Robert Morse and Walter Mathau are friends. Though both are married, Mathau discovers Morris is fooling around. When asked about it, Morse passes on the oral history and guide to fooling around without your wife finding out. This is done by a series of vignettes with cameos from famous actors that illustrate the point Morse wants to make. Between pieces of advice, we follow Matheau as he begins to prepare for his big affair.
Paul Manning realizes to his dismay that after 12 happy years of marriage he is becoming increasingly distracted by other women. He is particularly attracted to his neighbor, Irma Johnson. To make matters worse, his philandering friend, Ed Stander, claims that to preserve a marriage, the husband should secretly indulge in a little extramarital activity. As a gesture of true camaraderie, Ed volunteers to teach Paul the finer points of wife-cheating and illustrates his lectures with stories of friends who have had successful or unsuccessful affairs. Paul proves to be a willing and able pupil and easily manipulates his unsuspecting wife, Ruth, into suggesting that he occasionally spend a night at the steam baths. Paul then carefully selects his first target, Jocelyn Montgomery, a seductive divorcée who must also practice discretion to protect her alimony. A remote motel is chosen, and a rendezvous is arranged. But once alone in the bedroom with Jocelyn, Paul's thoughts turn to Ruth, and he shows the unbelieving Jocelyn snapshots of his family. Suddenly, police sirens and screams are heard as police raid a motel across the way. Photographers take pictures of a startled, undressed man--Ed Stander--entertaining Irma Johnson. Paul takes one quick look, leaps into his clothes, pushes Jocelyn into his car, dumps her off at a parking lot, and races home to his wife.
