The Publicist Book One and Two by Christina George Read Free Book Online

show—or so everyone thought. Phil went to the studio head and pitched them a new version of the show. During a time when the studio’s desperately needed new shows, Phil knew his idea would at least get heard. It was a wild shot in the dark, but these types of risks were what he was known for. He pitched them a show wherein the widow would come back and be partnered with a woman. Phil envisioned an edgy show that dealt with women’s issues, crime fighting, and a bitter partner who was getting over the death of her husband and desperately needed to bury herself in her work. At first, the show idea was dismissed. The only female cop anyone had ever seen was Angie Dickinson, and despite the show’s success, studio execs weren’t known to be risk takers. But Phil kept pushing, and finally he got their approval. The show, now renamed Criminal Pursuit , ran for another seven seasons and dealt with all sorts of issues including women’s rights in the workplace and sexual discrimination.
    The show starred two up-and-coming actresses: Leslie Warren, who was part of the original husband/wife team, and Melanie Brooks, who filled the bill of the sassy, single sidekick very well. Together, they were a strong duo with loads of chemistry and a show high profile enough to capture at least a biweekly mention in the trades. After Criminal Pursuit was canceled, the women went their separate ways. It was rumored that Melanie was gay, but her sexual exploits with male producers, co-stars, and the occasional studio head quickly squelched those rumors. Leslie was the polar opposite. She was married with three small children at home and a solid career divided between Hollywood and Broadway. The women drifted apart after the show ended. But now, twenty-five years after the groundbreaking program had aired, the studio that now owned the old episodes planned to release them to the public on DVD in a newly formatted edition. Phil was thrilled that his old show was being given this opportunity. He hadn’t done much since Criminal Pursuit had ended, and he longed to relive his Hollywood heydays. When Phil got word that the show was being put out on DVD, he quickly went to work writing his memoirs, calling it Criminal Pursuit: The Show, the Women, the Legend . When MD signed Phil, Edward wanted to change the name. He remembered the show but felt the term “legend” was a bit off the mark. Phil threatened to pull the book if the title was changed, and since one of MD’s largest shareholders was Phil’s nephew, Edward gave in and gave the book to Bernie, figuring Mac would walk if he gave him a title that could very well sink into obscurity.
    When Kate heard about this book, she rolled her eyes. The biggest problem with a twenty-five year old show is that those who remembered it didn’t care, and those who could be prime buying markets wouldn’t know the show from Adam. Because of a syndication deal gone bad, the show was pulled out of circulation years ago. So, unlike a Lucy episode or Gilligan’s Island , you couldn’t find it anywhere—not even on YouTube . Kate knew this wouldn’t bode well for the book, so she decided to make the focus less on the show and more on the message of the show: Women in the workplace. After considerable hours watching the old episodes, Kate discovered that many of the issues still facing women today were ones the show dealt with. It wasn’t a huge hook but it would be a good start. The next thing Kate had to do was coordinate with the studio, Central Broadcasting Company ( CBC ), to make sure the timing for the DVD release and book were in sync. Dealing with the studio had been a nightmare. The seemingly twelve-year-old they assigned to this project had no clue what he was doing, and Kate had flown out to Los Angeles more times than she cared to remember to discuss the bicoastal launch and pairing of the book and DVD. Bernie was nowhere to be found during this process, something that didn’t surprise Kate a