Mim Pilgrim is so fed up with her husband that she's driven to exploring the full length of her window-cleaner's tattoo. Fisher (once known as Frank) Pilgrim doesn't notice; he's a TV shrink on the verge of his big break, and although he's officially an expert on family matters he also hasn't noticed that his daughter has something more than a teenage crush on her drama teacher and his adolescent son is suffering an overwhelming dose of hormonal disruption.
But a promotable family background is good for Fisher's image, and so when Mim becomes acquainted with an eminent literary figure, he and his producer decide to make the most of it. It's a catalyst for chaos, and before long everyone is entangled in a situation way beyond the reaches of pop psychology