Five carefree, young men in their early 20s who all had been friends since high school discover a derelict boat in the harbor at San Pedro, California.

Buddy is smart, tough, streetwise, always confident, and the group's self-proclaimed leader; the shy, nervous, and not very bright Dancer is so nicknamed because he is too fidgety to sit still; Stuf is intellectual and sophisticated and a compulsive eater and gourmand who sees beauty in being overweight; Moose is large, muscled, and stupid, but gentle; and Boychick is a Clark Gable-like ladies man.

[1][2][3][4] Suzi Camelli, Julie, and Ralphie are friends of the Bums, Margie is a lifeguard, and Louise is the waitress at Tina Teena's Beach Café.

Although a similar premise had not worked in the unsuccessful comedy-drama It's a Man's World in 1962–1963, ABC believed in the concept, and it picked up the show as a weekly one-hour sitcom for its Fall 1977 schedule.

[5] Episode directors were Jack Arnold, Allen Baron, Earl Bellamy, Gene Nelson, George Tyne, and Don Weis.