Start with a dollop of existential angst, toss in a little (OK, a lot of) Brechtian theater business, throw in a couple of politically charged cheerleaders, a pompous newscaster, two German doctors and an agnostic university professor who’s just lost his job. Stir briskly and serve with lots of humor.

Teenagers have lots of problems, but high schooler Ren McCormack (Anton Gero) really feels put upon. Ren’s dad has deserted the family and he and his mom Ethel (Debra Wanger) are forced to move from that toddlin’ town of Chicago all the way to the nowheresville that is Bomont, described as “a small Midwestern town” (it looks a lot like Texas).

Small isn’t the half of it. It’s also small-minded and super-religious, run by a town council whose most influential member is the stuffy Rev. Shaw Moore (Cris O’Bryon).

Bartenders spend their working hours listening to tales of love, loss and desertion. But it’s not often that a bartender is the storyteller.

It’s a cold, snowy night in Greenwich Village and barkeep Sam Bendrix (Luke Macfarlane) has decided to leave New York. On this, his last night, he gets a chance to provide the entertainment and tell his story.

The tacky Chinese restaurant where Shelly Levene (Peter Maloney) and John Williamson (Johnny Wu) meet has duct tape on the red plastic booth and a fish tank behind it with three fish swimming aimlessly.

Shelly and his colleagues sell real estate of dubious value; Shelly is in a dry spell, come to beg a few decent leads from office manager John. But it’s 1983 in Chicago; the economy is bad, good leads are scarce and management gives them to the top producers. No amount of begging or pleading can shake loose a decent lead for Shelly.