The Bluth clan lives a life of excess, funded by the family credit card and paid for by patriarch George whose fortune came from the tract home development business. Oldest son George, nicknamed Gob, is an "illusionist" of minor importance who has anger management issues. Youngest son, Buster, wastes his days taking obscure graduate school courses. Daughter Lindsay is a vain socialite. The only sane family member is Lindsay's twin brother Michael, a widower. Just as Michael decides to wash his hands of the family, he is forced to step up and aid his family in adjusting to new lives.