Like other teens in California, the lives of the Laguna Beach teenagers are filled with sandy beaches, beautiful friends and love triangles. But unlike other teens, they had cameras following them around. It may look like fantasyland, but they're not acting: they really are this rich and beautiful. For them, life really is a day at the beach.

Dear John starred Judd Hirsch as easygoing Drake Prep high school teacher John Lacey who is dumped by his wife, Wendy, via a Dear John letter. Wendy ends up with everything in the divorce settlement, including custody of the couple's son, forcing John to move into an apartment in Ozone Park, Queens. John soon joins the One-2-One Club, a self help group for divorced, widowed or lonely people. The group is led by Louise (Jane Carr), a sex-obsessed British woman. Other members of the group include Kate McCarron (Isabella Hofmann), a sweet divorcée; Kirk Morris (Jere Burns), a cocky ladies' man; Ralph Drang (Harry Groener), a shy and neurotic tollbooth collector; Bonnie Philbert (Billie Bird), a feisty senior citizen; and Tom, Mrs. Philbert's quiet boyfriend (Tom Willett).

A popular high school student seems to have it all; a spot on the football team, the love of playing music in the school orchestra and a girlfriend. His world seems to come apart when the school doctor discovers he is partially deaf, causing him to be cut from the football team on the advice of the doctor. The student's friends fight to keep him on the team; while he struggles with his problem by withdrawing from everything he loves and starts falling in with the wrong crowd.