When a documentary crew sets out to explore the lives of residents in a small American town -- their dreams, their concerns -- it stumbles upon the Midwestern town of Flatch, which is made up of many eccentric personalities. It's a place one would want to visit and maybe even stay if there was a decent motel, which there is not. The documentary crew finds worthy subjects in cousins and best friends Kelly Mallet and Lloyd "Shrub" Mallet, who let the documentary crew in on their lives and local current events. Father Joe is the local minister who also attempts to guide Kelly and Shrub. He moved to Flatch with former girlfriend Cheryl Peterson, the editor of the local newspaper The Flatch Patriot. Other Flatch residents include Mickey St. Jean, who relentlessly attempts to become Shrub's best friend; Kelly's frenemy, Nadine Garcia-Parney, who runs the Flatch Historical Society; and Mandy Matthews, a magnetic force of nature who lives life on her own terms.