The series stars Gary Coleman and Todd Bridges as Arnold and Willis Jackson, two African American boys from Harlem who are taken in by a rich white Park Avenue businessman named Phillip Drummond and his daughter Kimberly, for whom their deceased mother previously worked. During the first season and first half of the second season, Charlotte Rae also starred as the Drummonds' housekeeper, Mrs. Garrett.

Spring break for seven college students is derailed with one wrong turn. A flat tire on a deserted road leaves them stranded after dark in the company of a menacing drifter who may or may not be trying to help.