Four writers land jobs at a candid-camera television show in Hollywood and end up renting a house together from their show's executive producer.
Charlie falls for an attractive new secretary at the production office of the television show. She fails to notice him until she sees him driving an expensive Porsche. On the advice of his coworkers, Charlie confesses the Porsche is only a rental and she walks out on him. They use the situation as the basis for a hidden camera stunt on their show.
Jack and Alex enjoy an active social life as Charlie and Kate spend their Saturday nights playing Monopoly and are encouraged to each place a personal ad. When Charlie goes to the restaurant to meet his date, he's surprised to see that it's Kate. They get a good laugh out of it and decide to go home and play Monopoly.
The writers develop ""writer's block"" and when they finally come up with a great idea they find that the producer of a rival show is featuring the same one. Everyone suspects each other of selling the idea, until they learn their maid is really an actress hired to spy on them.
Charlie fears for his life when his blind date, Donna, turns out to be married to Joey ""The Icepick"" Malone. Donna leaves Joey and Charlie's roommates try to rekindle the romance between Donna and Joey.
The writers stay up late to videotape some new ideas and start doing exaggerated impressions of their executive producer, Dawn. When a messenger takes the tape, they sneak into her house to retrieve it. Before they can get it she comes home and they leave without it. The next day she apologizes to them for recording over their tape without viewing it.
Kate's roommates become worried when she begins to fall sleep during meetings and find out she is performing a stand-up comedy routine at a local club every night. Charlie gets offended by her description of him and argues with her. After an incident at an automated teller machine, Charlie apologizes for his behavior and offers to write some material for her.
A blizzard strands the roommates during the Thanksgiving holiday and everyone pitches in to help Alex have the big dinner she dreamed of.
Charlie and Jack's 18-year-old brother visits and falls for Lindsay. The two decide to elope to Las Vegas and the roommates go after them.
Jack gets appointed as the new chief writer and this annoys his friends. Dawn helps them teach Jack a lesson.
While taping a segment about superstition Jack makes fun of a witch and she puts a curse on him. As several parts of the curse come true, Charlie invites a psychic to the house to lift it.
After several practical jokes the roommates agree to a truce. When Alex and Kate find a burglar in the living room they believe it is the guys' final attempt at game-playing and treat the man as a guest. When Charlie and Jack come home they tell the burglar is real and the four hold him until the police arrive.
When ""Here's Looking At You"" is cancelled, the roommates find work with a new ""live"" talk show starring obnoxious Dick Roberts. The first guest is investigative author Jerry Slaughter and when they lose him moments before he is to appear Charlie takes his place. The real Slaughter appears and the four are praised for their ingenuity and keep their new job.
Kate's troublesome eight-year-old nephew, Nick, pays a visit. His father leaves a message that he will too busy to return for the boy and Kate and her roommates become full-time parents.
The roommates agree to babysit Sam, the son of their boss, and are unprepared for the hypochondriacal little boy who arrives with a suitcase that looks like a pharmacy. Nick decides to turn the overprotected Sam into a normal child by taking him skateboarding. Sam breaks his leg, but is happy because Nick let him be a normal boy.
Jack's former girlfriend Wendy visits and he insists Charlie escort her around town. Charlie is thrilled when he meets the now-stunning Wendy. Jack realizes that just this once he can put aside his ego and be glad his brother is having a good time. Nick earns Sam's respect by not cheating on a test.
Nick is excited to see his favorite band, who is performing in town. Kate promised that she would take him, but later breaks her promise when she finds out that everyone has to camp in line to get tickets. An upset Nick then sneaks out to go camp-out. Kate, Alex, Charlie, and Jack go to take Nick home, but decide to stay in line and camp out the night once they are down there.
Jack and Charlie take Nick and Sam's nature scout group on a camping weekend, but their inexperience with the nature scouts causes them to end up lost in the wildnerness. Nick stands up for Sam after the boys in the scout group tease Sam for being a nerd. But Sam's intelligence saves them, as he leads the boys to civilization. Meanwhile, Kate & Alex win $10,000 on a radio quiz show, but are later disqualified because they are indirect employees of the radio station.
Having Nick with them severely cramps the carefree lifestyle of Kate and the other roommates. Kate and Nick move into a dreary apartment. The roommates convert the attic into a room for Nick and all five are together again.