本劇主要講述住在紐約長島的西佛一家的日常生活故事，是中國大陸較早引進的國外情景喜劇，在中國從1990年一直播出至1994年。1990年代初期一經播出就引發了收視高潮，片中邁克開朗調皮的形象為廣大觀眾所喜愛。而劇中西佛醫生對子女采取啟發式教育的方式，也讓觀眾得到啟示。

Maggie: You let him do what?

Jason: Maggie, he's fifteen years old now.

Maggie: So what! He's fifteen! It's completely arbitrary to just pick an age like that, and say that is when a kid is mature.

Jason: You know that by the time Mozart was fifteen, he'd written seven symphonies.

Maggie: That's because Mozart's father didn't let him go to "The House of Sweat".

Who did he go with?

Jason: I don't know. Some kid...Jerry Dolish, Dellish.

Maggie: Jerry "dog killer" Dellish.

Jason: Maggie, he hit one dog.

Maggie: Yeah, but he hit it four times。

Jason: Ok, well, err, Mike isn't Jerry, and a kid needs some freedom in order to learn responsibility.

Maggie: Ah Jason I know you believe in this unlimited human potential...stuff. And that's great for your patients, but when...

Maggie and Jason: ...it comes to your own children...

Maggie: ...I believe in original...[qh] 我只相信...