Gokuldham Society is a residential society in Mumbai in which six Indian families, respectively headed by Jethalal Champaklal Gada(from Kutch district, Gujarat), Taarak Mehta(from Rajasthan), Aatmaram Tukaram Bhide(from Ratnagiri, Maharashtra), Dr. Hansraj Hathi(from Bihar), Sardar Roshan Singh Harjeet Singh Sodhi(from Jalandhar, Punjab and Parsi wife) and Krishnan Subramaniam Iyer(from Chennai, Tamil Nadu and wife from Kolkata, West Bengal), a bachelor Patrakar Popatlal Pandey(from Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh) and a teenager Pinku. There are also other individual characters including Sundarlal(from Ahmedabad, Gujarat), Abdul, Reporter Rita Shrivastav, Natwarlal Prabhashankar Udhaiwala, Bagheshwar Dadukh Udhaiwala, Bawri Dhondulal Kanpuria.

The members of the society and other characters have a good psychological attachment of love and sympathy for one another that makes them the members of a greater family. They are often seen celebrating festivals and participating in events together. In the episodes of the show, the families are shown to live the lives of typical Indian families. However, the characters, more often than not Jethalal Gada, get into petty troubles cropping up from daily life activities that intensify in a comical manner, giving rise to laughter among the viewers. Humour in the show is further heightened by the individual quirks of the characters. Whatever the nature of the problem that a member of the Society encounters, all the other members stand by them to extend every possible help. In an episode, the cessation of the problem that a character faces is usually followed by a moral commentary by Taarak Mehta, which is meant for all the characters of the show as well as the viewers.