Ed Stevens has just been fired for misplacing a comma in a 500 page contract, which cost his law firm employer millions of dollars. When he arrives home to give his wife the bad news, he finds her in bed with the mailman. He decides to pack it all in and head back to his hometown of Stuckeyville, Ohio. When he runs into Carol Vessey, the girl of his high school dreams who is now an English teacher at Stuckeyville High School, he decides to stick around and purchase the local bowling alley, where he sets up a law practice.

Ed moves in with his best friend Mike and Mike's wife Nancy who are adjusting to life with a new baby. Still intent upon winning over Carol, Ed dons a suit of armor and enters her classroom carrying flowers and seeking a date. Although she is dating another faculty member, Carol agrees.

Carol's childhood diaries prove useful when the town's premier magician, Stuckeyville Stan, sues a competitor for revealing his secrets; Nancy becomes threatened by the baby's nanny.

Ed goes up against his old law firm in a case involving four friends who wrote up a contract on a bar napkin. At the same time, he must pick a manager for Stuckeybowl and deal with being ""just friends"" with Carol. Nancy and Mike fuss over who takes care of the baby at night.

Ed defends a secretary being sued over a payroll error; Carol decides that she and Nick have to end their relationship; Mike is reviewed by his superior; Molly selects talent over beauty in casting the school play.

Carol drowns her sorrows over breaking up with Nick with a ""Xanadu"" marathon; Ed represents a jittery bride-to-be who sues her hairdresser over a bad pre-wedding haircut; feeling that her relationship with Mike is in a rut, Nancy decides to spice things up by starting a book club; Ed steps forward and makes yet another bold move to win over Carol's affections, which runs into a snag and causes some misunderstandings.