In an office, a few interns were doing overtime. All of them worked for a media company that covered entertainment, news, and politics. Nearly everything that might sell.
It had already been two hours since every other employee had left the office but the interns didn't have that luxury. They were asked to do extra work.
It was obviously a sign of a toxic work culture but all of them had no choice. They needed jobs to sustain a livelihood and they knew that after getting promoted to a regular employee, they could take it a bit easy.
As they were working, one of the employees with blonde hair stretched his hands, feeling in his fingers and back from sitting and working in front of a computer for hours.
Glancing at the time, he realised that it was already close to 11 PM.
"Ah, fuck. I'm going to lose another episode of [Searching for the One]. This damn job is really giving me depression."
"It's giving all of us depression and ain't that show ended yet? It's been running for years now."
A short guy sitting next to him asked, raising his head to look at the blonde haired guy.
"No, it's still running."
"Yeah but it might get cancelled after this season. The ratings are the lowest this season out of all. I was actually writing an article on sitcoms failing now with people's tastes changing. [Searching for the One] is a big example in it."
Another intern who was wearing glasses replied.
"Is that so? I still liked it." The blonde haired guy replied.
"Well, the majority of the fans hate it a lot these days online. Social media really brings out the hate. They even changed the ending of the show this season due to how much people were hating on it. I actually go to this forum where fans of the sitcom just roast the actors and writers. Let me show you the comments."
The glasses wearing intern said, picking up his phone from the desk and opening it up but at that moment, his eyes suddenly went wide as he noticed something strange.
"What happened?"
The short guy asked, seeing his expression and even the blonde haired guy tilted his head.
"Nothing. I just got a notification that [Searching for the One] is trending on Sparrow." He said. "Fans must have been super angry for it to trend."
He opened up the app and clicked on the trend but the first tweet he saw made him doubt his eyes.
'How could this be?'
He thought in his mind and the blonde haired guy asked.
"What happened?"
"Somehow, people are saying that today's episode was one of the best."
***
In the bar, the four friends who have decided to catch up to the episode of [Searching for the One] weren't able to stop their laughter as their eyes glued to the screen.
On the screen, Aiden's character Alan was talking about one of his weird theories on relationship with Hazel, one of the main characters in the sitcom.
"Do you know that relationships have a thin line between romance and insanity? It's true, trust me."
"How?"
"Take an example. Two people who are in love and one person do a grand romantic gesture like say, stand outside one's window with chocolate and dogs or cats. Whatever one likes. That's sweet if two people are into each other but even one isn't, you are a serial killer who is very creepy."
A laughter track ran out after he finished the sentence and the four friends couldn't help but chuckle out loud.
"Wow, that's actually true."
"That's actually genius if you think about it."
"Hey, I have experienced it before."
"What? No way."
Like that, the four friends talked among themselves as they watched the episode. They have never imagined that one character would make such a difference in an otherwise dying show.
It was like a fresh breath of air.
The show that had become dead due to the character's personality taking a turn for the worse finally had gotten a character that seemed to be truly unique.
With a goofy smile on his face and his playboy tactics, Alan Geller was easily winning hearts.
Even if he was a playboy with questionable morals, one can't refute his logic. He truly knew how to take disadvantage of a lot of things in the world and had all sorts of weird theories.
As the friends watched the show, even other people in the bar started to look at the TV as they were curious why they were laughing so much.
Though a lot of people in the bar didn't know the context, they still laughed at some scenes.
Currently, scenes like these are happening all over America.
***
On the internet, [Searching for the One] was spreading like a frenzy and for the first time in a while, it wasn't because fans were angry with the show.
If one looked practically, by this time, fans have already lost any hope that the show would get back on track. The least thing they wanted was for the show to get on with the ending and finish it.
That way, at least the show would end up on a high note.
But the producers and the channel were hell bent on continuing the show till they suck off all the popularity of the show and ruin it. Fortunately, today's episode was a fresh change in the linear plot of the season.
The fans who have almost become haters at this point were very surprised.
It's been a while since they have enjoyed the episode so much. They laughed so much.
On Sparrow, a lot of fans and casual viewers who have watched the episode were talking about it.
[Plastic Kim: Did you all watch today's episode? I was genuinely surprised by how the jokes landed. They were pretty funny and damn, I never knew they still had such a character. They are somehow revealing him at the end of the season.]
[Father of Joker: Not gonna lie, the episode was one of the best. Playboy characters in sitcoms are really the best.]
[How you doing?: Finally a worthy competitor!]
[Infiuencer running for President: Why the hell is Aiden Silvereye everywhere? I just saw him in the news because of winning some awards. Last month, his song was all over the internet and now, he's appearing in my favourite sitcom. What is he? A ghost.]
[Gossip Trump: Ah, I love the ending of the episode. Alan finally tells Hazel that she has issues with her family that makes her never have a good relationship with someone. Until she solves it, nothing's going to work out.]
[That Martian on Sparrow: I accidentally watched the episode today because my wife was watching it and forced me to watch but I was genuinely surprised. An hour well spent. I Will probably check out the next episode too. Alan Geller Rules!]
[Kung fu Bear: I'm going to use 'A legendary night talked about in legends' from now on. Loved the episode.]
[Fan of sitcoms: Finally, [Searching for the One] is back! I hope the writers keep it up and Aiden Silvereye is too talented and versatile.]
***
As the episode was airing, the crew, writers, producer, cast and director of [Searching for the One] was also keeping an eye on it. All of them knew how big of an episode this was going to be, so Amelia had called everyone and gathered them to watch it together at her house.
Only Aiden wasn't here as he was still on the flight coming to America from Canada.
As the episode went, the crowd enjoyed it, especially the cast who once again realised how well Aiden suited the role of Alan.
At the same time, they were also keeping an eye online, trying to see live reactions.
"In a while, I'm not seen any hate comments. It seems like people are really liking the episode."
"I know right. People are loving the chemistry of Elison and Aiden."
"Let more episodes air. They will love Aiden's chemistry with other actors too. He really gave some life to the show."
Director Amelia Fryman said, smiling to herself. Undoubtedly, she was the person who was the most pressured due to falling ratings and bad reviews. If even today's episode would have ended with fans getting angry, then it would have become a dent on her career.
She didn't want the title of the person who ruined a famous sitcom.
After all, fans would be quick to blame the director.
"Wow! I checked a forum that actively talks about [Heaven's sake]. Today's episode of it isn't getting well received and a lot of people are turning to watch our show. Even people watching the show on streaming platforms are getting less and less."
One of the people in the room said and everyone cheered hearing that. [Heaven's sake] was a rival show that aired at the same time as them about a girl dying and waking up in heaven accidentally when she should have been sent to hell.
"It seems like I was worried for nothing. I'm pretty sure our old ratings would be back with this. The fans would surely spread the word around and the channel would stop giving me threats."
Brandon Carell said, taking a sigh of relief. He was getting tired handling the executives in IBC who were worried about the ratings everyday.
"What do you think would be the ratings of today's episode?"
Amelia asked him and he thought for a bit before replying.
"I'm pretty sure the initial rating would be the same as the previous episode but I'm hoping for a good peak rating. After all, we finally have a good episode loved by fans after a long time."
...
