Blue Skies of Bondi

"You know it's not the '80s anymore, right?"

Vic Kline, the head of ABF Television, couldn't remove the sarcasm from his face. There was a reason he was known throughout the industry as "Vic De-Kline"; he seemingly found every excuse possible to reject a pitch for a new show. Yet Michael Macquarie would not be deterred.

"Some things are timeless, mate. Some things will always be popular. Beauty. Romance. Sport. They'll never go out of style."

The head of First Fleet Television leapt out of his seat. "The same thing that made this show successful in my country will make it work in yours. It doesn't matter if they're on the coasts or in the middle of the country. This is about universal dreams, mate!"

"Universal dreams."

"Yes, mate! Sun. Sex. Glamour. Glory. The things that humans live for. The things that humans die for."

Vic shook his head. "Look, I don't think this country wants any more played-out Crocodile Dundee bullshit, OK?"

"This is not played-out Crocodile Dundee bullshit, mate. This is what the world wants...this is what your viewers want."

Michael pulled a manila envelope from his briefcase and showed Vic a photo.

"Oh my," said Vic. "She is...very impressive."

"Yes...and if you put this show on ABF, I guarantee you, America will fall in love with her."

Vic sighed. "I don't know, man. I mean, we have a whole lot of women who look just like her right here."

"But none with her charisma, none with her charm. Nobody else comes close."

"I don't know...I don't think I can get there, Mike."

"OK. Well, at least I tried."

Michael rose, shook Vic's hand and turned to leave. He stopped right before his fingers touched the doorknob.

"Wait a minute."

"Yeah?"

"Didn't you say that ABF has the most diverse group of viewers in America?"

"Oh, of course. No other network in this country can touch us. Every group, every color, every ethnicity watches our shit."

"Well...they have fantasies too, don't they?"

"What do you mean?"

--

"A beautiful place you've got here!"

"Thanks. It's all right."

As they sat on the deck of Brian Beckett's South Beach home, Michael was struck by his humility and decency. For such a young man, Michael thought, he seems to have the wisdom of a man decades older.

It had been a couple of years since Brian had retired from the Miami Dolphins at the age of 23; the running back was just a few months into a new five-year, $30 million contract when a brutal hit during a game with the Arizona Cardinals left him with a severe concussion and a desire to never play football again. His decision to quit the game stunned his former teammates and his family and friends back in Liberty City, but as he famously told Miami Herald sportswriter Rex Steiger, "Dude, I wanna eat vegetables, not become one!"

Brian took acting lessons and tried to break into Hollywood, but too many decision-makers seemed to think he was only good for breaking in, offering him an endless series of robber/hoodlum/gangbanger roles that destroyed his soul. He wanted to do something with dignity, with respect, with class.

A soap opera didn't seem to fit the bill.

"Well, let's get right to business, mate. What do you think of the idea?"

"You know, I gotta admit, it is a little bit corny."

"Well..."

"But I like it."

Michael sighed with relief.

"I do have to ask, though: do you think that's realistic? He made all this money off an elevator sensor?"

"Why, yes. I don't know why they don't have such a thing in real life. You know, you just press your foot on a little reader on the floor, and it stops the doors from slamming shut and chopping your bits off!"

"Ouch."

"Yeah, I know. Maybe we should call it that in the script. The Anti-Ouch."

"Maybe not."

"Oh, you're probably right, mate."

Michael laughed. "Well, I just hope this works out for you and for me."

"And for T!"

"Yes, that's right. For T. She is so great--thanks for sending me those episodes."

"You're welcome. She's really special, isn't she?"

"Yes...but how does she feel about this? I mean, it might be a little controversial."

"Well, I haven't talked to her yet about it. But I'm sure she'll go for it. I mean, you know what they say...controversy creates cash!"

"I never heard that one before."

"Well, you did just now," said Michael with a chuckle.

--

"I don't have a problem with it...but is this guy any good? As an actor, I mean. I know he's very handsome, but..."

"They can't all be Jack Nicholson, my dear."

Taryn McCormack--T-Mac, as some of the tabloids annoyingly nicknamed her--stared at Brian's photo as she sat across the table from Michael in her Darling Point living room. He has great lips, she thought to herself. Probably a good kisser, if nothing else.

"You've got to understand, my dear: America is fascinated by him. People still wonder why he left football. And look at that face! Women here will swoon over him, my dear. I can see you're already doing so--you haven't taken your eyes off of him!"

Taryn blushed.

"This is a mutually assured benefit. He will make you a star in America, and you will make him a star in Australia."

"You think so?" Taryn replied, her green eyes sparkling.

"I know so, my dear."

"Wow. You know I need that, Mike."

"I know."

"I need Broadway. I've needed it since I was a little girl."

"It's your dream."

"It's not a dream, Mike. It's a vision. It got me through some of the toughest times in my life. It got me through NIDA. It's a vision...I just hope he can help me realize this vision."

"Rest assured, my dear, he will."

--

Michael arraigned a chemistry test between Brian and Taryn, just to make sure that things would work out the way he had imagined. The two actors would just have to read a few lines together in a room with Michael and a few members of the soap opera's production and writing staff.

The moment Brian entered the room, Taryn could not stop staring. She could not believe how powerfully built he was in person; between the size of his shoulders, the smoothness of his complexion, the deep brown color of his eyes, and the subtle power of his voice, she was blown away. She remained professional, but she was on fire.

Brian also felt something strong about Taryn. He was taken by the glow of her long, honey-blonde hair, her flawlessly tanned skin, her cute upturned nose. This was a really special woman, he thought to himself.

The lines were little more than a flirtatious goodbye conversation following a date between their characters, but as Taryn told Brian she'd see him later, she suddenly leaned over and gave him a decidedly unscripted kiss. Brian was stunned but did not resist, lost in the softness of her lips.

"So manly," he heard her whisper.

"What did you say?"

"Oh, I'm from Manly, in New South Wales. You're from Miami, right?"

--

Michael smiled as he read the cover story in Variety.

"A few months back, it seemed like a crazy idea: hiring football quitter Brian Beckett to appear as a guest star on the first episodes of the Aussie soap opera 'Blue Skies of Bondi' to air in the United States,' wrote reporter Rhonda McDowell. "However, the gambit by First Fleet Television head Michael Macquarie has paid off handsomely: 'Blue Skies of Bondi' is now the highest-rated program on ABF, while continuing to dominate Down Under. Taryn McCormack (who plays man-hungry surfing superstar Patricia Sullivan) is now being considered for TV roles in the US, while Beckett (who plays Rod Pierce, an American billionaire who buys a mansion near Bondi Beach and falls for Patricia after meeting her at one of his celebrity-packed parties) has become quite the sex symbol in Sydney."

"Well, what do you know," Michael muttered to himself.

That evening, Brian and Taryn would film their first love scene together on a closed set, with only a director and a handful of crew members present. When the director yelled cut, Brian and Taryn just kept on going.

Days later, footage of the boiling-hot love scene was leaked online. Michael arranged a conference call with his two stars, telling them not to talk to the press, and not to be embarrassed either.

"What are we gonna do?" asked Taryn.

"I'll tell you what you should do," replied Michael. "Watch it again, because both of you are now famous as fuck!"