(Ryan is in the doorway to Chuck's office)
Ryan: Chuck, I'm not criticizing anything, I just think you should have checked this with me...
Chuck (within): I don't see what the big deal is. It's hardly noticeable.
Ryan: But there's no reason you needed to do it in the first place.
Greg (Coming up): What's the problem?
Ryan: There's no problem (louder, to Chuck) NO PROBLEM (back to Greg) Chuck got a fan letter -
Greg: I thought we didn't accept fan mail - I've never gotten any.
Chuck (within): Of course we do, I get buckets.
Ryan: Anyway, one letter said that his hair -
Greg: Or lack thereof -
Ryan: Was a bit thin and graying. I took it to mean he looked refined, wise, like Sean Connery. But Chuck -
(Chuck enters with a very noticeable, blonde toupee, Greg starts cracking up)
Chuck: Thought it was time to improve my look. What do you think?
Greg: I...it's... (breaking up, he turns away, and Ryan lightly punches him)
Chuck: What's wrong?
Marsh (walking by): He's probably frightened of that ferret you killed and placed on top of your head to keep it warm. I mean your scalp, not the ferret. It's clearly dead.
Chuck: Greg, what story are you on tonight?
Greg: The sewage leak on Washington Ave.
Chuck: You should probably head out now. It'll take a while to wade through all that stinking refuse.
(Greg leaves, now subdued, as Kelly enters, reading scripts)
Chuck: Hey, Kelly, you're a woman, can I get your opinion on my hair?
Kelly: What hai - (looking up, and starting) Oh my god!
Marsh (walking by again): See, it's frightened her too. Though I'm not surprised, women are often sensitive about seeing dead animals. They frighten easily. I mean women, not the animals.
Ryan: Marsh, you didn't happen to get that memo about making the station a more respectful, less rampantly insulting work environment, did you?
Marsh: Oh that? I assumed it was just a joke, considering how pissy all the women have gotten in the station since I refused to cover the WNBA scores because it's not a sport (leaves).
Chuck: So Kelly, what do you think of my new look?
Kelly: Well, it's a definite departure from...you.
Chuck: What do you mean, I can now broaden my appeal, compete with the younger rival anchors. You dye your hair - what's the difference?
Kelly: I just think something more natural would be for the best.
(Montana enters, with a huge fan)
Montana: Ryan, what do you think about using this for my new entrance. Wind is a type of weather.
(She turns on the machine, and Chuck's toupee blows off, revealing bright red hair, as Marsh re-enters)
Marsh: AHHHH!! I've told you Ryan - NO CLOWNS IN THE NEWSROOM!!
(End Scene)
1 comment:
You can do this Anne-- you can write for television. I'm convinced of this.
A few points about the scene--
1) Your best writing is for the Marsh character. Now, part of this is because it's pretty easy (for good writers) to write for characters like Marsh, Dwight from The Office, Chandler from Friends, and so on.
2) The only suggestion here is to remember that TV scenes must always advance the story and I'm not sure I can figure out what your 'A' story is.
I get the premise (and I like it) of Chuck getting fan mail about his hair and the whole toupee situation is ripe for laughs, but we need to be careful to not confuse the premise for the story.
Well done.
Post a Comment