Unambitious,easy-going Lee shares a flat with his more go-getting Californian landlady Kate,who suggests that ,as an outlet for his skills,he joins a class teaching people to become clowns. In the event she ends up attending it herself though with little success. Lee meanwhile dates a serious authoress Lucy,who is a client of Kate's publishing firm and Tim,Lee's dippy best friend uses Lee's absence to try and get back with ex-girlfriend Kate - but with even less success.

Tim's nonagenarian grandmother dies and when Lee omits to tell Kate she accuses him of suppressing his emotions. As a result he goes to see a female therapist who discloses that the root of his emotional problem is his latent feeling for Kate. However he holds back as, at the funeral Kate comforts Tim,who uses the opportunity,again unsuccessfully,to get back with her.

Kate's Australian friend Ruth is coming to stay and Kate is envious because she has always seen her as far more successful than herself. Since she has omitted to tell Ruth that she and Tim have split up and does not want to appear a failure at relationships she persuades Lee to pretend to be Tim - but things get rather complicated when they have to share a bed and the real Tim is far from happy.

Lee is teaching Kate to drive but she is not a responsive pupil and this is stressing him out. She gives him a yoga session to calm him but no avail and his visit to the acupuncturist is equally unsuccessful so he resorts to tranquilizers. This is not the best of ideas when he goes for a spin in the car with Kate and Tim.

Kate agrees to take in fourteen-year-old Nicky for a few days whilst his parents attend a wedding in the West Indies. Whilst Nicky bonds with the more juvenile Tim he and lee do not get on and the presence of Nicky's great Dane does not help since Lee is allergic to dogs. However Lee agrees the dog can stay provided that Nicky,who has sensed Lee's attraction to Kate,keeps quiet about it. This works better than Kate's efforts to give the dog vegetarian food.

Lee gets a job as a caretaker but he has his own accommodation thrown in and reluctantly moves out of the flat - to Tim's great glee. However his new boss is a hard task-master and he and Kate miss each other so that Lee throws in the job and puts off prospective tenant Pete in order to move back in with Kate.