When the world's first spaceship is close to its goal (Mars), the TV network GNN begins its live coverage of the last two hours of the mission, and then the problems start. The landing computer malfunctions; Captain Eugene T. Slader gets very sick; and back on Earth, it is discovered that big financial corporations have an interest in the failure of the mission - and we, the viewers, can see it all live on television.

A young man finds a lemon on the sidewalk, takes it home, and becomes inordinately fond of it. Complications ensue.

Tensions run high when a crazed bomber rigs a Los Angeles bus with a device that will kill everyone on board if the vehicle's speed dips below fifty miles per hour.

Rose Morgan, who still lives with her mother, is a professor of Romantic Literature who desperately longs for passion in her life. Gregory Larkin, a mathematics professor, has been burned by passionate relationships and longs for a sexless union based on friendship and respect.

Based on true events which took place in the mill town of Graniteville, South Carolina in 1876, the story follows the rich Greggs, who run the mill, and the poor McEvoys, who work there. The animosity between their sons leads to tragedy.

A troubled man starts working at a retirement home and realizes its residents and caretakers harbor sinister secrets. As he investigates the building and its forbidden fourth floor, he starts to uncover connections to his own past and upbringing as a foster child.