This comedy focuses on a family with eight very independent children. The Bradford family, father Tom (a columnist for a newspaper in Sacramento, California), mother Joan, and their eight children: Mary, David, Johnny, Nancy, Elizabeth, Susan, Tommy, and Nicholas, sometimes comical and sometimes dramatic. After Joan's death, Tom met Teacher Abby, and they got married to make the family feel complete again. The children all have friends and relationships, turning Bradford House into a free house for all family and loved ones.