Disclaimer

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Jeremy is walking by the editing room, and he sees Marcus working inside. Jeremy enters the room and closes the door.

Jeremy: Hey, Marcus.

Marcus: Afternoon, Jeremy.

Marcus continues to work on a segment as Jeremy walks over to him.

Jeremy: Are you working on your NFL package?

Marcus: I am just about through with it.

Jeremy: I was curious to know if there are any other projects you are diligently working on.

Marcus: I have a NASCAR segment to work on, plus I'm going down to Yankee Stadium to interview some of the players.

Jeremy: In the midst of your NFL package, did you come across something that may be considered newsworthy?

Marcus finishes with his project, and he begins getting his tapes and notes together.

Marcus: There's a couple of things I would like to follow up on.

Jeremy: I heard you received some information from J.B. Blackwell.

Marcus stops what he is doing.

Marcus: I do have a taped interview with him.

Jeremy: An interview containing information about his trip with Bob Shoemaker for "The CSC Outdoorsman"?

Marcus: Yeah, something like that. How did you know?

Jeremy: Marcus, it doesn't take a genius to figure out what is going on. There's a dozen protesters picketing the network.

Marcus smiles.

Marcus: Yes, sir.

Jeremy: Did you have something to do with all of this?

Marcus: What?

Jeremy: Did you pass information on to the Voices Against Animal Cruelty?

Marcus: I may have mentioned the interview to a friend.

Jeremy: Marcus.

Marcus: I told Isaac I wanted to do a story on it, anyway. It's just pure coincidence that they came across this information.

Jeremy: You leaked it to them.

Marcus: The way J.B. was talking about his expedition, it wouldn't surprise me if he's told a thousand other people by now. He's not bright enough to keep his mouth shut.

Jeremy: Do you have a tape of the interview?

Marcus: I'm sorry. Isaac said I could do the story.

Jeremy: I'm not interested in doing the story. Do you still have the raw footage from the interview?

Marcus: We never got his admission on video tape.

Jeremy: You're doing this on hearsay?!

Marcus: No, sir. I wouldn't be doing the story if there wasn't solid evidence he did do it.

Jeremy: Bob Shoemaker, the network, and now Blackwell are claiming it never happened.

Marcus: That isn't what I got. I got to go, Jeremy.

Marcus grabs his things and leaves Jeremy standing inside the room.

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Isaac and Dana are seated at a table inside Anthony's. Each of them have their menus open.

Isaac: So this is the place everyone goes to all the time?

Dana: You've never accepted our invitations, Isaac.

Isaac: I don't care to hang out with the crew after our show. It might be perceived as showing some favoritism.

Dana: But you like us the best, don't you, Isaac?

Isaac: I enjoy running all my shows.

Dana: But you like us the best, don't you, Isaac?

Isaac laughs.

Isaac: What's good on the menu?

Dana: Really anything.

Isaac: Are the steaks good?

Dana: I've never had them, but I've heard they're fabulous.

Isaac: Esther has me eating a lot of fish and poultry. I would kill for a good steak.

Dana: Nothing's stopping you, Isaac.

Isaac: You're right, Dana.

Dana: Isaac, you've brought me out here. What did you want to talk about today?

Isaac: We'll talk after the meal.

Dana: Okay.

A waitress approaches their table.

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Jeremy and Natalie walk through the newsroom. Jeremy is constantly looking around as Natalie looks focused. The two talk with hushed voices in hopes of not being overheard.

Natalie: Here's his desk.

Jeremy: We shouldn't be doing this in broad daylight.

Natalie: Marcus is at Yankee Stadium.

Jeremy: What if someone else witnesses us breaking into his desk?

Natalie: I'll tell them that I was looking for his NFL segment.

Jeremy: Right.

Natalie looks on top of the desk.

Jeremy: I don't feel right about this.

Natalie: Jeremy-

Jeremy: I'm sorry.

Natalie: You shouldn't involve me in this if you're not willing to go all the way with it.

Jeremy: Okay.

Natalie: Now he said he didn't have video tape evidence from the interview.

Natalie starts jiggling the drawers on his desk. Natalie finds and open drawer and quickly searches through it.

Jeremy: What are you looking for?

Natalie: I'm seeing if there is any written evidence.

Jeremy: I don't think he would keep anything lying out for passersby to see.

Natalie: Hmm... He might have a cassette tape.

Jeremy: Why would you want to have an audio backup when you already have it on footage?

Natalie: Maybe Marcus knew something beforehand and got J.B. to admit it before the taped interview. You know how we do pre-interviews.

Jeremy: Lull them into a sense of comfort.

Natalie: Exactly. Talk to them about things they like. J.B. was really excited about his trip to Hickory Run.

Jeremy: So Marcus might talk about it while the cameraman was setting up.

Natalie: Right.

Jeremy: And he might have had prior knowledge of an incident.

Natalie jiggles a locked drawer.

Natalie: Give me your pen.

Jeremy: What?

Natalie: In your pocket. Give me your pen.

Jeremy pulls out a pen from his shirt pocket. He hands it to Natalie. She breaks the clip off and uses it to pick the lock on the desk.

Jeremy: How did you learn this?

Natalie: These are some cheap locks, Jeremy... Oh, I got it.

Natalie opens the drawer while Jeremy looks around for any witnesses.

Jeremy: Hurry up.

Natalie carefully moves items around inside the drawer.

Natalie: There's an audio tape.

Jeremy: What does it say?

Natalie: It's unlabeled.

Jeremy: Hurry up, take it, and lets go.

Natalie places the tape inside her pocket and closes the drawer. The two quickly walk away from Marcus' desk.

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Isaac and Dana are finishing their meals. Isaac removes his napkin, wipes his mouth, and places the napkin on his plate.

Isaac: That was a fabulous meal.

Dana: I was right about the steak.

Isaac: Yes, you were. Thanks.

Dana: You're welcome. Thank you for picking up the check.

Isaac: My pleasure.

Dana: So what did you want to talk about?

Isaac folds his hands and places them on the table.

Isaac: I want to talk about when you're coming back.

Dana looks serious as she leans back in her seat.

Dana: I'm not sure.

Isaac: Dana, we had our quarterly review the other day, and the network wants a date for when-

Dana: I don't know if I want to come back.

Isaac looks as if he has lost his breath.

Isaac: Do you mind if I ask why?

Dana: Things have changed.

Isaac: Do you wish to do something different?

Dana: Maybe open a restaurant in Albuquerque.

Isaac: This isn't a time for jokes.

Dana: Isaac, I've put my house on the market with the intentions of selling it. Before, "Sports Night" was what I lived for. I lived for the action, the last-second deals, the running around; it was my passion.

Isaac: You've found something else.

Dana: There has to be more than just "Sports Night," Isaac.

Isaac: You've got Casey.

Dana: There has to be some fulfillment with my life, Isaac. I don't want to be remembered as some girl who did a show on a third-place network.

Isaac: Dana? You're still young. You still have a lot of life to live.

Dana: And I want to start living it.

Isaac pulls his hands off the table.

Isaac: Is that what you want me to tell the network?

Dana: Tell them what you wish.

Isaac thinks about it for a moment.

Isaac: I'm going to hold off on telling them until the beginning of next week. I want you to think long and hard about your decision because once it is made, there is no turning back.

Dana: I understand.

Isaac: I don't want to lose you, but if you will be happier leaving "Sports Night," then I'm not going to stop you.

Dana: Thank you.

Isaac: And your restaurant in Albuquerque better make steaks as good as these.

Isaac and Dana share a smile.

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A room sits quietly in the dark. Light enters when a door is opened. A light switch is turned on, and Jeremy and Natalie are seen entering a room full of video tapes.

Jeremy: You think there is something in here?

Natalie: This is where they keep all the raw footage for all the shows.

The two split up and start searching the racks of videos.

Jeremy: I hope Blackwell was right when he said the Bob Shoemaker and the crew were there filming when he shot the deer.

Natalie: Hopefully, they haven't destroyed any tapes.

Jeremy: I found the section for the "Outdoorsman."

Natalie quickly walks over to Jeremy, and the two begin searching the tapes together.

Jeremy: I'm finding tapes from last year.

Natalie: I think I have it here. February, February, March, March, March, March, April, April- here it is.

Jeremy: How many tapes?

Natalie: Three.

Jeremy: That sounds normal. Most of these shows have three or four tapes.

Natalie: Let's hope it was only three.

Natalie takes the three tapes, and the two leave the room.

Natalie and Jeremy walk up to a desk.

Natalie: We've got three tapes to check out.

An attendant hands Natalie a clipboard.

Attendant: Just sign, date, and record the time on the lines below.

Natalie looks over the clipboard.

Natalie: Do you happen to have a record of who else has checked out these tapes?

Attendant: Everything is checked out on these sheets. We don't have a separate sheet for each tape.

Natalie: Could we see the list over the last week? We don't want to accidentally use footage that's being used in another story.

Attendant: I'll have to get out the file.

Natalie: Thanks. We really appreciate it.

The attendant leaves the desk in search of the file.

Jeremy: You're checking to see if Marcus has checked out the footage.

Natalie: It might help us save some time.

The attendant comes back with a four-inch stack of papers. She sets them on the desk.

Jeremy: All that?

Attendant: There's another identical stack still in the back. Each tape has to be signed out and signed back in.

Natalie: That's your stack, Jeremy.

Attendant: The file stays down here.

Jeremy: Okay.

The attendant hands Jeremy the stack. He sets it down next to Natalie and begins searching down the first page.