Chapter 8

Chapter 8


Leslie supervised a scene that was shot for the medical soap she took over, however this scene didn’t focus on doctors and nurses in a hospital, it focused on two young lovers in an action-adventure storyline. They were in the jungles of Africa as they searched for a rare diamond, the reason for the expensive location shoot was because of the fact that they needed somewhere to tape the show while the new and more lavish hospital set was under construction.

In the few weeks Leslie was brought on to produce the show, she had taken the show from a medical drama near cancellation that couldn’t even drama the typical housewife demographic to a top rated phenomenon that drew in a younger audience that consisted of both males and females, a feat unheard of in daytime television. In fact the couple on show was deemed a ‘’super couple’‘ , and the network spearheaded a promotional campaign built around the show entitled ‘’Love in The Afternoon’‘. As the scene wrapped up, she got a phone call from Gene.

‘’Congrats on bringin’ soaps to an all time high in the numbers, I’ve decided to accept the pay per view proposal, and I wondered if you’d let that star couple on your show would like in to be the corner of the world heavyweight champion in the main event?’‘ he asked her.

‘’Oh, I think they’d love it!’‘she shrieked.

‘’Great, just let me know’‘, he responded as he hung up the phone.

She was overcome with excitement, the soap already brought in 30 million viewers thanks to her changes on the show, but the idea of them in the corner of the world heavyweight champion in the main event of a big pay per view would be over the top! She couldn’t wait to tell them the big news! She rushed right over to them........

‘’You now how my brother is a wrestling promoter, right?’‘ she asked them.

‘’Yeah’‘, answered the lead actor.

‘’Well, he’s havin’ a great deal of success like we are, and he’s got this big event to cap it off! He wants you guys to be a feature attraction alongside the world champ in the main event!’‘

‘’That sounds great!’‘ shouted the actress that played his love interest.


There was a level of excitement on that location, the show was already very successful. In fact, it was now the most successful soap opera of all time. Now both soaps and wrestling could now have crossover appeal into the mainstream. It was about to become a great time for both forms of entertainment, no one knew just how great.


***

Gene and Leslie were at the arena the night of the pay per view, the first sold out crowd The Montagues had seen in 30 years. It was filled with big lights, and multiple video cameras for the pay per view broadcast as opposed to the one or two live cameras they had back in The Golden Age of Television.

The two of them looked on as the champ’s entrance music blared through the PA system, and the fans screamed as he came out with the lead actors from Leslie’s soap accompanied him to ringside. The champ was a blonde haired bodybuilder type who used steroids. He had movie star appeal, and always told kids to say their prayers and take their vitamins.

‘’I can’t believe we’ve come this far’‘, said Gene and Leslie’s mother Eve Capulet-Montague as tears streamed down her face.

‘’Me neither’‘, Adam responded.

They sat there as they watched the champ and the stars from Leslie’s soap battle his rival and the actors who played the villains in the soap. They shared their first kiss at a match at his father’s carnival 50 years earlier that her mother’s consumer goods company had sponsored. And to that they were able to help wrestling and soaps evolve from carnivals and radio into television not to mention the fact that they saw their own kids take over the businesses and thrive through a social upheaval, and have both become mainstream made them both teary eyed. Despite their ups and downs throughout the years, they always managed to keep it all together.

They looked at the two portraits that hung high up in the rafters of the arena, one was of Adam’s father, carnival promoter Marvelous Marvin Montague and the other of Eve’s mother Irna Capulet who once owned and operated Capulet Consumer Goods. Gene’s wife and kids also watched as well as Leslie’s husband and children, both sets of kids were almost old enough to be adults. Pete and Doug watched with their wives, and both couples had small children.

The number one contender for the world heavyweight title lied lifeless on the mat, and the champ pressed up against the ropes for leverage. The champ then delivered a leg drop to his face. He then got on top of him for the pin, and the referee counted 1-2-3! The bell rang, and the referee raised the champ’s hand as everyone cheered.

***

All The Montagues went out to a bar to celebrate the success of the pay per view, everyone toasted with drinks. Gene and Leslie both had surprises for all of them, but wasn’t able to tell them before the pay per view. They all wondered what is was, and anticipated their revelation. They didn’t think any announcement could top the pay per view.

‘’We got somethin’ to show ya’‘, Gene said.

They both pulled out a couple of magazines, and the world heavyweight champion was on the cover of Sports Illustrated while the super couple from Leslie’s soap opera were on the cover on Time Magazine in the scene from the show where they got married. Everyone was so happy they had gotten this much attention, and they all had another round of drinks.