College professor Franklin Goode is living the good life: his long-awaited "study" is almost complete, and he's on the short list for the position of Dean of Humanities at his university. But when the delivery at his door turns out to be his newly-paroled father, Willie, instead of his new desk, things immediately take a comic turn. Willie conspires to win his son the coveted new title and become a permanent member of the household. Will previously estranged father and son grow to become a family?