Maggie Cole is the self-appointed oracle of Thurlbury, a close-knit town. When a radio journalist interviews Maggie, she gives him far more detail and embellishment about the locals and their personal lives than he was counting on. When the interview is played in full, all the guarded secrets, indiscretions and gossip are broadcast for the whole county to hear, changing life in Thurlbury forever.

After the recent death of her husband, Jessica is lonely and out of sorts. She meets two men who are very different. As Jessica debates the merits of passion versus security, she becomes the subject of mean-spirited gossipmongers.

Miss Matty's house is full of life and bustle. Her dream of having a child in the house has been realized in the birth of Tilly, daughter of her maid Martha and carpenter Jem. Elsewhere, the shadow of the railway still looms, but the line has been halted five miles outside Cranford, a disaster as far as Captain Brown is concerned. Meanwhile, as Mr. Buxton returns to town with his son, William, and his niece, Erminia, Miss Matty becomes concerned about...

Powerful but unethical Broadway columnist J.J. Hunsecker coerces unscrupulous press agent Sidney Falco into breaking up his sister's romance with a jazz musician.

Judge Priest: Judge Priest, a proud Confederate veteran, uses common sense and considerable humanity to dispense justice in a small town in the Post-Bellum Kentucky. Doctor Bull: Doc Bull, a no-nonsense country doctor who has served his community for decades, fights small-town prejudice and provincialism in several crises. Steamboat round the bend: A Louisiana con man enters his steamboat into a winner-take-all race with a rival while trying to...