It is notable for being Melissa Gilbert's return to series television after the conclusion of Little House on the Prairie nine years earlier, and the first lead sitcom role for Rosie O'Donnell, who was then on the verge of breaking into major fame.
[1][2] The show's premise, as narrated in the opening credits by Fox network's chief announcer Joe Cipriano in a deadpan comical fashion, was that two sisters, earthy Rochelle Dunphy and loud, crass Lorraine Popowski agreed to live together for emotional and moral support while their husbands were doing time in prison for robbery.
[2] Rochelle was a trophy wife who had married Roger Dunphy, a former working stiff who had become wealthy, supposedly as a successful manufacturer of sunroom and patio furniture.
As the narrator said about Rochelle "One sister married a business owner and lived in the lap of luxury", while the camera focuses on Roger's palatial home in Franklin Heights, New Jersey.
Rochelle and Lorraine are watching TV one day when a breaking news story shows two men captured red-handed in a midtown bank heist, then react with shock as they are unmasked to be Artie and Roger.
Both men were sentenced to eight years in the state penintentiary, which was close to Franklin Heights, so both husbands were frequently featured in contact with their wives at the visitor's center.
Adrienne was convinced that Lorraine was helping to bring down the value of the neighborhood, never missed an opportunity to make the imprisoned husbands a subject of conversation, and in addition, had something hypocritical to hide.