Saturday, December 12, 2020

"The Duke of Squigmann" script, Scene K

The tag is set at the Pizza Bowl, the next day, even though this isn't one of the interiors mentioned on the sets list, suggesting that the tag in an earlier draft might've been something different.  And it's got an opening that didn't air:


SQUIGGY
Mr. DeFazio, you can tell Carmine I'll go to that game with him, and you can tell your wife I'll let her fix her me dinner, but remind her to keep her wrinkled hangs [sic] off me.  And if you still wanna teach me to make pizza, I'm willin' to put up with it.

SQUIGGY BEGINS TO GO BEHIND THE COUNTER.

FRANK
Okay, listen close.  First step, you get into the oven.

SQUIGGY
Hey, if you're not gonna take this seriously, forget it.  I'm a busy man.

LENNY AND SQUIGGY GRAB THEIR BEERS AND CROSS TOWARDS A TABLE.

LENNY
You know, Squig, it takes a big man to make others happy.

SQUIGGY
Let's face it, Len, they're just poor slobs.  I'm all they have in their empty little lives.

The rest of the scene mostly made it in, although we missed "they Ronny," yes, with that spelling, before they go over to the pretty girl.  Also, because this has the most suggestive stage directions since "The Dance Studio," Squiggy's stolen kiss was actually even more over the top in the script, "Squiggy grabs the girl out of her chair and bends her back in a passionate embrace."

This script, while often funny and insightful, has some tonal and character errors which weren't totally fixed by the time it was shot and aired.  On the other hand, it would've been nice to have the pay-off with Squiggy willing to make "the poor slobs" happy after all.  And of course, the snow tires.

3 comments:

  1. Aww, I admit I'm sorry we're missing parts of this!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. IE: I love the mental image of Squiggy sullenly doing all of these things with these folks.

      Delete
    2. And of course Lenny still admires him for his self-sacrifice. Also, "all they have in their empty little lives" is like the boys in "Call Me a Taxi" thinking they're brightening up the dancers' lives.

      Delete

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