The series is about two families in Boston – one lower-class Irish Catholic and the other an upper-class WASP household headed by a gay couple – who are reluctantly joined together when their kids get engaged.

The story revolved around two polar opposite families, who lived in Boston, Massachusetts, that are forced to come together with their kids' engagement.

In one corner, there was the working-class O'Neill family, led by Mace (Lenny Clarke), the rather stereotypical Boston Irish bar owner of Paddy's, with his wife, traditional middle-aged housewife Audrey (Harriet Sansom Harris), and two kids, Bobby (Reid Scott) and Maddy (Paige Moss).

On the other side, there was the upper-class Stoddard-Banks family, with Simon (Christopher Sieber) and Philip (John Benjamin Hickey), a same-sex couple who takes pride in how well they were able to raise their adoptive daughter, Liz (Maggie Lawson).

These two polar opposite families collide when it is revealed Bobby and Liz have been secretly dating each other, and are now engaged.

Homophobic Mace and Stuck-up Philip especially drive the arguments between both of the families, with their very vocal disapproval of not only the engagement, but each other.

During this process, the two families strove to come to terms with the inevitability of being "joined" by their children's union, which would force both sides to revisit their preconceptions and prejudices.

[1] The next day, Maggie Lawson was cast, shortly following her leading role on the ABC pilot Nancy Drew.

He and Liz met at a Vermont ski resort, after she sprained her ankle on a "bunny slope", and he took her back to the lodge.

Liz met Bobby when she sprained her ankle on a bunny slope at a Vermont skiing lodge.

Mace will frequently call Philip and Simon various demeaning names, such as "Pixie Sticks" or "The Notorious G.A.Y.".

In the first part of the series, Mace is extremely homophobic; however, these tendencies were suppressed as the show went on (although he does still continue to call them names).

Simon is a third-grade teacher, who is portrayed as more masculine than Philip, although he usually takes care of more of the household chores, such as cooking.

Maddy has hooked up with many guys, but is usually only interested in pursuing a relationship with rich men (but only for their money).