The strip is a single panel comic that usually has two panels in most Sunday papers. It usually takes place in the Pennys' dining room or in their living room, or in the summer months, at their backyard pool. Much of the humor in the strip comes from the shirts the characters are wearing and signs hanging in the background. The characters are usually wearing T-shirts that have the name of a popular book or movie or TV show and then the saying, "on ice" (e.g., "
The Jerk on ice") . Usually these pop-culture references have never been performed on ice. A lot of times at least one of the characters have a coffee mug that says "shut up" on it. In the scenes in the dining room, there is a to do list hanging in the background for humor. The strip usually has an object hidden in the picture for the reader to find known as a "find it". The main characters are Burl and Joy Penny; Joy's sister and mother, Verla and Ma; neighbors Marlene and Dale and their grandson Timmy; and occasional friend with a bad toupeé, Jerry. ==References==