| Trilby |
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The newsroom is empty, except for Dan, who is working is way towards the elevator and off to his rendevous with Rebecca. As Dan reaches the elevator, the doors open and out step Natalie and Jeremy.
Natalie: Hey.
Dan: Hey guys.
Jeremy: Where have you been, Dan? The party is getting pretty good.
Dan: I have a dinner engagement with Rebecca. Thanks for the invitation. What are you guys doing here?
Natalie: We've come to change my shirt.
Dan: (devilishly grinning) Here?
Jeremy: Elliott spilled some drinks on it.
Dan: (winks at Jeremy) Good man. (does a 'thumbs up')
Natalie: No. (pause, then smiles) Not yet, at least.
Jeremy: Anyway, the party is getting hot and exciting. Dana is pretty loaded and dancing. Who knows? (smiles)
Natalie: Jeremy! (she smacks him on his arm)
Dan: So, whenever Dana's loaded and dancing, she looks pretty. And that's making the party hot, huh? Hmmm. (steps into the elevator)
Natalie: Dan! (she smacks him on the back of his head)
Dan: (turning around inside the elevator) Hey! I'm still injured here.
Jeremy: Post tramatic ladder syndrome.
Natalie: Sorry, Dan. (she smacks Jeremy on his arm again)
Jeremy: Hey! What was that for?
Dan: You crazy kids. (elevator door closes)
Natalie: She is our friend, not a piece of meat like a stripper or porn star.
Jeremy: Hey.
Natalie: Sorry.
Jeremy: Okay.
Natalie: I think I have an extra shirt in my desk. (starts towards her desk)
Jeremy: (distracted) I'll be right back.
Natalie: Okay.
Jeremy goes off, headed towards the edit bay. Natalie opens the bottom drawer of her desk. She digs around for a few seconds, then closes the drawer realizing she didn't have an extra clean shirt in there. Jeremy steps back into the newsroom, holding a pencil in the air.
Jeremy: I just stole this pencil. It was in the edit bay, and I took it. I just waltzed right in and took it. Didn't wear a mask, didn't cover my trail, didn't wipe fingerprints or bribe the witnesses. I just took the pencil.
Natalie looks at him in silence.
Jeremy: Yep, I just picked it up and feigned express ownership to an object very clearly not my own.
Natalie: Sweetie, (leaves her desk and walks toward Jeremy) The fact that you amaze me by being the only person on Earth who can say 'yep' and 'feigned express ownership' in the same sentence notwithstanding, that pencil actually is very clearly your own.
Jeremy: How do you know?
Natalie: (taking the pencil from him and holding it up sideways) It says, 'Jeremy Goodwin.'
Jeremy: ..Aah.
Natalie: Yes.
Jeremy: I have no affairs.
Natalie: No.
Jeremy: And I have the inferior tape dispenser.
Natalie: You could trade back.
Jeremy: There are affairs, Natalie, and then there are affairs.
Natalie: Okay.
Jeremy: Give me a minute, I'm going to go steal some peppermints. (purposefully walks away)
Natalie: Jeremy!
Natalie walks back to her desk and sits down. Jeremy's assault on the place was enough to get her thinking. Affairs. And she didn't count stolen doughnuts or the Bic pen in her desk's top drawer. And where was her extra shirt? She untucks her shirt, pulls it out away from her body, and starts to examine the wet spot which might stain the shirt.
The elevator opens back up and out steps Isaac.
Isaac: Oh, no. Natalie, where's Jeremy?
Natalie: He trying to create some more affairs. (she lets go of her shirt)
Isaac: Is it safe to walk into my office?
Natalie: Sure. (pause) I think.
Isaac: (sarcastically) Well, that's comforting.
Natalie: Isaac.
Isaac: Yes, Natalie.
Natalie: Remember when I broke up with Jeremy?
Isaac: I think I recall. Although from the state of affairs in my office earlier, I'm wondering if that condition has been reversed.
Natalie: (blushing) Okay. I'm sorry about that. But, when we broke up, I was kind of upset, and I, well --
Isaac: Yes.
Natalie: I broke down crying like a little kid who forgot her teddy bear at school for the summer because she brought it to show-and-tell on the last day.
Isaac: (pause) Yes.
Natalie: That actually happened to me.
Isaac: Okay.
Natalie: Anyway. The crying thing. (pause) Thanks for that.
Isaac: You're welcome.
Natalie: Okay.
Jeremy re-enters the newsroom, smaking his lips from the peppermints he had just stolen from the green room.
Isaac: Jeremy.
Jeremy: (stopping in his tracks) Isaac.
Isaac: Your apology is accepted.
Isaac and Jeremy shake hands.
Jeremy: Thank you. (Isaac leaves)
Natalie: Satisfied?
Jeremy: No, I've already eaten the peppermints. And I just realized that Isaac accepted my apology.
Natalie: I heard.
Jeremy: Yes.
Natalie: Can we go now?
Jeremy: Yes.
Natalie: Sweetie, there's always tomorrow.
Jeremy: Yes, thanks to Calvin Trager. Anyway, where's your shirt?
Natalie: It's not in there.
Jeremy: Oh. Well, I've got a stain eraser stick in my desk.
Natalie: You do?
Jeremy: It's in my drawer. I'll get it. (walks toward his desk)
Jeremy reaches his desk and opens his bottom drawer. He rummages through all of his things. "I've got it!" he screamed.
Jeremy: Natalie, I've got it!
Natalie: Well, bring it with you.
Jeremy: No, in the back of my drawer!
Natalie: (disgusted) Let's go.
Jeremy: Natalie!
Natalie: (turning around) What have you got?
Jeremy: An affair!
Natalie raised an eyebrow, but Jeremy never knew. He was too excited with his discovery. With the pride of an 8-year-old magician finding the ace, Jeremy whipped out a small plastic object. "It's a staple remover," he said maniacally.
Natalie: Yes, it is.
Jeremy: It's in my possession. I am claiming this staple remover.
Natalie: Yes, you are.
Jeremy: Don't you want to know where it came from?
Natalie: It came from the back of your drawer.
Jeremy: Before that.
Natalie: Where did it come from before that?
Jeremy: (grinning devilishly) It came from Sam Donovan.
Natalie: Really.
Jeremy: This is Sam Donovan's staple remover!
Natalie: Okay.
Jeremy: Natalie!
Natalie: What?
Jeremy: Can't you be a little more happy for me?
Natalie: I'm happy for you!
Jeremy: You don't look happy for me.
Natalie: You're upset that I don't look happy for you because you accidentally stole our ratings specialists' staple remover and recovered it while a stain is setting in my shirt?
Jeremy: I see your point.
Natalie: I'm trying, sweetie.
Jeremy: I appreciate that. (he holds up the stain eraser stick to show to Natalie)
Natalie: (nodding her approval) Let's go, and bring that stain eraser, too.
-----
We go to Isaac's office. Isaac and Calvin Trager are having a conversation.
Calvin: ...I know you're thinking about retiring but I'd like you to reconsider that and stay here. The show has a bright future and I want you to help see that it heads in that direction.
Isaac: I'll think about it.
Calvin: I'm going to increase your budget, and I know it's short notice, but I want to increase our Summer Games coverage for this fall.
Isaac: I appreciate it, and I'm sure the rest of the network appreciates it.
Calvin: I have advertisers lined up to promote their products. They are just waiting for my approval.
Isaac: What advertisers?
Calvin: Big businesses. Budweiser, Pepsi, Home Depot, all the pro leagues. Even the U.S. teams wants to get their share of advertising. They said they asked to get commercials on the show, but they backed down when Luther said he was decreasing Summer Game coverage.
Isaac: So what do we do?
Calvin: Nothing. Just do your show as usual.
Isaac: Sure.
Calvin: Sports Night is an excellent show. The critics love it. You just need a little more promoting and advertising. I want to make sure Sports Night is the hub for the Continental Sports Channel. Plus, my research shows you are a modern day Svengali. You can make everyone follow you. Whatever direction you take them, they will go with you. Isaac, with your increased budget, success is where you are going, and Sports Night and CSC is going to follow.
Isaac: I enjoy listening to your goals and your enthusiasm for Sports Night, Calvin. I do need to remind you of something your research does not show.
Calvin: What's that?
Isaac: Sports Night is not a modern-day Trilby.
Calvin: I see.
Isaac: You see, Svengali mesmerized Trilby and it caused her to be a famous singer. When Svengali died, Trilby lost her voice, dwindled, and soon died.
Calvin: Yes, I know.
Isaac: This show will survive without me. If I ever choose to leave, it is because it is time for me to move on. I might pursue other projects or retire, but Sports Night will live on. This started out as something small, and it has grown over the years. This is now something we cannot control. Control lies with all those people out there. They are the ones who keep Sports Night alive. They are the ones who tune into Casey and Dan. They are the ones who watch every night. I can help lead Sports Night, but it is the viewers who will determine its direction. The viewers will talk about CSC, they will watch CSC, and where those viewers go, we will follow.
Calvin: We're going to increase our viewership. We're going to expand our cable markets and make a better presence on the internet.
Isaac: Make it happen.
Calvin: We're going to be successful.
Isaac: Welcome to Sports Night.
The two gentlemen shake hands.
