BIG SHOTS: CAR TROUBLE (TV)

Summary

One in this comedy series about the tangled personal lives of four successful businessmen friends. In this episode, Wendy announces to Karl that she wants to resume trying to have a baby. At a mixer, James runs into finance expert and TV host Alex Mason and ends up asking her on a date. Duncan finds Lisbeth, recently returned from her trip with Terrence, and asks her to go away with him for her birthday, but she firmly states that she is with someone else now and can only be "friends" with him. James and Katie are both shocked when Alex trashes Amerimart on the air, urging people to sell their stock because "neophyte" James is sure to ruin the company. Karl is taken aback when Marla tracks down a fertility specialist for Wendy, who had a miscarriage in the past, and Wendy is crushed when the doctor tells her that she is unlikely to ever bear a child. Duncan's friends suggest that his problem with Lisbeth is simply "bad timing," but he carries on trying to win her and buys her a flashy sports car for her birthday. James is surprised when Alex calls to confirm their date, but she assures him that her report was "just business," and he decides to change her mind over dinner.

Cameron is annoyed when Zack kisses up to Duncan at work, and Lisbeth arrives and again tells Duncan to lay off. He challenges her to tell him that she no longer loves him and is stunned when she does so, saying that he has let her down too many times before and should not bother attending her birthday party. Karl is further flustered when Wendy and Marla decide that Wendy will be their surrogate, and James goes out with Alex and defends his business choices, vowing that he will not destroy Amerimart. A distraught Duncan tells his friends over many drinks about Lisbeth's brutal brush-off, and he heads to her house late at night, very drunk and determined to recover the car. He passes out with the motor running, however, and when Lisbeth finds him in the garage she erroneously believes that he has tried to kill himself. Cameron invites Zack out for the evening, but he declines and gives her a hug good-bye, heightening her suspicions. Karl tries to scare Marla out of being their surrogate by describing the many scary medical procedures she will have to undergo, and she reconsiders her position. Upon awakening at the hospital, Duncan admits the truth of his "suicide attempt" to Lisbeth, but is encouraged to see how upset she was at the thought of his death, convinced that she really does love him after all.

Things heat up between Alex and James, but she points out that she cannot publicly retract her statements about his company if they are romantically involved. Not wanting to end the evening prematurely, they compromise that he will appear on her show to defend himself. Zack advises Duncan about his suit for Lisbeth's party, showing just how much attention he has paid to Duncan's life and career, and Cameron angrily fires him for trying to undermine her. Ed and Katie panic upon hearing that James is to appear on Alex's show, knowing of her habit of luring guests in with kindness and then destroying their careers with tough questions, but James does well on-air by shrewdly pointing out her poor financial advice from the past, and Alex immediately reconsiders their romance. Karl is stunned when Wendy declares that Marla will have to become their traditional surrogate "the old-fashioned way" and leaves them to it. Duncan crashes Lisbeth's birthday party and pulls her aside to declare that he is now ready to commit to her. He asks her to marry him – again – but then learns that she accepted Terrence's proposal earlier in the evening. Elsewhere, Zack finds Cameron and admits that he has been trying to ingratiate himself with Duncan not to steal her job or because of a crush – but because he is Duncan's son and her half-brother. Includes commercials and promos.

Details

NETWORK: ABC
DATE: November 1, 2007 10:00 PM
RUNNING TIME: 1:00:00
COLOR/B&W: Color
CATALOG ID: B:93052
GENRE: Comedy
SUBJECT HEADING: Comedy; Businessmen; Friendship
SERIES RUN: ABC - TV series, 2007
COMMERCIALS:
- TV - Commercials - Aussie hair products
- TV - Commercials - Aveeno Daily Moisturizing lotion
- TV - Commercials - Ferrero Rocher candies
- TV - Commercials - Fisher Price Smart Cycle toy
- TV - Commercials - Ford automobiles
- TV - Commercials - Garnier Fructis hair products
- TV - Commercials - Girls And Boys Town National Hotline
- TV - Commercials - Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants
- TV - Commercials - Kohl's stores
- TV - Commercials - Lexus automobiles
- TV - Commercials - Listerine mouthwash
- TV - Commercials - Lowe's stores
- TV - Commercials - M&M's candies
- TV - Commercials - Make-A-Wish Foundation
- TV - Commercials - Mazda automobiles
- TV - Commercials - Nicorette smoking cessation gum
- TV - Commercials - Olay body wash
- TV - Commercials - Taco Bell restaurants
- TV - Commercials - Vaseline lotions
- TV - Commercials - Verizon Wireless services
- TV - Commercials - Wal-Mart stores
- TV - PSA - Energy Star services
- TV - PSA - The TV Boss
- TV - Promos - "20/20"
- TV - Promos - "August Rush" motion picture
- TV - Promos - "Desperate Housewives"
- TV - Promos - "Jimmy Kimmel Live"
- TV - Promos - "Martian Child" motion picture
- TV - Promos - "Men in Trees"
- TV - Promos - "Ratatouille" home video
- TV - Promos - "Women's Murder Club"
- TV - Promos - CMA Awards

CREDITS

Jon Harmon Feldman … Executive Producer, Created by
Jennifer Gwartz … Co-Executive Producer
Danielle Stokdyk … Co-Executive Producer
Emily Whitesell … Co-Executive Producer
Michael Katleman … Co-Executive Producer, Director
Brian Burns … Supervising Producer
Matthew Carlisle … Producer
Joshua Levey … Associate Producer
Diane Ruggiero … Consulting Producer
Daniel Truly … Consulting Producer
Steve Baldikoski … Consulting Producer, Writer
Bryan Behar … Consulting Producer, Writer
Rob Thomas … Consulting Producer, Writer
Josh Kramon … Music by
Michael Vartan … Cast, James Walker
Christopher Titus … Cast, Brody Johns
Joshua Malina … Cast, Karl Mixworthy
Paige Turco … Cast, Lisbeth Hill
Jessica Collins … Cast, Marla
Peyton List … Cast, Cameron Collinsworth
Amy Sloan … Cast, Wendy Mixworthy
Nia Long … Cast, Katie Graham
Dylan McDermott … Cast, Duncan Collinsworth
Paul Blackthorne … Cast, Terrence Hill
Ryan Devlin … Cast, Zack Wells
Bruce Nozick … Cast, Ed Decker
Elisabeth Rohm … Cast, Alex Mason
John Harrington Bland … Cast, Fertility Specialist