
The first season, set in 1978 Brooklyn, follows the romantic misadventures of a teenage couple – Joe Pizo, an apprentice plumber, and Valerie Sweetzer, a cosmetics salesgirl – who meet and fall in love at a New York City disco. Joe shares an apartment with his roommates Frank and Paulie (who call themselves "The Big Three") while Valerie lives at home with her divorced mother, Stella.

Joe and Valerie, two young teenagers from blue-collar families, meet at a New York disco and fall in love when Joe bets his roommates, Frank and Paulie, that he can take Valerie away from her dancing partner.

Valerie arranges a disastrous date between Frank and her best friend Thelma and when she fixes up Paulie with a co-worker who gets married the night before the date, she must come up with a last minute substitute.