Small Town News: KPVM Pahrump (2021) s01e01 Episode Script
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1
(sighs)
-Do I got any hairs out of place? -(phones ringing)
Alright, so, um
♪
In 1997,
I went to a buddy of mine,
said, "Hey, I got-- I got an idea.
I'm gonna build a TV station."
And he thought, "Hey, this is,
you know, really a good idea."
And then I told him it was in the middle of the desert
out in Nevada.
(laughs) He actually said, "What the fuck are you thinking?"
Was his exact words.
(laughs)
It just comes down to persistence.
This is really the net result
of 23 years of hard work.
(news theme playing)
♪
♪
Vern: We never did build
the, uh, the hangar for the, the helicopter.
The helicopter right now is at the dealership.
It's waiting for me to come and get it. (laughs)
Everything I did was HKU.
You know, it was Hard Knocks University.
I set my mind to this.
That just makes me out to be who I am,
and that's Vern.
Eunette: I like the Paul Mitchell.
Deanna: You can't spray hairspray
in with Eunette 'cause it'll ruin her hair.
Eunette: No! I don't mind at all. I like the way it smells.
Ubaldo: Okay, girls, we gotta go! Three minutes!
♪
You know we have no signal, right?
-What? -I don't even think I-- Did I label that correctly?
I don't know if I labeled the accident thing an accident.
-Ubaldo: This fucking thing -I'm just gonna ad lib it.
-Why are we not starting? -Ubaldo: This plug never stays inside the port.
Deanna: RJ? I need scripts printed out!
If you're running late, just do the first segment short, okay?
Okay, I haven't read any of the scripts, just so you know.
-Ubaldo: Good enough. You girls ready? -Deanna: Yeah.
As ready as I'm gonna be.
They just don't want big words and official words anymore.
Eunette: I took out "court concurs," and I said "agreed."
Ubaldo: Ten seconds till tease!
-Eunette: That's how I talk. -Deanna: No, I know. I know you talk like that.
-And I concur with that though as well. -Five, four, three, two!
News 25 starts now.
Well, listen up, fellow foodies.
A new restaurant has opened in town.
Um, yeah, we have, uh, tacos
Deanna: Donkey basketball was held Friday night.
Teams included the Badonkadonks.
I need to do a Mr. Hunk of Pahrump pageant.
-Judge: What is your shoe size? -It's a 12.5.
(cheering)
Deanna: Local Pahrump resident Heidi Fleiss
lost three of her macaws last night.
Today, we are joined with a very special guest, Billy the goat.
Deanna: The world-famous Chicken Ranch brothel is for sale.
Woman: We have a swimming pool. We even do have a dungeon.
Deanna: The birthday celebration was at the Pahrump Nugget
for Dennis Hof, and was attended by
former porn star Ron Jeremy.
What's your New Year's Resolution?
To start walking.
To find a girl that really loves me.
Keep a low profile.
Deanna: You're on TV right now. How low profile is that?
(laughs)
We're standing in front of the home of Barbara Bell.
She says that you can see aliens right here.
I've seen six to eight extra-terrestrial beings or Martians
or whatever you wanna call 'em.
When I do go to sleep at night,
they're making love to me. They're close to me.
I'm Deanna O'Donnell for News 25.
Man: Thirty-five until Deanna!
-Hey, Vern. -So the next time you shoot her, go ahead and open up the iris
a little bit more on the camera.
Fifteen!
♪
-Alright. Yep. -Woman: Thanks, Henry.
-He's so cooperative. -Vern: You can go ahead and pet him. Here.
I'd like to welcome you to Pahrump and KPVM TV.
Alright, here we go. To the camera.
Welcome to Pahrump.
Three, two Welcome to Pahrump.
Welcome to Pahrump!
While we're in the break here, you wanna just discuss
what you wanted to do back here?
I'm Vernon Van Winkle with KPVM Television.
I'm the owner and CEO.
And remind me to order some more (indistinct). Yours look good.
She always takes the good one.
Vern: We've been delivering news
five days a week and bringing in
stories that are not
manifested--
Would that be the correct word? Manifested?
Manifested, manifest, manifested? Is that
Manifested. Okay. So,
not manifested on the major networks.
We're doing 23 years of news
in rural Nevada.
Now, we're gonna expand
into the Vegas marketplace. Very exciting.
Can we get, like, news done? Anybody?
Vern: Yeah, I'm ready. I'm watching you. We're ready for you.
So, the intensiveness of the news,
it's amazing because when you look at what they spend
in a metropolitan market to do exactly what we do,
it doesn't even compare.
But, we're coming back, so here we go.
In today's great computer deals, tech tip Josh Osborne
looks at the pros and cons of buying a laptop.
♪
-Ubaldo: One minute! -See? There you go.
It's kinda like a pitch and catch.
She pitches it,
and he catches it, and throws it out,
throws it back to her.
That's exactly what we do.
He's the pitcher, and I'm the catcher.
(laughs)
Okay. Are we ready? I just wanna make sure that
that weird lipstick that we got me isn't
It tends to put like a ring around your mouth hole.
-(interviewer speaking) -Um
She got me a permanent lipstick--
My daughter insists all the time that I need it
'cause she says I have no lips and it's so embarrassing.
No, I have to accept how I look. (laughs)
I'm Deanna O'Donnell, and I am the news director,
and also the assistant manager of the station.
That was a really good show, guys!
I report, I anchor,
write, I do camera work.
We have to move all the way over here now.
You know what? Right here! This works right here.
Do you do this at a crime scene?
Deanna: I listen to the scanner, I go to all the spot news.
I'm actually 24/7. I do tours
-with the journalism class, and I -(flies buzzing)
you know, work with the kids as much as I can.
I try to get rid of flies.
I do the dishes and I vacuum,
and I feed the chickens and the-- that dog.
(panting)
I love doing the news
because it changes every single day,
so, to me, that's exciting every day.
It's like an addiction.
-(siren wails) -What do you have? Do you have anything good?
Can you arrest a bunch of people for me
so I can have something good?
I'm sure something will happen.
Somebody was like texting me that
these dogs were like eating this dead body,
and the guy let, like, his wife be dead
in the house for a while, and the dog started eating 'em,
and he was neglecting the dogs or something like that.
-That was a long time ago. -I know, but why did they bring it up to me the other day?
Maybe they called you because there was another death,
and it wasn't found for a while,
and the dog was eating her to stay alive.
-Oh, there's a new one? -Yeah.
What else do I do?
I don't know. I do a bunch of things.
I also do sales, and I complain
to my bosses and harass them.
I try to keep Vern from talking about Trump.
Right here on my wall. See this right here?
It says it right here. "Fight the fake news." Right there.
And then somebody stole my thing that said,
"Fox is fake news" out of my newsroom.
(laughs)
Alright, everything you need to know
for your health coming up after this break.
You guys got 1:35.
-(with lisp): Did I tell you about my teeth? -Your what?
The two teeth right here are really loose.
Oh yeah, you did!
Deanna: And so we're trying to figure out
how we're gonna get the money.
I have insurance, but the copay is $10,000.
-Ubaldo: One minute! -I was considering
that I might go down to the Chicken Ranch and work down there,
and that that's how I could earn the money.
-'Cause you know it's legal. -All money isn't good money. No, no.
-All money is good money because then I get my teeth fixed. -Mm-mmm.
Mm-mmm. For that job
-you're doing, you don't really need-- -Ubaldo: Thirty!
-What? -Nothing.
-Yeah, I know they like it when you don't have teeth. -Ubaldo: Five,
-four, three, two! -So, I'm just saying
-Alright. I'm Deanna O'Donnell. -And I'm Eunette.
I am Eunette Gentry, and I am
an anchor reporter here at KPVM News.
I'm genuinely happy, but just as a side note,
I have resting smile face.
Some others have resting "B" face.
My default is smiling.
Are you doing vegan now?
Well, I always did like Monday through Friday.
Like, today's National Pastrami Day. I have to comply.
I do the 80-20. Eighty percent of the time plant-based.
-Don't judge me the rest of the time. -Right. Okay.
I do 80% meat,
-and the rest of it wine. -(laughs)
Eunette: Tuesdays, I do the court report
where I'm investigating and writing
about crime, but, you know,
to have my own talk show,
that would be the ultimate fantasy.
Everyone starts somewhere, you know, and will end up at
a medium-sized station, or a larger station,
but joy is contentment
in doing what you love no matter where you are,
and right now, I'm joyful.
Ubaldo: Five, four,
three, two, one!
-Alright, I'm Deanna. -And I'm Eunette.
-Good night. -And from all of us here, thank you and good night.
(news theme playing)
-You said 15. Fifteen! -(grumbles)
(whirring)
(clucking)
-Hey! -(clucking)
Come here.
(grunts)
I built this station from the ground up.
♪
I set up goals,
and a lot of people told me I couldn't do it.
But I did.
This is kinda like my little farm.
Looks like, uh
looks like I may have lost a bird.
I think it just comes down, really, to heroes.
Yeah. So, let's start probably
Jason Statham.
He's a guy who basically started in acting
from nothing to where he is today.
Deepak Choka-- Chopa.
Deepak Choka. Is that-- I probably am butchering that.
Be nice to me. Deepak
I learned a lot.
Freddie Mercury. He took the time to develop himself,
regardless of his beliefs,
regardless of his sexual preferences,
regardless of anything.
And that's why I am who I am today.
That's why I'm a Republican.
If you wanna be somebody in life,
you gotta get out and do it yourself.
(phone ringing)
Forgot the blackened-- or they wouldn't do the blackened.
Didn't they put any napkins in here?
-Ronda: They're in my lap. -May I have one?
-Just I need to do like this. -I didn't think about it.
-Ronda: Okay. -Okay?
I'm just trying to figure out Vegas.
Alright.
-If you go get the antenna and bring it back here -Okay.
nothing is scheduled Saturday. Wide open.
Vern: My beautiful wife Ronda is
key to my success.
Once we have the antenna up on the tower
and get the transmitter up there, we're gonna start
being charged rent up there.
So we're looking at, I don't know,
three to five thousand dollars a month in expenses.
-Okay. -My concern is the immediate
money going out.
-Yeah, we-- -Because the station is barely sustaining itself
-Right. -as it is.
And we still haven't figured out
what programming we're gonna do.
You know we have 20-- channel 25
dot one through seven, which is a total of seven channels.
So, I'm just looking at getting
all of that programming done.
Yeah.
KPVM has so much going on right now
that without Ronda, we could not make this expansion.
She's there with me every step of the way.
We're lovers, and we're very deep lovers,
so together, it's a team.
Look at this. They gave me a lot of broccoli. I like that.
I know, and I hate broccoli.
-Oh, it's the best. -Yuck.
So I'm Ronda Van Winkle. I'm Vice President
of KPVM Television.
When I started at the station though,
I was part of a tourism show.
-Welcome to tourist time! -Welcome to tourist time!
I wonder how old this thing is. Anybody know how old
this tractor is? Nobody knows.
(piano playing)
When Vern and I were first getting together,
we were really more like friends
'cause we worked together all the time.
One day, he called me over
to a restaurant 'cause he needed a file.
And so I brought the file to him,
and he told me that his wife,
his current wife at the time, was leaving him.
What's love for-- ♪
For ♪
So, during those transitions,
we started talking a lot,
and I started to realize
maybe I've got a crush on Vern.
Can we make this feeling last ♪
Forever? ♪
I did wanna be famous so bad at one time.
I'm gonna cry. That's how much I wanted it. (laughs)
So-- Sorry! Now I'm getting emotional!
They become one ♪
I'm a singer and, growing up, I used to sing really well.
There are so many things going on at the station,
and I have so many responsibilities that
the dreams I have had, I pretty much just set aside.
The time has come to set you free ♪
Maybe when the station moves into Vegas,
there might be an opportunity
to go do more of what I wanna do
if I make it happen.
That's the difference between Vern and I.
Vern makes things happen.
I help him make things happen,
but he just decides, and he does it.
Sometimes I look at that and go, "How do you do that?"
How do you just say, "I'm going to do it"?
I will think of you ♪
(piano playing ends)
Deanna: Okay. (grunts)
-Right, you ready? -Eunette: Yeah.
Deanna: I'm gonna do a cleavage check, okay?
Because we've had so many girls, and I'm like, you need to check
and make sure that their boobs are properly covered. Sorry.
-I don't have any to hide. -She looks fine.
(laughs)
Eunette: I'm a little nervous
about shooting the news opener today.
We don't shoot them often.
Deanna: You're gonna hold it, and I want you
-to count to 10 each time. -Eunette: Okay.
Just do different ones every single time.
You can even do the hands crossed.
You can do this one. You can do this one. You can do this one.
-You girls ready? -I'm trying to get rid of her shadow under her chin.
Anyways, whatever.
Eunette's been here for a number of years. Like four years now.
-Literally count for 10 seconds. So we're gonna start again. -Eunette: Okay.
Deanna: She's very sweet and very kind to everybody.
I always try to take after her,
and I have a hard time with that. Um
What is that kind of
Where you have to frame your words
and make it sound lovely and everything like that? (laughs)
I'm super blunt, so we have a way different
personality with that whole thing.
I want you to come out of one thing, like snap.
-Alright. -But I want you to look right into
the shot for 10 seconds.
Three, two, one.
(news theme playing)
Vern: Do you feel like climbing today?
Janet: I'm having a feeling that we're running out of daylight.
You know, by the time we get down there,
-the sun's gonna be going down. -I know.
-Wait and do it tomorrow? -Vern: Okay.
I'm Janet, and I'm the tower climber.
I'm also an account executive here at KPVM.
I used to be an ironworker,
and I was the first woman that was in the air in the '70s.
I-I-I've gotta get this done.
Janet: Working with Vern,
it's a little bit like
spaghetti in a way. (laughs)
You have to pin him down,
get him focused.
Vern: Siri, is there any storms
in the area?
Or lightning today or tomorrow?
Siri: I can only answer one weather fact at a t--
Is there any lightning storms in Las Vegas tonight?
-Siri: I can only answer-- -Fucking Siri.
Deanna: RJ, can we go through these stories?
I asked Sharon Wehrly about
the dog shooting update yesterday,
and she doesn't have it, so I'm gonna call.
And we have, um,
like a continuing Miss Senior Golden Years.
There's a senior beauty pageant that's happening soon,
-and then we have the new ones for tomorrow. -Okay.
I think we're almost done though, right?
-Yeah, this is the last one. -That's the last one.
RJ: Well, my name is RJ Camacho.
I work as the editor for KPVM TV.
I do, in fact, love
working here, albeit stressful.
So far, no one's been around to see me do this,
but I guess now they're gonna know 'cause I'm about to say it,
but every now and then, I'll, like,
hit my hands on the desk and I'll be like,
"Yes! I got an idea!"
And then, I'll put that idea to work.
We had this story
regarding wild horses being around in Pahrump.
So, when Deanna spoke about
the horse accident during the wild horse story,
I would put a white flash
for when I brought it back to the horse story. Like,
"Oh yeah. That happened." Like a flashback
in some sort of movie or something.
♪
It was probably
the best point for my creativity.
When I think about the future of my life,
it's usually just a blank slate.
What I would want to happen
in the future of my life is to just continue working here.
Eventually, you know, help my girlfriend,
her name's Rose. She's from Finland.
Help her to move out to America.
I was thinking about going to Finland for maybe a week
or three days to just visit her.
♪
Vern: Okay, we have some great news that I'm very excited about.
I have to share it with you.
We're going to Vegas. It's happening.
The antenna should be here tomorrow.
This is our current demographic
for the Vegas marketplace.
You can kinda really get a good picture
of where we are.
We need good programming that
Vegas people would want.
-Yes. -Vern: Some of the suggestions for channels,
a 24/7 cannabis channel.
Another suggestion
has been a 24/7 gay lifestyle channel.
And I wanna put right next door to it
a 24/7
Presidential channel.
Eunette: I actually have an idea for a show that could
seamlessly merge
the Pahrump Valley and Las Vegas Valley
in an infotainment-style show,
and focus on the commute between Las Vegas
and Pahrump and back and forth.
-We could call that show "The Commute." -(coughs)
Deanna: I have to get news done some time today,
so the pipe dream's we gotta finish up,
so that we actually don't look janky.
I'm not getting my court reports as it is,
so I don't know how much extra time that Eunette
has to do a show
-or any of the court-- -The court reports come every week,
-and we wanna get the show done, and -(RJ clears throat)
-(grumbling) -Deanna: I'm just gonna ask--
Vern: RJ, what are you upset about?
I have five stories to do. Five (indistinct).
Vern: Oh, RJ wants to get to work. He's not happy.
-Two of them were supposed to go yesterday! -(Vern speaking indistinctly)
-He wants to get to work. -No one listened to me!
-Vern: He wants to go to edit. -(chair bangs)
RJ's going to edit his thing.
I didn't know he was upset.
Woman: I've never seen RJ upset before.
-Oh, I have, many times. -Vern: I didn't know he was upset.
-Woman: He's stressing out. -He's been doing that for days.
Anything else? Uh, we're done.
(indistinct chatter)
-Deanna: This needs to stop. -RJ: People tell me shit late!
Deanna: It's not the end of the world.
You don't throw things around and cuss in a meeting.
-You need to calm down. -RJ: You always make it seem like it is!
-(slamming doors) -Deanna: Oh my god!
Oh my god.
You're gone.
Vern? Vern?
Vern: What happened?
Oh shit. I just fixed that.
Where's he at?
-Did you see which way he went? -Ma No, sorry.
-Vern: Do you know anything about why he got upset? -Huh?
-Do you know anything about why he got upset? -No.
-Have you heard anything at all? -No.
Is it just the normal everyday
situation between those two?
-No. -What kinda spaghetti you got there?
-Just spaghetti. -Yeah?
RJ!
RJ!
RJ!
Ronda: Would you say he has a reason
-to be frustrated about things? -Kip: Uh,
-no. -He has been catching a lot of flak--
Well, hold on. You're not even here. Let me ask him.
-Kip: No, uh -And I don't mean to be rude, but
But there hasn't been anything you've seen
that would actually, he would have
a reason to be upset in your opinion is my question.
-No. -Okay, that's all.
Just making sure.
Deanna: I noticed in the last week or so he is frustrated.
He's been making noises, like going (sighs) all the time.
But obviously today, he had enough of it.
Vern: We'll get through this. He's a wonderful young man,
and things will kinda move right along.
News never stands still. It has to go on.
Deanna: We're not saying that you missed a court report.
We're saying that the court reports have to be more detailed.
Eunette: You told me stop giving details!
-Deanna, listen. -Deanna: Okay.
I'm just trying to create content for Vegas.
-I don't wanna infringe on anything you're doing. -That's not what we're--
-It's something new. -I know.
Excuse me. I'm sorry. I just really wanna talk to her
Deanna: Okay, what I'm-- Okay.
Eunette: Listen to me. All I want to do
is what's best for the station and help it grow.
-Deanna: I know. -Eunette: And please don't attack
my work when I've never missed--
Deanna: I said, I need someone to sit inside
the actual court hearings and write down some--
-Eunette: So, Deanna -And that's a lot of your time.
She pisses me off. She can't wait like frigging five minutes
until I can find out why RJ's
beating up the station and screaming.
Eunette: It's not taking away from you. You are still in charge,
and I always do what you ask. I'm just trying
to create something in addition to that for the station.
Deanna: I know. It's just that we're trying to get this news as best we can.
I would like to discuss the court reports first
because that's actually airing
on our biggest-selling program that pays
for everybody's paycheck here, which is our news!
♪
-(interviewer speaking) -Vern: Yeah?
Uh
-(drilling) -I'm tired.
I'm pretty-- I'm pretty beat,
to be honest with you. I've been going for probably
60 hours.
This is the transmitter.
Gonna take it up to the site.
This is very important to me, so
I'm a workaholic. That's what they call me.
-(drilling) -This is it, you know what I mean?
The electrical's in. The cable's in.
I got the truck out there. It's ready to go.
You know, it's kind of a
It's pretty exciting. It's kinda hard to set in.
We're ready to go.
♪
-(rumbling) -Alright, alright, alright, alright.
Son of a bitch.
-No problem. -(clang, clattering)
Oh! That didn't feel right.
(grunting)
You think we lost any bolts?
-Nah, I just pulled that one out. -Janet: He pulled that one out.
♪
Vern: Beautiful city. Las Vegas, Nevada.
To get the signal into Las Vegas is king
because we don't earn money
without viewers.
This is the Mount Arden Peak.
KPVM's new home.
(metal clanging)
(chain rattling)
(laughs)
I have just arrived
(sighs)
(voice breaking): I just arrived
at the top of the tower.
-Ronda (on phone): What's wrong? -With the antenna. Nothing.
-I'm just happy. -(machine whirring)
Ronda: You're that happy?!
(both laugh)
Aww! That's so sweet.
Okay. Well then, I'm happy for you. (laughs)
But, but it is a big deal. It really is.
-Alright, well, I love you. I'll let you go. -Alright.
-It's a big accomplishment. Alright, bye-bye. -Okay.
-Okay. Love you, bye-bye. -Bye-bye.
(machine humming)
It's an accomplishment.
♪
Yeah, I'm hoping that UPS didn't damage that antenna.
I don't think they did. It looks pretty clean.
(clang)
Janet: I'm sorry.
Vern: Think big!
I think big! I'm excited!
I just wanna get it on.
Wait a minute. I just wanna turn it on. Wait a minute.
I just wanna turn this damn TV station on! (laughs)
So, we're gonna get it on. Look, look, look at this.
I gave him a shirt. He's wearing it.
(laughs)
I've got more people on board.
It's growing, one person at a time!
(both laugh)
♪
You know, I'm pushing the envelope. That's the way I'm built.
I think being in Las Vegas is thinking really big.
Don't think small, think big. Reach for the stars.
How you doing?
(Janet speaking)
We're gonna fire the transmitter up!
(Janet speaking)
Okay, here we go.
(machines whirring)
(bars and tone)
Alright, I got bars.
I mean, this is real.
I have a TV station
in the entertainment capital of the world.
You know? I have no idea how this happened.
I'm just a human being who breathes air every day, and
♪
2.6 million people will be able to see our broadcast.
-(drumming) -Pulling off the expansion
into Las Vegas is going to require more staff.
And, of course, new programming.
Each day costs money,
so I must make it happen as quickly as I possibly can.
Deanna: Coronavirus. Governor Steve Sisolak says that
all non-essential businesses
-in the state must close their doors. -Sisolak: If your business
brings groups of people together,
it should not be open.
Take this seriously!
Nothing's easy.
♪
(sighs)
-Do I got any hairs out of place? -(phones ringing)
Alright, so, um
♪
In 1997,
I went to a buddy of mine,
said, "Hey, I got-- I got an idea.
I'm gonna build a TV station."
And he thought, "Hey, this is,
you know, really a good idea."
And then I told him it was in the middle of the desert
out in Nevada.
(laughs) He actually said, "What the fuck are you thinking?"
Was his exact words.
(laughs)
It just comes down to persistence.
This is really the net result
of 23 years of hard work.
(news theme playing)
♪
♪
Vern: We never did build
the, uh, the hangar for the, the helicopter.
The helicopter right now is at the dealership.
It's waiting for me to come and get it. (laughs)
Everything I did was HKU.
You know, it was Hard Knocks University.
I set my mind to this.
That just makes me out to be who I am,
and that's Vern.
Eunette: I like the Paul Mitchell.
Deanna: You can't spray hairspray
in with Eunette 'cause it'll ruin her hair.
Eunette: No! I don't mind at all. I like the way it smells.
Ubaldo: Okay, girls, we gotta go! Three minutes!
♪
You know we have no signal, right?
-What? -I don't even think I-- Did I label that correctly?
I don't know if I labeled the accident thing an accident.
-Ubaldo: This fucking thing -I'm just gonna ad lib it.
-Why are we not starting? -Ubaldo: This plug never stays inside the port.
Deanna: RJ? I need scripts printed out!
If you're running late, just do the first segment short, okay?
Okay, I haven't read any of the scripts, just so you know.
-Ubaldo: Good enough. You girls ready? -Deanna: Yeah.
As ready as I'm gonna be.
They just don't want big words and official words anymore.
Eunette: I took out "court concurs," and I said "agreed."
Ubaldo: Ten seconds till tease!
-Eunette: That's how I talk. -Deanna: No, I know. I know you talk like that.
-And I concur with that though as well. -Five, four, three, two!
News 25 starts now.
Well, listen up, fellow foodies.
A new restaurant has opened in town.
Um, yeah, we have, uh, tacos
Deanna: Donkey basketball was held Friday night.
Teams included the Badonkadonks.
I need to do a Mr. Hunk of Pahrump pageant.
-Judge: What is your shoe size? -It's a 12.5.
(cheering)
Deanna: Local Pahrump resident Heidi Fleiss
lost three of her macaws last night.
Today, we are joined with a very special guest, Billy the goat.
Deanna: The world-famous Chicken Ranch brothel is for sale.
Woman: We have a swimming pool. We even do have a dungeon.
Deanna: The birthday celebration was at the Pahrump Nugget
for Dennis Hof, and was attended by
former porn star Ron Jeremy.
What's your New Year's Resolution?
To start walking.
To find a girl that really loves me.
Keep a low profile.
Deanna: You're on TV right now. How low profile is that?
(laughs)
We're standing in front of the home of Barbara Bell.
She says that you can see aliens right here.
I've seen six to eight extra-terrestrial beings or Martians
or whatever you wanna call 'em.
When I do go to sleep at night,
they're making love to me. They're close to me.
I'm Deanna O'Donnell for News 25.
Man: Thirty-five until Deanna!
-Hey, Vern. -So the next time you shoot her, go ahead and open up the iris
a little bit more on the camera.
Fifteen!
♪
-Alright. Yep. -Woman: Thanks, Henry.
-He's so cooperative. -Vern: You can go ahead and pet him. Here.
I'd like to welcome you to Pahrump and KPVM TV.
Alright, here we go. To the camera.
Welcome to Pahrump.
Three, two Welcome to Pahrump.
Welcome to Pahrump!
While we're in the break here, you wanna just discuss
what you wanted to do back here?
I'm Vernon Van Winkle with KPVM Television.
I'm the owner and CEO.
And remind me to order some more (indistinct). Yours look good.
She always takes the good one.
Vern: We've been delivering news
five days a week and bringing in
stories that are not
manifested--
Would that be the correct word? Manifested?
Manifested, manifest, manifested? Is that
Manifested. Okay. So,
not manifested on the major networks.
We're doing 23 years of news
in rural Nevada.
Now, we're gonna expand
into the Vegas marketplace. Very exciting.
Can we get, like, news done? Anybody?
Vern: Yeah, I'm ready. I'm watching you. We're ready for you.
So, the intensiveness of the news,
it's amazing because when you look at what they spend
in a metropolitan market to do exactly what we do,
it doesn't even compare.
But, we're coming back, so here we go.
In today's great computer deals, tech tip Josh Osborne
looks at the pros and cons of buying a laptop.
♪
-Ubaldo: One minute! -See? There you go.
It's kinda like a pitch and catch.
She pitches it,
and he catches it, and throws it out,
throws it back to her.
That's exactly what we do.
He's the pitcher, and I'm the catcher.
(laughs)
Okay. Are we ready? I just wanna make sure that
that weird lipstick that we got me isn't
It tends to put like a ring around your mouth hole.
-(interviewer speaking) -Um
She got me a permanent lipstick--
My daughter insists all the time that I need it
'cause she says I have no lips and it's so embarrassing.
No, I have to accept how I look. (laughs)
I'm Deanna O'Donnell, and I am the news director,
and also the assistant manager of the station.
That was a really good show, guys!
I report, I anchor,
write, I do camera work.
We have to move all the way over here now.
You know what? Right here! This works right here.
Do you do this at a crime scene?
Deanna: I listen to the scanner, I go to all the spot news.
I'm actually 24/7. I do tours
-with the journalism class, and I -(flies buzzing)
you know, work with the kids as much as I can.
I try to get rid of flies.
I do the dishes and I vacuum,
and I feed the chickens and the-- that dog.
(panting)
I love doing the news
because it changes every single day,
so, to me, that's exciting every day.
It's like an addiction.
-(siren wails) -What do you have? Do you have anything good?
Can you arrest a bunch of people for me
so I can have something good?
I'm sure something will happen.
Somebody was like texting me that
these dogs were like eating this dead body,
and the guy let, like, his wife be dead
in the house for a while, and the dog started eating 'em,
and he was neglecting the dogs or something like that.
-That was a long time ago. -I know, but why did they bring it up to me the other day?
Maybe they called you because there was another death,
and it wasn't found for a while,
and the dog was eating her to stay alive.
-Oh, there's a new one? -Yeah.
What else do I do?
I don't know. I do a bunch of things.
I also do sales, and I complain
to my bosses and harass them.
I try to keep Vern from talking about Trump.
Right here on my wall. See this right here?
It says it right here. "Fight the fake news." Right there.
And then somebody stole my thing that said,
"Fox is fake news" out of my newsroom.
(laughs)
Alright, everything you need to know
for your health coming up after this break.
You guys got 1:35.
-(with lisp): Did I tell you about my teeth? -Your what?
The two teeth right here are really loose.
Oh yeah, you did!
Deanna: And so we're trying to figure out
how we're gonna get the money.
I have insurance, but the copay is $10,000.
-Ubaldo: One minute! -I was considering
that I might go down to the Chicken Ranch and work down there,
and that that's how I could earn the money.
-'Cause you know it's legal. -All money isn't good money. No, no.
-All money is good money because then I get my teeth fixed. -Mm-mmm.
Mm-mmm. For that job
-you're doing, you don't really need-- -Ubaldo: Thirty!
-What? -Nothing.
-Yeah, I know they like it when you don't have teeth. -Ubaldo: Five,
-four, three, two! -So, I'm just saying
-Alright. I'm Deanna O'Donnell. -And I'm Eunette.
I am Eunette Gentry, and I am
an anchor reporter here at KPVM News.
I'm genuinely happy, but just as a side note,
I have resting smile face.
Some others have resting "B" face.
My default is smiling.
Are you doing vegan now?
Well, I always did like Monday through Friday.
Like, today's National Pastrami Day. I have to comply.
I do the 80-20. Eighty percent of the time plant-based.
-Don't judge me the rest of the time. -Right. Okay.
I do 80% meat,
-and the rest of it wine. -(laughs)
Eunette: Tuesdays, I do the court report
where I'm investigating and writing
about crime, but, you know,
to have my own talk show,
that would be the ultimate fantasy.
Everyone starts somewhere, you know, and will end up at
a medium-sized station, or a larger station,
but joy is contentment
in doing what you love no matter where you are,
and right now, I'm joyful.
Ubaldo: Five, four,
three, two, one!
-Alright, I'm Deanna. -And I'm Eunette.
-Good night. -And from all of us here, thank you and good night.
(news theme playing)
-You said 15. Fifteen! -(grumbles)
(whirring)
(clucking)
-Hey! -(clucking)
Come here.
(grunts)
I built this station from the ground up.
♪
I set up goals,
and a lot of people told me I couldn't do it.
But I did.
This is kinda like my little farm.
Looks like, uh
looks like I may have lost a bird.
I think it just comes down, really, to heroes.
Yeah. So, let's start probably
Jason Statham.
He's a guy who basically started in acting
from nothing to where he is today.
Deepak Choka-- Chopa.
Deepak Choka. Is that-- I probably am butchering that.
Be nice to me. Deepak
I learned a lot.
Freddie Mercury. He took the time to develop himself,
regardless of his beliefs,
regardless of his sexual preferences,
regardless of anything.
And that's why I am who I am today.
That's why I'm a Republican.
If you wanna be somebody in life,
you gotta get out and do it yourself.
(phone ringing)
Forgot the blackened-- or they wouldn't do the blackened.
Didn't they put any napkins in here?
-Ronda: They're in my lap. -May I have one?
-Just I need to do like this. -I didn't think about it.
-Ronda: Okay. -Okay?
I'm just trying to figure out Vegas.
Alright.
-If you go get the antenna and bring it back here -Okay.
nothing is scheduled Saturday. Wide open.
Vern: My beautiful wife Ronda is
key to my success.
Once we have the antenna up on the tower
and get the transmitter up there, we're gonna start
being charged rent up there.
So we're looking at, I don't know,
three to five thousand dollars a month in expenses.
-Okay. -My concern is the immediate
money going out.
-Yeah, we-- -Because the station is barely sustaining itself
-Right. -as it is.
And we still haven't figured out
what programming we're gonna do.
You know we have 20-- channel 25
dot one through seven, which is a total of seven channels.
So, I'm just looking at getting
all of that programming done.
Yeah.
KPVM has so much going on right now
that without Ronda, we could not make this expansion.
She's there with me every step of the way.
We're lovers, and we're very deep lovers,
so together, it's a team.
Look at this. They gave me a lot of broccoli. I like that.
I know, and I hate broccoli.
-Oh, it's the best. -Yuck.
So I'm Ronda Van Winkle. I'm Vice President
of KPVM Television.
When I started at the station though,
I was part of a tourism show.
-Welcome to tourist time! -Welcome to tourist time!
I wonder how old this thing is. Anybody know how old
this tractor is? Nobody knows.
(piano playing)
When Vern and I were first getting together,
we were really more like friends
'cause we worked together all the time.
One day, he called me over
to a restaurant 'cause he needed a file.
And so I brought the file to him,
and he told me that his wife,
his current wife at the time, was leaving him.
What's love for-- ♪
For ♪
So, during those transitions,
we started talking a lot,
and I started to realize
maybe I've got a crush on Vern.
Can we make this feeling last ♪
Forever? ♪
I did wanna be famous so bad at one time.
I'm gonna cry. That's how much I wanted it. (laughs)
So-- Sorry! Now I'm getting emotional!
They become one ♪
I'm a singer and, growing up, I used to sing really well.
There are so many things going on at the station,
and I have so many responsibilities that
the dreams I have had, I pretty much just set aside.
The time has come to set you free ♪
Maybe when the station moves into Vegas,
there might be an opportunity
to go do more of what I wanna do
if I make it happen.
That's the difference between Vern and I.
Vern makes things happen.
I help him make things happen,
but he just decides, and he does it.
Sometimes I look at that and go, "How do you do that?"
How do you just say, "I'm going to do it"?
I will think of you ♪
(piano playing ends)
Deanna: Okay. (grunts)
-Right, you ready? -Eunette: Yeah.
Deanna: I'm gonna do a cleavage check, okay?
Because we've had so many girls, and I'm like, you need to check
and make sure that their boobs are properly covered. Sorry.
-I don't have any to hide. -She looks fine.
(laughs)
Eunette: I'm a little nervous
about shooting the news opener today.
We don't shoot them often.
Deanna: You're gonna hold it, and I want you
-to count to 10 each time. -Eunette: Okay.
Just do different ones every single time.
You can even do the hands crossed.
You can do this one. You can do this one. You can do this one.
-You girls ready? -I'm trying to get rid of her shadow under her chin.
Anyways, whatever.
Eunette's been here for a number of years. Like four years now.
-Literally count for 10 seconds. So we're gonna start again. -Eunette: Okay.
Deanna: She's very sweet and very kind to everybody.
I always try to take after her,
and I have a hard time with that. Um
What is that kind of
Where you have to frame your words
and make it sound lovely and everything like that? (laughs)
I'm super blunt, so we have a way different
personality with that whole thing.
I want you to come out of one thing, like snap.
-Alright. -But I want you to look right into
the shot for 10 seconds.
Three, two, one.
(news theme playing)
Vern: Do you feel like climbing today?
Janet: I'm having a feeling that we're running out of daylight.
You know, by the time we get down there,
-the sun's gonna be going down. -I know.
-Wait and do it tomorrow? -Vern: Okay.
I'm Janet, and I'm the tower climber.
I'm also an account executive here at KPVM.
I used to be an ironworker,
and I was the first woman that was in the air in the '70s.
I-I-I've gotta get this done.
Janet: Working with Vern,
it's a little bit like
spaghetti in a way. (laughs)
You have to pin him down,
get him focused.
Vern: Siri, is there any storms
in the area?
Or lightning today or tomorrow?
Siri: I can only answer one weather fact at a t--
Is there any lightning storms in Las Vegas tonight?
-Siri: I can only answer-- -Fucking Siri.
Deanna: RJ, can we go through these stories?
I asked Sharon Wehrly about
the dog shooting update yesterday,
and she doesn't have it, so I'm gonna call.
And we have, um,
like a continuing Miss Senior Golden Years.
There's a senior beauty pageant that's happening soon,
-and then we have the new ones for tomorrow. -Okay.
I think we're almost done though, right?
-Yeah, this is the last one. -That's the last one.
RJ: Well, my name is RJ Camacho.
I work as the editor for KPVM TV.
I do, in fact, love
working here, albeit stressful.
So far, no one's been around to see me do this,
but I guess now they're gonna know 'cause I'm about to say it,
but every now and then, I'll, like,
hit my hands on the desk and I'll be like,
"Yes! I got an idea!"
And then, I'll put that idea to work.
We had this story
regarding wild horses being around in Pahrump.
So, when Deanna spoke about
the horse accident during the wild horse story,
I would put a white flash
for when I brought it back to the horse story. Like,
"Oh yeah. That happened." Like a flashback
in some sort of movie or something.
♪
It was probably
the best point for my creativity.
When I think about the future of my life,
it's usually just a blank slate.
What I would want to happen
in the future of my life is to just continue working here.
Eventually, you know, help my girlfriend,
her name's Rose. She's from Finland.
Help her to move out to America.
I was thinking about going to Finland for maybe a week
or three days to just visit her.
♪
Vern: Okay, we have some great news that I'm very excited about.
I have to share it with you.
We're going to Vegas. It's happening.
The antenna should be here tomorrow.
This is our current demographic
for the Vegas marketplace.
You can kinda really get a good picture
of where we are.
We need good programming that
Vegas people would want.
-Yes. -Vern: Some of the suggestions for channels,
a 24/7 cannabis channel.
Another suggestion
has been a 24/7 gay lifestyle channel.
And I wanna put right next door to it
a 24/7
Presidential channel.
Eunette: I actually have an idea for a show that could
seamlessly merge
the Pahrump Valley and Las Vegas Valley
in an infotainment-style show,
and focus on the commute between Las Vegas
and Pahrump and back and forth.
-We could call that show "The Commute." -(coughs)
Deanna: I have to get news done some time today,
so the pipe dream's we gotta finish up,
so that we actually don't look janky.
I'm not getting my court reports as it is,
so I don't know how much extra time that Eunette
has to do a show
-or any of the court-- -The court reports come every week,
-and we wanna get the show done, and -(RJ clears throat)
-(grumbling) -Deanna: I'm just gonna ask--
Vern: RJ, what are you upset about?
I have five stories to do. Five (indistinct).
Vern: Oh, RJ wants to get to work. He's not happy.
-Two of them were supposed to go yesterday! -(Vern speaking indistinctly)
-He wants to get to work. -No one listened to me!
-Vern: He wants to go to edit. -(chair bangs)
RJ's going to edit his thing.
I didn't know he was upset.
Woman: I've never seen RJ upset before.
-Oh, I have, many times. -Vern: I didn't know he was upset.
-Woman: He's stressing out. -He's been doing that for days.
Anything else? Uh, we're done.
(indistinct chatter)
-Deanna: This needs to stop. -RJ: People tell me shit late!
Deanna: It's not the end of the world.
You don't throw things around and cuss in a meeting.
-You need to calm down. -RJ: You always make it seem like it is!
-(slamming doors) -Deanna: Oh my god!
Oh my god.
You're gone.
Vern? Vern?
Vern: What happened?
Oh shit. I just fixed that.
Where's he at?
-Did you see which way he went? -Ma No, sorry.
-Vern: Do you know anything about why he got upset? -Huh?
-Do you know anything about why he got upset? -No.
-Have you heard anything at all? -No.
Is it just the normal everyday
situation between those two?
-No. -What kinda spaghetti you got there?
-Just spaghetti. -Yeah?
RJ!
RJ!
RJ!
Ronda: Would you say he has a reason
-to be frustrated about things? -Kip: Uh,
-no. -He has been catching a lot of flak--
Well, hold on. You're not even here. Let me ask him.
-Kip: No, uh -And I don't mean to be rude, but
But there hasn't been anything you've seen
that would actually, he would have
a reason to be upset in your opinion is my question.
-No. -Okay, that's all.
Just making sure.
Deanna: I noticed in the last week or so he is frustrated.
He's been making noises, like going (sighs) all the time.
But obviously today, he had enough of it.
Vern: We'll get through this. He's a wonderful young man,
and things will kinda move right along.
News never stands still. It has to go on.
Deanna: We're not saying that you missed a court report.
We're saying that the court reports have to be more detailed.
Eunette: You told me stop giving details!
-Deanna, listen. -Deanna: Okay.
I'm just trying to create content for Vegas.
-I don't wanna infringe on anything you're doing. -That's not what we're--
-It's something new. -I know.
Excuse me. I'm sorry. I just really wanna talk to her
Deanna: Okay, what I'm-- Okay.
Eunette: Listen to me. All I want to do
is what's best for the station and help it grow.
-Deanna: I know. -Eunette: And please don't attack
my work when I've never missed--
Deanna: I said, I need someone to sit inside
the actual court hearings and write down some--
-Eunette: So, Deanna -And that's a lot of your time.
She pisses me off. She can't wait like frigging five minutes
until I can find out why RJ's
beating up the station and screaming.
Eunette: It's not taking away from you. You are still in charge,
and I always do what you ask. I'm just trying
to create something in addition to that for the station.
Deanna: I know. It's just that we're trying to get this news as best we can.
I would like to discuss the court reports first
because that's actually airing
on our biggest-selling program that pays
for everybody's paycheck here, which is our news!
♪
-(interviewer speaking) -Vern: Yeah?
Uh
-(drilling) -I'm tired.
I'm pretty-- I'm pretty beat,
to be honest with you. I've been going for probably
60 hours.
This is the transmitter.
Gonna take it up to the site.
This is very important to me, so
I'm a workaholic. That's what they call me.
-(drilling) -This is it, you know what I mean?
The electrical's in. The cable's in.
I got the truck out there. It's ready to go.
You know, it's kind of a
It's pretty exciting. It's kinda hard to set in.
We're ready to go.
♪
-(rumbling) -Alright, alright, alright, alright.
Son of a bitch.
-No problem. -(clang, clattering)
Oh! That didn't feel right.
(grunting)
You think we lost any bolts?
-Nah, I just pulled that one out. -Janet: He pulled that one out.
♪
Vern: Beautiful city. Las Vegas, Nevada.
To get the signal into Las Vegas is king
because we don't earn money
without viewers.
This is the Mount Arden Peak.
KPVM's new home.
(metal clanging)
(chain rattling)
(laughs)
I have just arrived
(sighs)
(voice breaking): I just arrived
at the top of the tower.
-Ronda (on phone): What's wrong? -With the antenna. Nothing.
-I'm just happy. -(machine whirring)
Ronda: You're that happy?!
(both laugh)
Aww! That's so sweet.
Okay. Well then, I'm happy for you. (laughs)
But, but it is a big deal. It really is.
-Alright, well, I love you. I'll let you go. -Alright.
-It's a big accomplishment. Alright, bye-bye. -Okay.
-Okay. Love you, bye-bye. -Bye-bye.
(machine humming)
It's an accomplishment.
♪
Yeah, I'm hoping that UPS didn't damage that antenna.
I don't think they did. It looks pretty clean.
(clang)
Janet: I'm sorry.
Vern: Think big!
I think big! I'm excited!
I just wanna get it on.
Wait a minute. I just wanna turn it on. Wait a minute.
I just wanna turn this damn TV station on! (laughs)
So, we're gonna get it on. Look, look, look at this.
I gave him a shirt. He's wearing it.
(laughs)
I've got more people on board.
It's growing, one person at a time!
(both laugh)
♪
You know, I'm pushing the envelope. That's the way I'm built.
I think being in Las Vegas is thinking really big.
Don't think small, think big. Reach for the stars.
How you doing?
(Janet speaking)
We're gonna fire the transmitter up!
(Janet speaking)
Okay, here we go.
(machines whirring)
(bars and tone)
Alright, I got bars.
I mean, this is real.
I have a TV station
in the entertainment capital of the world.
You know? I have no idea how this happened.
I'm just a human being who breathes air every day, and
♪
2.6 million people will be able to see our broadcast.
-(drumming) -Pulling off the expansion
into Las Vegas is going to require more staff.
And, of course, new programming.
Each day costs money,
so I must make it happen as quickly as I possibly can.
Deanna: Coronavirus. Governor Steve Sisolak says that
all non-essential businesses
-in the state must close their doors. -Sisolak: If your business
brings groups of people together,
it should not be open.
Take this seriously!
Nothing's easy.
♪