The story of Ishi, the last survivor of the Yahi Indians of California. Befriended by an Anthropologist (Jon Voight) who is able to speak Ishi's language, he is a gold mine of information about his tribe's way of life. A doctor (David Ogden Stiers) broadens Ishi's horizons and is another friend in a largely unfriendly world.
A veteran rancher and former sheriff, forced to face some federal bureaucracy when an old enemy-cum-millionaire alleges he doesn't actually own his beloved family ranch in a small Texas town.
American football coach Chuck Dichter has worked wonders with the Buffalo Bills, and is even confident to crown his career with a Super Bowl victory, but before the play-offs an oyster food-poisoning wipes out his first team for a month. Dan Heller, an insurance salesman and former college quarterback, who was hired -relactantly, but his wife twisted his arm- just for practice, now has to captain and train a bunch of rookies and old-timers against the hardest adversaries. Dichter decides to sign up triple Super Bowl-winner Tommy Baker in Dan's place...
"A", a member of a student protest organization, becomes disenchanted by his group's inability to effect real change. Emboldened to pursue more radical methods by the older, experienced leftist organizer Despard, "A" unwittingly becomes party to a labor strike that turns violent. Ultimately held responsible by the authorities for the fracas, "A" allies himself with terrorist Leonard, who intends to avenge those jailed in the protest.
Peter Wilcox (Voight), as skipper of the 'Rainbow Warrior', a Greenpeace ship, docks in Auckland, July 1985, preparing for a protest against French nuclear testing in the south pacific. When a bomb rips open the vessel, killing a crew member, he must convince the police superintendent (Neill) that this is an act of terrorism. Determined not to allow outside forces to threaten their harbor, the police embark on a pursuit of the persons responsible. The events that follow nearly bring down an allied nation's government.
Jack Killoran is a lawyer who can 'fix' any situation for his wealthy clients, usually by bribing or blackmailing corrupt officials. Killoran runs afoul of some of his clients when he has a crisis of conscience after miraculously surviving a riding accident.
The story involves Rose Chismore's youth. She flashes back and remembers her coming-of-age. Her recollections are sometimes less than sweet, particularly those of her troubled and alcoholic step-father. Her memories of Robin, her first-love, are much happier and she also recalls her colorful Aunt Starr -- who's visit is fun but also detrimental to her family's health. The setting of 1950s Las Vegas' bomb testing is increasingly significant to the development of the story.
In 1980, a teenage boy escapes the unrest in Iran only to face more hostility in America, due to the hostage crisis. Determined to fit in, he joins the school's floundering wrestling team.
Episodic story in six acts ("The Manly Art in Six Rounds") about young boxer Vic Bealer (played by Jon Voight) in search for some direction in his life.