SYNOPSIS

Bob Hartley was a successful Chicago psychologist who lived in a high-rise apartment with his wife Emily, an elementary school teacher. Bob shared the services of his receptionist Carol with a bachelor dentist, Jerry Robinson. Carol was a brash, nutty individual who could dish it out pretty well to both her bosses. In the fall of 1975, she married Larry Bondurant, a travel agent, after a whirlwind courtship. Originally, two of the Hartley's neighbors were seen on a regular basis: Howard Borden, a divorced commercial airline pilot who had an annoying habit of barging into their apartment without knocking, and Margaret Hoover, a friend of Emily's. For a period, Bob's sister Ellen lived with him and Emily, and at one point, almost married Howard, but that passed.

Bob was a very low-key guy, which was handy at the office but did not always prove effective in dealings with his wife and friends. He had a number of regular patients, including all of the above cast of characters from Elliot Carlin to the bottom of the list. Bob's patients had problems ranging from ordinary, everyday neuroses to homosexuality to extreme paranoia. They were all trying themselves. The character who appeared most regularly - and the one with the biggest problems - was Elliot, without a doubt one of the most neurotic individuals ever seen on television. He was completely lacking in self-confidence, had a persecution complex, and was forever putting himself down.

In addition to treating his patients individually, Bob was a firm believer in group therapy, and his patients interacted in various groups in hilarious fashion.