Recovering alcoholic John Hemingway takes the job of night manager in a seedy bus station, where a robbery and a missing bus test his resolve to stay sober.
John goes 30 days without alcohol, and wants to get back together with his wife. Before he can reach her, she serves him with divorce papers.
John is not about to celebrate when his sponsor orders him to be celibate -- especially when it's for six long months.
John's mother, an inveterate con artist, begs him to bail her out of jail, and then becomes the obvious suspect when a batch of credit card slips goes missing from the bus station.
John takes stock of himself while helping a runaway teen realize that she can go home.
A fellow con artist from John's drinking days offers to cut him in on a lucrative real-estate scam; a bounty hunter is taking an incredibly naive Mississippi teenager to face a ten-year sentence.
Badgered by an extortionist, bedeviled by a work slowdown and befuddled by his sponsor's drinking, John feels like he's teetering on a ""tightrope of sobriety.""
A startled John begins questioning his sexuality after another male alcoholic visits to make amends -- by apologizing for seducing him.
John's given food for thought when an old writer friend bases his first book on John's bacchanalian past, a neo-Nazi named Steve Hitler demands to charter a bus, with support from the ACLU, and a sleazy health inspector threatens Dexter…
John tries to make amends to ex-wife Carol and son Tony he ran out on.
John's passionate love affair hits a snag when his perfect woman joins AA -- and must be celibate for six months.
John's nephew Bobby learns the meaning of tough love when he shows up at the bus station for a wild evening with the man who taught him to drink.
John gets hooked into a crap game and finds himself being forced to pray at gunpoint by Mahalia; Dexter discovers that his new girlfriend is a hooker.
John's order to train his boss's harebrained nephew, who been in AA for a year but is still a basketcase.
John's son tries to form a father-son relationship; Chester disappears and is found dead; John must deal with a battle to the death between Mahalia and her sister Linda, who stole Mahalia's first husband.
Entrusted for a few moments with the official United State inch, John can't resist peeking -- and damages it; meanwhile, he worries over a bus driver who drinks but denies it.
Hemingway and Dexter get stuck together in a crummy motel with a cage full of chickens; when a baby is abandoned in the station dumpster, Officer Eggers kidnaps it.
John's girlfriend turns out to be married -- when her husband confronts John with a gun; Mahalia's estranged husband arrives.
At a drag show, John runs into his old college roommate, who's playing Marlene Dietrich; Mahalia is targeted anew by a blackmailer she thought she'd paid off.
Carol is furious when Tony leaves her to stay with John; Mahalia worries about her brooding son Dante.
Officer Eggers develops a crush on John after he rescues her from a gunman; Dexter's business languishes after a customer puts a curse on the diner.
Dexter is outraged when his sister strikes up a friendship with Hemingway, Mahalia is overjoyed to hear her first boyfriend is coming to visit, Carly reports to Hemingway that she was sent out on a house call -- to his son.
John accidentally gets high on marijuana brownies, Hampton gets an unusual request from his long-estranged father, actor Joe Pesci studies a homeless man living at the bus station as research for a role.
Hemingway is feeling suicidal on his birthday, but discovers new meaning when the entire bus station is held host age by a gun-toting lunatic.
John moves into a more upscale apartment and is immediately attracted to his new neighbour, a nurse on the night shift.
Dexter hides from an angry girlfriend in John's apartment, foiling John's amorous intent with his new neighbour.
Carly asks John if he wants to have a serious relationship with her -- just after Catherine has indicated that she is interested, then both come to his housewarming party.
John takes a company physical and is assured not to worry about his high cholesterol level, then the doctor drops dead, prompting John to seek lifestyle advice from Catherine. Meanwhile, Gene and Mahalia both find new loves: Gene's is…
John and Catherine can't seem to get together for a date because of John's problems with others: Dexter needs him to play tutor for a high school equivalency exam, and Mahalia needs him to help sober up Oscar for a visit from a social…
The guys gather at John's apartment to view what they think is a vintage porn film, but instead find themselves viewing footage of national security importance -- the assassination of JFK. Meanwhile, Eggers decides she wants to be a…
With Dexter's help, John practices driving so he can renew his license for a vacation with Catehrine; meanwhile, Boyz II Men trade a performance for bus repair.
A young woman informs John that he's one of three men who could be her biological father.
Catherine gets the wrong idea when she spies John dancing with Carly, Mahalia is cheered by a passenger passing through.
Dexter dates a beautiful woman who shares John's name, and when Dexter kisses her, he can only see John's face.
John is upset when his son joins a religious cult, and enlists Dexter's help; Egger's embarassing parents visit.
John, Mahalia, Dexter and Heavy Gene apply for a better playing job at a New Orleans bus station.
Good fortune follows the appearance of a faint image of Christ on the bus station's wall.
John's mouthing off to the police lands him in jail with musician-author Kinky Friedman, Catherine learns about Carly's past, Eggers practices her mothering skills on Mahalia's daughter Lucy.
John tries to help a famed '70s poet (Cassidy) onto the wagon, while attempting to get his second ex-wife pay his first ex-wife's son's college tuition, the bus station bar and lunch counter become the trendiest places in town, a lesbian…
Carly's 21-year-old brother has eyes for Catherine, but his age -- and John -- aren't the only obstacles to winning her heart: despite his fabulous income from bike racing, he is illiterate.
Catherine has two house guests: a seven-year-old niece, who invests in Dexter's nine-ball skills, and her jazz musician ex-husband, who wants her back.
Old flames resurface after John and Catherine agree to take a break to assess the direction of their relationship.
Mahalia's crash diet lands her in the hospital on the night John must attend Carly's fundraising party, so Dexter must man the bus station alone.
A canine is the centerpiece of the bus station's new security system, Catherine and John try living together, and John's former art professor show up to announce he has incurable cancer and intends to commit suicide.
John's daughter appears topless in a skin magazine, Officer Eggers holds an attractive stranger hostage unless he agrees to impregnate her.
Catherine breaks up with John because ""things are too good"", Dexter discovers that his new love Annie has a surprising past, Mahalia loses her new dog, and John's suspicions are aroused by the kindly gentleman who returns it.
Heavy Gene and Sarah plan to wed.
John searches for a lost package and Carly mulls a marriage proposal.
