MUSIC: Maurice Ravel "Daphnis et Chloe" (Suite no. 2)

SUPERIMPOSE CAPTION:
              AMELIA EARHART
              THE MAGIC, THE MYSTERY, THE MAJESTY
              A History Channel Special Presentation

                      NARRATOR
          Amelia Earhart... the
          magic... the mystery... the
          majesty. We don't have time
          for any exposition, so let's
          just say that Amelia Earhart
          was not born, did not grow up
          and had no formative
          experiences.

MUSIC AND PICTURE fade out. FADE UP on:

ART: BADLY TRACED DRAWING of Amelia's Lockheed Elektra in flight.

                      NARRATOR
          She began her world-wide
          flight in Oakland,
          California...

IMAGE: A CALENDAR

                      NARRATOR
          ...on May 20, 1937...

ART: MAP OF TEXAS

                      NARRATOR
          ...and disappeared off the
          coast of Fiji...

IMAGE: THE NUMBER "1"

                      NARRATOR
          ...one hour later.

FADE OUT. FADE UP on BIG-EYED ALIENS in the foreground of an airplane hangar. Behind them is a FLYING SAUCER.

                      NARRATOR
          Some say aliens abducted her!

DIAGONAL WIPE TO: The same hangar, but with the ALIENS back a little further, looking sullen.

                      NARRATOR
          Some say...NOT aliens!

FADE OUT. FADE UP on ART: BADLY TRACED DRAWING of Amelia Earhart.

                      NARRATOR
          Will we ever find that
          tragic, truculent,
          munificent... um... her
          plane, the uh... what was it,
          a Lockheed?... uh... um....

TITLE: THE END

                      NARRATOR
          The end.

Cut to a TV monitor, playing the segment we just saw. It's a television executive's office, somewhere high above New York City. An EXECUTIVE sits behind a swanky desk. Before him is the PRODUCER of the segment they just watched.

                      EXECUTIVE
               (impressed)
          Wow... That was really,
          really good.

                      PRODUCER
          Thank you.

                      EXECUTIVE
          That is EXACTLY what we're
          looking for at this network.
          Terse, yet well-paced. You
          know? I wish more of our
          producers did work like this.

                      PRODUCER
          Well, thanks a lot.

                      EXECUTIVE
          Terrific. You did fact-check
          it, right? Double-check the
          dates and places?

                      PRODUCER
          Oh, sure. I think so.

                      EXECUTIVE
          Great. Man, that just flew
          by, didn't it? How long was
          that?

                      PRODUCER
          That was, uh, roughly, ooh -
          sixty seconds.

                      EXECUTIVE
          Sixty seconds?... Well...
          That DID fly by. Of course
          it's a little short for a
          one-hour program.

                      PRODUCER
          Hour?

                      EXECUTIVE
          Yeah, normally for the one-
          hour programs we need fifty-
          two minutes of material. Any
          ideas on filler?

                      PRODUCER
               (a long pause)
          Well we've got some old 78s.

                      EXECUTIVE
          Good.

                      PRODUCER
          Yeah, we've got a few Edison
          Diamond Discs. They're out of
          copyright. No one'll notice.
          Some tangos, foxtrots - oh,
          and some Caruso. God, he
          could sing.

                      EXECUTIVE
          Damn right. That's all public
          domain?

                      PRODUCER
          Yep.

                      EXECUTIVE
          Terrific. Save a little money
          there. Hey, by the way - just
          between you and me - how much
          did this segment cost,
          really?

                      PRODUCER
          Well -

                      EXECUTIVE
          Cuz I know we budgeted two
          hundred thousand, and it's
          all been accounted for, but,
          you know - confidentially -
          how much did you spend?

                      PRODUCER
          Well I couldn't really -

                      EXECUTIVE
          Ballpark.

                      PRODUCER
               (a pause)
          Eighty.

                      EXECUTIVE
               (on the sly)
          Well good for you. Heh, heh.
          As long as the network's
          payin' for it, right?
               (winks)
          Hey, if you're looking for a
          good place to invest that
          other one hundred and twenty
          thousand, I spotted a couple
          of good leads in the S&P -

                      PRODUCER
          No, no.

                      EXECUTIVE
          Hm?

                      PRODUCER
          Not eighty thousand. Eighty.

                      EXECUTIVE
          Eighty DOLLARS?

                      PRODUCER
               (looks at his shoes)
          My kid's drama class built
          the sets, and uh... I traced
          the pictures out of an
          encyclopedia.

                      EXECUTIVE
               (slowly dawning)
          Oh. My. God. That's the way
          it's done. I mean, it's
          whatever you can get away
          with, right? That's what it's
          all about, isn't it? Oh, my
          friend - you have DONE it!

                      PRODUCER
          I'm glad you approve.

                      EXECUTIVE
          Approve, hell! I ream this
          network every day! You should
          see my expense accounts! Last
          year I expensed an Olympic-
          size pool and they didn't
          catch it. Screw 'em, you
          know? Just screw 'em.

                      PRODUCER
          I have to say it feels good
          to get that off my chest. I
          was feeling pretty guilty
          about it.

                      EXECUTIVE
          No! Don't. Don't...Well, do.
          I mean it's good that you
          feel guilty. But don't.

                      PRODUCER
               (getting up to leave)
          Thanks for your support.

                      EXECUTIVE
          No problem. Hey, by the way -
          you got that money in a
          numbered account?

                      PRODUCER
          Yes.

The executive pulls out a gun and shoots the producer.

                      EXECUTIVE
               (to the intercom)
          Norene, have someone search
          his house and see if we can't
          get the numbers on that
          account.

                      NORENE
               (voice-over)
          Yes sir.

                      EXECUTIVE
          And, uh, call the usual
          people about the body.
          (Sigh) Whew, what a
          business.

END.