The Proposal
This is the part two of the explosive NBC executive meeting. You can find part one here..
Rich Cotton: Well, that all depends on what you want to see happen.
Jeff Zucker: I think we’re all in agreement, we want him out of this office, and we want to look righteous in doing so. But nothing too complicated or strung out, just a quick, clean break and we can go our separate ways.
Cotton: Fair enough, this shouldn’t be too difficult.
Marc Chini: As your HR representative I must strongly advise against this…so I’m going to leave the room.
Zucker: Fair enough, Marc. Thanks, for your input.
(Chiri and Zucker wink at each other)
EXIT MARC CHINI.
Michael Bass: This is probably a good time to mention, anyone who doesn’t want to take part in this ruse, please excuse yourselves from the office. We’d appreciate your help, but we understand if your morals are inflexible for something like this.
(Everyone stares blankly)
Cotton: Good. Now we won’t need everyone to participate, but we do need everyone to be as discrete as possible. This means no airing our plan to spouses or significant others for head, no getting drunk and blurting it out to friends, we need as much anonymity as possible.
Zucker: I think we’re all in agreement. Now, what exactly do you have in mind?
Cotton: My plan? We do nothing.
Zucker: Are you fucking retarded? What does that even mean?
Cotton: Well, not exactly nothing. But we let the man’s lifestyle be his downfall, we just make sure there is someone there to film or photograph it when it happens.
John Eck: This isn’t a plan, just an idea. Anyone could have come up with this!
Marc Graboff: No wonder your just a vice president.
Cotton: Look, we don’t need his body on a slab, just a little foul play in a public setting to have the leverage to get rid of him.
Zucker: Don’t you see how this makes us look bad in the process? We look incompetent for hiring someone so incapable of meeting the job description. I will not have my image tarnished like that. I’m the president of NBC! No malcontent is going to make me look foolish.
Cotton: Collateral damage. To salvage what’s left of your reputation and to get this network out of the gutter, we need to do something drastic. Right now, with all due respect sir, you are putting the cart before the horse. We can’t improve or save your legacy until we get rid of Ben Silverman.
Eck: All we need is a patsy to put the wheels in motion, which may happen to be one of us. Ben’s too coked up 90% of the time to pick up on any of this.
Cotton: We cannot let this plan extend beyond this office, it has to be one of us. It’s simple, we all know his penchant for prostitutes. Just offer to pick up the tab, then when it comes time to pay, just claim you forgot your wallet and you’ll reimburse him the following day. Meanwhile, before he gets to the hotel, we set up a camera in the room this tryst will take place in. The footage has to establish a money for sex transaction, or else this is all null and void. The recording has to speak for itself. We can’t look like we are trying to force him out.
(Everyone’s a bit flummoxed at the thoroughness of the plan, and momentarily speechless)
Graboff: How long have you been thinking about this?
Cotton: Are we or are we not all on board with the plan? Quit feeding me platitudes and rhetorical questions if we’re serious about getting this guy out of our network.
Zucker: (Contemplates the proposition by Rick for a considerable amount of time) Yeah, but, can I really do this? This is a man’s life and reputation we’re talking about. I mean, he did bring us Chuck.
Cotton: Chuck? He brought us Chuck? You mean that show that aired about eight times to mediocre ratings before the writers strike ended its first season prematurely?
Zucker: Did you see the reviews for it? People were bound to come around.
Michael Bass: We don’t know that, Jeff. And even if we did, it’s one show out of how many. All our Thursday night comedies and FNL all receive rave reviews, but none of them crack the top ten in Nielsen’s. You know what occasionally does? Deal or No Deal.
Zucker…Alright, put it in motion. But before we go public with whatever we find, we give him the option to leave quietly.
Cotton: Fine, sounds fair.
Lynn Calpeter: So who do we send? None of us are all that close with him, and even if we were it’s not like it wouldn’t seem unusual, one of us accompanying him socially.
Michael Bass: We send Ebersol. It’s not like he ever has shit to do anyways.
Graboff: (Without skipping a beat, and into intercom) Stacy, could you get Dick Ebersol in here, please.
Stacy: Right away, Mr. Silverman.
Graboff: This is Mr. Graboff, Stacy. Am I slurring? Do I sound like I spent all night recreating Requiem For A Dream?
Stacy: My apologies, Mr. Graboff.
(Hangs up phone)
Eck: Wow, someone is gun-ho about this now.
Graboff: Hey, FUCK YOU, John! You know how much work I do for this network that he gets all the credit for. Green-lighting Chuck was my idea. Mmmmiiinnnee. With that fucking drunkard out of the way, I’ll finally get the credit and RESPECT! I deserve.
Cotton:Easy, Marc, easy. Soon enough we’ll all get what we’re looking for.
ENTER DICK EBERSOL.
Michael Bass: Rich, my boy! How’s everything going in our sports department?
Cotton: (under his breath) Who’s the vice president now, bitch?
To be continued….
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