Post discovers that a chimpanzee named Raffles, left in the care of his girlfriend Jennifer Scott (Heather North) by neighbors who moved to San Francisco, has the uncanny ability to choose which television programs will succeed or fail with audiences.

Fearing that Post's seemingly miraculous abilities will make their own jobs unnecessary, network president E. J. Crampton (Harry Morgan) and former vice-president Francis X. Wilbanks (Joe Flynn) attempt to discover his secret to success.

Fearing the revelation that America's favorite TV programs were being picked by an ape would spell the end of television, the executives decide to steal the chimpanzee and return it to the jungle.

Wilbanks and his chauffeur, Albert Mertons (Wally Cox), venture out a narrow ledge in an attempt to snatch the chimpanzee out of Post's apartment in his absence.

The plan goes awry and the duo become stranded on the ledge until the police, the fire department, and a Catholic priest arrive, mistaking their break in for a potential suicide.

Meanwhile, executives from every studio and camera crews crowd a cargo plane soaring over the jungle, as they prepare to parachute the chimpanzee into an unexplored section of the Amazon.

Before arriving at the intended disembarkation point, the stubborn chimpanzee, not wanting to be sent into the wild, pulls a lever opening an emergency hatch which sucks all the executives out of the plane, causing them to parachute into the jungle instead.

The plane returns with Raffles, and Mertons, who is more sympathetic to Jennifer's feelings, notifies Steven that the chimpanzee outsmarted the executives and is now en route back to him.

The film was remade for the Disney Channel in 1995 starring Jason London, Eddie Albert, Michael Marich, Jay Mohr, Yvonne De Carlo, Ann Magnuson, Nathan Anderson, Terri Ivens and Chris Elliott.