Jessica badgers Max for permission to pursue a story about a man who kidnapped his own children.
A high-school student Jessica interviewed threatens suicide.
Jessica covers stories on a mentally handicapped youth (Adam Arkin), prostitution, and a citizen demanding a star on Hollywood Boulevard for the Three Stooges. Jessica defends Kenny and investigates the financial backer of a hangout for hookers. Adam Arkin, son of actor Alan Arkin, plays a young man with limited mental capacities who tries to cope in a fast-moving world. He plays a busboy at a TV station where "Jessica Novak" (Helen Shaver) works as a field reporter.
A "fan" torments Jessica with anonymous phone calls and mysterious break-ins.
Jessica becomes emotionally involved when she covers the "All-American sport" of gambling. Bonelli, a TV crew member, is a compulsive gambler and owes a lot of money. Creditors are harassing him.
Jessica is grieved after learning that his father (Dick O'Neill) has suffered a heart attack. A small Puritan community becomess angered by the statements uttered by preacher Pedersen in an interview granted to Jessica about the use of forceps.
Jessica is intrigued by the strange attitude of a petty crook who insists he committed a robbery even though he was cleared of the deed.