 Thelma Harper, a cranky, sharp-tongued widow shared a small house with her high-strung sister Fran. Thelma s scatterbrained son Vinton moved back in with Thelma with his teenage kids, Sonja and Vinton, Jr. ("Buzz"), after his wife ran out on him to become a Las Vegas showgirl. After Vinton moved in with Thelma, he became romantically interested in Thelma s next-door neighbor Naomi. They soon got married and Naomi moved into Thelma s house as well. Thelma s daughters, the spoiled, rich, snobbish Ellen and the foulmouthed Eunice, and Eunice s husband Ed occasionally visited (Ellen s husband, Bruce, was talked about but never seen). In 1986, Fran died, Buzz and Sonja moved out, and Ed and Eunice moved to Florida. Bubba, Ed and Eunice s son, had served a term in juvenile hall for car theft and because of this, was not allowed to come to Florida to join them; he ended up living with Thelma. Iola (who lived across the street from Thelma her whole life but did not join the cast until 1986) was the looney neighbor who lusted for Vinton.