The show focuses on the daily trials and tribulations of columnist Dave Barry (Harry Anderson) and his wife, Beth (DeLane Matthews) along with their sons, Tommy (Zane Carney) and Willie (Andrew Ducote). Dave worked at the fictional Miami Record-Dispatch where womanizing Kenny Beckett (Shadoe Stevens) was his editor although Dave typically worked from home where Mia (J.C. Wendel) was his assistant. Neighbor Sheldon Baylor (Meshach Taylor) was a successful plastic surgeon and Dave's best friend from high school. Starting in the second season, the Barrys hired Eric (Patrick Warburton) to do some work on their house which led to Eric and Mia dating and eventually moving next door to the Barrys and getting married. Later in the series, Dave completes a book based on his and his friends' lives during the sixties, and Shel loses all of his money when his business manager runs off. Kenny is also fired from the newspaper and becomes a weatherman.