Big Wave Dave's

The pilot episode opens with three friends, Marshall Fisher (Adam Arkin), Richie Lamonica (Patrick Breen), and Dave Bell (David Morse), sitting in a bar, talking. Apparently, Marshall has just lost his job, and Dave is divorcing his wife. Dave comes up with the idea of starting a surf shop in Oahu, Hawaii called Big Wave Dave's, and the whole club starts dreaming about it. Dave suggests that they should really do it; his friends are a bit doubtful, but they eventually decide to go along with it. But then they think about Marshall's wife, and they have to convince her. That same night, the three guys go over to Marshall's house to convince his wife, Karen (Jane Kaczmarek). Out of the blue, Karen decides to go along with them.

All of them, very excited, arrive in Hawaii a few weeks later. Karen tries to help Dave and Marshall with decorating the store, but they want to do that on their own. After looking around the store a bit, Dave decides to go surfing. A few seconds later, Richie comes into the store saying that he found himself in Hawaii. Meanwhile, a man with a barrow carrying Dave comes in, saying that he blames the Beach Boys for all the surfers at the beach. Dave had had a surfing accident but seems to be all right. The man introduces himself as Jack Lord and says that he hates newcomers on the beach and that he had named himself after his idol, Jack Lord. When he leaves the shop, it starts raining. Two hours later, when it's still raining, Marshall decides to leave, but nobody wants to go with him. Dave doesn't want to go because this was his idea, and Richie still believes he's a different person in Hawaii. When a woman walks in, Richie wants to prove that he's different here; after saying hello to her, however, he decides to go back to Chicago. Just when the guys are about to leave, Karen walks in and gives them a speech that pulls them back in. When Marshall still isn't happy, Karen reveals that she became pregnant the night they decided to go to Hawaii.

• Marshall Fisher (Adam Arkin), a former lawyer, who's the leader of the group. At first he needed some time adjusting to Hawaii, because he couldn't leave his old life behind, but later he fitted in just right.
• Richie Lamonica (Patrick Breen), a former high-school typing teacher who claims he found a new life in Hawaii, but eventually backs out. In the pilot episode he states that he never had any other friends than Dave and Marshall. Richie has a one-room apartment.
• Dave Bell (David Morse), the person who thought of starting Big Wave Dave's which is named after him. Before he and his friends went to Hawaii he was Marshall's stockbroker. He also explained that the only day in his life that when he was ever happy was when he was surfing.
• Karin Fisher (Jane Kaczmarek), Marshall's wife, a lawyer like her husband used to be. According to Marshall, she knows everything. In the store she's in charge of the inventory, promotion, accounting, hiring, firing and any long range direction.
• Jack Lord (Kurtwood Smith), an elderly man that lives close to Big Wave Dave's. He's a big fan of the real Jack Lord and he worked as an extra on Hawaii Five-O, and, as he describes it, that's when the Lord came into his life. He also changed his name because he was being "chased" by the Diner's Club. He usually dreams that he's much bigger than he is in real life and he has lived on the beach for 20 years.

• Big Wave Dave's at IMDb