Tivo....snorfle...snort...laugh...guffaw... That was an image I enjoyed...thank you darkmagicwillow.
Grimlock72...Tara Doe...I like that. I guess I wasn't thinking of "Tara's" mind control as something of a sort of...suggestion rather than a controlling thing. I'll try to work up some nice calm chairs for our girls the next time we meet with them....nice cushy chairs...
Slowontheuptake...As much as I would like to save Buffy too...alas...she is just a fun little plot device to add a little depth to the tale. As for the cliffhangers...I suggest strongly that you find a nice comfy couch to hold onto to...cuz the cliffs here are rocky and numerous....laugh like the evil person I am...??? How did you find out that I'm evil? I thought I hid it very well....hmmm...
Barnabasvamp...Yeah...I know how EVERYONE loves a good commercial. I don't mean to kill you all...just mame...maybe traumatize...possibly make you cry and stamp your footsie.
Tkheaven...laughing one's ass off...that is a serious dilemma. What will you sit on? Will your girlfriend give it back...or will she just put it on a key chain for handy access? The Late Shift will be dusted off and worked on very soon...the troll merely needed ...inspiration. He thought he'd leave her in the disco for a while...it's truly not a bad view...wouldn't you agree? (oh, and I'm laughing about the Aunt Jemima thing...it's actually a snoring smiley with a night cap...but I think Auntie J is cute!!!)
Channel 3: The SO-REAL Network
Pilot Show: “Oak Avenue, CA.”Show pitch: Five people stay six weeks in a rickety old haunted house. It’s “The Real World” meets “The Haunting”.
This season’s show takes place in a Southern California house.
Now…. Let’s meet the Contestants:
NAME: Tustin Ford
AGE: 29
OCCUPATION: Unemployed
[/b]WHY WE PICKED HIM FOR THE SHOW:[/b] Tustin puts the “vile” in volatile. He has no social conscience, and he basically can’t live with anyone who isn’t on life support. He’s a perfect fit.
NAME: Tara Mac Grueger
AGE: 23
OCCUPATION: Student
WHY WE PICKED HER FOR THE SHOW: She’s pretty much perfect in every way. Good grades. She even has a sweet and understanding boyfriend waiting for her back home in the College choir. We figured we needed at least one person on the show who couldn’t cause a controversial situation if it bit her on the ass.
NAME: Meagan Silver       
AGE: 24
OCCUPATION: Musician
WHY WE PICKED HER FOR THE SHOW: Every show needs a totally out there musician who is more wrapped up in their burgeoning careers to care about anything that’s going on around them….even when they are so untalented it’s painful.
NAME: Willow Rossman
AGE: 23
OCCUPATION: Student
WHY WE PICKED HER FOR THE SHOW: Computer geeks will rule the world one day. And all of the judges are pretty much suckers for a red head.
NAME: Alec Harrison
AGE: 24
OCCUPATION: Carpenter
WHY WE PICKED HIM FOR THE SHOW: When we interviewed this guy…we knew we could place bets on how many episodes it would take before he flipped out. He’s basically a time bomb chock-full of jackass shrapnel.
DAY 1: The Living Room Willow is sitting in an overstuffed chair with a laptop propped on one leg…the other is propped over one of the arms. She is typing like a seasoned professional. Her red hair is pulled up under a pink fishing cap.
Alec enters the room and flops down on the couch closest to her.
“ What are you doing? God…I wish I could type that fast. Is that a Mac?” He asks in rapid succession. She continues to type…her concentration seems to hone in on the screen before her.
***
The White Room : This is the room where we get all of the juicy private feedback.
Willow sits formally in a wooden chair. A white wall is behind her.
Willow: “ Okay…It was totally weird to show up here with my luggage and see Alec in the house. Well…I guess you already know I know him…kind of. We went to high school together. I used to have… sort of a crush on him. I was YOUNG…very YOUNG…and now I honestly don’t know what it was that I saw in him. He’s kind of annoying…sorry…is that mean? ”
***
The Living Room Tustin enters the room and heads straight for the connecting kitchen. Tara is sitting at the wet bar reading a book the size of a small Buick. Tustin rummages around in the refrigerator and comes up with orange juice. He looks at Tara and considers his next words carefully.
“ Would you…like to drink juice out of my mouth?” Tara looks slowly up from her book. Her blond hair is over one shoulder.
“ What???” She says incredulously.
“ Blondes have more fun right? I was just thinking you look like the type of girl that I would totally have a thing with…you know?”
“ Most girls you date drink out of your mouth?” Alec inquires with a little more interest than needed. He gets off the couch and moves to the counter. He looks at Tustin the way a young apprentice regards his master…reverence and awe.
“ Oh…hell yeah…Hey Tara…come over here and demonstrate with me…” He beckons her with a hand.
“ Thanks…no.” Tara says definitely. She closes her book and slides off the stool to make her way over to the couch. Willow looks up casually and smiles apologetically…then drops back into her computer world. Tara opens her book and tries to find her place.
***
The White Room:
Tustin sits backwards in the chair…rocking it back and forth with the fervor of an eight year old.
Tustin: “ Okay…that Tara chick is soooo hot for me. She’s playing totally coy for the cameras…You take some shots of her when she doesn’t know you’re looking…the looks she gives me…it’s like….f****ing kismet, man… Sure…she has a boyfriend back in poke-n-plum, Nebraska or where ever the hell she’s from …but I’m telling you…she WANTS me…she doesn’t know it yet…but I’m going to bring that one over to the Dark Side of the Planet Tustin…oh…yeah…”
***
The Living RoomTustin is gargling orange juice for Alec and audience. The cameras switch from Tustin’s kitchen antics to Tara…who isn’t watching him at all. She’s got her nose in her book…and just before the camera is about to switch away…she looks up…and over to her red-haired neighbor.
Total kismet indeed.
Sensing that she’s being watched, Willow looks up and Tara drops her gaze back to her book swiftly….just barely avoiding being caught.
From upstairs comes the sounds of something dying….no…the sound of hell splitting open and evil pouring out…. Or perhaps an oboe at the lips of a totally untalented human being.
Everyone downstairs glances up at the ceiling.
***
The White Room:
Alec sits with one foot up in the chair.
Alec: “ I was nervous seeing Willow again after all of these years. She’s HOT though. I think she’s still got a little think for me. I figure if I play my cards right…by the end of the six weeks we’ll be like…a THING…”
He puts his foot down.
“ They say that the house is really something at night. I think I’m pretty ready for anything this place throws at me.”
***
Upstairs Hall 9:59 P.M.
Shot of the empty hallway.
A banging sound can be heard in the walls…The house seems to groan under a mysterious unseen weight. Every inch of plank and plaster protests with cracks and squeals.
***
The White Room:
Tara folds her hands in her lap.
Tara: ” The first night in the house was actually pretty frightening. The electricity in the house was all flickery and bad….and my candles were barely lighting the room. There were sounds coming from…EVERYWHERE…I definitely felt like something didn’t WANT us in this house. It was like this WEIGHT pushing down on you. Like ten-ton bacon press…and WE were the bacon. I held out for the better part of an hour before I finally decided to leave my room and find someone…ANYONE else in the house to keep company with…even Tustin would have been better than nothing at all…”
***
Tara’s Room
Tara slipped her robe over her shoulders and sweeps her hair up into a lazy bun when a knock at the door startles her.
She walks over to the door…and hesitates before pulling it open.
Willow is standing there in the hallway… with a candle.
Commercial…