Page 59 of At the Heart of It
“But?” Kate prompted. She knew there was a but. She could tell from the furrow between Amy’s brows and the way she kept glancing at Viv like she wasn’t sure whether to have this conversation here or in private.
Viv drifted into the center of the room, her flawless forehead creased with concern. “Is everything all right?”
“Everything’s fine. Just a little unexpected twist.” Amy gave Viv a placating smile before returning her gaze to Kate. “You know how we’re set up to do this as a self-contained show?”
“What’s a self-contained show?” Viv asked. She glanced from Amy to Kate. Seeming to sense this conversation could take a while, she folded herself into the same orange leather chair Jonah had picked the first time they’d all assembled here.
Kate rested her hand on the pile of coiled cables and stayed standing. “Every episode stands on its own,” she explained. “They can be played in any order, and it’s easy for viewers to jump in at any time.”
“Shows like Intervention and Deadliest Catch and Undercover Boss and House Hunters are good examples,” Amy added. “Those are all self-contained programs.”
“Also referred to as closed-ended shows,” Kate added. “Networks love them because they can get a lot of mileage out of reruns no matter what order they show the episodes.”
“Right, right—of course.” Viv tucked her legs beneath her, looking elegant and serene like an origami swan. “I’m familiar with the concept. I just wasn’t familiar with the term.”
Kate glanced at Amy, trying to get a read on her. She could guess where this conversation was headed, but part of her hoped she was wrong. “The opposite of a closed-ended show in unscripted television is an arced show,” Kate continued for Viv’s benefit. “That’s where there’s a story arc that continues through the whole season. You can’t watch them out of order, or they won’t make sense.”
“Right.” Amy met Kate’s eyes and nodded once, almost imperceptibly. “Shows like The Bachelor or Survivor are examples of arced programming,” she continued. “Viewers need to start at the beginning to really feel invested in the story.”
“Okay.” Vivienne glanced warily between them. “And we all agreed that our show would do best as a self-contained program.” She looked at Amy again. “Right?”
“We did.” Amy took a deep breath. “But Empire TV’s executive director is asking for a small tweak.”
“Chase Whitfield.” Kate uttered the name like a curse, then glanced at Viv. “He’s a brilliant director, but he can be—challenging, sometimes.”
Viv gave a small smile. “I suppose that’s true for most of us.”
Kate looked back at Amy, wondering if Chase got a sadistic pleasure out of making them jump through hoops. Plenty of directors worked like that, not happy unless they made sweeping changes to someone else’s concept.
“A small tweak,” Kate repeated. “How small are we talking?”
Amy tucked a wayward curl behind one ear. “They still want each episode to be self-contained as far as the couples go. That’s not changing. Each couple will still have their story conclude—for better or worse—at the end of each episode.”
“Thank goodness,” Viv said.
“But they want to see some sort of arc laced into the bigger picture,” Amy continued.
“But how?” Viv ran her palms down the arms of the chair like she was soothing a cat. “Are we inviting couples back for continued counseling?”
“No,” Amy said. “They’d like the series arc connected to the show’s stars.”
Kate watched Viv straighten a little at the word stars. It was a subtle shift, but Kate noticed and mentally applauded Amy’s word choice.
“So they want an arc with Viv and Jonah,” Kate said slowly. “Did they have something in mind?”
Amy held up her hands. “I know, I know. Don’t worry. The first thing I told them is what Jonah said about not pretending they’re still married. I made it clear that’s non-negotiable, and they seemed fine with that.”
Kate nodded once and curled her fingers into her palms, letting her nails bite into the soft flesh. “So what then?”
“They threw out a few ideas, but wanted us to brainstorm,” Amy said. “They’re thinking of something along the lines of Vivienne dealing with a crisis related to her new book and Jonah weighing whether to step in and help. Or exploring the mixed emotions between Viv and Jonah as one of them starts dating again. Those are just examples, though. They want us to come back to them with more ideas.”
Viv went very still. Her hands stopped moving on the arms of the chair, and she looked from Kate to Amy and back again. “They didn’t specify what the arc needs to be?”
“They left that up to us,” Amy said. “They want it to be organic to the show and to the characters.”
“Personal stories sell well,” Kate said. “Since you and Jonah anchor the show, it makes sense to have this stem from what’s happening in real life for one or both of you.”
Kate focused on breathing, on trying not to react to the notion of tying the show more closely to the relationship between Viv and Jonah. This was just business. Just a matter of giving the network what they wanted.
