Christine Vachon

After throwing her cheating husband out of the house, a young mother named Mildred Pierce tries to find suitable work in Depression-era California.

Three pieces about comedy…COMEDY KIDS: Kids of varying ages attend a comedy camp to mixed results. A NIGHT AT THE BIG FISH: What is it like to do stand-up comedy at a venue where you are not welcome, where the audience isn't just disinterested but they are downright hostile? Does it make you a better performer? Or is it an experience you'd never want to repeat? TRAGEDY MINUS COMEDY EQUALS TIME: Shot at a theater on 16mm film in front of a live audience, comedian Mike Birbiglia tells the story of the time he ruined a cancer charity event by giving the worst performance of his life. (Here's a hint: he improvised.)

In the second season debut, people escape from home without going very far. In Philadelphia, teenage boys find ways to impress girls using a mode of transport obsolete since the 19th century; a young man's fight for independence from his mother would be normal for most kids, except for some special circumstances.

In the second season finale, we learn the true life stories of several people named John Smith: the parents of 11-week-old John Smith of South Carolina reel from revelation that he's a boy, when their sonogram predicted a girl; 23-year-old John Smith of Laramie, Wyoming, has made some mistakes and is appearing in front of a judge; and 46-year-old John Smith of Texas welcomes his son back from Iraq.