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It’s the end of the afternoon in New York, and the sun is setting over Rockefeller Plaza, where Jeff, Frankie, and Britta are sitting in an 8 th floor green room, watching their friend pace, walk in circles around the table, and carefully avoid looking towards the screen broadcasting the show currently being taped.
“Hey, buddy”, Jeff says, “it’s gonna be all right. You’ve got this, OK?”
“I don’t know, Jeff”, his friends sighs. “What if this whole thing is wrong? What if all of my work is a disaster? What if I was not made for this after all? What if they all make fun of me in there? What would my father think ?”
“Come on”, Jeff answers, “you’ve been working on this for a long time now. Ever since we joined Greendale. If it was bad, you’d know by now.”
“Not to mention that you’ve had producers lining at your door for it”, Frankie adds.
Britta adds, “And your father will always love you, you know that. He’s just not very good at expressing it.”
They’re not wrong, really. After all the years roaming the corridors of Greendale, meeting so many people, getting into that many crazy projects and events, he’s gotten good at character studies, and making powerful scenes with his creations. After the initial shock of his friends in the school, his test audiences have always been approving of his productions, which were equally well received by the critics and actual people who got to enjoy them, and soon, it’ll be time for the world to see even more of that universe he’s been creating for the last few years.
“I guess you’re right. It’s probably just the anxiety talking”, he says. “This is my first time on a talk-show.”
A knock is heard at the door, and Britta opens, revealing a young woman wearing a suit with an NBC pin.
“You’re on in five minutes, sir, just after the commercials”, the woman says.
The whole group leaves the green room, following the assistant in the labyrinthic corridors, all the way to backstage, with a side sighting of the host chatting with a producer at the desk – but then Jeff, Britta and Frankie are asked to step back, as the make-up lady steps in for the finishing touches, the sound technician comes with the mic, and then the music stops.
“Welcome back to Late Night !”, Seth Meyers says. “My next guest is the author of the highly acclaimed Dean Dangerous novels, he is currently working on the upcoming movie, Time Desk . Please welcome Craig Pelton!”
The Dean exhales and enters the set, walking casually to the host, smiling at the audience.