Margo Sherman is the teenage daughter and only biological child of elderly wealthy East Coast WASP couple Franklin and Eleanor Sherman, the latter of whom somehow gave birth to Margo in her 60s. Margo is forced to attend prep school, be in debutante balls and play polo, mostly by her controlling mother Eleanor as Franklin is senile and often drunk. Margo is somewhat rebellious. She has an adopted middle-aged brother Jay who is a successful film critic but reviled by their parents.