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Sam and Isaac are seated around Isaac's desk.

Isaac: So I told Jeremy I couldn't give him the time off.

Sam: Aren't they broken up?

Isaac: Well, Jeremy called off the wedding. As for the two of them being broken up, I'm not completely sure.

Sam: We can't give time off for someone's possible future relative.

Isaac: I can't afford to lose two producers.

Sam: That's the problem with having couples working together on the same show. They both will take vacations at the same time. They'll need anniversaries or time for bereavement or children. We can't afford to lose two people at once.

Isaac: I hear what you are saying.

-----

Casey knocks on the door to Dana's office. He walks in.

Casey: Dana, you have a sec?

Dana: Sure. sniff

Casey: I was thinking I could add fifteen seconds to baseball and have Dan cut the time from the NBA.

Dana: Does Dan agree?

Casey: Yes.

Dana: Okay, do it.

Casey: Thanks. Have you heard from Natalie?

Dana: Not yet. I'm sure if she has the time, she'll call.

Casey: Great. Keep me posted.

Dana: cough I will.

Casey: Are you all right?

Dana: Yes, I'm fine. It's just a little cold.

Casey: If you need help with anything, I'm sure we can all pitch in. It wouldn't be a problem to help you out while Natalie is gone.

Dana: I'll be fine. sniff Besides, who's going to run the show without me and Natalie?

Casey: Uh-

Dana: If you say 'Sam' I swear I will rip out your tongue and turn it into a belt.

Casey: How about Kim or Isaac?

Dana: Good suggestions, but I'll be all right.

-----

Natalie is back in her childhood home. She's surrounded by her various relatives in the living room: sister Nicole, brother Nathan, mother Lillian, aunt Grace, uncle Robert, and aunt Janice.

Aunt Janice: That's the difference between our generations.

Nicole: But we had Vietnam.

Uncle Robert: But in Vietnam, the world wasn't nearly taken over by an Aryan nation.

Nicole: It still doesn't make it any less important. People still gave their lives for our country.

Aunt Grace: But people served their country and then came back home. They raised and taught, remember taught, their families. Their careers and all this technology was secondary.

Uncle Robert: America is going to hell in a hand basket.

Aunt Janice: Robert! Watch your mouth.

Uncle Robert: Ooooh, Janice.

Lillian: Oh gosh, we're out of drinks. Let me run downstairs and grab some more.

Nathan: I'll get it mom. Who wants more pop?

Uncle Robert: Just bring up enough for everybody, Nate.

Nathan: Okie-dokie.

Nathan leaves the living room.

Lillian: Oh, Nate? We've got Squirt down their if anybody wants it.

Aunt Grace: So, Natalie. I haven't heard of a date for your wedding to... to...

Lillian: It was to Jeremy.

Natalie: Yeah. Jeremy backed out.

Aunt Janice: Oh, that's a shame.

Uncle Robert: You're better off without him, Nat.

Natalie: Thanks.

Lillian: He never said goodbye.

Nicole: What?

Lillian: Your father.

Natalie: What do you mean, mom?

Lillian: Whenever you kids would go away, he would never say "goodbye."

Natalie: Yeah, you're right.

Nicole: I guess he was never fond of saying "goodbye." He never said "see ya' later" or "adios"-

Lillian: He would just nod.

Nathan comes back into the living room with two cases of pop.

Nathan: I brought up both for everybody.

Lillian: Thank you.

Nathan hands out cans to everybody in the room.

-----

J.J. and Dan are inside the conference room.

Dan: I'm still not comfortable with all this.

J.J.: Don't worry about it. I've been getting information from Isaac and Sam about the show. It doesn't hurt to get everybody's opinion.

Dan: What about Dana?

J.J.: What about Dana?

Dan: Shouldn't you be asking for her opinion?

J.J.: Yes, I'm going to ask her for suggestions.

Dan: Good because she is a commodity right now.

J.J.: We're well aware of that. So, what's going on, Dan?

Dan: Well, we are having a hard time adjusting to Sam's regimen.

J.J.: He's being a pain in the ass.

Dan: I wouldn't put it that way.

J.J.: Come on, Dan. He's being a real pain in the ass. Admit it.

Dan: Uh...

J.J.: Sam's not here. This conversation is staying in this room. You can trust me.

Dan: Yes, he's being a real pain in the ass.

J.J.: What is he doing?

Dan: He has us all on edge. He's been teaching me and Casey how to write. He's been criticizing the show every single day. The morale is starting to drop here. Whenever Dana and Sam are in the same room, Dana puts up the barriers and they look like they could go at each other.

J.J.: How's that affecting your work?

Dan: Well, we want to please Dana because this is her show, but pleasing Dana means angering Sam. So, Sam will come in and criticize something so minute, something so irrelevant, it just makes me cringe at times. But, Isaac. Isaac wants Sam and he keeps telling me to be patient.

J.J.: So Isaac is aware of what is happening.

Dan: Ye... yeah... I've talked with Isaac.

J.J.: And he hasn't done anything to improve the atmosphere around "Sports Night"?

Dan: I wouldn't say that-

J.J.: Sam's causing problems and Isaac knows it. Isaac isn't doing anything about it because he feels this is the best thing to do for the show.

Dan: Isaac is asking us to be patient.

J.J.: So Isaac has had more than one conversation, all with different people.

Dan: Well, I know of two-

J.J.: Two conversations?

Dan: Yeah.

J.J. writes some items down on his notepad.

Dan: So you've talked with Sam and Isaac?

J.J.: Huh? Yeah, we've talked.

Dan: How did it go?

J.J.: It went well. We've been getting a good feel for the direction the show is heading.

Dan: Does this conversation change your perspective?

J.J.: No, not at all. The ratings have remained steady, so I can't completely say everything going on at "Sports Night" is wrong. We'll just have to wait and see.

Dan: What are we waiting on?

J.J.: We're looking at the different shows on the network and making evaluations of each one.

-----

Natalie, Nathan, Nicole, and Lillian are seated around the dinner table. They are eating a roast with mashed potatoes and green beans.

Lillian: It was probably eating all this stuff which killed your father.

Natalie: Mom.

Lillian: No, it's fine, Nat. Your father died a happy man.

Natalie: Do you mind me asking where it happened?

Nicole: Nat.

Natalie: What?

Nathan: You shouldn't.

Lillian: It's fine, you two. Your father was out in the barn when it struck him.

Natalie: Oh.

Lillian: He wasn't feeling well- his right side was hurting- and he said that he would be fine. He should have listened to me.

Lillian takes her napkin and wipes her mouth.

Lillian: You'll have to excuse me for a moment.

Lillian, in tears, gets up from the dinner table and leaves the room.

Nicole: See what you did.

Natalie: Hey, I have a right to know.

-----

The control room is quiet. Dana hangs up the phone.

Dana: (into mic) Natalie said calling hours are tomorrow, and the funeral is the following day. AH-CHOO!

Sam: Bless you.

Casey: (off screen) Thank you for blowing my ear drums out, Dana.

Dana: (into mic) Do you have anything to say, Dan?

Dan: (off screen) Huh? Did somebody say something? My ear drums are vibrating.

Isaac: When are calling hours?

Dana: Four to six in the afternoon, and seven to nine in the evening.

Isaac: I'll be sure we have flowers sent in time.

Jeremy: Or do they want donations?

Dana: Natalie didn't say. I forgot to ask.

Jeremy: Did she say anything about me?

Sam: Let's focus on the tasks at hand people. Dave?

Dave: Thirty-five seconds back.

Dana casts a glare toward Sam.

Dana: Jeremy, Natalie didn't mention you.

Jeremy sadly frowns and nods his head.

Jeremy: Thanks.

-----

Natalie and Nicole are in a bedroom.

Natalie: Is somebody taking dad's place on the bicentennial board?

Nicole: I suppose.

Natalie: I mean somebody from the family.

Nicole: This isn't the time to be discussing this.

Natalie: I was just wondering since it is important- was important- to him.

Nicole: The bicentennial is still four years away.

Natalie: I know, but he was on the board. On top of everything else.

Nicole: The farm, the house, the board- he did it all. I never thought he would be the first to go.

Natalie: Is there anything I can do?

Nicole: You live in New York.

Natalie: I can move.

Nicole: Nat.

Natalie: I just... I just... need something.

Nicole: I know. We all need something.

Natalie and Nicole hug.

Natalie: He was so proud. He was going to walk me down the aisle.

Nicole: You were the baby. He was so happy.

Natalie: I'm glad he didn't have to hear about me and Jeremy and the wedding.

Nicole: Yeah. He would have been sad.

Natalie: Nic, he really wanted me to get married. He wanted some grandchildren.

Nicole: That was his way of life.

Natalie: I feel like I never lived up to his expectations.

Nicole: Don't say that.

Natalie: I just know he was disappointed. I was supposed to stay home, get married, and raise kids, but I couldn't do that.

Nicole: You were always the independent one. You're just like dad- doing it his way.

Natalie: I lived, worked, and went to school in Chicago. After I graduated, I moved to New York. It isn't what he imagined.

Nicole: Dad was proud of you, Nat.

Natalie: I just wish I had another chance to see him.

Nicole: Me too, Nat. Me too.

Natalie: I never knew dad went to college.

Nicole: He was going to be an engineer.

Natalie: What happened? Why didn't he finish school?

Nicole: He decided to start a family. He got married, worked at the mill, and worked on the farm.

Natalie: Yeah, and they saved enough so he could leave the mill and work on the farm full-time.

Nicole: That was his way of life- his beliefs. You have your own set of beliefs; you just need to live by them.

Natalie: Yeah.

-----

You hear a hacking cough inside a bedroom. Bed covers fly up and you see Dana, who is bundled and wrapped from head-to-toe. Dana sounds very congested.

Dana: Oh mah gad. It's eleben fivteen.

Dana reaches for her telephone.

-----

Casey is sitting at his desk when his phone rings. He answers it on the second ring.

Casey: (on phone) Casey McCall.

Dana: (on phone) Cazey. Itz Da-na.

Casey: (on phone) Dana. You sound awful.

Dana: (on phone) I feal awbul. Thiz dam rain yezturday.

Casey: (on phone) It gave you a cold.

Dana: (on phone) It gabe me the dam flu.

Casey: (on phone) Did you sleep? You sound tired.

Dana: (on phone) Knot really. Ovv and on vrom two till nine, then vor ab-out two hours just now. I'll be a libble late too-day.

Casey: (on phone) Stay at home Dana.

Dana: (on phone) No, no, Cazey.

Casey: (on phone) Listen, if you show up, I'm going to flip you over my shoulder and carry you back to your bed.

Dana: (on phone) Cazey.

Casey: (on phone) Take it easy. I'll call you in a little bit to make sure you're okay.

Dana: (on phone) Okay. I don't habe the in-ergy to fight you Cazey.

Casey: (on phone) Good. Take it easy. Talk to you later.

Casey hangs up the phone and gets back to work.

Dana hangs up her phone and throws the bed covers back over her head.