Family Affair

Bill Davis is ambivalent about taking on the responsibility of raising his niece Buffy after the death of his brother. After suggesting she attend boarding school in Switzerland, she runs away. Giles French, the Davis butler, brings her back.

Jody, Buffy's twin brother, and Cissy arrive while Bill is away. When he returns, he must make a decision as to what to do that would be best for the children.

When Bill returns from Africa bearing gifts, Cissy presents him with a hand-knitted tie. Buffy and Jody also want to give Bill a gift, and end up purchasing a horse for him from a retiring carriage driver.

Bill decides to send Cissy to a private girls' school in Connecticut, and even though she would prefer to attend high school locally, she reluctantly agrees to go, thinking Bill wants to get her out of the way.

An acquaintance of Bill's hires Mr. French to appear in an ad for marmalade that her advertising company is promoting.

When Bill gets Cissy her own phone and arranges for an interior decorator to redo Cissy's and Buffy's bedroom, Buffy becomes withdrawn as the changes appear to separate the room and, as a result, she fears Cissy is separating from her.

Buffy leaves Mrs. Beasley with Mr. French, who accidentally knocks the doll off the terrace. When Bill learns from Cissy the importance of Mrs. Beasley to Buffy, he goes on an earnest search to find the doll.

The owner of a Middle East Delicacies store, upon learning Mr. French is unmarried and knowing he is wealthy, introduces him to his cousin, Nural Shpeni, who he and her brothers want Nural to marry.

The vice principal and a child psychologist are concerned that Buffy and Jody only spend time with each other instead of playing with the other children, and state that it would be better for them to spend less time together.

Cissy thinks Bill is planning to get married to an old friend, but when her new friend tells her how her stepmothers sent her away, Cissy then suspects that the woman will send her and Buffy and Jody away.

Restless, Bill takes a job in the Yutacan, but then starts to miss the family. It gets worse when he is led to believe, through miscommunication by phone, that Mr. French has the flu and Buffy and Jody are left to take care of him.

Jody doesn't think Bill loves him because he won't punish him, so Jody looks for ways to get in trouble, but his plans backfire.

For a school project, Cissy wants to write a story about Mr French. She starts following him and finds out what he does every Thursday.

Cissy develops an infatuation with her school teacher who teaches philosophy and spouts big ideals that everyone should follow. Bill finds a way to show that the teacher is just a regular man with faults.

Jody talks about having a job with a man who builds buildings and even gets paid for it. Uncle Bill thinks he is making it up. Bill later meets the man and realizes it is the person he has been trying to meet for a construction project.

Cissy's school is having a mother / daughter dinner. This makes Cissy miss her mother more.

Due to a miscommunication of who would watch Buffy and Jody, the twins find themselves all alone in New York City.

Giles French leaves town for a month, so his brother Niles comes to help with the Davis'. Jody is tired of always being around the girls and having to do the things they want to do. Uncle Bill decides to give him some masculine attention.

Jody & Buffy are excited to be moved to Upper First Grade at school, but it means more homework. They do not know how to do the math problems nor read some of the new books. Bill is spending more time dating than helping the twins.

Buffy & Jody have problems with a building project for a school. Bill is hosting a large dinner party, and French has to hire an assistant to help serve the food. Adele turns out to have no experience and only makes things worse for French.

When Bill has to babysit Buffy and Jody, he tells friends that he is stuck with the kids. Buffy overhears this, and the twins start to decide if they should stay with Bill or move to their Aunt Fran's place.

Buffy gets upset when she does not get the role of The Big Bad Wolf in her ballet recital.

Buffy & Jody's new friend at school has them doing things differently. When Marilyn visits, Bill and French learn she speaks only Mandarin, and the kids communicate through child-speak. French tries his rusty Mandarin and insults her.

Uncle Bill and French look forward to a week of quiet when the three children are at different camps during a school break. After a few days, Bill and French realize they have grown used to the noise and chaos of children at home.

French's nephew David visits French at the Davis' home. David surprises French by announcing he is going into dentistry instead of being a gentleman's gentleman.

Buffy & Jody enter a cereal contest, hoping to win a boat. But their prize is a lamb. When it arrives at the apartment, they do not understand why a lamb cannot live in an apartment.

Bill takes a week of vacation and plans activities for each day. The Rodeo is in town and Bill's friend Gabe is one of the cowboys. Bill invites Gabe to stay with them and the twins want to do everything with him.

Bill thinks the twins take advantage of him and French because they give in to their every wish. Bill says to deny the twins sometimes so they do not get spoiled. Buffy & Jody make a trophy for their uncle, but get sick from the clay.

A friend of Bill's is an actor who wants to shadow Mr. French in preparation for a movie role. Meanwhile, Cissy has trouble finding someone to ask to the Girls Tag Day Dance.