Christoph is a faithful family father and a very charming married man. Nevertheless, this incorrigible perfectionist has a way of getting on his wife’s nerves. Even worse, he’s an incurable hypochondriac. And this leads one day to a medical error with grave consequences: Chris believes he is dying of cancer. How can his family live without him? He decides to conceal his illness from Friederike while secretly looking for a worthy successor. He looks at lonely hearts videos and invites his single male friends to a barbeque evening. The ideal candidate is not to be found. So he chooses his friend Paul as a likely candidate, on the hunch that he can “mould him into shape”. Friederike is irritated by the unusual friendship the two men share, for Christoph's interest in her is now on the wane. So it’s no wonder that she gladly accepts an invitation by Klaus to sail on his boat. Some jealousies and a broken rib are necessary to make Chris come to his senses and realise that everything doesn’t always go according to plan – his plan.