Recent widow Shirley Partridge joins up with her talented children to form a singing group.
Reuben and the kids try to expose a man who wants to win a large financial sum from Shirley after a minor traffic accident.
Shirley's father wants to tour with the family and perform his outdated songs.
When Danny mistakenly receives a draft notice, he becomes convinced that he will have to join the military.
Keith has a new possession... a 1952 Hudson... which is his pride and joy. The car is a lemon, however, and Keith has borrowed money from everyone in the family to make payments and fix it. Danny decides to become his business manager and teach him how to handle money. Keith can't bring himself to tell Carol, his girlfriend, that he is broke. Instead, he takes her to a kiddie show and gives her homemade popcorn. She tries to get Keith to tell her the truth, but when he refuses she runs away hurt. As Keith tries to follow her in the car... it breaks down again. Shirley suggests that Keith get a job to make extra money. He first becomes a trainee to a plumber, but can't quite get the knack of plumbing. Then he tries to learn to become a salesman of a vegetable slicer, but ends up buying the slicer for his mother. His attempt at a newspaper route ends disastrously when he sees a beautiful girl walk by.
Danny draws the ire of his brother and mother after writing provocative but false pieces about them for a local magazine.
