American Soul

Hello, Lamont. I thought I heard you, son.

Yeah, I heard you, too, Liberace.

- Huh? - Nothing, just grab that box

of bottles and don't touch what's on the front seat.

Don. Brooks Donald. Thanks for stopping by.

-Well, George speaks very highly of you. -Love George.

I just hope I can make you as much money as I did him.

That's why I wanted you to see this.

It's a new show called Sanford and Son.

It's got an all-Negro cast, and, Don, it's gonna be huge.

A show set in a junkyard? It's a joke, right?

Man, you colored guys have no idea the power you have.

Careful, Brooks.

Mulligan. Look, I ran the numbers.

Soul Train's got everything it needs to be a massive hit.

Everything except a white boy.

- A white boy? - Oh, yeah.

A caviar-eating, golf-playing,

Frank Sinatra-loving white boy.

When white guys want to sell to colored... Negroes...

They get a Negro face to make other Negroes feel at home.

So hire you to make white advertisers feel safe?

Every firm in there... TWA, A&P, Polaroid... I closed.

And I'll do the same for you.

If you don't get caught drinking

or sleeping with your boss's wife.

Yeah, I'm a drunk. Yes, I'm desperate.

And yes, I will get you the one company

Coca-Cola.

Now, it's gonna take some work, but I'll get them.

But today, you got a bigger problem, Don.

-Leland Mills. -How do I have a problem with Leland Mills?

'Cause he's your biggest Southern affiliate,

- and he's dropping the show. - Bullshit.

Look, Leland's gonna use boycott threats to pull out.

And when he goes, so goes the South.

Six out of your 14 cities will drop you in week one,

and you'll look like a damn failure.

Leland's a jerk, but he's a reasonable jerk.

Look, we play nice, kiss the ring,

he can be persuaded to stay.

Lucky for you, he's at a retreat in Tahoe, and, uh,

I know exactly where he's staying.

My old man is a coordinator in a junkyard.

Looks like I got myself a white boy.

Easy, easy. Charlie-6, we have visual.

Copy. Shifting east.

Hey, get down, get down. Get down.

Damn it.

I got you.

Sergeant Clarke! Joe!

Hey! Now, you stay with me, son.

I'll get you home, okay?

Hey, is this thing coming with us?

Stay with me.

Come on, spread him out.

One, two.

- Brianne. - Yes?

- Your daughter's here. - Thank you.

And I'm not paying overtime. You should be done already.

Of course, Mrs. Arimus.

I'll get the bed.

I brought your textbooks and your food for later.

Oh, thank you, sweetie. Thank you so much. I appreciate it.

Do me a favor, honey, hand me that bedpan over there, please.

Never be ashamed of hard work. This job keeps clothes

on your back and food in your mouth. Respect it.

Thank you.

You get the balloons for your dad's party?

And sent the invites and bought the charcoal

and ordered the food.

Everything's taken care of.

You know your dad's gonna have something to say

about Jeffrey, right?

Why don't you like him, Mama?

I like him fine,

but older boys expect certain things.

Well, JT isn't like that.

All boys are like that.

W-We haven't done anything, but he asked me to go steady.

Good Lord in Heaven.

-I invited him to the party to meet Daddy. -Mm-mm.

No more secrets, Ma.

- At the party? - Yes.

- Fine. No more secrets. - Yes.

Thank you. Yes.

Girl, get out of here.

What time you getting home?

I don't know. It'll probably be late.

-You're sure you want to do this? -I don't want to work

for someone who doesn't respect me.

- I'll find something else. - All right.

But don't be coming home with all that negativity, okay?

It ain't sexy when you're mad.

Keep it up, and I'll put you on rations.

You won't get none for a month.

Girl, you might be able to quit Soul Train,

but you can never quit this.

Dream on.

Finish it up, Jeffrey. Need you off my clock five minutes ago.

Oh, I told Susie I'd cover her shift.

Susie don't make my schedule.

Ma, come on. I need these hours.

Mm. And people in hell need ice water. Wrap this up, son.

JT Tucker.

Reggie?

Oh, man, what's up?

- What's up, brother? - Nothing much, nothing much.

JT and I went to school together.

Till he decided white man's history wasn't worth learning.

- Oh, that's him. - Yeah, it is.

Hey, you still do that music thing?

- Still trying, man. - JT is cold.

Any instrument, that boy can play it.

I'm a'ight.

How they got you legit bussing tables?

Hey, man, I'm just trying to make a dollar out of 15 cents.

It ain't working, though.

Hey, dig it: my ride didn't show.

Giand I'll break you off, with some gas money.

Yeah. Cool. Meet me out back.

- May I help you? - You sure can, sweetie.

Brooks Donald, and I would die for a cup of joe.

Black, two cubes.

Are you...?

I'm getting the coffee.

Soul Train Productions, Brooks Donald speaking.

Hi, may I speak with Don, please?

Uh, yeah. Give me a second.

This is Delores, his wife.

Delores. Sure thing, sweetheart.

He'll get back to you.

Thanks.

Thank you, sweetie. You rock.

- You're welcome. - Mm.

...Special recipe.

I'm Tessa Lorraine. If you need anything else,

don't hesitate to ask.

Got it.

So I say, "Go ahead. Shoot."

"You miss, I'm gonna kill you.

"You don't, I'm-a haunt your white ass

for the rest of your natural life."

You lying. Ain't no cop that crazy.

Well, I've never been afraid to die.

Not that I don't have fear, I just work like hell

- not to give into it. - Mm.

I mean, life's a game of chance anyway, so why be afraid?

Live today, die tomorrow. Flip a damn coin, girl.

- You actually believe that? - All of it.

Living in L.A., loving this game.

Every day we play Russian roulette with our souls

and most of us will lose.

Lose our fortune, lose our families.

Our dignity, our sanity, all of it.

We all know it, and none of us can stop, till we die.

Mm. You need a drink, Don.

...A double.

What he needs is this liquid gold. Come on.

-Put your lips on this. Best honey ever. -Ger... I don't want no honey.

Mm... this ain't just honey, Don.

It's a sure thing with huge upside. I'm talking about bees.

- Honeybees? - These bees is money, baby.

I'm on the ground floor, I want you with me.

In what, a honey processing company?

Hell no. I went straight to the top.

I bought the damn bees.

Gonna flip them, wholesale the honey, mega-bucks.

Your neck's bleeding.

Oh, this? It's a bee sting. I'm allergic.

"But the pain of success hurts

most often at the outset of one's journey."

Ming Loud.

Lao Tzu.

Yeah, him.

And if he was here, he'd tell the both of you

you need to get in on this, because these bees is money.

...Huh?

I'm-a pass on the bees, Gerald.

Gladys, easy money.

Tempting, but next time.

Okay.

More honey for me.

You crazy, Gerald.

You need to see this.

What is it?

It's just a cease and desist.

Simply states that Ms. Knight and her Pips are not to sing

any song on Soul Train unless previously approved.

Approved songs included.

Don Cornelius, meet Ilsa DeJarnette,

my label's lead attorney and an all-around professional...

Flattery will get you everywhere, Gladys.

Is there some reason

- you're spying on us? - I'm not spying.

We're protecting our million dollar investment.

Yeah. This is cute, but I own Soul Train,

and no one tells me how to run it.

If our request isn't met to the letter,

no other act from our label will ever set foot on Soul Train.