Larry Appleton has just settled in his new Chicago apartment after leaving home of one of nine kids and took a job at the corner discount store working for his greedy landlord Mr. Twinkacetti until he can eventually become a photo journalist. But one evening, Balki Bartokomous, his distant cousin and a Mediterranean sheep herder from the island of Mypos shows up on his door step looking for a place to stay. So Larry takes him in and tries to get him a job at Twinkacetti's store which may mean risking his own job.
Larry tries to kickstart his career and gets tipped off that Dolly Parton is in town committing adultery. So he decides to follow her until he can get a picture to sell to newspapers. Meanwhile, Balki will do a favor for anyone who will ask for it so Larry teaches him to say ""no"" once in a while but it backfires on him.
Larry takes Balki to the bank to open a bank account but Balki doesn't seem to understand everything about banking when he overspends with his checks and buys Larry new furniture. Meanwhile, Twinkacetti is going to a poker game and his wife, Edwina doesn't like him gambling. So he asks Larry to tell his wife that they were at a basketball game but Larry refuses to.
Larry and Balki win a trip to Las Vegas. When they get there, Larry plans out what to do for their entire trip to prevent Balki from going to the casinos and becoming a compulsive gambler. Balki eventually talks him into it and after Balki has a string of good luck playing roulette, Larry starts playing and won't stop.
Mr. Twinkacetti hasn't been living up to his landlord responsibilities so Larry, Balki, and all the tenants hold a meeting and declare a rent strike. The tenants still won't quit even after Twinkacetti turns off the electricity, water and heat which is too bad for Twinkie who needs money to pay off a gambling debt.