In a spin-off of Head of the Class (1986), Billy MacGregor (Sir Billy Connolly), an immigrant from Scotland, moves from New York City to Berkeley, California to teach at a community college. One of his students, Mary (Marie Marshall), is a single mother of three who builds a basement apartment in her home to rent out in order to help pay off the mortgage. When Billy's American visa expires and Mary can't find a tenant for her apartment, the two of them make an arrangement: they get married, Billy rents out the basement apartment, and their relationship remains strictly platonic.