Bob, a native of Chicago, thinks he'll find a simpler life when he leaves the city for small-town Kentucky. Situations both humorous and poignant prove him wrong. He rents a room from Steve and Lou, who see him as a potential son-in-law even if their daughter Sally doesn't. He meets the Waynedale "Mafia," a group of aging busybodies who dispense equal parts pie and advice while overseeing the social life of the community. And that's just his first day. His attempt to start a relationship with Nellie, the single mother of a teenaged daughter, is complicated by his longing for the free-spirited Pam, the woman he left behind. It is further upset by Nellie's daughter and her boyfriends from hell. When Bob invites Pam for a visit, Lou, the Mafia, and Sally are all prepared to tell him what he's doing wrong, while Nellie simply tells him where to go. But there's another voice, if Bob will listen-the voice of the soft-spoken man who calls himself Squat.