Filmed on location at Alcatraz Island, this two-part "whole story" actually concentrates on a handful of the denizens behind the cold grey walls of "The Rock". Michael Beck plays the real-life Clarence Carnes, an Oklahoma Choctaw Indian said to be the youngest man ever incarcerated in the notorious maximum security prison. Serving a 99-year sentence for a gas station holdup and murder, Carnes makes periodic attempts to escape, the final attempt being the most violent. Many of the subordinate characters are fictional (as are most of the details concerning Carnes' escape efforts); the one exception is Robert Stroud, the "Birdman of Alcatraz", here portrayed by Art Carney as a gentle, kindly philosopher. Telly Savalas, a costar of the Burt Lancaster vehicle Birdman of Alcatraz, also guest starred in the 1980 film. Originally titled Alcatraz and Clarence Carnes, this made-for-TV movie wavers between gritty realism and "I'm bustin' outta here!" artifice.

In Vietnam, aspiring actor Johnny Taylor is given a prize film script after saving the life of a Hollywood screenwriter. On his return, Johnny has trouble finding a studio that will let him play the lead until he saves producer Vance Patton's daughter Diane from a cycle-gang attack. The grateful father sends him to agent Mori Thompson, but Thompson wants the script for gang leader Deek Stacy. Deek and his agent feed Johnny LSD and drag him away to the dungeon during the producer's Halloween party.

A college professor falls in with the counterculture crowd in San Francisco after resigning from his position in solidarity with two expelled hippie students.

Willie, a young Confederate soldier, joins forces with the bold and boisterous Lt. John Singleton Mosby and his notorious band of Civil War raiders. Befriended by a Yankee and aided by his beautiful cousin Oralee, Willie learns the power of love and war as he attempts dangerous scouting missions across the Virginia countryside. Infiltrating a Union brigade and capturing an enemy General are just two of the challenges Willie courageously faces in the early days of the War Between the States.

A group of random individuals get stranded on a bridge that begins collapsing at both ends. Not only that, but there's a gun-wielding bank robber using the bridge as his means of escape refusing to let any of the rescuers draw near the survivors. Time is running out ...

Clay Spencer and his wife, Olivia, live in a small town deep in the mountains. When Clay isn't busy drinking with his buddies or railing against the town minister, he's building the house he's always promised Olivia. He is overjoyed when he learns his eldest son will be the first Spencer to attend college, if he can resist the charms of a pretty local girl and rustle up the money for tuition.