dear felatzia, it's truly amazing to me that we live a world apart and yet have the same favorite music. i loved the picture you sent and have it up on my bulletin board. you're growing so much faster than i am that i.
am starting to get jealous. i read in the newspapers about the italian strike and riots in milan. i hope you weren't.
oh god -- daddy -- don't. don't.  don't ever scare me like that -- please.
i just have two more pen pals and then i'm done.
nooo. this way the rotation stays the same.
dad, you want me to choose my words so carefully and then you just throw a word like 'obsessive' at me. now, unless i'm wrong and.  . please correct me if i am, 'obsession' is practically a psychiatric term.  concerning people who don't have anything else but the object of their obsession -- who can't stop and do anything else. well, here i am stopping to tell you this. okay? so would you please try and be a little more precise instead of calling a person something like 'obsessive.'
hi. it's me.
there's probably no time to eat.  but there's a cafeteria at the bus depot once we get down there. i love working with you two. it saves me a call.
at six o'clock on the wake-up news they used the wrong missile graphic.
a half hour in the lobby.
i'm sorry. but look at how wonderful his face is.
j.d. i'm jane craig. i spoke to you in angola. i gave you some sugarless gum and handi-wipes.
no. it makes me nervous to think about it. let's do this.
i love that turn away.
there's a point i'm trying to make about these pieces coming up.
please don't applaud.
please. don't!! i gathered these pieces as an example of what's wrong with local television news.
the excerpts from three separate series on prostitution were simultaneously broadcast by all stations in one city during sweeps week. by what bend of either or suspension of duty is that broadcast news?
the legacy of edward r. murrow, eric sevareid, william shirer, david brinkley and walter cronkite is being squandered in a desperate popularity contest. our profession is in danger:
yesterday's compliment has somehow managed to become today's kiss of death. to be considered a serious journalist is no longer flattering. it presents the risk of being labeled ponderous, or worse yet, elitest, right?
all of you know what i'm talking about. we're all trying to act together than we are. but we care. so, we're all secretly terrified, aren't we?
we are being increasingly influenced by the star system. the network anchormen are so powerful they compromise our last best hope. the current group is clearly qualified, tied still to our best traditions, but who follows these men?
i was going to talk about other trends but.  . the magazine shows, news at profit, influence of entertainment tonight, the danger, the hope, the dream, the question. oh, i was going to show you a tape -- a story that was carried by all networks on the same night -- the same night -- not one network noted a major policy change in salt two nuclear disarmament talks.  here's what they ran instead. go ahead. show the tape.
i know it's good film. i know it's fun. i like fun. it's just not news. well, you're lucky you love it -- you're going to get a lot more just like it.
hi.
thank you. they hated me. i don't hate them.
would you like to have dinner with me?
hi. i was worried i was early.
i like "godsend."
if we could just eat first.
nooo. if i could just have a roll, i'd be okay.
thank you.
another thing i can't stand -- is this dull?
another thing i can't stand is . when white house reporters bullshit with each other after a briefing and then one of them has a theory and the other quotes it in his story as "white house" sources say.
yes. my room is down here -- i'm not tired. do you want to keep talking?
come on. even i'm not that hard on myself.
i was doing sports at the station. the newspaper ran this untrue story that i was leaving and they got all these tons of protest mail. so they made me anchor.
so great -- right?
how are you at back rubs?
it's sort of normal -- the way you feel. in graduate school everyone thought the only mistake the admission committee made was letting them in.
i trust you.
what about the obvious remedy? reversing things. maybe getting a job on a newspaper.
well, come on -- it is your life. nobody is tying you to the fast track. did you go to college?
so, you're not well educated and you have almost no experience and you can't write.
it's hard for me to advise you since you personify something that i truly think is dangerous.
i agree with you -- you're not qualified. so get qualified. you can insist on being better prepared. you don't have to just leave it as.  'i don't write. i'm not schooled. i don't understand the news i'm reading. but at least i'm upset about it, folks.'
just what do you want from me, anyway? permission to be a fake? stop whining and do something about it.
well, you don't have to start right now.
no. it wasn't just the speech -- the same thing happened with this guy. i have passed some line some place. i am beginning to repel people i'm trying to seduce.
why do you say that?
sure.
this conversation is not worthy of you.
good night.
call if you get weird.
i was just thinking it was the shortest phone conversation we ever had.
hey?
what???
you want to start going over who they could have gotten? they can't take on people like this for network news. for god's sake. what's going on?
go back to 316, bobbie. the sound bite in the cab -- it starts, 'i don't know how i'll feel'
please, bobbie, we're pushing.
we're working here!! you can stand over in the uh, uh, uh.
play back the last line.
let me hear it!
craig, just a second -- let me hear it!
stop there. i want to shoot a picture from a book i have in the office.
i'll be right down. it's right tight.
yes, there is.
okay, bobbie, just a two-second dissolve to the rockwell.
just a two-second dissolve.
uh-uh. we're be ready.
nine seconds.
oh, god. back it, bobbie -- bobbie?
you weren't. thanks. how does it feel being here?
no. aaron and i go to central america on wednesday -- so i'm cramming.
'really a lot appreciate it'
i can't help you, sorry. i'm not here to teach remedial reporting.
oh, please. you're gonna have to understand something. this isn't personal.
if we don't get to their camp soon, we won't be able to tape the supplies coming in.
you spend too much time -- much too much worrying about that crap.  oh good.
stop! we are not here to stage the news. wait and see what he does.
okay.
let's tape.
that's okay.
okay. great line at the end.
of course.
to the pan of the supplies boxes --
are you all packed and ready?
will you just get packed?
how's it going?
i just got back -- i don't know which end is up.
yes.
thanks. i just wish you'd kept the first twenty seconds.
but thanks.
god, he loved the boots.
aaron should be hearing this so i have an extra witness.
no, i don't. he happens to deserve the credit. he's right here.
he had to read over some new copy.
i'll never tell.
no stop where he's all besieged.
right there, bobbie.
yes.
give it to him -- so we can concentrate.
bobbie, please.
hi, how are you?
some public official skipped a week on his christmas club?
billion.
i write for you sometimes.
yeah, i know, i went back and forth on it.
go ahead -- what?
god almighty -- whew. do i mind? why do i mind? i do mind. what a shock -- i don't have a right to.  i don't think i like him. i know i don't respect him. so what am i talking about -- what am i saying to you?
i can't be.
hi, tom.
what do you mean clean?
well, thumps like me leave appearance to guys like you.
yes. just don't say anything mean for a while. thanks.
i've got to find someone. it's important. excuse me.
jennifer. hey, jennifer.
forget what i said -- you do whatever you want to with him.
what?
let's figure out the field.
ernie, as much as i like you, i think i have to tell paul what i think, because this is really sort of obscenely stupid.
tom isn't ready for the job you're about to hand him. not near ready. not by the longest shot. aaron's spent six weeks in tripoli, he's interviewed gaddafi -- he reported on the eight-one story. i think he's essential to do the job we're capable of and i think it's my responsibility to tell you that.
it's not opinion.
no, it's awful. oh my, it's awful.
we'd better get moving.
i'll tell you later -- where you going to watch from?
i'll come by your place, right after. drink, take pills.  love you.
nervous?
tell george and jessica to try and cover everything without tom having to ask additional questions.
did you hear what i just said -- do you have that? take a breath.
and the most important thing make sure his earpiece works, have back-ups ready. that's never been more vital. he must be able to hear me at every second and clearly.
we have twenty minutes -- you can wait in the studio.
put in the radar plane that spotted them to begin with.
i can't draw -- but this is a rough idea.
you hear me, tom? tom? tom? damn it. he can't hear me.  i told you if there was one thing.
george, you're ready.
cover everything!
we're going to george. say 'the joint chiefs are meeting -- we have george weln at the pentagon'.
yes?
thanks. the f-14 is one of the most difficult planes to master. oh, you call them 'tomcats' and in the 70's the first crop had a number of crashes.
right and we have the '81 pilot on the way in -- nobody else will have him.
just a minute.
to state for the message from libya, then you'll have the carrier pilot from the sidra in time to.  what? no!
we only have ten minutes left -- how can you talk to me about parking problems? no, not you'll try. you'll do it -- do it or i'll fry your fat ass, estelle. good-bye.
fill for a second.
well, there were no major gaffs anyway.
thanks, everybody.
yeah. it was an unusual place to be.
i'm going over to aaron's. maybe i'll hoop up with all of you later. how long do you think you'll be there?
maybe i'll see you over there.
yeah?
okay.
really? it was good.
your calling in that information -- you're the classiest guy i know.
well, whatever you think.
sounds like you may be on to something.
you know you've had a strange day.  i'd sleep on all these things you've been thinking.
yes.
we're going to caps bar at seventeenth and vermont; connecticut is clear on sunday.  take that over to fifteenth, then around vermont and we'll bypass the circle that way. if you don't go over forty we should catch mostly green lights.
come on -- don't take it the wrong way. i just know about things.
thanks -- good driving --
thanks.
well, i thought i'd check if all of you were still here. i'll just go in and join the gang and you two go on.
well, i'll go in and have a bite.
hey, i know how to have a burger by myself. i feel like a little solitude.
right back to you.
god help me.
a long time. i was restless. will you crack my neck?
aaah -- -- ello. you sure they said the management meeting? they want me to be at the management meeting.
no, i'm not. i'm the fourth. joan richmond. pauline fredericks got that credit once on a u.n. special and there's susan zirinsky.
jennifer.
come on, i'll buy you a drink. there's a big thing over at the italian embassy.
i'll be the judge of that.
it's much too soon for you to have this kind of buzz around you.
i'll get you through. move and smile. and smile and move.
okay. you didn't like the party, huh?
eventually. does it have to be right now?
what?
well, what is it?
yes, tom -- i think i can manage.
hello.
hello. who is it?
jane, yes. tom? tom, is that you? is this tom?
i had to sleep fast so i took two allergy pills to help me. i'm sorry. hey, you called me.
says who? not important -- ha-ha-ha. i was dreaming -- oh, no -- can't tell -- how embarrassing for me. gosh.
nooo. is it your story?
why, you need me for the story?
uh-huh.
oh, good.
so you like me, huh?
nice work.  i've got to get a crew off the clock.
it moved me. i did relate to it -- i really did. it was unusual for you to cut to yourself when you tear up -- and that might not have been my choice. but it's real and it got me. and i think a lot of the time i'm too conservative about that kind of stuff. okay?
tom. why don't i meet you there? i've got some last minute stuff i've got to take care of. hey, how did you resolve your dilemma -- did you rent the tux or buy it. i knew it. how much? wow. okay. see you there.
did you bring your grey suit?
thanks. try this one.
i read about it -- that's how you can make sure you don't put on too much perfume.
it's not a date. it's co-workers going to a professional conclave.
how long will it tale you to send one?.
you look terrific.
as good as humanly possible.
well, the line of the jacket -- no really. just very nice. just right. i wish i could be there.
i'm not sure i'll be able to. i.
okay, great -- good luck.
you too.
if he doesn't see me soon, we're not supposed to be together.
who?
i'm sorry. i don't want to go in there and sit with everybody. i can't. why don't you go?
good. that's it. see you.
uh-uh.
great.
well.
at least kiss me when you do that.
this is hysterical.
i was half hoping i wouldn't have a good time tonight. you know why?
right, right -- isn't she fun to tease?
right back at you.
oh let's see -- wait a minute, well, i can think of two reasons.
three. i just thought of a third.  if you talk about it, you don't have to do it.
good. another is you're trying to make it all about sex and heat and nothing else.
or it's that great feeling that you don't want to hold anything back. you know, intimacy.
oh, shit. i'm a creep.
i forgot all about aaron. i promised to stop by and see how he did.
no. i'll see you at your apartment as soon as i can.
what happened?
he might be weird -- he can talk more freely if i go alone -- why's that so hard to understand?
okay. sorry. don't yell at me like that again, you scared the life out of me.
how'd it go?
no.
did it really go well?
do you feel good about it?
do others feel that you did well?
then what was good about it?
aaron, will you tell me?
what do you mean, flop sweat? -- you're making too much out of it. i'll bet you were the only one aware of it.
stop kidding. i want to know what happened.
there were complaining phone calls because you were sweating?
if all that happened, how come you're so chipper?
i have to be somewhere.
i told what's his name -- tom -- that i'd meet him.
i don't know. i may be in love with him.
this is important to me.
what?
yes, i guess. yes.
yeah -- being a basket case.
this isn't friendship.
i think you're the devil.
how?
you were quick enough to get tom's help when.
sit down, stop.
hi. it's me.
i can't get away just yet. i'm at aaron's.
i'm not sure. it seems like he had sort of a mishap on the news.
it wasn't as bad as he think, was it? -- it wasn't unprecedented or anything?
uh-uh. he says you could hardly notice it.
don't say anything about anything.
hi, again. sorry about.
i don't know if that's absolutely necessary.
uh-huh.
yes.
good night??!
okay, great, grunick -- easy shots now -- huh? good night.
he just cancelled. he had a chance to think and he cancelled.
i can't breathe. over a guy?!? but i can't -- i can't breathe. damn it!
be fair.
what are you dressed up for? oh, that's right -- because the evening news is here this week.
she stops the tape -- summons herself. she walks towards tom's
i kept trying to call you -- you never called me. were you just diddling me? is that it--? i'm great if i'm helping your career. but when i'm a woman for a second, i get immediately fucked around by you.
please forgive what i said. sorry.
i feel terrible about what happened. what did he say?
no. did he really?
what?
that's so perfectly. it really makes me feel a little faint.  whooo.
it's started.
shhh. this isn't the last time we'll see each other. it's not.
we'll get them back -- it's going to change.
these people -- it's all so awful. it just hurts physically, doesn't it? like something's wrong with your bones, like your organs are shifting inside your body.
how can you say that to me?
well, i just think that' an extraordinary proposal.
that's more than 'yes' -- that's 'you bet.'
bastard, sneak, quitter.
i just found out. you didn't say anything to me? you just resign? will you meet me now? -- no, now! i'm going away tomorrow. please.
why not try it for a few weeks?
tell me the god's honest truth -- are you leaving because of me? because if you are.
you're just trying to say all great stuff so i'll feel even worse that you're not around.
i just want to sit here longer, i mean the feeling is powerful -- why's that?
you are now required to sit here with me. come on. be smart for a second -- what do you think will happen to us?
yes.
you won't be able to stay mad at me, right?
you fucking.
i'm not going.
i saw the taped outtakes of the interview with the girl. i know you 'acted' your reaction after the interview.
of course it's the reason. it's terrible what you did.
jesus, if you're glib about this i'm going to lose it. i was up all night and.
it made me ill. you could get fired for things like that.
working up tears for a new piece cutaway. you totally crossed the line between.
it just proves that the difference we have are.
it's amazing. you commit this incredible breach of ethics and you act as if i'm nitpicking. try and get this. when you edited that.
that's not going to be the way we say good-bye. even though i think what you did was rotten -- it's not all impersonal. you mean something to me.
i don't wan to discuss work.
i knew what you meant.
you're lucky i came after you so you got that off your.
it's okay.
so you have an extra bathing suit, huh?
it's just that one of the few things i'm not confused about is what i was saying downstairs, that.
it's better when you let me say it.
why did i have to do this to myself? watch you take off. call me if you need anything.
good morning. dupont circle, please.
don't take the beltway, because at this time of day there's gonna be a lot.  . go any way you want.
but new york avenue's faster.
well, why not? hey, what is this? my life's rushing in front of my eyes.
i thought for ol' cliff here -- look at you? you're more adorable than your pictures. look what i got for you.
i think so. they've been talking to me about being tom's managing editor.
i'm going to take it.
well, there's a guy, but he says he'll fly up a lot.
i'm sorry because i was looking forward to that, but i' m going back in a few hours.
well, we met about three months ago. he works at the surgeon general office. he loves boating. so, he's been getting me into water skiing.
i like it! so, doll, what about you lately?