BEGGARS AND CHOOSERS: AN ASIAN IN THE SUN (TV)
Summary
One in this satirical, behind-the-scenes look at the movers and shakers at the perpetually low-rated television network LGT. In this episode, Rob flies to New York with Cecile, leaving the "fast-tracked" Asian sitcom in Nigel's hands. Meanwhile, Brad gets a scoop from Herb and Brian that Nigel is a nudist. The gossip is passed on to a headphone-wearing Lori, who mistakenly thinks he says that Nigel is a Buddhist, like new station owner Dan Falco.
On their flight, Cecile suggests to Rob that they dine at a new Canadian restaurant in Tribeca. Cecile wonders why Rob is so unnerved by Matt Paladin. Lori tells Cliff to find her books on Buddhism as well as a "spiritual personal trainer." She rushes to a meeting about the new Asian sitcom, headed by Dan. During the meeting, Lori tries to show her newfound knowledge of Buddhism and how it applies to the Asian sitcom, hoping to win Dan's favor. Lori is upset when she hears that Nigel will be heading up the sitcom.
While on the flight, Rob gets an "emergency call" from Lori, complaining about Nigel "the Buddhist" getting preference on the show. Meanwhile, Brad believes that Sandra is about to fire him and tries to delay their luncheon. Nigel and Kelly meet with Lenny, a white man who mainly writes black sitcoms, asking him to pitch some ideas for the Asian sitcom. In New York, Cecile sets up a secret lunch date with Andrew before Rob takes her to the Canadian restaurant.
The next morning, Brad continues trying to figure out how to prevent Sandra from firing him, but finally resigns himself to the rendezvous. Meanwhile, Lori furthers implements a plan to ingratiate herself with Dan via Buddhism. Lenny adds an Asian writing partner, Adam, to further help his chances with landing the Asian sitcom, but his "forced" pitch still falters. At Rob's lunch with Matt, he is shocked to learn that Dan has greenlit one of Matt's projects. Rob argues with Matt about how he runs the news division without standards, with Matt retorting that TV is "a young man's game."
Finally getting to parrot her Buddhist teachings to Dan, Lori makes a few errors but he seems to believe her. At lunch with Sandra, Brad fights to keep her as a client, even lowering his commission. However, Sandra simply wanted to change her name. Meanwhile, Adam offers a pitch on his own, which wows Nigel and Kelly and gets the go-ahead. Finally, Rob accidentally learns about Cecile's secret meeting, which he fails to address with her. Instead, he suggests they go home, and is taken aback when she opts to stay behind.
Details
- NETWORK: Showtime
- DATE: August 1, 2000 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:52:48
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:79180
- GENRE: Comedy; Drama
- SUBJECT HEADING: Comedy; Drama
- SERIES RUN: Showtime - TV series, 1999-2001
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Peter Lefcourt … Executive Producer, Created by
- Kim Fleary … Executive Producer
- Antony Root … Executive Producer
- Lilly Tartikoff … Executive Producer
- Scott Kaufer … Co-Executive Producer
- Cal Shumiatcher … Producer
- Charles Lyall … Production (Misc.), Line Producer
- Eugenie Ross-Leming … Production (Misc.), Consulting Producer
- Brad Buckner … Production (Misc.), Consulting Producer
- Ron Oliver … Director
- Brandon Tartikoff … Created by
- Christopher Cluess … Writer
- Terry Frewer … Music by
- David Schwartz … Theme Music by
- Brian Kerwin … Cast, Rob Malone
- Isabella Hofman … Cast, Cecile Malone
- William McNamara … Cast, Brad Advail
- Charlotte Ross … Cast, Lori Volpone
- Sherri Saum … Cast, Casey Lennox
- Keegan Connor Tracy … Cast, Audrey Malone
- Tuc Watkins … Cast, Malcolm Laffley
- Justin Carroll … Cast, Nigel Gibney
- Christina Hendricks … Cast, Kelly Kramer
- Beau Bridges … Cast, Dan Falco
- Sheila Moore … Cast, Margaret
- Samantha Ferris … Cast, Sandra Cassandra
- Kaj-Erik Eriksen … Cast, Cary Malone
- Kevin Durand … Cast, Cliff
- Colin Cunningham … Cast, Herb Kolodny
- Ben Bass … Cast, Brian Peske
- Brian Markinson … Cast, Stanley Olsheim
- JR Bourne … Cast, Matt Paladin
- Jason Schombing … Cast, Lenny Blatt
- Richard Ian Cox … Cast, Gavin
- Simon Wong … Cast, Adam Chen
- Clare Lapinskie … Cast, Flight Attendant
- Deryl Hayes … Cast, Co-Pilot
- Guy Fauchon … Cast, Waiter