Set in the 1990's, an empty-nest couple, Greg and Kate, have recently moved back into Manhattan from their life in suburbia. When Greg finds a stray dog in the park and brings her home, it causes a bone to pick with Kate, whose vision of this new phase in their lives is definitely pet-free. Real-life husband and wife, Lee Childers and Laurie Sullivan, play the empty-nesters. The mixed-breed, stray dog, Sylvia, is played by Emily Jarvis, with all of the attributes of a canine whose adoration of her new master is matched by Gregs infatuation with his new pet. Other eccentric characters include Tom, a philosophical dog-lover in the park, Phyllis, a former Vassar classmate of Kate's, and Leslie, a marriage counselor whose therapy is informed by his/her androgynous persona.