The Comeback

Patience,

this is a possible collab with Waymo.

- Don't you think? - Yeah.

Well, we're in a Waymo,

which means "way-mo" time for me to learn my lines.

While tackling a voice memo.

So, yeah, what do... What do I do again?

- I forgot. - Okay, yeah,

so you just scroll down from photos.

- Right? - And hit "audio."

Yeah. Got it.

- Oh, it's going. - Yeah, you can talk.

Oh.

Billy, leaving you a voice memo,

not a voicemail, per request.

Shout-out to Patience for the tech support.

Uh, just wondering if you heard anything

after you sent my voice to the studio.

Uh, Josh and Mary never said a thing to me

during the taping last night.

Did they say anything to you?

Uh, well, maybe it's all just normal, you know?

Worrying for nothing.

I'm sure you would have called if... Or sent.

May... Maybe you forgot to hit send, though.

Sometimes I do that, too.

Yeah, so, uh, all good.

Um, FYI, uh, your "Do Not Disturb" is on.

It's 10 a.m. Business hours, so...

It's all good!

Sent. Alright.

Oh, what's in the bag?

Oh, I got everyone inspirational candles.

So, yours is right on top, here.

- Oh. - For you.

Um, yours says "Strength."

Yeah.

What's that Band-Aid on your finger for?

Oh, I got bit by a rescue that I'm fostering.

Aw.

What's happening? Wonder where everyone is.

Hey, Bev, where is everybody?

I'm holding them in their dressing rooms.

There's somebody here from NuNet to see you.

Uh-huh. Okay.

- Mm-hmm. - Yeah. Thank you.

Oh.

- Valerie. - Yeah.

- Hi. - Hi, yeah.

- Brandon. - Wallick, yeah.

- - Hi.

Oh, so this is the doc crew?

- Oh, yeah. Yeah. -

- Really exciting. - Yeah.

Um, can we get some privacy, please?

Why? Sure, yeah.

Why, sure!

Here you go, can you just take that

- to my dressing room... - I'm socials.

I know. As a favor to me.

Need some privacy.

Yeah. Right? Don't need you.

- Thanks, guys. - You're gonna want this.

- Private. - Thank you.

Okay, yeah.

- So, got your voice memo. - Right.

Thank you for that. They're gone.

They're gone? Yeah, who's gone?

- The married couple. - Oh, Josh and Mary?

Josh and Mary are gone, okay.

Because of what I said?

'Cause they weren't 100%.

- Okay. - And they agreed to a buyout.

We own their names. We own their silence, so.

So, it's all good. Money well spent.

Oh, alright, got it. Great, so, ye... Now what?

We replace them, right? I've got a list...

We've hired someone new. Hired someone else.

Already? Okay!

Yo, yo, yo. Good morning, good morning.

Uh, yeah, I'm just gonna need a minute, okay?

We're in the middle of something, so...

- Cool. - Yeah.

Great. Thank you, yeah.

- Okay. - Okay.

Thank you. Thanks, Marco.

- Oh, that's Marco? Oh. - Yeah.

- That's who we hired. - That's who you...

To be... To replace... The replacement is Marco?

Well, you said that Marco was the only one

who was helpful to you on this stage.

In heat of the moment, you know?

Probably shouldn't have sent that, but, um...

Su... Sure. You know, he's great

as a writer's assistant, you know?

Not a writer, right?

Just wants to be a writer so he can get a nice house.

- Well, let's get him one. - Uh-huh, yeah.

-Yeah. Um... makes me nervous.

- Mm-hmm. - You know? Just...

The thing is, Valerie, it doesn't have to be a writer.

You've got Allassist,

who's got all the greatest writers at its fingertips,

from Shakespeare, to the Charles Brothers,

to whoever's great right now.

Right, right. Uh-huh.

It's just he's not done this before, you know?

'Cause he's, um, not a show runner.

- What's interesting is... - Yeah?

we were wondering whether we even need a show runner.

You've got Allassist, you've got a competent director.

- Uh-huh. - Uh, those last show runners,

uh, what were their names?

- Josh and Mary. Yeah. Yeah. - Josh and Mary.

They did everything in their power

to make the show not run.

- And still, the pilot tested great. - It did?

So, you tested it and it tested great?

It tested great.

- Oh! - And you know more about sitcoms

than... than me or them, or anybody at NuNet, right?

Really? You think...

Is that true? Okay.

And, you know, on a personal note,

I just wanted to thank you for being the NuNet show

that's the least of my troubles.

Well...

Tested great, and the least of your troubles!

How's that?!

- - Right.

So, keep it up.

Okay, yeah.

Will do. Will do.

- Alright. - Alright, thank you.

Oh! Uh, Brandon? And, um,

yeah, so what do you want me

to tell the other actors about all this?

Do we need to tell them anything?

Well, actors can panic, you know,

when things change right out from under them, so...

Well, you know what not to tell them.

Okay.

Yeah, and then I'll... figure out the...

Yeah. Thank you. Yeah.

- Alright. - Alright.

Yeah.

Thank you!

- This is so nice. - It is nice, isn't it?

Yeah, I know.

So, I just, uh, wanted to share some news with you all.

Oh, I knew it.

Who's fired?

N-Not you. Okay?

Or any of you.

- Okay. - Yeah, no.

Um, but, uh, Josh and Mary are gone.

What? How can they be gone?

They created the show.

That's not fair.

I'll tell you what's not fair, okay?

They'd rather be doing animation.

And they said they hate actors.

You know what? Fuck them.

Yeah, I know.

Uh, you know, I asked for a muffin.

Oh, well, Patience is just doing us a favor.

You know, she's my social media, not Starbucks.

- Round of applause for Patience, right? - Yeah.

So, anyway, yeah, uh, Josh and Mary are gone.

Should we try to get them back?

What? What are you saying? We don't need that shit.

Even if they hate actors, which I can understand,

they wrote some pretty good stuff for my character.

- Oh, my God. - What?

As far as I've been told, most of the writing

has been done by a third writer.

Yeah, a third writer named Al.

Well, I've never seen any third writer.

Yeah, well, he works remotely.

Well, why is he working remotely?

Just, I don't know, one of those writers

who can't leave his house, I guess.

What, does he have emphysema or something?

Well, I'm not allowed to ask. Right? HIPAA rules.

You know, could be a million reasons!

But, you know, maybe he hates driving,

or hates LA, or hates himself, right?

Did he write the episode that we got this morning?

Because it was so funny.

Yeah, I think he must have.

A writer we've never even seen.

What... Th-That feels suspicious to me.

Uh, Patience?

Here, you wanna, um, go get Walter...

- What kind of muffin was that? - Oh, any kind.

Well, except for banana, o-or blueberry, or bran.

I don't think it's suspicious. I have gamer friends

I've never met, we just play online.

You know, all those joke alts from the floor?

All Al. Yeah.