By accident, the content of a computer encyclopedia is transferred into the brain of Dexter Riley, a less than average college boy. Because of his newly acquired knowledge he competes in a quiz show between various universities, where he sweeps all the points. A wiz kid from another university finds out about his cheated wisdom and does everything to discredit Dexter.

A saga centered on the Tierneys, a multi-generational family of New York City Police officers. The family's moral codes are tested when Ray Tierney investigates a case that reveals an incendiary police corruption scandal involving his own brother-in-law. For Ray, the truth is revelatory, a Pandora's Box that threatens to upend not only the Tierney legacy but the entire NYPD.

No good deed goes unpunished in this dark office comedy about well-intentioned advice gone terribly wrong.