Sunday, June 28, 2009

Week 23, Day 161 - “THE SEMI-HARD TRUTH ABOUT VIAGRA: AN AFTER WORK SPECIAL”

THE SEMI-HARD TRUTH ABOUT VIAGRA: AN AFTER WORK SPECIAL
Written by Joe Janes
6/28/09
161 out of 365

CAST:
Gerald, 40’s
Bob, 50’s
Dr. Grebnak, 40’s
Hef, 80’s
Tina, 40’s
DEEJAY, 20s
Old Widow Kravitz, 60s
Mr. Kravitz, 60s
Mitzi, schnauzer

(Lights up on Gerald sitting at his desk in his office. He is looking through file folders and checking his watch. Bob pokes his head in the door.)

BOB
Hey, Stud. Working late?

GERALD
Um, yeah. Bob. I am. How about you?

BOB
Nope. On my way home to bang my wife.

GERALD
Really?

BOB
Sure. Probably more than once, too. Unless there’s something good on television.

GERALD
But, how?

BOB
Gee, Gerald, isn’t that territory your dad should have covered with you?

GERALD
No, I mean. You’re over 50. I’m over 40 and I’m sitting here trying to find work to do so I don’t have to go home and face the fact that… face the fact…

BOB
That Mr. Stiffy ain’t so stiff anymore?

GERALD
Well…

BOB
The ol’ cock don’t crow like it used to?

GERALD
Something like that-

BOB
That your penis has that not-so-hard feeling?

GERALD
That’s it, exactly. Bob, what’s wrong with me? My wife is attractive.

BOB
Your wife is hot. Hot-hot-hot.

GERALD
Then what is it?

BOB
You’re not 18 anymore, Gerald. That little pig between your legs doesn’t snuff for truffles like it used to. As men age, we tend to have sex less frequently. Sexual frequency averages 3-4 times a week for the typical man in his twenties, declines to once a week or so in his fifties and to 1-2 times a month in his late seventies.

GERALD
One to two times a month. I’d like to get up to that level. My wife would think I was a stud.

BOB
Did you know nearly 10% of males over 50 and 40% of males over 70 have impotence problems. The only thing wrong with you, Gerald, is that you’re older.

GERALD
I’ve seen that happen to other guys. I never thought it would happen to me. But, wait; you’re older than me. Do you really still do it with your wife?

BOB
Like a sewing machine. A very manly sewing machine.

GERALD
How do you do it? What’s your secret?

BOB
I get a little help.

GERALD
You mean, like an intern?

BOB
No, no. I get help from science. I take Viagra.

GERALD
Viagra? I heard Viagra was for losers.

BOB
Do I seem like a loser to you?

GERALD
I guess not.

BOB
Besides, all the cool executives take Viagra.

GERALD
But aren’t there problematic side effects?

BOB
Um, yeah, if you call having an erection for over four hours a problem.

GERALD
Four hours?

BOB
It can happen. But the only thing its harmful to is other people. Almost poked a guy’s eye out at Starbucks once.

GERALD
Gee, do you have any on you?

BOB
Sorry, Pal. Keep them at home. Here’s my doctor’s card. Just swing by. You don’t need an appointment.

GERALD
Really?

BOB
Yeah. He works out of his car.

GERALD
Thanks, Bob. I’ll let you know how it goes tonight.

BOB
You won’t have to. I’ll just look for the grin on your face in the morning. Good night, Stud.

(Bob exits as Gerald looks at the business card. Lights fade. Lights up on Dr. Grebnak refusing to give an older man in his 80’s wearing silk pajamas, a robe and thick eye glasses, more Viagra.)

HEF
Please, doctor. Please. It’s not for me; it’s for my five girlfriends.

DR. GREBNAK
Get up, HEf. Stop humping my tires. Have some dignity.

HEF
I can’t help it. Doc. I need more Viagra. It’s the only thing that will straighten me out.

DR. GREBNAK
Dammit, man. I told you to ease up on it. Look at you, now. You’re a drooling idiot.

(Hef starts humping a parking meter.)


HEF
NEED VIAGRA. NEED VIAGRA.

DR. GREBNAK
Just get the hell out of here, Hef. I’m trying to run a business here.

(Gerald enters.)

GERALD
Are you Dr. Grebnak?

(Hef starts humping Gerald’s leg.)

HEF
A woman! A woman! Ugh! Ugh ! Ugh!

GERALD
What the-?

DR. GREBNAK (swatting Hef with a newspaper)
Bad, Hef! Bad! Get off the poor man! Now, go!

(Hef yelps and runs off.)

GERALD
What was his problem?

DR. GREBNAK
Blind as a bat. It’s from the Viagra. He was an abuser.

GERALD
You can abuse Viagra?

DR. GREBNAK
If it’s a drug, it can be abused. He took so much he built up a tolerance to it. His body needed more and more Viagra until it didn’t respond to it anymore. Viagra abusers may develop health conditions; including exhaustion, sleep deprivation, chafed, sore, swollen, and red genitalia; and strained groin muscles. Now, he’s just messed up in the head. He gets the urges, but can’t do anything about it.

GERALD
Why can’t he do anything about it?

DR. GRENBAK
His junk is all beat up. It’s soft. Poor man couldn’t penetrate soup. What can I do for you?

GERALD
I wanted to get some Viagra, but now I’m not so sure.

DR. GREBNAK
Aw, you’ll be all right. Hef just couldn’t handle it. You look like you can handle it. You’re man, enough, aren’t you?

GERALD
Man enough for Viagra? Yeah, sure. But. Maybe I should try something else, like Cialis.

DR. GREBNAK
They both work they same way, except Cialis stays in your system longer. Viagra is for the man who knows he’s going to get some and you look like you know.

GERALD
Yeah, I do. How does Viagra work?

DR. GREBNAK
An erection is produced via a complex chain of events, involving signals from the nervous system and the release of chemical messengers within the tissues of the penis. One of these chemical messengers is called cyclic GMP. This allows more blood to enter the penis, which ultimately results in the penis becoming rigid and erect. (Gerald is yawning.) You still with me?

GERALD
Hunh? Oh, yeah. You just lost me there a little bit.

DR. GREBNAK
Here you go.

(Dr. Grebnak tosses Gerald a small packet.)

GERALD
How much do I owe you?

DR. GREBNAK
Nothing. Free sample. You come back after you fire off that rocket, and then we’ll talk price. Take one now. By the time you get home, you’ll be ready to rock…and roll.

GERALD (takes one)
…Thanks.

(We hear a car crash offstage and a painful yelp from Hef.)

GERALD
What was that?

DR. GEBNAK
I think Hef just tried to hump a Hummer.

(Lights out. Lights up on Gerald’s wife Tina. She is lighting candles in their living room. She turns on a CD of Celine Dion music. Gerald enters.)

GERALD
Hi, Honey. Gosh, it sure is dark in here.

TINA
I know. I turned the lights down.

GERALD
Oh, whew! I thought maybe I was going blind.

TINA
I’m just trying to set the mood. You know, it’s been awhile.

GERALD
Yeah, I know. Hey, look, I know this is crazy, but I was thinking about trying Viagra.

TINA
Viagra? Honey, don’t be silly. We don’t need science to make love. We just need each other.

GERALD
Yeah. I guess you’re right.

TINA
Why, Gerald, are you aroused?

GERALD
Oh, hey, look at that. Must be the Celine Dion.

(Gerald and Tina make wild, passionate monkey love in the dark.)

TINA
Oh, Gerald! You haven’t been this ways since you were eighteen!

GERALD
Yeah! Pretty cool, eh?

TINA
What’s gotten in to you?

GERALD
I love you? …I guess.

(Tina and Gerald fall asleep in each other’s arms…smiling. We hear crickets. Time has passed. Gerald awakes in the middle of the night. HE sees he still has an erection. Gerald immediately goes to see Dr. Grebnak.)

GERALD
Dr. Grebnak, I need more Viagra.

DR. GREBNAK
How much more?

GERALD
How much are they?

DR. GREBNAK
Ten bucks a pop.

GERALD
Give me a hundred.

DR. GREBNAK
Here you go! Remember, pace yourself. You don’t want to end up like Hef. (Dr. Grebnak steps forward and addresses the audience.) Gerald didn’t listen. He began to pop those little blue pills like they were candy from a penis Pez dispenser. He began to hump everything in sight. His neighbor, the Old Widow Kravitz.

(Cut to Gerald humping an old lady.)

OLD WIDOW KAVITZ
Oh, my!

DR. GREBNAK
Mr. Kravitz, the man Mrs. Kravitz pretended was dead.

(Cut to Gerald humping an old man.)

MR. KRAVITZ
Oh, my!

DR. GREBNAK
The Kravitz’ pet schnauzer, Mitzi.

(Cut to Gerald humping a dog.)

MITZI
Roh, my!

DR. GREBNAK
Due to the graphic nature of what happened next, we can’t show you, we can only tell you. Gerald put his penile plank in anything that would take it. Mailboxes, vending machines, VCR slots, bottles of Gatorade, small pumpkins. Gerald passed out in a playground near his home. He awoke to children dancing around his penis like it was a May Pole. The police arrested him for indecent exposure, but not without first complimenting him on his impressive erection. They had to move the camera back to take his mug shot in profile. They released him on bail to the custody of his loving wife.

(Cut to Tina greeting a released Gerald at the police station.)

TINA
Oh, Gerald. How could you?

GERALD
I just wanted to make you happy, Tina.

TINA
You have a problem, Gerald.

GERALD
I know. I know. I don’t know what to do.

TINA
I found some people who can help.

(Tina takes Gerald by the hand and they walk off. Lights fade. Lights come up on an empty room with chairs in it. Seated are Bob and Hef.)

GERALD
Bob? Hef? What are you doing here?

HEF
Well, Gerald. We realized we had a problem.

BOB
We’re Viagraholics.

HEF
Viagra had taken over my life.

BOB
I was taking it all the time. Even when I was alone.

GERALD
But when I took Viagra, I felt like a man.

HEF
There are other ways, Gerald. I’ve discovered that a healthy diet and exercise, like yoga, can work wonders.

BOB
I’ve learned to take my time. Savor the moment of touching my wife. Breathing techniques, help, too. Thanks to my tantra classes. I also watch a lot of internet porn.

(Bob and Hef high five.)

GERALD
That all sounds great.

TINA
I bought some ginkgo biloba, which helps memory and blood flow.

GERALD
That way I’ll remember to have sex! You’re so thoughtful, Honey.

TINA
And I signed us up for classes in erotic massage, Gerald. I think that will help spice things up.

GERALD
That sounds wonderful. So, what do we do at these Viagraholics meetings. Should I get up and talk about my experiences?

HEF
I’d rather you didn’t.

GERALD
Well, I think I learned a valuable lesson here. I learned that-

TINA
Shhh, Gerald. The show’s about to start.

GERALD
Show?

(At that moment, the lights dim and throbbing house music kicks in.)

BOB
Another alternative to get the blood flowing down to the nether regions –

TINA, BOB, HEF
Strippers!!!

DEEJAY
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the stage the exotic stylings of our number one dancer…

ALL
YEAH!!!

DEEJAY
Old Widow Kravitz!

ALL
Ew!!!

(The End. Lights fade.)

3 comments:

GW said...

This is quite the little mini-play. Nice work. It's hard to find the right scene to make a 10-pager (I cut and pasted this to get a page count), but this is great fodder.

Not that you have to stay 100% true to after-school special form, but since I thought it was a parody of the genre, I expected the doctor/dealer character to be a sleazy dealer who assures him there's no consequences of taking the drug, who would be trying to hide or pshaw Hef's actions, rather than being honest that it's possible to abuse the drug.

Also, don't after school specials usually have a happy ending for the protagonist? Maybe the tragic ending can be for Hef and Gerald comes out having learned a lesson?

GarinT said...

I suppose becoming a sex crazed hump machine is funnier or more stagable than genitals becoming infected and rotting off but I guess I'm just old fashioned.

The lesson of the scene can definitely be pumped up some more.

I love the opening. I wanted to see more of the boss character, although he played his role in the story just as he should have.

Jeannie said...

Think you outdid yourself on this one. Great parody of a commercial. Is the Widow Kravitz a reference from another sketch. Are you at the point where there is a sketch within a sketch?? Alll I could think of reading this was of a friends French Bull dog who since he has gotten older just cannot stop himself, then I think of the Hef character. It keeps going back to the dogs...