Surviving in L.A.

Kate McCarthy, a former teen sitcom star who trashed her life through drug abuse, is forced to live, fresh out of rehab, on the one remaining piece of property her business manager, Charlie, has kept out of foreclosure - a run-down apartment building in east L.A. With her one remaining trendy friend, Claire, who's still an addict and trapped in a loveless marriage, they are both contemptuous of her new tenants. Walter is a failed screenwriter, Suzanne is a nurse trying to keep her teenage son, Jerome, away from gangs, Carlos is an overachieving physics major, Sam is a homeless man living on her front lawn, and Mark, her divorced building manager, is getting his veterinarian degree from UCLA. Kate is in total isolation until her dog is wounded during a random drive-by shooting. It's then that Mark jumps into action and with grudging support and brutal honesty helps Kate to get back on her feet.