"We are trying out something new this week. As you know, the format of the program keeps it from not getting boring, but for the last few episodes, the contestants haven't been great. None of them did as we expected, and we can't really do a lot on that. We already have all sorts of tests before the contestants appear on the show. We can't make it tougher to get better contestants."
A man with a bushy beard said as he scratched the back of his hair. If one had to describe him, he gave off a manly impression despite having a beer belly.
"So, the ratings aren't doing well?"
Wade was sitting in front of him, and he nodded at those words before asking. Both of them were sitting in a lounge area on the ground floor of the Panther network office, Los Angeles.
For the record, Panther TV network was the same channel that had the rights to X-Star. Though, Wade wasn't here for anything related to X-Star.
It was for a different reality show.
"They are fine but stale. I think that's the correct word."
The man who was actually the producer of the show said. It was not a good feeling to say that a show he worked so hard on wasn't doing good.
"It's still one of the highest-rated shows in the history of TV, so I'm pretty sure it would pick up the pace again."
"Yeah, but the channel wants us to try different things. That's why we are going with an all-celebrity ensemble cast in two weeks' time. It's a fun and unique opportunity that we are very optimistic about."
Having famous celebrities in a reality TV show always meant that there were high chances of the ratings increasing depending on the fanbase of the celebrity.
"It is a very interesting idea, I will tell you that," Wade said. "How many have you already got?"
"We are going with 10 celebs. The format of celebrities is just for the weekend, so 10 is more than enough. I'm pretty sure half of them won't even do much. You need to be very smart to get anywhere in the show."
"Yeah, you must be particularly looking for the smart ones."
The producer nodded his head.
"Yeah, but we are trying to keep a mix. Just people with a good enough fanbase who we feel could be an interesting addition. It's a bonus if they are smart. So, what do you say? Aiden will be free?"
Wade didn't say anything right away about that. The shooting of the reality show would go in two weeks, and Aiden would still be busy with the shooting of [Sherlock of the Shadows] then.
"Actually, he is currently in the middle of his Zetflix series shooting."
"Oh." The producer was appalled, not knowing about this, but he wasn't one to give up. "Can't you ask for a break from the shooting? Actors do that all the time to shoot different things. I don't think the filming crew would mind since it won't take a lot of time. They could shoot other scenes till then."
"I would need to ask them."
Wade said, not giving a straight answer. He didn't want to agree without discussing it with Aiden and Phineas. This was certainly a good opportunity but appearing in a reality show, even for two episodes, could go either way.
After all, there would be others aside from Aiden, and he could easily be overshadowed by them. Wade would have immediately agreed if Aiden was going to be the sole focus.
"I understand that you want to think about it, but we are trying to finalise the celebrities in the next few days. As you see, we are pretty tight on time."
"I know that. I will get back to you with the final answer as soon as possible on Aiden's involvement in 'The Million Dollar Game'."
Like Wade said, the reality TV show they were discussing was a game show called 'The Million Dollar Game' where common people were chosen to participate in the show to get a chance to win a million dollars by giving correct answers in a multiple choice answer quiz.
It was a very simple game show, but the chance to win a million dollars was a big one, and it would make everyone excited about it. Although, in recent times, the game show had declined in popularity, it had a major impact on the reality TV show industry, being one of the consistent shows that's popular all over the world.
There were even more than 50 versions of it in different countries that explained a lot about how it appealed to a large number of people.
"Okay." The producer opened his mouth. "We have only finalised 4 spots out of the 10, and we are in talks with a few more celebrities, so please hurry up and give a response soon."
***
[Sherlock of the Shadows19 July-2017Act 6Scene 8Take 4]
Finn and Billy entered a bar together after paying off one of the security guards as both of them were still under 21. Walking into the bar, Billy was a bit anxious as they took a seat in one of the corners.
"Tell me again, what are we doing here?" Billy asked, his eyes wandering to a couple who were making out with each other.
"We are here to investigate."
"What exactly?"
"Your brother-in-law frequents this bar, and one of his office workers told me that he has a nice friendship with one of the red-haired waitresses."
Billy turned to look at Finn with a bewildered expression.
"You are talking about an affair?"
"Friendship? Affair? Friends with benefits? The relationships get pretty complex with time and no, I'm not sure of it. I'm just collecting every single piece of evidence that I could."
Finn simply said and looked around the bar, searching for any red-haired women. From the information he had gotten, he knew that the waitress worked at this hour.
"There's no red-haired waitress here."
Billy simply said, and Finn sighed, taking another glance and not finding any red-haired women in the entire bar.
'A sick leave? Running late? Or something else?'
Finn thought as Billy looked at him with suspicious eyes.
"Are you sure about the information you got?"
"Yeah, unless that janitor in your brother-in-law's office was lying. I'm pretty sure he didn't though."
"Then, do you have any idea how you are going to find that red-haired waitress? If you go up and ask about her, then I'm pretty sure people are going to give you weird looks. Trust me, you do fit in the bracket of how a creep should look like."
Billy asked, scoffing at him, and Finn stayed silent, ignoring the comment and running his mind on what to do in this situation. An idea struck his mind at that moment.
"I have a trick."
Saying that he looked at the three waitresses working in the bar and gestured to one of them to take their order.
She was a pretty woman with black hair. As she came close to it, she asked.
"Are you two college students? I never saw you here before."
Billy visibly fumbled hearing that, but Finn just gave off a smile.
"Yeah, we just decided to check up on this bar. Heard good things about it." His eyes wandered to her hair. "By the way, your hair looks great today. I always wished my ex-girlfriend had black hair. She had red hair, which was fine, but black just suited her more."
The waitress smiled at those attempts of flirting. As a woman in her 30s, it was not every day that a young guy would hit on her. Enjoying it, she said.
"I actually used to have red hair too. I just dyed them black last week. Now, I really think it suits me more."
As the waitress rambled on, Finn gave a grinning look to Billy, who was surprised to see Finn find out the red-haired girl so effortlessly.
After they gave their orders, the waitress left, and Billy couldn't help but ask Finn.
"How? Just how?"
"It's quite easy. A waitress is a very social job, and you need to have good conversation skills, especially in a bar where you handle a lot of drunk guys and people hitting on you. I just threw in a keyword about red hair, and she spoke on her own." Aiden explained.
"How did you get it right the first time though?"
At that question, he just shrugged.
"It was a wild guess."
The scene was over then and the voice of Phineas quickly came, breaking Aiden from immersion.
"Cut! I think this is a great take."
Like that, yet another scene was done.
***
The shooting was going on rigorously every day, and Aiden was enjoying it a lot. In the past few days, he was pretty much in a great spot where Jeremy was being nice to him, and they had even become friends, discussing acting and movies in their breaks.
Aiden had to say that without having to go against another actor on the set, it was pretty peaceful. A feeling that he enjoyed a lot.
One night when he came back to his hotel room after the shooting, he suddenly got a text from someone he wasn't expecting.
It was from Marshall White, the owner of Vikings publishing who had published his first book <Behind the scenes>.
***
