Bachelor Bill Davis, a highly-paid engineering consultant, lives in a posh Manhattan apartment with his proper English manservant, Mr. Giles French. Davis' carefree existence is turned upside down when his brother and sister-in-law die suddenly in a tragic plane accident, leaving their three children orphaned. Davis becomes an instant father figure to six-year-old twins, Buffy and Jody, and their big sister, Cissy. Despite their reservations, Davis and French grow attached to the children. Through humorous trial and error, coupled with big doses of love and patience, the five become a real family.