Ground Floor Page #3

---

JENNIFER:

We call him Harvard because he went to

college.

HARVARD:

(SUPER COCKY) A very competitive

community college. Twenty-four month

program. Finished in twenty-two.

GROUND FLOOR "Pilot" Rev. Network Draft 6/29/12

19.

I/J

BRODY:

I actually went to Harvard.

HARVARD:

Nobody cares.

BRODY:

I don’t know. I feel like a lot of

people care. Employers... Girls.

JENNIFER:

What are you doing down here?

BRODY:

I just wanted to explain something

about last night-

JENNIFER:

You don’t have to. (SOTTO)

Everybody’s got weird sex stuff. I

like eye contact; you call out your

own name a lot.

BRODY:

I was not aware I did that. Is there-TORI

(21, HOT, HISPANIC, ENERGY COMES AND GOES IN WAVES)

ENTERS. SHE'S IN LAST NIGHT’S "CLUBBING" CLOTHES. DURING

THE FOLLOWING, SHE GOES TO HER DESK, AND BLOCKED FROM THE

WAIST DOWN, TAKES OFF HER SKIRT AND PUTS ON PANTS.

TORI:

Sorry I’m late. Last night, I stayed

out ‘till, well-- now. I hooked up

with my gays over in Castro for ‘No

Food, All Drink Sunday’.

GROUND FLOOR "Pilot" Rev. Network Draft 6/29/12 20.

I/J

SHE GETS UP. HER SKIRT’S OFF, REPLACED BY PANTS.

WALKS TOWARD THE CLOSET, HOLDING A SHIRT:

AS SHE:

TORI (CONT'D)

Then over to Club Vice. I love

dancing in gay clubs--

SHE EXITS INTO FILE CLOSET. STILL TALKING:

TORI (O.S.) (CONT’D)

The guys are all shirtless, but it’s

not gross because they’re all waxed.

Then we went out for breakfast.

SHE RE-EMERGES IN WORK SHIRT. THEN, DEEPLY SINCERE:

TORI (CONT’D)

Randall and Michael were fighting.

They broke up and got back together

three times before we even got out of

the cab. But happy ending: they

decided to adopt a baby.

DERRICK EXITS FROM THE SAME CLOSET.

DERRICK:

That was awesome. (OFF HER LOOK)

Sorry, I should have said I was in

there. That’s my bad. But also, my

very, very good.

DERRICK EXITS O.C. TORI REACHES HER DESK.

TORI:

I’m so glad I’m finally at work. I’ve

got to get some sleep.

SHE PUTS HER HEAD ON HER DESK AND FALLS ASLEEP.

GROUND FLOOR "Pilot" Rev. Network Draft 6/29/12

21.

I/J

BRODY:

Is there somewhere less insane that we

can talk?

RESET TO:

EXT. PATIO - MOMENTS LATER (DAY THREE)

(BRODY, JENNIFER)

THINK:
PUBLIC HIGH-SCHOOL, SMOKING AREA.

JENNIFER:

So, what do you need to talk about?

BRODY:

Look, Jenny, Friday night was great,

but I think you and I...

BRODY STARES, LOST IN HER EYES, SMITTEN.

BRODY (CONT'D)

Do you wear colored contacts?

JENNIFER:

Nope. (HOLDS HER HAIR) But this

comes in a bottle.

BRODY:

(LAUGHS, THEN TO SELF) Come on,

Brody, focus.

JENNIFER:

Right there. That’s the kind of stuff

you were saying Friday night. (OFF

HIS REACTION) Don’t freak out; it was

cute.

GROUND FLOOR "Pilot" Rev. Network Draft 6/29/12 22.

I/J

BRODY:

(THINKS, THEN) The hell with it.

Neither one of us likes one-night

stands, so we should probably go out

again.

JENNIFER:

Aw that’s so sweet, but no thanks.

BRODY:

Oh, okay.

AS HE REACTS, HE GETS HIT BY A CIGAR. AS HE FRANTICALLY

TRIES TO PAT THE BURNING EMBERS OUT:

CUT TO:

GROUND FLOOR "Pilot" Rev. Network Draft 6/29/12 23.

I/K

ACT ONE:

SCENE K:

INT. GROUND FLOOR BULLPEN - MOMENTS LATER (DAY THREE)

(BRODY, DERRICK, HARVARD, TORI)

BRODY, SHOULDER BLACK/BURNT, WALKS THROUGH THE BULLPEN.

HARVARD:

I guess they don’t teach you how to

avoid falling cigars at your fancy

college, huh?

BRODY IGNORES HIM AND EXITS.

RESET TO:

INT. WHITESTONE BUILDING LOBBY - CONTINUOUS (DAY THREE)

(BRODY)

BRODY (O.S.)

Damn vent.

BRODY COMES OUT OF THE “BUILDING SUPPORT” DOOR, HAIR MUSSED.

HE TAKES A FEW STEPS, THEN STOPS AND GOES BACK.

RESET TO:

INT. GROUND FLOOR BULLPEN - CONTINUOUS (DAY THREE)

(BRODY, JENNIFER, DERRICK, HARVARD, TORI)

BRODY ENTERS. HE APPROACHES JENNIFER AS SHE RE-ENTERS.

BRODY:

I’m sorry; I’ve got to know. Why

won’t you go out with me again?

JENNIFER:

Look, it’s not about you. I mean,

it’s about you; it’s just not about

you-you.

GROUND FLOOR:

"Pilot" Rev. Network Draft 6/29/12 24.

I/K

BRODY:

(DEADPAN) Thanks, I understand now.

JENNIFER:

Okay, fine; I would never date an

upstairs guy.

BRODY:

What? My boss told me it was like

your dream to date one of us.

JENNIFER:

Your boss? You guys sit around and

talk about who we want to date?

HARVARD:

I told you they don’t do anything up

there. Buy, buy, sell, sell,

whatever.

JENNIFER:

It’s just that all you upstairs people

seem kind of, well... sad.

BRODY:

Sad?! How are we sad?!

TORI:

(WAKES UP) Maybe you’re sad because

you’re so loud.

DERRICK:

Women, huh? (OFFERS HAND) It’s

Derrick. We met at the party.

GROUND FLOOR:

"Pilot" Rev. Network Draft 6/29/12 25.

I/K

BRODY:

Did we?

DERRICK:

Nope.

JENNIFER:

(TO DERRICK) Good job, sweetie.

BRODY:

This place is weird.

not sad.

(THEN) And I’m

JENNIFER:

Look, down here:
we’re all pretty

happy. We have great jobs. I mean,

in my family, I’m the success story: I

have health insurance. We work hard,

but when we’re done, we go out, we

hang together, we live life. All you

upstairs guys do is work - like, all

the time. It seems like you don’t

really enjoy life - like you never

have any fun. I bet you guys even

think about work when you leave.

BRODY:

Everyone does that.

JENNIFER:

None of us do.

BRODY:

What do you all think about?

GROUND FLOOR "Pilot" Rev. Network Draft 6/29/12

26.

I/K

THE FOLLOWING IS STACCATO. NOTE: HARVARD ONLY SAYS, “SEX”.

JENNY/DERRICK/TORI/HARVARD

Movies. / Dinner. / Sex. / How sad you

are. / Sports. / Dancing. / Sex.

JENNIFER:

It really depends on who you ask.

BRODY:

So, I work a lot. That doesn’t mean I

don’t have fun.

JENNIFER:

Brody, I’m not trying to upset you.

BRODY:

(LOUD AND UPSET) I’m not upset. I’m

just fascinated by your thinking.

This is my fascinated voice.

JENNIFER:

It must be stressful to go to museums

with you.

BRODY:

I have to get back to work.

HE WALKS OUT, FRUSTRATED.

TORI:

Who was that?

CUT TO:

GROUND FLOOR "Pilot" Rev. Network Draft 6/29/12 27.

I/M

ACT ONE:

SCENE M:

INT. THREEPEAT’S OFFICE - LATER (DAY THREE)

(BRODY, THREEPEAT, MANSFIELD)

THREEPEAT WORKS ON HIS COMPUTER. SUDDENLY, WE REVEAL BRODY

AS HE GRABS THREEPEAT’S CHAIR AND PUSHES IT TOWARD THE DOOR.

THREEPEAT:

Whoa, whoa - what are you doing, bro?

BRODY:

Pushing your chair out into the hall.

THREEPEAT:

Why?

BRODY:

Just having fun, enjoying life, you

know how I do.

THREEPEAT:

I’ve got to finish my presentation on

the Euro Zone by midnight. I’d love

to rub one off at home for a change.

BRODY:

You’re the reason I don’t use the

bathroom on this floor. Now come on,

let’s ditch and get out of here.

MANSFIELD WALKS BY, STOPS.

MANSFIELD:

And go where, Mr. Moyer?

GROUND FLOOR "Pilot" Rev. Network Draft 6/29/12 28.

I/M

BRODY:

To that room where it’s easier to

work. The special work room.

MANSFIELD:

Mr. Wen, leave us.

THREEPEAT:

Kicking me out of my own office -

that’s very beast, sir.

MANSFIELD:

Thank you. You have an hour to come

up with a new word.

THREEPEAT:

Understood.

THREEPEAT EXITS.

BRODY:

I’m sorry; that girl downstairs messed

with my head - talking to her is like

drinking Tequila. One second, you

think you’re totally in control. Next

thing you know, you wake up and your

fraternity brothers all call you “Dog

Snatch” and you don’t know why.

(THEN) The point is, she got me

questioning my life-MANSFIELD

Ohhhh. You’ve got yourself a life unraveler.

Rate this script:4.0 / 1 vote