Hey Dude - Plot

Plot

Ben Ernst is a divorced, good-natured, somewhat bumbling father from New Jersey, with glasses, a slight build, and a receding hairline. He bought the Bar None Dude Ranch seeking escape from his high-pressure job as a New York City accountant. His son, Buddy, was displeased with the change of locale, primarily because he couldn't skateboard on desert sand. Buddy had a pet dog named Cassie. Featured early in the series, Cassie disappeared after the first season.

The staff originally consisted of two boys and two girls. The boys were Ted, an enterprising troublemaker, and Danny, an easy-going Hopi Native-American Indian. The girls were girl-next-door Melody and rich girl Brad, from Grosse Pointe, Michigan, who often wore dressy designer outfits at work, but was a very competent horse-rider. Her love-hate relationship with Ted was a plot thread during the first half of the series.

Ted later left the show for a time and was replaced by Ernst's nephew Jake, an eccentric slacker who liked to play the drums. Not long after, Kyle, a dim but handsome cowboy type, joined the cast. Soon after that, Ted came back from summer school, and he and Kyle became romantic rivals for Brad.

The show's only other featured adult was Lucy, a tough, authoritarian ranch hand. She is sometimes looked upon as a mother figure and the teens often asked her advice.