A sweltering July evening on a Manhattan balcony. A cast-iron flowerpot shatters the chair Richard Sherman had been sitting in just seconds before. His upstairs neighbor has accidentally knocked over her tomato plant. This incident, which could have been fatal for Richard, turns out to be the best thing that could have happened to him.

The Three Wise Men – Balthazar, Melchior and Gaspard – are on their way to Bethlehem to pay homage to the infant Jesus when they are suddenly, an inexplicably, transported two thousand years into the future. They find themselves walking the streets of Paris, where they encounter a young woman called Macha who, they are convinced, will lead them to the newborn Messiah.

After ratting out his Mafia cohorts, Giovanni Manzoni and his family enter the Witness Protection Program and relocate to a sleepy town in France. Despite the best efforts of their handler to keep them in line, Giovanni (now called Fred Blake), his wife and children can't help but resort to doing things the "family" way. However, their dependence on such old habits places everyone in danger from vengeful mobsters.

After the death of her father, whom she never knew, a young woman finds herself at the head of a large company.