Michael Dorsey is an out-of-work actor who makes himself up as a woman to get a job. When his girlfriend, Sandy, fails an audition for a soap opera, Michael dresses up as "Dorothy Michaels" and lands the part. All goes well until "Dorothy" falls in love with beautiful co-star, Julie, and Julie's father, Les, falls for "Dorothy."

Shows the conflicts between three generations of the Thayers. The crotchety old professor and his wife spend their summer together on a lake in New England. The couple agrees to mind their estranged daughter's boyfriend's son, while the daughter and boyfriend go on a trip. The boy bonds with the old man in a way his daughter never did. Shows the terrors and graces of aging.