DEAD MAN'S HEART (SHOOTING)
Script: Kukoda, Idea: Lang Fisher
7/26/07 (CLK)
INT. TODAY NOW SET
MALE HOST and FEMALE HOST are chatting over coffee as the
camera swoops in on them.
MALE HOST
Welcome back to Today Now.
FEMALE HOST
Continuing with our Week of
Medical Miracles, today we're
joined by a man who was told by
doctors he had only a few months
to live.
Pull Back to reveal DAVE GULBECK, an unremarkable,
fortyish white guy.
FEMALE HOST (CONT'D)
But he was given a second chance
at life last month thanks to a
heart transplanted from a dead
man.
FEMALE HOST (CONT'D)
Welcome, Dave. Thank you for
being here.
DAVE
Thank you.
FEMALE HOST
Dave, it must be a pretty amazing
feeling to be sitting here talking
with us when you didn't even know
if you would live... Until that
other man died and you were able
to claim his heart.
DAVE
Yeah. It is. I'm incredibly
grateful.
MALE HOST
Dave, can you tell us about your
condition and why it was so
critical that you take a heart
from a dead man?
DAVE
I was born with cardiac arythmia,
which is a congenital condition in
which the heart weakens over time.
The only hope for people who have
it is for a transplant.
FEMALE HOST
Well, fortunately for you, you got
that transplant after Greg Halton,
a father of six, was struck down
in the prime of his life in a
tragic car accident.
MALE HOST
Luckily for you, though, Greg
lived just long enough for doctors
to cut his heart out of his chest
so you could have it.
FOOTAGE: Photos of Greg. He looks like the greatest guy
in the world. Kind face, warm smile. All the pictures
are of him participating in athletics, with his family,
or doing some kind of good deed-like posing with a child
in a wheelchair or with a sickly animal.
CASTING NOTE: Could be anyone, but should be a young
looking, happy seeming 40 year old. Not important that we
get the above exactly, but we should try to get him doing
2 or 3 charitable things. Elisa, maybe we could find
through Missing Girl Raped connections or similar?
MALE HOST (CONT'D)
We're looking at some pictures of
Greg now. Did you know him before
you scored that heart of his?
DAVE
No. No, I didn't.
MALE HOST
Well, it's too bad you didn't,
because by all accounts, Greg was
a pretty great guy. Did you know
he was on his way to a charity
event when he got into the
accident that got you your new
heart?
DAVE
No, they don't tell you anything.
FEMALE HOST
Apparently, Greg was very active
in raising money for children with
MS. He was also an avid hiker.
DAVE
That's wonderful.
FEMALE HOST
Do you do charity work?
DAVE
I give my daughter canned goods
for her annual school food drive.
MALE HOST
Do you notice a difference living
with Greg's heart? Do you feel
more charitable?
DAVE
Not really...
MALE HOST
You don't find yourself giving out
more spare change or anything?
FEMALE HOST
Do you feel like you have to carry
on Greg's work now that you have
his heart beating inside your
body? Does that put extra
pressure on you?
DAVE
To be honest, I don't think of it
as Greg's heart. Calling it that
seems kind of weird.
MALE HOST
Of course. I'm sure to you he
could be any dead man.
DAVE
It's not that. I'm very grateful
for the donation... And for the
chance to see my kids grow up.
FEMALE HOST
Considering that, is it hard that
you will never be able to thank
the dead man?
DAVE
(trying to stay calm)
Well, of course I wish I could
thank him.
FEMALE HOST
You may not be able to thank Greg
in person, but you can thank those
who were close to him. Joining us
via satellite is Greg's widow
Megan Halton.
A box pops up with MEGAN HALTON. MEGAN is a small,
dignified woman, who looks like she has done nothing but
weep for the past few weeks. She is doing her best to
hold it together.
CHRYON: Megan Halton, Wife of Dead Man Whose Heart Dave
Received
DAVE looks horrified.
FEMALE HOST (CONT'D)
Welcome, Megan. Thank you for
being here.
MEGAN nods meekly.
MALE HOST
But we're very glad you could join
us because a man named Dave
Gulbeck has something to say to
you.
(to DAVE)
Dave?
DAVE looks like he wants to run off the set and hide in a
hole.
FEMALE HOST
It's okay, Dave. Go on, say it.
Tell Greg's widow how thankful you
are for her dead husband's heart.
DAVE recomposes himself.
DAVE
Thank you. For your sacrifice.
I'm very grateful.
Short pause.
FEMALE HOST
(prodding Dave)
For the heart?
DAVE
For the heart. Yes.
MEGAN
You're welcome.
Short pause.
MALE HOST
Wow. A truly powerful moment.
DAVE looks like he wants to kill himself.
FEMALE HOST
That's all the time we have for
medical miracles segment today.
MALE HOST
But stick around, because after
the break, we're going to be
throwing knives at amateur child
magicians.
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