The Idea of Sex is about that time in our lives when we wish things were different and that we were someone else. Darin (Paul Provenza) wants to be Matt (Stephen Dunham). Matt wants to be Darin. Kevin (John Gloria) wants to be Matt. Darin is married to Natalie (Shannon Day) but is sleeping with Maxine (Krista Taylor). Matt is single and sleeps with a whole bunch of other people. Kevin just wants to sleep with someone.

Darin sees Matt's life as the ideal of passion and excitement. Matt sees Darin's marriage as a sanctuary of love. Through a striking lack of empathy, they both manage to desire what they know nothing about. When Darin if offered the opportunity to work in Berlin, Natalie makes it clear that she has no interest in a sudden disruption in her life and career. Darin is therefore forced to decide between his life as he knows it and the adventurous life he imagines. Like Darin, Matt spends much of his time aggressively chasing vaguely defined, and almost imagined, ideals. More often than not these ideals take the form of women, usually amount to nothing, and the chase ends in a half-sincere apology.

Kevin, poor Kevin, condemned to the periphery of his social existence by an unfortunate combination of one-directional desire and ineptitude, Kevin can only imagine what someone like Matt's life must be like. Unsure even where to begin, Kevin just clings to the delusion that he is "just about to hit his stride" when it comes to women.