My World and Welcome to It was a half-hour situation comedy based on the writings of humorist and cartoonist James Thurber, and episodes of the show incorporated stories and cartoons by Thurber. The show used a combination of live action and animation to represent the world of John Monroe, like Thurber a writer and cartoonist, who worked for The Manhattanite, a magazine very much like The New Yorker, for which Thurber wrote and illustrated for many years. All the animation was based on Thurber's drawings, including the show's opening credits. John Monroe had to contend with his hot-tempered, often obtuse boss, Manhattanite editor Hamilton Greeley, who usually found John's cartoons incomprehensible. (Greeley was loosely based on New Yorker editor Harold Ross.) Fortunately for John, he could share his frustrations with his writer friend, the sardonic Phil Jensen (based on writer Robert Benchley).