LUCKY 7: PILOT {SERIES PREMIERE} (TV)
Summary
The pilot of this drama series about a group of gas station workers who win the lottery and whose lives are irrevocably changed as a result.
Brothers Matt and Nicky Korzak are being chased in a car by both criminals and the police, and they throw them off by emptying a case filled with money into the street. Seven months earlier, Matt and Nicky are working at a gas station in Queens, and both are experiencing problems in their lives: Matt’s girlfriend Mary is expecting a child and wishes to move out together from his cloying mother’s apartment even though they lack the money to do so, and Nicky is trying to re-start his life after serving a prison sentence for grand larceny, although he is experiencing money troubles as well. Their co-workers at the gas station include: Bob, their boss and a seemingly decent married fellow, Denise, an overweight woman who suspects her husband Ted is having an affair, Samira, an Indian-American young woman who wishes to study at Juilliard to become a violinist against the wishes of her father, a taxi driver who is trying to convince her into an arranged marriage, Leanne, a single mother struggling to take care of her young daughter Emma, and Antonio, who has worked at the gas station for fifteen years and has three kids to care for.
At work everyone puts in their weekly money for a lottery office pool; Matt cannot pay that week but Leanne covers for him. Nicky continually tries to hit on Samira; she likes him but is worried that her family wouldn’t approve of her dating an ex-convict. Matt asks Bob for an advance on his paycheck in order to make the security deposit on a new apartment for himself and Mary; Bob wants to help him but the gas station may soon be sold to a national chain, and all of their jobs could be on the line. Nicky’s old crime partners accost him at work, believing that he betrayed them despite going to jail and refusing to rat them out to the police. Antonio gets them to leave for the time being. Matt is suddenly called away when Mary goes into premature labor, and at the hospital she successfully gives birth to their daughter. She is increasingly desperate to get away from Matt’s mother and says she will be moving in with her sister, fueling Matt’s fear that Mary may leave him and his desperation for money. Nicky, also desperate for money to pay off his former crime partners, proposes to Matt that they rob the gas station safe and make it look as though it was committed by unknown assailants. At first Matt refuses on moral grounds, but soon agrees as a means of providing for his family.
The next night at work, Matt offers to close up the station after Bob comes down with a cold. Everyone leaves and Nicky comes back disguised as a thug, pretending to hold Matt up with what he claims is a toy gun so as to fool the security cameras. He pretends to force Matt to empty the safe when they notice Bob returning. Matt tries to disguise the robbery to Bob, but Nicky smashes a bottle over his head before he can figure anything out. Matt calls for an ambulance while Nicky absconds with the money. Later he is questioned by Minetti, a homicide and robbery detective. He returns home and fights with Nicky about what happened to Bob, but Nicky says it’s out of their hands now and gives Matt his half of the money. Suddenly Denise enters and excitedly informs them that the office pool has won the lottery, much to their exhilaration. Antonio returns home to find an impromptu party already in progress, celebrating his lottery win. However, he pulls his wife Bianca aside to inform her that he saved his money instead of putting it into the gas station’s lottery pool, meaning that he hasn’t won any money. Bianca is initially furious but quickly forgives him, calling him a good husband and father. Mary is excited as well, since Matt’s winnings ensure that they will be able to live wherever they want, free from his mother’s influence. However, Matt is still wracked with guilt over what happened to Bob.
The next day, everyone at work celebrates their victory except Antonio, who claims that he is sick and can’t come in. They are visited by Will Watson, a representative of the lottery, who prepares them for the upcoming press conferences and such before revealing that Matt may not be eligible for his winnings since he technically didn’t put money into the lottery ticket. He is asked to wait while the other four conduct a blind vote to determine whether or not he will be allowed a share of the lottery winnings. However, they reach a tie vote and are unable to break it, leaving Bob as the deciding vote. Fortunately Bob has just regained consciousness, and they visit him while he is being questioned by Minetti. Watson speaks to Bob in private while Minetti questions Nicky about his criminal record. Bob calls Matt into his hospital room to announce that he has decided to allow Matt to keep his winnings, calling him a “good kid.”
Meanwhile, Denise talks about her marriage problems with Leanne: Ted is missing and she is almost certain he is cheating on her. She feels that she has been deceiving herself about many aspects of her life, citing her marriage’s lack of a sex life and the absence of children due to her miscarriage. Samira gets paged in the hospital and meets Naveen, a doctor who turns out to be the man whom she has been arranged to marry. They seem to hit it off, much to Nicky’s irritation. At the gas station, the winners of the lottery (sans Bob) prepare for a press conference and are visited by Antonio, who offers his congratulations and says that no matter what, they are all one “family.” They emerge for their press conference and Matt calls them all “pretty damn lucky,” as they secretly prepare to face the various challenges in their lives. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: ABC
- DATE: September 24, 2013 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 00:42:30
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 111872
- GENRE: Drama
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama
- SERIES RUN: ABC - TV series, 2013
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Justin Falvey … Executive Producer
- Darryl Frank … Executive Producer
- Steven Spielberg … Executive Producer
- Jason Richman … Executive Producer, Developed by, Writer
- David Zabel … Executive Producer, Developed by, Writer
- Kay Mellor … Executive Producer, Based on “The Syndicate” created by
- Patrick McGuigan … Director
- Paul Koch … Music by
- Peter Miser … Music by
- Bob Thiele Jr. … Music by
- Summer Bishil … Cast, Samira Lashari
- Lorraine Bruce … Cast, Denise Dibinsky
- Christine Evangelista … Cast, Mary Lavecchia
- Stephen Louis Grush … Cast, Nicky Korzak
- Matt Long … Cast, Matt Korzak
- Anastasia Phillips … Cast, Leanne Maxwell
- Luis Antonio Ramos … Cast, Antonio Clemente
- Isiah Whitlock Jr. … Cast, Bob Harris
- Alex Castillo … Cast, Bianca Clemente
- Chris McGarry … Cast, Ted Dibinsky
- Rizwan Manji … Cast, Ahsan Lashiri
- Mimi Kuzyk … Cast, Ruth
- Kim Roberts … Cast, Gloria
- Jason Weinberg … Cast, Minetti
- Joe Pingue … Cast, Gronk
- Maxwell McCabe-Lokos … Cast, Eddie
- Gabe Grey … Cast, Naveed
- T.J. McGibbon … Cast, Emma
- Jack Fulton … Cast, Henry
- Alexis Whelan … Cast, Alma
- Carlos Gonzalez-Vio … Cast, Rico
- Massil Beguenane … Cast, Javier
- Paula Garcia … Cast, Serena
- Louise Nicol … Cast, Mrs. Leary
- Rory O'Shea … Cast, Lottery Announcer
- Jeff Pangman … Cast, Will Watson
- Jamie Robinson … Cast, Bartender
- Asha Vijayasingham … Cast, Reporter #1
- Michelle Lecky … Cast, Reporter #2
- Neil Girvan … Cast, Reporter #3
- Theo Caldwell … Cast, Reporter #4
- Manuel Rodriguez … Cast, Neighbor #1
- Juan Carlos Velis … Cast, Neighbor #2