The Herlihys are a working class family from Chicago whose three children take wildly divergent paths: Brian joins the Marines right out of High School and goes to Vietnam, Michael becomes involved in the civil rights movement and after campaigning for Bobby Kennedy and Eugene McCarthy becomes involved in radical politics, and Katie gets pregnant, moves to San Francisco and joins a hippie commune. Meanwhile, the Taylors are an African-American family living in the deep South. When Willie Taylor, a minister and civil rights organizer, is shot to death, his son Emmet moves to the city and eventually joins the Black Panthers, serving as a bodyguard for Fred Hampton.
Rosemary Holmstrom está luchando para criar a su hijo tras la muerte de su marido. Cuando es diagnosticada con SIDA, en un principio se negó a creerlo, pero pronto se convierte sus atenciones al problema de lo que va a pasar con su hijo cuando ella muera.
A fire breaks out on the 12th floor of the First Interstate Tower building in Los Angeles. Meanwhile, Paul and Susan are working late on the 37th floor, along with cleaning staff, security, and building engineers, some of whom are installing sprinklers. The fire spreads rapidly and those in the building quickly become trapped.
A young single mother has to work late one night. Her daughter begs her to allow her to stay alone instead of going to a babysitter. The mother finally agrees. When the girl falls and is injured, police are called and she is taken to a hospital, the courts decide that the mother is unfit and take her daughter away. She must fight to all ends to get her back.
Un cocodrilo gigante ataca Chicago. Todo comienza cuando un bebé cocodrilo penetra en el sistema cloacal de la ciudad, tras ser arrojado a un inodoro. A lo largo de los siguientes 12 años estuvo creciendo y vivendo en este ambiente, hasta que una compañía química decidió deshacerse de unas hormonas del crecimiento con las que habían estado experimentando...
