A Hawaiian teenage surfer shows off his skills when he takes to the snow slopes in Vermont.

Eleven year-old Akeelah Anderson’s life is not easy: her father is dead, her mom ignores her, her brother runs with the local gangbangers. She’s smart, but her environment threatens to strangle her aspirations. Responding to a threat by her school’s principal, Akeelah participates in a spelling bee to avoid detention for her many absences. Much to her surprise and embarrassment, she wins. Her principal asks her to seek coaching from an English professor named Dr. Larabee for the more prestigious regional bee. As the possibility of making it all the way to the Scripps National Spelling Bee looms, Akeelah could provide her community with someone to rally around and be proud of — but only if she can overcome her insecurities and her distracting home life. She also must get past Dr. Larabee’s demons, and a field of more experienced and privileged fellow spellers.

A group of National Guard trainees find themselves battling against a vicious group of mutants on their last day of training in the desert.

A small, turbulent town in Texas obsesses over their high school football team to an unhealthy degree. When the star tailback, Boobie Miles, is seriously injured during the first game of the season, all hope is lost, and the town’s dormant social problems begin to flare up. It is left to the inspiring abilities of new coach Gary Gaines to instill in the other team members — and, by proxy, the town itself — a sense of self-respect and honor.

Jett Jackson, who is the star of Silverstone, is considering quitting Silverstone when it is given a three year extension. During the filming of the last episode, Jett is accidently sucked into Silverstone’s world when a prop malfunctions. Silverstone is zapped into Jett’s world as well. In Silverstone’s world, Jett has to save the world from Dr. Kragg’s evil plans.

Perhaps their strikingly different personalities make the relationship between detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles so effective. Jane, the only female cop in Boston’s homicide division, is tough, relentless and rarely lets her guard down, while the impeccably dressed Maura displays a sometimes icy temperament — she is, after all, more comfortable among the dead than the living. Together, the best friends have forged a quirky and supportive relationship; they drop the protective shield in each other’s company, and combine their expertise to solve Boston’s most complex cases.