City of Ghosts (2021) s01e05 Episode Script


- [WHITE NOISE]
- [CHILDREN'S VOICES] Ta-dum!
[CHILDREN LAUGHING]
[UPBEAT ELECTRONIC MUSIC PLAYS]
Today on City of Ghosts,
we have a special request
from Ghost Club's friend Zen.
Hi. I'm Zen.
And, yeah,
my mom used to run a cafe in Little Tokyo.
And this is my mom, who ran the Atomic.
Whoa! That's your mom?
Well, how can we help?
She's just kind of loud.
[DANCE MUSIC PLAYS]
Mom, it's four in the morning.
Oh. Whoops.
Sorry.
ZEN: Especially if she's sneaking all my coffee.
She drinks it really fast,
and then she gets really hyper.
- [SLURPING]
- [CLINKING]
- [ECHOING TONE]
- [BACKGROUND MUSIC PLAYS]
Ahhh!
She's been singing this one song for weeks
because I won't let her play
the 45 of it anymore.
[SINGING IN JAPANESE]
[SINGING IN JAPANESE]
[REVERBERATING TONE]
[MUSIC PLAYS OVER HEADPHONES]
[LOUD SINGING IN JAPANESE]
I mean, they called her
"Atomic Nancy" for a reason.
I thought for sure
she'd calm down as a ghost, but no way.
What? Your mom's a ghost?
Yep.
Um, can we meet her, please?
Sure.
Ready.
Uh, I'm Nancy Sekizawa.
They call me "Atomic Nancy."
I used to run a cafe
ran by my parents called the Atomic Cafe.
Why do you call it the Atomic Cafe?
My dad was pretty rebellious.
And this was some of the questions
that a lot of interviewers asked me.
And I said, "Well, Dad,
how come you called it Atomic Cafe?"
"Well, it's because nobody forgot
about the atomic bomb,
so nobody
should forget about our food, too."
At first, the sign
that we had didn't just say "Atomic Cafe."
- It had a pffft right on top of the neon.
- [STRING MUSIC PLAYS]
NANCY: The community kinda got a little, like,
"Gee, Matoba-san,
isn't that a little harsh?"
And he didn't wanna take it down,
but finally, he says,
"Okay, but I won't take the sign down,
and I won't change the name."
I think he
You know, the JA community
that were put into camps
You went to camp?
Well, it wasn't like summer camp.
- My family got sent to internment camps.
- [MOODY MUSIC PLAYS]
NANCY: And we were ridiculed a lot.
And even I was, too,
when I was going to school.
I hated history
'cause when we'd get to World War II,
I just felt that discrimination,
like we--we were the--
the, uh, perpetrators.
I felt like I didn't fit in anywhere.
My cafe was a place
where all different kinds
of people would be welcomed,
- especially like punks and weirdos.
- [ROCK MUSIC PLAYS]
All the misfits.
- Uh, it was a place
- [CAMERA CLICKS]
where everyone was different
and welcomed.
And I was really different
from all other JAs.
I was bored of being normal,
and I wanted to have fun.
We had a jukebox in the cafe, and bands,
these were, like,
local bands who were making records,
they would ask me if,
"Hey, we just did a
We just cut a 45, Nancy."
"Can we put this in your jukebox?"
I'd go, "Yeah, put it in there."
And the jukebox,
that's how the jukebox
became really famous.
[POPPING]
But it's all gone now.
[DINGING]
They're building a metro station there.
[TRAIN HORN BLARES]
- [SYNTH MUSIC PLAYS]
- Uh, I still have
I have two turntables, and I,
you know, pull out all these 45s
and just play with them on my own.
[ZELDA LAUGHS]
[WEAK LAUGHTER]
Hey, there's a door over here.
Sorry. I forgot you're not all ghosts.
[ZELDA LAUGHS]
- [JAPANESE SINGING FROM THE TURNTABLE]
- [ZELDA LAUGHS]
[CRASHING]
Oh, yeah.
That's why Zen called Ghost Club.
'Cause you were playing
your records too loud
in the house and breaking things
- and stealing her coffee.
- [RECORD STATIC]
What? I don't steal your coffee.
ZEN: You totally do.
I feel like when you drink
too much coffee you talk too much,
- you talk a lot, you talk really fast
- [CELL PHONE RINGING] Call from Peter!
- Hey, Peter.
- Zelda!
- What?
- Zelda!
- Peter.
- I have video of a ghost.
- Okay.
- It's somewhere near me.
- I found a ghost too.
- Where's your ghost?
- No, she's right here.
- Huh?
She's arguing
with her daughter about food.
Let's meet at the library.
Okay, Peter.
- "you okay? It's that coffee!"
- Can I have a ride to the library?
Ghost Club
is gonna be so excited to meet you.
[UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYS]
I love how fluffy you are.
Thank you.
[MELODIC SYNTH MUSIC PLAYS]
- EVA: You're so fluffy, Nancy.
- Ooh! I like your spikes, Nancy.
Thanks, Thomas.
- I like your spikes, too.
- Thank you so much.
Feel underneath her armpit.
It's really soft.
[LAUGHING]
That tickles.
Peter ♪
Puh-puh-puh-puh Peter
Puh-puh Peter ♪
It's me, I'm Peter ♪
Peter, puh-puh ♪
- [MIMICKING RECORD SCRATCHING]
- LIBRARY PERSON: Shhh!
Boom, boom, chic puh-Peter! ♪
[WHISPERING] It's me, Peter,
and I have a Ghost Club announcement.
Strange noises have been coming
from a kids' theater in Highland Park.
JORDAN: You mean Echo Park?
They moved.
And some ghost keeps messing with them
while they're trying to set it up.
JORDAN: Is it interrupting shows?
They haven't had a show yet.
Follow me upstairs to my office.
[MYSTERIOUS MUSIC PLAYS]
Here's the evidence.
Someone's been making this noise
that's been spooking the puppeteers.
[DISTORTED SCRATCHING]
[MALE VOICE]
Boo, hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo.
- [SCRATCHING]
- [SHATTERING]
[MALE VOICE]
Boo hoo hoo.
- [SCRATCHING]
- [CRASHING]
[MALE VOICE]
Boo hoo hoo hoo hoo!
Oh, I recognize that sound.
That's a record player.
That's the sound that it makes
when you slide it around with your hand.
Oh, yeah.
[MIMICKING RECORD SCRATCHING]
[GASPING]
Are you the ghost
that's haunting the theater?
Nah, I just haunt my daughter's coffee.
[SLURPING]
Maybe Atomic Nancy
can come with us to the theater
to help us find that record player sound.
Hey! Zen can drive us there.
Yay!
Wait. What?
[LOUD ROCK MUSIC PLAYS]
[HORN HONKS]
[LIGHT MUSIC PLAYS]
When I was little, I went
to the Bob Baker's Marionette Theater.
I went with my dad,
but we'd always go there
in the middle of the day,
when no one was there.
It felt a little sad to me
when it was empty.
It really needs
that kid energy to feel alive.
Okay. My name is Eric De La Cruz.
I work
for the Bob Baker Marionette Theater.
Um, and this was a puppet theater
that's been
Was in Echo Park for over 60 years
[SYNTH MUSIC PLAYS]
and we recently had to move
'cause Bob sold the theater
before he passed away,
um, and we are now at, uh, Highland Park.
Is the theater ready to open?
No.
We haven't been able to have a show yet.
This ghost just keeps bugging us.
How did you start working here, Eric?
I used to go with my Uncle Alex.
Uh, he was a gardener,
um, and I used to go with him
to kinda rake up the grass on Saturdays.
So every other two Saturdays, he'll say,
"We're gonna go to Payaso's house."
Translate that in English,
it means "clown."
[PETER GASPS]
Hey, did the clown's house have big shoes?
Uh No, it was a normal house. So for--
Hey, did the doorbell
go "honk, honk, honk" and squirt water?
JORDAN: Um hey, Peter.
Be cool, will ya?
Um, and it wasn't till about a year
or two later, we kinda met him finally.
And it was Bob, and I kinda asked him,
"So, what do you do?"
And he goes, "Hasn't your uncle told you
that I own the puppet theater
on First Street and Glendale?"
I said, "Bob, are you taking
any volunteers down at the theater or?"
And he goes,
"Why don't you see a show on the weekend?"
"And if you like what you see,
then we'll talk business."
ERIC: So I came the next day,
the Saturday, walk into the theater,
was blown away of all the lights
and, uh, wall decorations
and the paintings and the pictures
and, like,
Disney puppet stuff that I'd seen.
And, uh pretty much,
it took off from there.
I have some questions for Eric.
Say, are you married? Do you have kids?
Oh. Uh
You should go on a date
and find a nice girl.
Mom!
Are there ghosts here, Eric?
Well, Bob.
ERIC: After he passed away,
I had the moments where, like,
I will feel his presence
in the party room.
[MOODY MUSIC PLAYS]
Like, there's times that I feel it
through when I'm performing.
I mean, Bob was a great mentor, friend.
Bob used to say that, um
when you work in theater,
your soul belongs to the theater.
And Bob's not the only one
who's stuck around.
People have sensed other ghosts
around the theater.
- We used to have a night-light.
- [SYNTH MUSIC PLAYS]
We used to call it the "ghost light,"
and every evening,
before leaving the theater,
we would put that It's a single bulb,
in the center of, kind of,
of the theater and leave it on.
And, uh,
I remember asking Bob a few times.
He goes, "Well, the show needs to go on,
even though it's dark."
[DISTORTED SCRATCHING]
[MALE VOICE]
Boo hoo hoo hoo hoo.
- Did you hear it?
- ERIC: See?
I think I heard it.
JORDAN: I definitely picked up
some "boo-hoo-hooing."
It happened
when Eric said, "The show needs to go on."
[DISTORTED SCRATCHING]
[MALE VOICE]
Boo hoo hoo hoo hoo.
I think I heard it coming from in here.
- [SCREAMING]
- [MYSTERIOUS MUSIC PLAYS]
It's okay.
This is just where the puppets sleep.
They sleep with their eyes open?
Yeah.
The show needs to go on!
- [RECORD SCRATCHING]
- [MALE VOICE] Boo hee hoo.
I hear it. This way!
The show needs to go on!
The show needs to go on!
The show needs to go on.
- The show needs to go on!
- [RECORD SCRATCHING]
- The show needs to go on!
- [RECORD SCRATCHING]
- [GRUNTING]
- I see him. There he is!
PETER: Right there!
In that record holder.
- [RECORD SCRATCHING]
- [MALE VOICE] Ree, roo roo roo roo roo.
PETER: Uh, I speak record player.
Let me try to talk to him.
Reet, reet, ree, ree.
Wicka wicka wicka wicka.
[MUFFLED MALE VOICE MIMICS SCRATCHING]
He says he wishes
you would play more of the music he likes.
What music does he like?
[MUFFLED MALE VOICE MIMICS SCRATCHING]
He wishes you would play more EDM.
[MALE VOICE]
Hrm!
Isn't that just what you like, Peter?
Wait, are you sure he can't talk?
Can you talk?
[MALE VOICE]
Uh Yeah, I can talk.
What's your name? Are you Bob?
No, I'm Walter.
[TURNTABLE SCRATCHING]
Hi, Walter.
- [LAUGHING]
- [FIZZING]
Hi.
Oh. Hey, Walter.
Hey, Eric.
Hey, why are you crying, Walter?
'Cause there hasn't been a show
in a while.
- I miss having shows.
- [STRING MUSIC PLAYS]
I was trying to play a record
to start the show.
But all I have is an empty record player.
Hey, I haven't had a live show forever.
Let's do one together.
I got tons of records.
What are we waiting for?
Yeah, let's get this show on the road.
[PUNK ROCK MUSIC PLAYS FROM THE TURNTABLE]
[FEMALE PUNK ROCK VOCALIST SINGING]
Friends!
I like that the puppets have a home.
It has an audience, a live audience.
I think, you know,
Highland Park's a great place.
[LAUGHING]
You get the feeling
of really getting into the show.
Um
For me, I like to hit those cues
that Bob showed me to make it fun,
make the audience
be always a part of the show.
It's a good feeling when the audience
is really having a good time.
Um, and kinda living
that moment with the show
and with the puppet,
and, like, you wanna, like
"It's awesome."
Like, "We're having a good time."
Um, it's an enjoyable
I think, for both ends.
[CYMBALS CRASH]
- ZELDA: Hey, Zen.
- Yeah?
Did you and your mom
ever like the same stuff?
For, like, a second in the eighth grade,
I, like, was a little gothish.
And my mom was really happy.
- [ZEN LAUGHS]
- [EDM PLAYS]
ZEN: I had this, like, vintage lace skirt
I got from Aardvark's,
and I would wear, like,
another vintage, like, black flannel,
and I would have
white makeup on and red lipstick.
It was And combat boots.
You know, it was so embarrassing.
It wasn't, like, anything cool.
Hey, I was really proud of you.
What, for dressing weird?
Yeah!
[SYNTH MUSIC PLAYS]
And, once again,
the neighborhood was saved by Ghost Club!
Nancy found a new place to DJ,
so Zen could drink her coffee,
and Walter stopped scaring people,
and everybody had fun
seeing Eric make the cat dance.
Ghost Club rules! Bye.
[EDM PLAYS]