Family Plots throws open the parlor door to the inner workings of San Diego's, family-run Poway Bernardo Mortuary. It's staff is an intriguing assortment of family members and other unusual characters who compassionately console grieving families on a daily basis. Three beautiful sisters, their hot-blooded father, an exacting boss, a quirky funeral director, and a stream of anguished patrons, comprise the cast of this groundbreaking new real-life series. In this premier episode, set over one busy day, we meet the Wissmiller family and experience first hand not just their unique family dynamic and life affirming humor, but also the intensity and pathos of the world they work in.

Life, and death, for the staff at the mortuary is busier then ever when head embalmer, Shonna, suddenly realizes that they have less than 30 minutes to get a deceased's body into it's casket and to the funeral. While her father Chuck fights San Diego traffic to make the service on time, Shonna is rushing to dress and cosmetize another body for a family viewing at the mortuary - a perfectionist - she wants to create the perfect lasting visual memory of their loved one.

At lunch the Wissmiller family dynamic is on full display when an argument flares between Chuck and his youngest daughter Emily, who takes it out on their pizza. As Shonna puts the finishing touches on the deceased and the staff prepares the mortuary for the family's arrival, a blown circuit breaker threatens the impending wake.

At the end of the day, after one last embalming, the three sisters head out for a girls night on the town, while Chuck (after a rare apology to Emily) has to drive a group of young boxers he is training in the company van to the gym. But for the kids, there is a catch - they must share their seat in the back of the van with the body Chuck is taking to the airport for shipment.

The staff of the Poway Bernardo Mortuary picks the wrong day to try to stop smoking on a cash bet, when embalmer Shonna gets one of the most challenging reconstruction cases of her career - a woman who died at the wheel of her car in a horrific crash.

The family of the deceased is desperate to be able to view their mother and to say goodbye. The pressure and tension is on the gang to try to make the deceased look good enough for her family to see her one last time. The woman has broken every bone in her body, and the risk is that although the family thinks they're prepared, they could actually be traumatized for life by seeing their grandmother in this state. Shonna is driven by her professionalism and empathy to do the best job she can in putting the woman back together, but sheÕs tortured by not being able to make her perfect. As the intense stress fuels the gang's desire to smoke, the nicotine starts to call them back one at a time.

At Poway-Bernardo Mortuary, "Where's Chuck!" is the most common shout - with reason. Father, body remover, and ex-boxing champ Chuck Wissmiller has a big heart, but a propensity to run late, get lost or simply disappear. His boss Rick knows that time is money and hates it when Chuck goes MIA.

Today, Chuck oversleeps, setting off a series of chaotic events when he's late picking up two bodies at the Medical Examiner's office. He doesn't realize that back at the mortuary daughter Shonna is racing to embalm a body that has to make a morning flight... if Chuck will get back with the van!

Meanwhile neurotic Funeral Director David Moravee, AKA Rainman, is also under pressure from Chuck's antics. David is a rules man and Chuck clearly likes to break them. When Chuck finally arrives at the mortuary, there's not a moment to spare. As they race to pack the body for the airport, Shonna challenges Chuck's version of the morning's delay and warns that Rick is wise to his shenanigans.

But nothing can get to Chuck for very long, until he is sent on the last errand of the day - to pick up the body of an elderly woman from a hospice on the other side of town. Alone for this removal, Chuck is deeply touched by the elderly woman's presence and memories of his own mother. As he tenderly wraps her body, back at the mortuary David conducts a moving funeral arrangement with the daughter of the deceased. When Chuck returns with the body two hours late, Rick is livid, and no one has time for Chuck's sad story. Chuck heads home to his apartment where his beloved cat Sugar, like everyone else, awaits his return.

Poway Bernardo Mortuary boss Rick rules with a firm hand and a gruff voice. It doesn't help that he and fiance, oldest sister Melissa, don't see eye to eye on their relationship - a roller coaster that impacts all the other staff. When Chuck tries to get reimbursed for an out of town lunch, Rick refuses and they go head to head. Meanwhile, embalmer Shonna is in overdrive to prepare a deceased in time for the evening's family viewing, and with everyone else busy, Melissa has to help with a client arrangement for the first time ever. Tensions elevate when Rick snaps at John, and Shonna is forced to deal with a client, despite the ticking clock on the night's viewing. But a different side of Rick is revealed when he helps a volunteer group take care of the burial of an abandoned baby - his own personal tragedy that his left him unable to interact with families - the recent death of his son after years of illness. For Rick "love" has now become "all that matters" and he hopes that he and Melissa can work through all their current problems.