Shackleford is the butler for elderly wealthy East Coast WASP couple Franklin and Eleanor Sherman, the adoptive parents of hated film critic Jay Sherman. Shackleford deals with all of Franklin's drunken senile antics and Eleanor being a terrible parent to their only biological child Margo, such as the time Eleanor threatened to shoot Margo's horse if Margo wouldn't attend her debutante ball. Shackleford is a huge music fan and misses being the butler for rock bands like Metallica and Beatles