. However, when the Dean accidentally hits Blotto with his car, the tables are turned and Wormer must take care of Blotto to avoid a big lawsuit.
The Delta boys plan to use The Bombshell (Michelle Pfeiffer) to win a beauty contest, but when she is sent away on an archaeological assignment, they scramble for a replacement, in which they choose the less attractive Muffy.
Hoover falls head over heels for The Bombshell and when she does not know how to let him down gently, the Deltas intervene, which leads Hoover to have a nightmare about married life!
To the chagrin of Dean Wormer, Flounder's parents threaten to cancel their annual contribution to Faber College and move their son to another college. Unfortunately for Flounder, the only place that will accept him is a women's college.