What's on Next

At a table someone, 'A,' is taking apart a clock and trying to put it back together.

Another person, 'B,' is sitting on a couch watching television.

A: Is that all you do?

B: Is that all you do?

A: You know there’s gotta be something better you can do with your time?

B: Pay attention to your gears.

A: Are you ever going to take your eyes off that thing?

B: Maybe I’ll have them permanently glued together.

A: You’re already half way there. It’d probably be good for you. Get you rich. Virtual reality.

B: Yeah right.

Outwards, to the audience perhaps.

You know, there’s nothing that I particularly mind about them. For the most part, they keep to themselves and build their clocks. In doing that they keep my anxieties at bay, and I can still watch my shows. My shows are very important to me but I don’t like watching them alone, see? I mean what good is the television if not for watching things with other people? Who wants to watch T.V. alone? The family unit, community, that’s what television is about. Bringing people together over little microwavable tin trays of questionable food.

A: Can you turn that down a little I'm looking for a spring.

B: You’ve dropped another have you?

A: It appears so.

B: Well, nobody’s perfect.

A: It appears so.

Outward to the audience perhaps.

You know, there’s nothing that I particularly mind about them. Until moments like this when I need some help. You would think the television constantly running, or my astronomical electric bill would be the thing to set me over the edge. But no its actually when I drop a spring and they don’t get up to help me. That’s my biggest issue with them, and that T.V. No awareness of their surroundings. They don’t ever actually listen, and I don’t know, I just sit here and work on my clocks. I try and make some light conversation every now and then, but you see how that goes.

B: Find it.

A: Not exactly.

B: Maybe you should just give it up.

A: Maybe you should just mind your own business.

B: You gotta have another spring.

A: You’re gonna miss something from the show, and then you won’t be able to tell me about it.

B: You’re right. I should really pay attention. This is an important episode.

A: Yeah, a really important episode.

'A' continues to look for the spring. They finally find it and get back to work. Silence. Except for the television we can always hear the television of course suddenly-

'B' makes a loud overly dramatic shocked sound. 'A' is shocked and knocks the table. Parts of the clock fall everywhere on the floor.

A: Are you kidding me?

B: Oh no I’m so sorry!

A: Do you know how much time you just wasted? Now I have to start all over again! Why did you do that?

B: Because I can’t with this show! It’s just too much sometimes. So in this episode, the teams are given height challenges, which you know is Laura’s biggest fear, so her and her teammate Joe are trying to figure out how they could possibly win. Cause, like, Laura knows that she can’t do it but Jerimiah is also really terrified of heights. So Laura and Joe are like cool all we have to do is be better than Jerimiah and Logan, so they spend the day before the challenge trying to psych logan and Jerimiah out, but when they get to the challenge it doesn't work and laura and joe lose. So now, Laura and Joe are in the pit and they gotta battle another team so they choose Megan and Lindsey because nobody likes them and they know they can beat them. But when they get ready to do the pit challenege the host is like this week’s pit challenge is a vote, and everyone has to send two people home. So they can send a whole team, or they can just vote for individuals. So I thought Lindsey and Megan were definitely going home for sure, but no, they send home Joe and Megan and made Laura and Lindsey a new team which is totally crazy because everyone loved Joe it was freaking crazy. Isn’t that crazy?

'A' is still picking clock pieces up from off the floor.

B: Nuts, right? Like, why would they do that to Joe . God I love T.V.

A: Have you ever thought of the things you could if you turned that thing off?

B: No, because why would I want to do that?

A: Because you could do something different, something exciting!

B: But this is what I do! And how can you consider what just happened not exciting?

A: What if you made the next great modern discovery or invented something that changes the world?

B: What if? What if? What if? That’s no way to live a life. Besides what’s the difference between me sitting here and watching tv all day and you sitting over there with your clocks all day?

A: I do more than just fix these clocks thank you very much. Who do you think keeps things moving around here?

B: Fair enough, but think about it, if I didn’t watch all this television what would our relationship be? I wouldn’t have anything to talk with you about.

A: You’re right, what would become of us? We could be the world’s greatest lovers, or its biggest enemy. We could make names for ourselves, do something great, we could get on television. But we’ll never know will we? And what would we talk about? You’ve always been over there doing your thing, and all we’ve ever talked about is what you see on the television. We would have to get to know each other ask each other questions. We would have to listen to one another, and that well, let me put it this way, I’m having a hard enough time as it is putting this clock back together and to me time is more precious. I’m just here because I was asked to sit and watch television, and I don’t even watch anymore. You don’t seem to care about that so I’ve concluded that its only my presence, my proximity to you, that you care about I’m only here to make you feel better. And quite frankly, I’ve discovered how to make this work for me too so maybe you’re right, let’s not change a thing. What’s on next?