Three pensioners, three Josephs, living on a housing estate, are bored. They have nothing to do, so they make up all sorts of alliterations and tease each other. When one of them is approached by a neighbour, he asks if he can find out who is borrowing her bicycle from the carriage shop. He finds out it's a little boy who doesn't have a dad, and his mom doesn't have money for a bike. So he borrows the bike and always leaves it somewhere on the estate. The pensioners feel sorry for the boy, so one of them takes the blame and offers to be the boy's mum's surrogate grandparents.

A trespassing gang of boys encounter a ghost in the ruins of a castle. When they rescue the ghost who is caught in a trapset, they become allies in a fight to prevent ruins from being turned into mushroom farm by the city authorities.

Set in Prague during the years leading up to World War II, this family saga tells the story of a cobbler named Vincenc Bursik (Vladimir Mensik), who uproots his clan from the country to the city, only to suffer the loss of his wife and the failure of his shoe business within months. When his daughter moves away to go live with a wealthy businessman as his mistress, Vincenc is left to take care of his two sons, who spend their days in a secret garden vying for the affections of a teenage girl.

Three friends - Tomás, Hubert and Jozka - are boys growing up in a little town. Tomás lives with his aunt Apolena and uncle Václav. Tomás is a boy with lots of ideas that often end up getting him into trouble not only with his teachers and aunt, but with the other inhabitants of the town as well. He has a crush on his schoolmate Blanka and for her sake he decides to try to get the prize for the best pupil in the school.