Nickelodeon

In 1914, Leo Harrigan (Ryan O'Neal) leaves his job as a lawyer to become a writer and eventually a film director, while struggling with his infatuation for Kathleen Cooke. When filming a scene featuring Buck Greenway's (Burt Reynolds) cowboy persona, Kathleen gets trapped in a rope and is hoisted onto a balloon that crashes onto a train. They incorporate the footage into their film, reworking the story to feature Kathleen as the leading lady. As they progress in their career, Leo, Buck, and the filmmakers are offered a contract by Atlantic Pictures and head to Hollywood, where they encounter a variety of colorful characters, including H.H. Cobb (Brian Keith), who inspires them to create a war film.