Hunter bristles at the arrival of Courtney Scott, an accomplished actress added to the cast as her character's orphaned cousin. She is especially disgusted to learn that Courtney's character is to steal Becky's boyfriend. Hunter plots to oust her from the show, and convinces the insecure Marcy to help by claiming that Courtney is to replace her. Rob and Hope constantly second-guess their decision to hire Courtney. Courtney is surprised to discover that cast members don't look at the script ahead of time, and have no interest in motivation or character history. She finds herself on the verge of being fired when she has trouble handling last-minute script changes. Johnny saves her by teaching her to hide the script behind her character's textbooks. She draws a standing ovation with her performance, prompting Rob and Hope to hail themselves geniuses. Marcy grows jealous of the amount of attention Johnny devotes to Courtney. A sick child from the "Make a Dream Foundation" catches Quentin without his hairpiece. He blackmails Quentin into getting him a speaking part on the show. Johnny is oblivious to Richard's crush on him.
Marcy continues to fret over Johnny's attraction to Courtney, although Courtney mostly finds him disgusting. Hunter suggests that Marcy forget about Johnny, as he was never interested in her. Rob and Hope obtain security camera footage of Hunter shoplifting at a nearby clothing store. They threaten to fire her unless she cleans up her act, and admit that Courtney was hired as her potential replacement. An outraged Hunter urges Marcy to fight for Johnny by helping her force Courtney from the show. They try to get her to screw up by making faces from off-camera during her scenes. Courtney confronts the guilt-ridden Marcy, who is thrilled to learn that Courtney already has a boyfriend back in her hometown. Marcy apologizes and offers to be her friend. Hunter invites herself along on their shopping excursion and shoves merchandise into Courtney's bag. Courtney gets busted, but Marcy takes the rap. Johnny agrees to let the homeless Dave crash in his trailer. Quentin dotes over his pet pig, Brando, which gets loose on the set.
Hunter becomes furious when the script calls for Stone to kiss Laura. She asks Quentin to join her in complaining to the producers, persuading him that his character's popularity stems from his relationship with Becky and "not because he's been a high school senior for five years and works at a tire factory." Quentin changes his mind after Dave (who is hitting him up for money at the time) insists that kissing another girl will make him even more popular. Hunter overhears Quentin insulting her and hits him in the face with a basketball. She tells Courtney that Quentin has herpes on his lip in the hopes that she will refuse to do the kiss. The network is put off by the scene because of Quentin's excessive use of tongue. Network executives declare that Becky and Stone must stay together, ruining the entire sweeps story arc that Rob and Hope had planned. Marcy hopes to get Johnny to watch the season premiere with her, but ends up having to organize a huge catered affair at a club. After Johnny refuses to give him money for car repairs, Dave steals from Marcy. He feels guilty when she then gives him a generous loan. Dave cheers up Marcy at her party, assuring her that any guy would be lucky to have a wonderful person like her. He joins her for a karaoke duet after Johnny turns her down, and she seems to be having a good time. She freaks out after spotting Johnny and Courtney in an apparent kiss, unaware that he was teaching her the art of the "stage kiss," in which the actors' lips don't actually touch. Hope grows tired of a network executive's insistence on beginning and ending each meeting with kisses.
Hunter auditions for the title role in Oliver Stone's new film "Lewinsky." She gets a callback, but is disturbed to learn that she would have to gain weight for the part. Calorie-conscious Marcy enthusiastically sets out to help her bulk up. As she continually gorges herself, Hunter undergoes a personality transformation. She suddenly becomes very sweet and treats everyone with respect. The network complains about Hunter's weight. Rob and Hope write Hunter's weight gain into the script, and include a speech about the dangers of judging people on their physical appearance. Hope is pleased to see the show deliver a positive message to its female viewers. After finding out that Reese Witherspoon has won the role of Monica, Hunter reverts to her old self and becomes obsessed with regaining her figure. Dave and Kevin make copies of the "Lewinsky" script and sell them on the Internet. Quentin becomes the spokesman for a ten-kilometer run to raise money for prostate cancer research.
The show films a lame Halloween fantasy episode in which the characters become vampire slayers. While strapped into a harness for a flying scene, Marcy crashes into a wall and gets hurt. Although Dave visits her in the hospital, she frets because Johnny didn't even send a card. Hunter and Courtney take Marcy to a club, where she begins a whirlwind romance with a rock star. Courtney worries that Marcy's new man, Christian, is a negative influence. Christian makes a pass at Hunter, who tries to warn Marcy. Marcy believes her friends are jealous, and quarrels with Hunter. She discovers that Christian is only interested in getting his band a guest spot on the show. She patches things up with Hunter and receives comfort from Dave. Dave gets thrown out of the trailer after catching Johnny in a compromising position. Johnny later has a surprising change of heart and allows him to return. Quentin insists on doing his own stunts in the Halloween episode. Rob takes pleasure in watching his star injure himself repeatedly.
Hunter gets her mother, Helena, a small role on the show to reward her for staying sober for 90 days. Helena soon manipulates Hunter into helping her land a more substantial part. Quentin finds Helena extremely attractive, and is more than happy to see their characters paired romantically. Rob and the network love Helena's performance and decide to give her a three-episode story arc. Hunter is tired of having her mother ride her coattails. She sincerely expresses her concerns to Rob, but he assumes that she is putting on an act. Hunter tries to trick her mother into leaving; Helena declares that Hunter ruined her career twenty years earlier (presumably by being born), and will not stand in her way again. Marcy hosts the WB Beach Party, where Johnny and Courtney square off against Leslie Bibb and Carly Pope of Popular in a volleyball game. Courtney single-handedly carries the team to victory after Johnny proves to be terrible. Dave makes some money by dancing around in a Michigan J. Frog costume at the event. Rob announces that Hope has left the show.
Johnny prepares for the premiere of his new movie, "Underdogs," a buddy comedy about a private eye whose partner is reincarnated as a talking dog. He talks Courtney into being his date, and tries to kiss her during the film. Quentin and Helena begin sleeping together. She convinces him to take her to the premiere to steal media attention from Johnny. Hunter makes a play for Quentin so that he will dump her mother. After Helena shows up at the premiere drunk, Hunter puts aside her bitterness to help her. Marcy searches for a spectacular outfit for the premiere in the hopes of breaking her pattern of poor fashion choices. ("This time when that magazine asks, 'What were they thinking?' I'm going to have an answer," she vows.) She dons a very revealing dress (a la Jennifer Lopez), only to see it rip apart when she makes the mistake of sitting down. Dave saves her from complete embarrassment by loaning her his jacket.
Unable to handle the pressure of running the show alone, Rob turns to food for comfort. A new executive producer, Shawn Shapiro, joins the show to take on some of the load. Hoping to inject a "feminist viewpoint," she writes a scene in which Marcy discusses an orgasm. Marcy feels uncomfortable with the topic because she has never had one. Courtney tries to help her out by picking up an adult novelty, only to run into a young fan outside the store. After Courtney comments that the episode might help Marcy garner an Emmy nomination, Hunter tries to get Marcy to take a stand and back out of the scene so that Shawn will re-write it for Hunter. Hunter and Quentin repeatedly argue over whether Stone keeps Becky satisfied. Shawn also insists on having Johnny (but not Quentin) parade around with his clothes off for the entire episode. Dave impresses Shawn when he fills in for Johnny at a read-through. She promises to write him into the show. Network Standards and Practices demands that Shawn alter her script, but she refuses. Rob goes behind her back and brings a network executive to the set. She deems Shawn to be out of control and fires her. Dave misses out on his big break and must serve as Johnny's lackey again. Rob re-writes the episode to include a Becky/Laura catfight in the school showers, which he watches gleefully while stuffing his face.
Courtney's boyfriend, Deegan, drives in from Tempe to see her. She tries to convince him to move to Los Angeles permanently. Deegan ignores Courtney and spends most of his visit trying to solicit clients for his family's sports trophy business. Johnny is excited about a "Win a Date With Johnny" essay contest, until the winner turns out to be a young boy named Leslie. Marcy forces him to spend time with the boy. Marcy, Courtney, Deegan and Quentin go to dinner with the duo. Johnny befriends Leslie, and defends him when Deegan makes insensitive remarks. Deegan belittles Courtney's career, insults her friends, and storms away from the table. Courtney realizes that she must break up with Deegan, and tells Johnny that she was impressed by his behavior. Hunter is forced to hire a personal assistant after Rob forbids her from using Kevin to run her errands. Dave eagerly volunteers for the job. He tries to convince Hunter to have some fun instead of spending all her time worrying about her career. After a trip to the movies fails to calm her, Dave teaches Hunter about the joys of miniature golf.
Hunter's ex-boyfriend, Jonah Mumford, arrives on the set to direct that week's episode. Hunter has no interest in him until she learns that he is set to direct the next Matt Damon film. Jonah continually berates Courtney in front of the entire crew. When she confronts him, he tells her that he considers her a great actress and is just trying to challenge her. Jonah and Courtney kiss in full view of Hunter, who was supposed to be his date for the evening. Hunter gets revenge by telling Jonah that Courtney is using him to get closer to Matt Damon. Courtney and Hunter nearly tear each other apart during a catfight scene. Jonah then reveals that he pitted them against one another to ensure that they gave authentic performances. Hunter asks Dave to buy her some new lingerie from Victoria's Secret. Marcy accompanies him on the excursion, and expresses interest in a set of silk pajamas. She doesn't buy it for herself because it seems more like something that would be purchased as a gift for a loved one. Dave sells Hunter's old lingerie and uses the money to buy the pajamas for Marcy. Just as he is about to approach Marcy, Hunter stops him and calls him to task for selling her underwear. He has no choice but to pretend that he bought the gift for Hunter. Quentin tries to help Rob get over a break-up by taking him out to meet women. However, he steals every woman that shows an interest in Rob. Rob retaliates by writing an impotence storyline for Stone.
Quentin humiliates Hunter by constantly making jokes after she passes gas during a scene. She gets revenge by filing a restraining order, which forbids him from coming within fifteen feet of her. The writers clumsily work the situation into the show. Hunter finally agrees to tear up the restraining order, but convinces Quentin to be more considerate by mentioning all the dirt she has on him. Dave auditions for a one-episode role as Brad's rival for Kim, but Rob gives the part to someone he believes is "sexier." The guy immediately asks Marcy on a date, and brags to Johnny and Dave about his propensity for using his leading ladies for sex (and keeping their panties as souvenirs). Dave asks Johnny to use his influence with Marcy to get her to cancel the date, but Johnny's warning has the opposite effect. Marcy decides that she cannot go through with it, but asks Brady to make sure that Johnny believes they slept together. Courtney appears in a Japanese beer commercial, unaware that the script refers to her by her Japanese nickname: Miss Big Breasts.
Deegan sells topless photos of Courtney to Playpen Magazine. Johnny takes offense when crew members drool over the photographs, as he objects to the violation of Courtney's privacy. He explains that someone once took photos of him changing during an underwear-modeling gig and sold them to an Italian magazine. Quentin steals Johnny's story and uses it to get closer to Courtney. The scandal involving Courtney causes the show's ratings to shoot up, prompting the network to make her the center of all promos for the series. She is offered a role as a stripper in a new Adam Sandler movie, but turns it down because she doesn't want to be typecast. Kevin consistently fails in his attempts to get millionaire Quentin to reimburse him for the seven-dollar magazine. A national cheerleading organization gives Marcy an award, but she feels guilty because her stand-in actually performs all of the cheers on the show. She insists on being allowed to take part in one of the cheerleading scenes. Marcy overcomes her lack of coordination and learns the cheer, only to have her work cut in favor of a scene in which Laura works as a stripper. Dave tries to muster the courage to ask Marcy on a date. He writes out what he plans to say, but Hunter discovers it on her computer and concludes that Dave has the hots for her. When a concerned Marcy tries to discourage Dave from pursuing Hunter (without referring to her by name), he mistakenly believes that Marcy is rejecting him. As Hunter and Dave lament their depressing lives in her trailer, she suddenly plants a kiss on him.
Dave initially enjoys his fling with Hunter, who is only interested in sex, but soon grows weary of her moodiness and longs for a real relationship. He gets her to dump him by telling her that he wants to become a real couple and go out in public together. As he leaves, he facetiously declares that he hopes she will someday overcome her intimacy issues and open up to someone. While hosting the Shalom House telethon, Marcy meets a sweet and handsome Jewish man named Eli, who works as an agent. He reawakens her interest in her religion, so she tries to wear a star necklace on the show. Rob refuses to allow this because it would contradict information that had been given about Kim's religious background in previous episodes. Marcy discovers that Eli is not Jewish. She breaks up with him after learning that he lies about his religion because he believes that Jewish agents have more credibility. (His name is actually Mario.) Dave again tries to share his feelings with Marcy; but their conversation is interrupted by Hunter, who says that Dave's words after their break-up deeply affected her. She suddenly announces to the stunned cast and crew that she is in love with Dave, and plants a kiss on him. Quentin wrestles with the dilemma of whether to allow the show to throw him a birthday party, and tries to settle on an age. Johnny is subjected to ridicule after he continually botches his lines. He complains about Courtney's insistence on teasing him about every mistake. She replies that she will stop treating him like an idiot when he stops treating her like a sex object.
Dave tries to break up with Hunter, who makes things extremely difficult by buying him a Porsche and trying to get him a part on the show. Dave discovers that, when it seemed Marcy was rejecting him a few weeks earlier, she was actually warning him about Hunter. He realizes that he may still have a chance with Marcy, and breaks up with Hunter. She goes ballistic and orders Rob to fire Dave. Rob continually fawns over guest star Kristin Davis. She agrees to a date with him, but he begins to lose interest because he believes she clogged his office toilet. (Kevin was the actual culprit.) Kristin freaks out after discovering a photo shrine to her, which Quentin had assembled in Rob's bathroom as a practical joke. On the soap, Laura reveals that she has a six-month-old son, and Kim suffers a severe blow to the head that leaves her comatose. Johnny learns that he must cry during Brad's bedside vigil for Kim. Courtney suggests that he think about a traumatic experience from his own life. He insists that nothing bad has ever happened to him, so he draws on Dave's plight for inspiration. He then convinces Rob to re-hire Dave, mostly to prove that he holds more power on the set than Hunter. Marcy laments the fact that all of the fans on the Grosse Pointe message board want her character to die.
After the police catch Quentin in a parked car with a prostitute, Rob orders him to attend group meetings for treatment of sexual addiction. He meets former Beverly Hills, 90210 star Jason Priestley, who convinces him that he has a serious problem. Jason comes to the set to help Quentin during a moment of weakness, and agrees to a date with Courtney. Quentin fears that Jason will fall off the wagon, but manages to convince him not to sleep with Courtney. The WB sets up a hotline that viewers can call to express their opinion on whether Kim should live or die. Marcy believes that it is just a gimmick, and is shocked to learn that her character's fate will actually be determined by the results. Despite Dave's best efforts (500 calls), viewers resoundingly declare that Kim should die. The death episode earns the show's highest rating ever. The network decides that Marcy should stay on the show because of her renewed popularity; so Rob introduces the character of Lynn, Kim's long-lost sister. Johnny's brother designs a Grosse Pointe pinball machine, which he plans to market. Johnny has a difficult time getting Hunter to agree to the use of her likeness.
Marcy develops a friendship with Buffy, the Vampire Slayer star Sarah Michelle Gellar through yoga class, leaving Hunter feeling left out. The network begins pressing Rob to come up with a celebrity guest star to boost ratings, so he persuades a reluctant Marcy to ask Sarah Michelle to appear on the show. She agrees, provided that she can kiss Marcy's character. Hunter convinces Marcy that Sarah Michelle has a crush on her. Marcy tries to kiss her during an evening out, leaving Sarah Michelle extremely bewildered. She explains that she is not gay, and simply saw a lesbian storyline as an opportunity to garner an Emmy nomination. She backs out of the guest appearance because she is now uncomfortable around Marcy. Johnny begins paying an inordinate amount of attention to Marcy after Hunter convinces him that Marcy and Sarah Michelle are involved. Quentin accidentally hits an old woman with his car while racing back to the set with Courtney. Because there were no witnesses, Quentin is hailed as a hero for coming to the woman's aid. He gets caught up in his new hero image and offers a $100,000 reward to anyone who can bring the hit-and-run driver to justice. Although he ignores Courtney's pleas that he confess the truth, he finally decides to come clean because he feels his pig has lost respect for him. When he goes to visit the woman in the hospital, he discovers that she has pinned the crime on her nephew. She does not press charges, but now feels that she is entitled to the reward money. Kevin helps Rob through his writer's block by suggesting that he incorporate storylines from famous movies (which Rob had never seen before). After Rob hogs all the credit, Kevin complains that his boss does not take him seriously. Rob insists that he respects Kevin, but then turns Kevin's impassioned speech into a scene on the show.
Hunter shocks everyone by announcing her engagement to Dweezil Zappa, whom she has known for only a day. They plan to marry that Saturday. Hunter's agent arranges for a Spanish magazine to cover the wedding. In order to make the event seem more newsworthy, Hunter pays former Saved by the Bell star Elizabeth Berkley $25,000 to pose as her old friend and serve as a celebrity bridesmaid. Dave auditions for another role on the soap, this time as a young man with a speech impediment who kisses Lynn. Although Rob feels that Dave is the best person for the job, the network forces him to hire a pompous jerk who is sleeping with an executive. Kevin "forgets" to give the actor his wake-up call so that Dave can have the part. The man shows up before the second take, but not before Dave and Marcy share an on-screen kiss that leaves her mesmerized. During Hunter's rehearsal dinner, Marcy experiences an epiphany as Dweezil talks about the moment he realized that he was in love. She calls Dave and asks him to be her date for the wedding. Johnny convinces Elizabeth Berkley to let him drive her to the ceremony, but shows up late. After learning that she is being paid to attend, he refuses to drive unless she splits the money with him. He kicks her out of the car, forcing her to find her way to the wedding on foot. Marcy confesses to Courtney that she is falling in love with Dave. Kevin and Courtney try to convince their friends to act on their feelings. Dave overhears Dweezil telling his best man that he is using Hunter for her money so that he can play golf all the time. He tries to warn Hunter, who responds by having him removed from the premises. Hunter crushes Marcy by claiming that Dave was trying to win her back. She goes through with the wedding. A devastated Marcy and Dave are left to separately contemplate their lonely, miserable lives, as the series joins the ranks of cancelled shows to end on a cliffhanger.
