At Chippenango State College (fictitious), Bobby Fine (Ryan O'Neal) is a professor of English, who learns during a meeting with Chairman Lincoln of the English Department (Fred Gwynne) that he is a candidate for tenure at the college. During the meeting, Fine impresses Lincoln by responding in kind to an obscure line from William Shakespeare ''The Merchant of Venice''. Another professor, David Rounds, is amazed, and Bobby explains that with his father in the dress business, he'd always liked the play.