One constant with Lamont (particularly in the second season) is that he is always trying to find new ways to move up in the world and away from the junk business, like his British counterpart Harold Steptoe (played by Harry H. Corbett), but he often is thwarted by Fred's interference. In the first episode, he buys a possibly valuable piece of porcelain from an elderly woman in Beverly Hills with the intention of selling at auction. However, Fred messes things up at the auction, and Lamont ends up buying the piece back from himself. In the second season, Lamont buys a war rifle from the American Revolution at an auction with the intent to sell it for thousands. While investigating it, Fred accidentally fires the gun through the front window, and Lamont and he spend all night wondering if he has accidentally killed the neighbor across the street who appears to be missing. In a panic, Lamont melts the gun down before realizing that the neighbor was just out of town. In one episode, he attempts to become an actor, Lamont and Rollo answer an ad for wannabe black film actors for an independent film company, only to realize that it is really a pornographic film factory. In another episode, he answers an ad to travel around the world working on a tramp steamer, which would mean putting Fred in a nursing home, but Fred tricks him into not going. During the third season, Lamont attempts to open a side business with Julio, selling used automobile parts. Fred is so upset that he leaves and moves into a flop house. Lamont eventually convinces Fred to come home, but whether or not he left the new business venture never is addressed.