Plot

A man is mistaken by foreign agents for a defecting cosmonaut and must prove his identity while evading capture.

Charlie Yuckapuck is mistaken by Klavashian intelligence agents for a defecting cosmonaut named Yascha Nudnik. Charlie works in a diner with his friends Annie and Magda. When Magda inherits a bookstore, Charlie and Annie go to work for her, unaware that the bookstore is crawling with spies seeking to recover secrets stolen by the missing Nudnik.—Jim Beaver <jumblejim@prodigy.net>

SPOILERS Charlie (Morey Amsterdam) and Annie (Rose Marie) work in a diner next to a factory. The customers that come in are all big wigs from the early days of television comedy. The customers all complain about how bad the food is, and leave in a huff. Richard Deacon is Mr. Travis the manager. The audience sees a female spy come in and photograph Charlie, thinking he is a missing astronaut. After numerous run ins, they get fired and move on. They catch a ride from Granny (from the Beverly Hilbillies ) and go work with their friend Magda, who has inherited a bookstore. They observe a gentleman talking into his pipe, but he says he is Mr. Holliston, a friend of the lawyer. Strange guys come in with suitcases, dig in the cellar, and leave with the suitcases. The customers are acting odd, so Charlie and Annie try to figure it out. Magda wants to bring in the police, but Holliston tries to talk her out of it. Annie overhears the spies talking. Then, at dinner, they hear noises coming from downstairs, and they do down to investigate. There's a turtle walking around, and Annie picks it up. They hear the crooks on the other side of the wall, so they run back up the stairs. Charlie teaches an art class. He and Annie are watching television when a gunfight breaks out between the spies in the bookstore. They go to investigate, and when Charlie pushes a button, Annie goes down through a hole in the floor. Twice. She tries it on him, but it backfires. They find a secret passage, and a dead body. An Indian author is holding a book-signing at the bookstore while the chief of police questions Annie and Charlie. Turns out Holliston is really a government agent, who is following the group of spies. He and Magda are really hitting it off. The spies follow Charlie to a party, and we see the Chief of Police is there "undercover". A hot guy flirts with Annie, while the Chief goes missing. They go back to the bookstore, but Mr. Big and the spies have Magda tied up. Using the magic button, Annie and Charlie conquer the spies and save the day. The Chief hauls the spies off to jail, and Holliston says the real missing cosmonaut has defected to the U.S.