Creator

Dr. Harry Wolper, a quirky medical professor at a small Southern California college, is obsessed with cloning his wife Lucy, who died in childbirth 30 years earlier. He begins experimental work in his backyard shed as he pursues the possibility of bringing Lucy back.

Harry hires Boris Lafkin, a struggling pre-med student, to help with lab equipment and experiments. In return, Harry offers Boris guidance on his love life, coaching him to woo Barbara, a beautiful student who catches Boris's eye.

Barbara, an attractive student, becomes smitten with Boris. Harry, sensing potential help for his plans, offers Boris love-life advice and helps him pursue Barbara.

A young woman named Meli joins the cloning effort, offering her ovary sample to advance the research. She practically moves in with Harry, becoming an integral part of the project.

Meli slowly falls for the much older Harry, while he begins to question the ethics and nature of true love. The personal attraction introduces conflicts into the scientific pursuit.

Dr. Sid Kuhlenbeck, a rival professor, tries to derail Harry's cloning plans by engineering his reassignment to Northfield, an outlying branch with little real research. He believes this will end Harry's work.

Harry's research grants come through, complicating Kuhlenbeck's plan. Because grants are awarded to individuals, the funds follow Harry to Northfield, strengthening his position and undermining his rivals.

Barbara suffers an aneurysm and is hospitalized. Her parents urge turning off life support, despite Boris's pleas to hold on.

Harry creates an opportunity for Boris to speak with Barbara while she is in a coma, buying time for her recovery. Eventually Barbara regains consciousness and wakes up.

In a symbolic act, Harry pours his dead wife's cells into the sea, signaling the completion of his single-minded project. He then marries Meli, solidifying his commitment to the pursuit and to his new partner.

Word of the escalating clone project spreads, and the group decides to follow Harry to Northfield, the university's outlying branch. The move signifies a new phase in the project, with funding and support aligned to Harry.

As the project relocates, ethical boundaries blur between science and personal life. The characters choose to stay with Harry and move together to Northfield, continuing the cloning work.