EDTV

Synopsis: EDtv is a 1999 American satirical comedy film directed by Ron Howard. An adaptation of the Quebec film Louis 19, King of the Airwaves (Louis 19, le roi des ondes) (1994), it stars Matthew McConaughey, Jenna Elfman, Woody Harrelson, Ellen DeGeneres, Martin Landau, Rob Reiner, Sally Kirkland, Elizabeth Hurley, Clint Howard, and Dennis Hopper. The movie received mixed reviews and was a box office flop (grossing only a little over $35 million compared to its $80 million budget). The film was screened out of competition at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival.
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Production: Universal Studios
  1 win & 1 nomination.
 
IMDB:
6.1
Metacritic:
48
Rotten Tomatoes:
64%
PG-13
Year:
1999
122 min
520 Views


1 INT. HIGH SCHOOL GYMNASIUM - NIGHT

The following is shot DOCUMENTARY-STYLE.

A GIRLS VOLLEYBALL GAME has just ended. It was a big game. Some kind of

championship.

ONE TEAM is CELEBRATING -- jumping up and down, squealing and

hugging each other. We are focused on the bench of the TEAM TRAT

LOST. They're very sad -- several are crying.

One girl, in particular, (AMY) is really sobbing. She's sweat-

stained, tired and just blubbering. Stuff's coming out of her eyes,

her nose, her mouth and the camera is seeing it all.

The COACH, a fortyish man looks at all the weeping girls -- Amy in

particular.

COACH:

You quit! You gave up!

He KICKS a CHAIR.

Now Amy is really a mess. She's crying, coughing, shaking.

COACH (CONT'D)

(right in Amy's face)

You quit!!

The Coach storms off.

COACH (CONT'D)

Qutters! ... Quitters!

Amy is wailing and choking on her own tears.

This IMAGE FREEZES.

TERRY (V.O.)

And that would be it. I don't

think you need any narration at

all. Just end it right there.

REVEAL:

2 INT. OFFICE - DAY

BEGIN CREDITS:

We're in New York City. We're in the conference room of a modestly

successful cable TV station called "Real TV." The people are

young, energetic, clever. It's crowded, noisy -the furniture is

beaten up, bulletin boards cover the walls, with large index cards

all over them.

This room is not for show -- work gets done here.

SEVEN OR EIGHT PEOPLE are present. One of them is CYNTHIA REED.

She's the boss.

TERRY:

(to Cynthia)

What do you think?

CYNTHIA:

It's horrible, it's depressing, I

love it. What else?

ALICE:

I want to re-pitch that pregnancy

idea. Find six women early in their

pregnancies and follow them all right

through to the births.

KEITH:

(negative)

Yeah, when all that stuff comes

out.

Mixed reactions, mostly negative.

CYNTHIA:

I have an idea.

IMMEDIATE ATTENTION

CYNTHIA (CONT'D)

This is something I've been thinking

about for a long time. We're "Real

TV" right? I mean that's the name

of the station.

AGREEMENT:

CYNTHIA (CONT'D)

So let's go real. We find someone.

Just a regular person, someone. And

we put their life on television -

live... all day long.

Silence. No movement at all.

CYNTHIA (CONT'D)

Calm down.

KEITH:

What do you mean, like PBS did in

the seventies? What was that

family?

GREG:

The Louds.

KEITH:

Yeah.

CYNTHIA:

No. We go way beyond that. We

don't film it and edit it and put

it on later. We go on the air

live every morning and the show

goes off each night, when our

subject goes to bed. In between,

we're on live all day, every day -

the same person, -- for

(shrugs)

let's say a month.

No one is wild for this. Some hate it -- some are unconvinced.

FELICIA:

That's not a show that's a

surveillance camera.

GREG:

You can't do that.

CYNTHIA:

The hell we can't. Look, the

beauty of being a cable

channel is we can take chances. I've

thought about this and I'm

telling you, I think this can

make a noise. A loud one. There

are twelve thousand channels.

You've got to do something that

says "Look at me!" Hell, people

look at fish tanks all day. This

is people!

(more firmly)

Someone's real life -- an TV, all day

long - live... And, you know what?

I'm doing it.

Pause. The others know the argument is over.

GREG:

In that case, we love it.

END CREDITS:

3 EXT. POOL HALL - DAY

A BUS passes. On the bus is an ad. It says, "Would you

like to star in your own TV show? Call Real TV (and a

phone number) Coming (and a date)."

4 INT. POOL HALL - NIGHT - PARAMUS NEW JERSEY

This is a nice upscale pool hall. A party is in progress in a

special private area -- a room upstairs let's say -- a loft.

Thirty or forty PEOPLE in their twenties and thirties are

informally celebrating the engagement of two of their friends.

It's NOISY, it's fun, it's informal. It's not a high-end group.

By that we mean, not, for the most part young lawyers or

stockbrokers. They're mostly blue-collar. Community college

graduates.

WE OPEN ON ED PEKURNY. He's an attractive man, about thirty.

There's still something a little juvenile about him -- not

stupid, just boyish.

SOMEONE is VIDEOTAPING HIM for one of those congratulation

montage things that are done at parties these days. Ed is good

at this. He's not professional but he's a loosey-goosey guy

who's kind of good on camera.

ED:

I want to congratulate

Kevin and Tracy on their engagement.

I knew you guys were meant for each

other from the moment Tracy told us

she was pregnant.

TRACY:

You a**hole!

Everyone else is cracking up.

ED:

(innocently)

What? What did I say?

TRACY:

My mother's going to see this!

5 INT. PARTY - LATER

Other people are being "interviewed" on tape. Ed is SHOOTING POOL

with his buddy, JOHN. John's had a couple of drinks. He's a little

melancholy.

He is looking across the room, thoughtfully.

ED:

What?

JOHN:

Look at this -- people are

getting married, they're

getting married...

ED:

You said that.

JOHN:

We're falling behind.

Ed waves dismissively.

JOHN (CONT'D)

You know who we are?

ED:

Tell me.

JOHN:

We're the guys who clean up after

the parade.

ED:

I'm gonna stick this right in your

eye.

JOHN:

I was at this comedy club last week

and this comedian says "If you're over

thirty and your job requires you to

wear a name tag, you screwed up your

life." And I'm laughing and then I

realize I wear a nametag.

ED:

So do I. So what? I'm doing all right.

JOHN:

Your brother's here.

Rate this script:4.0 / 1 vote

Babaloo Mandel

Marc "Babaloo" Mandel (born October 13, 1949) is an American screenwriter. After doing television episodes, he also began writing for feature films. He and long-time writing partner Lowell Ganz have penned numerous high-profile movies, including Splash (1984), Parenthood (1989), City Slickers (1991) and A League of Their Own (1992). more…

All Babaloo Mandel scripts | Babaloo Mandel Scripts

0 fans

Submitted by aviv on January 26, 2017

Discuss this script with the community:

0 Comments

    Translation

    Translate and read this script in other languages:

    Select another language:

    • - Select -
    • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
    • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
    • Español (Spanish)
    • Esperanto (Esperanto)
    • 日本語 (Japanese)
    • Português (Portuguese)
    • Deutsch (German)
    • العربية (Arabic)
    • Français (French)
    • Русский (Russian)
    • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
    • 한국어 (Korean)
    • עברית (Hebrew)
    • Gaeilge (Irish)
    • Українська (Ukrainian)
    • اردو (Urdu)
    • Magyar (Hungarian)
    • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
    • Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Italiano (Italian)
    • தமிழ் (Tamil)
    • Türkçe (Turkish)
    • తెలుగు (Telugu)
    • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
    • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
    • Čeština (Czech)
    • Polski (Polish)
    • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Românește (Romanian)
    • Nederlands (Dutch)
    • Ελληνικά (Greek)
    • Latinum (Latin)
    • Svenska (Swedish)
    • Dansk (Danish)
    • Suomi (Finnish)
    • فارسی (Persian)
    • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
    • հայերեն (Armenian)
    • Norsk (Norwegian)
    • English (English)

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this screenplay to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "EDTV" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/edtv_850>.

    We need you!

    Help us build the largest writers community and scripts collection on the web!

    Watch the movie trailer

    EDTV

    Browse Scripts.com

    The Studio:

    ScreenWriting Tool

    Write your screenplay and focus on the story with many helpful features.