Science fiction; Short stories; Television programs -- Fiction
Frick hurried out. The Producer poured a slug of brandy into a cup and
held it to the man's lips. He gulped it gratefully, and then exploded a
rasping cough. When the cough subsided, he buried his head on his chest
again, breathing heavily.
The Producer studied the man's face. It was oddly familiar.
"Say," he said. He put his hand under the chin and lifted the face up.
The eyes opened. "Aren't you Jerry Spizer?"
The man stared blankly. The Producer grunted. "Huh. Guess you don't
know _who_ you are right now, fella. But you're Jerry Spizer, all
right. Imagine that!" T.D. shook his head. "The great Spizer. In a
_Thrill Show_!" He chuckled dryly.
The doctor bustled into the office, a small cyclone, trailing the
nervous assistant behind him like a flurrying dust cloud.
"Roll up his sleeve," he told the Producer commandingly. He removed the
hypodermic spray-gun from his bag and carefully filled it with a dozen
cc's of the anti-dope. He dabbed the man's arm with a shred of cotton,
and pressed the spray against his flesh. "Good thing I hung around
tonight," the doctor grumbled. "If this man ever got away in this
condition--"
"We know, we know," the Producer said testily. "Fix him up and cut the
chatter--"
"I saw that show," the doctor said. "Somebody sure fouled up. Probably
gave him an overdose."
"We'll get to that later," the Producer promised. "Just do your job,
Doc."
"I'm through," Stark said crisply. "Put him on that couch over there
and raise his legs. He'll come to his senses in about ten minutes--I
hope."
Frick and the Producer helped the man to the sofa. He sprawled on it
full-length, fingers trailing on the carpet.
"Do you know who he is?" T.D. said. "He's Jerry Spizer."
"Who?"
"Spizer. The big TV star. You remember."
The doctor halted in the process of clasping his bag, and came over
to the sofa. He looked at the man's relaxed face. "By God," he said.
"You're right. Now what the hell is Spizer doing on a _Thrill Show_?"
The Producer shrugged. "I don't know. I haven't heard anything about
him for the past eight or ten years."
"He must have had it tough," Frick said musingly. "I mean, a big star
like that on a program like this--"
"What do you mean, 'a program like this'?" The Producer looked
displeased. "If the Staff had a nickel's worth of imagination, they
would have played this up big--"
"Gosh," said Frick. "That's true. We could have used a credit card--"
"I'll bet he wouldn't have permitted it," the doctor said. "You know
what Spizer thought of the _Thrill Show_."
"Yeah?" The Producer's face reddened. "Well, we proved how wrong he
was, didn't we? The public was just sick and tired of that namby-pamby
stuff. There _had_ to be a _Thrill Show_!"
"Sponsors demanded it," Frick said loyally.
"And besides," T.D. added, "if he doesn't like us, what the hell did he
sign up for?"
The doctor pursed his lips. "Maybe he was hungry."
Frick said: "He's still not coming around, Doc."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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