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.

A startled John begins questioning his sexuality after another male alcoholic visits to make amends -- by apologizing for seducing him.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

John's daughter appears topless in a skin magazine, Officer Eggers holds an attractive stranger hostage unless he agrees to impregnate her.

John's daughter and son hit town at the same time, and John decides to tell each of them about the other's existence. John's children by different mothers, Rachel and Tony, each unaware that the other exists, meet at the bus terminal. Rachel is in town for a memorial concert by the band Grateful Dead, and Tony has ended his studies at Yale University, although he claims he's on vacation. Not knowing that they're related, they become attracted to each other. When they go on a date, John panics and tries to find them before they become physically involved. Meanwhile, Mahalia persistently tries to seduce an attractive traveler, despite his protests that he is not available. Feeling guilty, she goes to confession at church and finds out he's a priest.

On his ""lucky day,"" John attends the wedding of Mahali'a ex and bets Catherine's IRS payment money on a horse instead of depositing it in her bank -- just the beginning of a scenario in which he ends up in hospital. John wins, but the guy who brokers the bet; Norm steals the money and flees. John must take Dexter and Gene to find the formidable Norm at a sleazy downtown bar and get the money back before Catherine finds out. Meanwhile, Mahalia is furious when she learns that her shiftless ex-husband is marrying a sophisticated woman. She vents her anger in a letter to him, but the letter gets delivered to the wrong man.