Shoot The Moon

PILOT EPISODE 001: “Midnight, The Stars and You” HOLLYWOODLAND, 1930. MABEL BRANT, 60s, sits alone in the living room of her boarding house, knitting intently to the radio while dandy announcer, BENEDICT LASLOW, gives an enthralling play-by-play of the Silver Screen Gods and Goddesses arriving at Grauman’s in their gilded chariots to LUNAR STUDIOS’ premiere of Shoot The Moon. The elderly busy body is soon caught off guard by a disturbance in her backyard and, against better instincts, goes to investigate. With lantern in tow, Mabel journeys through the dark yard until stumbling upon studio bit player and boarder, EDGAR DEWITT, standing with his back to her dressed in full tuxedo. As Mabel accosts Edgar for missing curfew, she panics when her lantern reveals his waxy, petrified, mannequin corpse. Back at Grauman’s, troubled Lunar Studios stars, MIRIAM LAWFORD, EMILIO SANTO DOMINGO (accompanied by scandalous socialite and movie producer LORELEI NOVELLO), WESTMORELAND BRINKLEY, DOROTHY PARKS, and LITTLE LYDIA RONSON, put on shiny, brave faces as their leading man, CHARLIE STORM, 30s, fails to arrive for the red carpet revelry. Inside, German, billionaire and studio head, OTTO LYDECKER, drunkenly contemplates terminating Charlie’s contract, forcing longtime friend and American lawyer, WALDO REID, to call the reckless actor out. But, Charlie’s known insolence and thirst for violence has Waldo spooked. Across the street DETECTIVE DOUGLAS CRAINE plays undercover waiter, VICTOR WINTERS, 30s, at the Roosevelt Hotel during an all night stakeout. In Room 928, Douglas, DETECTIVES SID DAVIES and MALLORY CARTER, and UNUNIFORMED COPS run an undercover surveillance operation at Grauman’s in response to a psychopath’s riddle, threatening murder against America’s Biggest Star. Up in the Hills, Charlie bumbles between closets dressing for the premiere, when the telephone rings. At first, the MYSTERIOUS CALLER gets mistaken for an old lover, but as the conversation prolongs, disturbing facts and revelations about Charlie’s sordid past leave the actor unsettled. He hangs up, more unhinged than before and has a quick smoke in his lounge before deciding how to dispose of the dead prostitute spinning from his rafters. Later, as the Stars settle in their seats in the Auditorium, Dorothy Parks and the GOLDEN HARPIES perform a medley onstage. While in the Projectionist Booth, Otto bullies a plucky PROJECTIONIST into running the film, who tries to warn the eccentric mogul about the film’s tampering. But, the studio head pays no heed. After Miriam’s comical gaffe during a speech with her invisible co-star Charlie, she’s lowered under the stage as the theatre lights dim and the film starts rolling. Back in the suite, Detective Davies receives a disturbing report leaving him so distressed, he punches a hole in the wall. Douglas and Detective Carter drive over to Culver City to investigate a disturbance at the Brant Boarding House. Inside, they’re met by crooked LAPD DETECTIVES DUTCH BOY and BLOOM, two cogs in the machine of the underworld, kept inline by recluse mobster LONNIE “NO NOSE” DELORCA. Mabel screams uncontrollably as two MEDICS try to sedate the old woman as anguished husband HERMAN BRANT looks on helpless. Dutch Boy leads Douglas and Detective Carter into the backyard, where the body of Edgar DeWitt stands. Meanwhile, panic washes over the auditorium at Grauman’s in the middle of Shoot The Moon when a pivotal scene between Charlie and Miriam is interrupted by spliced footage of a masked entity: THE MANNEQUIN KILLER. Surrounded by disemboweled mannequins, title cards with a jarring message threaten the audience, as he plans to unleash his greatest creation upon the world. Enraged, mortified, and deeply worried celebrities quickly evacuate the auditorium. On their way back to the Roosevelt, Douglas and Detective Carter are halted by a bloodied WAITRESS standing in the middle of the street. She hobbles over, waving the two lawmen down, and leads them onto the scene of a gruesome massacre inside DELILAH’S DINER. An opulent after party at Hotel Elysium quells all fears of the Hollywood Elite, as the flow of illegal booze erases all cares and Waldo pays off loose lips. ARCHIE FONTAINE & THE CRYSTAL FOUNTAIN ORCHESTRA keep the crowd swinging into the night until the fashionably late entrance of Lunar Studios’ platinum blonde ingenue, Miriam Lawford, halts the fun and all eyes are set on her. Waldo hops on stage, to rouse the party-goers as two DELIVERY MEN set a large gift box with a fat, blue velvet bow at the foot of the stage. After Miriam wades through the crowd greeting her adoring peers, she reaches the stage and unwraps the box, revealing a waxy, pristine statue of her co-star Charlie. As rapturous applause echoes throughout the ballroom, PHOTOGRAPHERS egg Miriam on to ‘kiss’ the mannequin. Never one to shy away from a photo op, the starlet willingly makes out with the lifelike statue until ... it kisses back.