Small Town News: KPVM Pahrump (2021) s01e06 Episode Script
Vegas or Bust
1
(insects chirping)
Deanna: Lately with the election, we are flying by
the seat of our pants every day
because you have national news stories
competing for air time.
Okay, here we go.
Three, two, one.
Hi, it's John Kohler from KPVM Channel 25 News.
We're on location at the Sanders Winery,
and, good golly, we've hijacked a hot air balloon.
Deanna: So, now that that's over,
we're just gonna do what we've always done.
Our local news is important,
and that's our niche.
We'll tell you about the whole week ahead when we return.
-(flames roaring) -Up, up, and away! Let's go!
Oh crap. (laughs)
(burner blasting)
John: Whoa Nelly!
♪
(laughing)
("The Blue Danube" waltz playing)
(burner matching beat of waltz)
Let's go! Woo!
(laughing)
♪
We had a bold adventure this morning.
Went up in the air balloon.
-Like 10 feet. That was pretty good. -(laughs)
(laughter)
John: I think it met expectations.
(laughs)
I don't know if it exceeded.
-(waltz continues) -Deanna: Alright. I guess we're done.
John: Do I need to look for snakes out here?
Deanna: No, they wouldn't be out
this time in the morning. It's too cold.
(news theme playing)
♪
Vern: I'm ready.
Ubaldo, we gotta go to the
RAVE shortly for the meeting,
so have yourself ready over there in a couple minutes.
Oh, a lot of snacks.
After the election, I went into a slump.
I mean, it was like I don't know, man.
I was totally freaking out over the fact that
I would need to cut employees.
Very scary times.
The bottom line is that
when something's out of your control,
you really just have to meet everything head on.
These donuts, there's a reason why they call them
-"do-nots." -(laughter)
Ronda: Oh my gosh
Vern: I can now put my full attention towards
what's really important,
and that is developing
the Vegas market.
Ronda: Alright, everybody. Thank you for coming to the meeting today.
Alright, first off, I want to welcome back Brad.
And, Brad,
you little prick.
(laughter)
Look at the work you gave me to freaking--
I told you. It was too far to drive.
After I left here, I thought,
well, I'll go try something else.
Brad Francis, our longtime editor,
is going off to a new job.
And four days later, I was like, "That's enough of that."
Man: Hi, Brad.
Brad: Didn't take long.
I was gone actually about six weeks,
but it was just a lag in getting started
with the other job where I was basically doing nothing.
I didn't get the party that I did when I left though,
so (laughs)
Vern: I think Deanna
is very pleased to have you back,
and of course Missey is also happy
that you guys talk shit about Deanna when she's gone,
-but -(laughter)
Okay, we have some great news,
and I'm very excited about Las Vegas.
I'm very, very excited because
the virus is going back in the, uh, the bottle.
What I see is
a brand new studio.
Pahrump would be Studio A.
Studio B, is what I'm calling it,
would be located in Las Vegas.
Uh, the, the idea is
I want to grab 15 minutes of news
out of the Vegas market each day.
And someone's gonna be sitting on the desk out there.
And then they send it to us here,
and then we combine
that as a separate section
-of our news. -Okay.
The biggest thing I see that
♪
Vern's whole thing is that
he wants to, um, and this is his vision,
is he wants to do news
that is not already being delivered to Las Vegas.
I don't know what that's actually gonna look like
when you're actually on the ground. I really don't.
It's hard for me because who are you
broadcasting to, then?
Pahrump or Vegas?
-Vern: Go ahead, Ronda. -Ronda: Uh, Memorie,
in 2020, you had the top sales
for any salesperson, so congratulations.
-Woo-hoo! -(clapping)
And I just want to recognize
the fact that you're doing two jobs.
-This certificate that I have for you today. -Oh!
I want to reprint this once you change the ink. (laughs)
Memorie: Right? Okay, it's always a good thing
when I have to change the ink because that means
-we're moving and doing stuff. -Vern: Exactly.
-Thank you. -Vern: Thank you.
Ronda: And I think that's it.
♪
Eunette: I love the prospect of the opportunity
to expand in Vegas, and be on air.
That would be fulfilling the dream 2.0.
That would be amazing.
Actually, when I was in junior high school,
a reporter came to our house.
That changed my life. It was like a lightning bolt,
and I thought, "Wow. I could
I could really do something like that."
And so, I'm looking forward
to all of what's in store
in terms of KPVM's expansion.
Deanna: Eunette!
♪
Eunette: Anything that we need
for KPVM in Vegas, I can do it.
From shooting to editing,
so that is something that
Vern hopefully sees.
-Ubaldo: You girls ready? -This is yours, right?
Ubaldo: Five, four, three, two.
Eunette: In more local news,
at Wednesday's Veterans Day celebration,
News 25 had the honor of meeting Janet Porn.
Janet is a veteran of the Vietnam War.
It's also a fun note that Janet's last name,
Porn, is coincidentally an acronym for her career
as a perioperative registered nurse.
There's a third reason why Porn is funny.
(laughter)
Um, alright, so
♪
Officer (on radio): Running southbound through the field.
He's running southbound through the field.
Missey: Is he naked?
Deanna: If he's naked, then we'll go.
If he's not, then we're staying here.
-(laughs) Yeah! -(radio chatter)
Deanna: Yeah, if he is naked, then he might need to be checked out.
(laughter)
Missey: I haven't really talked about my future in Vegas with Vern.
When we decided to just move down here,
my goal was to find a place
I could work where I felt confident in what I was doing.
And so, I want to stay in Pahrump
because I like the people I work with.
But I'm game. Whatever they need me to do.
♪
Vern: I'm trying to accomplish our
Vegas news broadcast.
I want to basically
-start getting somebody sitting on the desk out there. -Yeah.
So now, that changes your
position because
are you going to coordinate how the news
is coming in to Pahrump,
saying, "Hey, what's going on here?
Are we following up on this? Are we doing that?"
Or are you gonna continue to
go out belly-to-belly, getting all this news in Pahrump,
and not have the time to do that coordinating?
Because the last thing I can have you do is working
12-, 14-hour days. I'm not gonna have you do that.
That's what we do now. In the newsroom. We do that now.
I'm kind of excited about it because it's important that
we continue to grow.
But what I'm mostly concerned with is
me having to cover
more things and us not getting any bigger crew
because, I mean,
I missed my doctor's appointment last month,
I didn't put my check in the bank because I don't have time.
I'm still trying to find an hour to water my plants.
If you can basically just ponder it.
-Okay. Alright, we're leaving. -Alright, thanks for talking.
Come on, dog with the cat sweater on you.
-Okay. Goodbye. -Alright, thank you.
Vern: I dig those glasses. Let me see those glasses.
-Ray-Bans. Yeah. -They Ray-Bans? Those are cool.
I got Randy Jackson's on, man.
Oh! Wow-- Oh. Oh yeah!
Vern: It's time to build out Las Vegas,
and the plan is to get John involved.
John is doing weather right now,
but John and I have also talked about him
jumping into the sales department.
John: Woo-woo! Do some weather.
Oh, I just have a website.
This Day Trivia.
I always like including trivia in the weather report.
"Alfalfa killed in a fight over $50."
That's just fun. (laughs)
Alfalfa got shot over $50.
Jesus.
You know who that is, right?
-No. -Oh.
♪
Vern: He's the right person for it
because friends do business with friends.
He will make friends, and he will do business
with those friends.
And here in the paradise of Pahrump,
where the grass is green,
and the lawns are irrigated.
Burning trash is still illegal in your yard.
The business here now for me is to execute Vern's vision.
We all know why the wind blows in Nevada.
It's because California sucks. Ha, ha! Alright.
I think I can convey the power of the media.
You have to like say, "Hey, this is a really good thing to have."
"You're right! I'd love that! Here Take my money please!"
(laughs)
Was that a little interminable, or should we do it again?
Or I don't know, what do you think?
(chickens clucking)
♪
Vern: Alright, let's go to Vegas.
It's so dry in the desert, man. You gotta constantly--
Ronda: Are you gonna bring water or anything?
Yeah, I'll get some water.
-Alright. -(car starts)
There's no other place like Las Vegas to see ♪
No other place like Las Vegas to me ♪
Vern: So the facility that I'm looking for has to have
a feeling of success as soon as you walk in the door.
Ronda: I feel like when we find the right place, we're gonna know it
-almost right away. -Vern: Right.
Ronda: It's just like anything.
Champagne taste on a beer budget. Like, I don't know.
Vern: And I got a definite champagne taste.
-Hello! I'm Vern. -Robin: How are you?
-Hi, Vern. I'm Robin. -Pleasure to meet you.
Ronda: I kind of like this actually.
-Vern: You can do some editing in here. -Ronda: Yeah.
I feel like we're building an entire other TV station.
Vern: In a, in a, in a sense, it is.
Ronda: After 24 years of stress,
he's like, "Okay! We gotta get to Vegas! We gotta do this!
We gotta do that!" And I get it.
It's just tiring.
-Nice little hallway here. -Ronda: But,
you know, I show him I care about him
by helping him with this station.
You do have one pole.
Maybe after hours,
you can do some dancing for me?
(both laugh)
-I'll do a couple for you. -I'll get right on that.
♪
Deanna: Well, it was out with the old
and in with the new this morning in Pahrump
as the town erected a new welcome sign.
Woo-hoo!
-Goodbye, old sign! -Goodbye!
Deanna: Vern's asked me, did I want to, um,
manage running Vegas.
(exhales) It's a hard one because
I like going out around town, getting stories for Pahrump.
These signs should pop and add to
the overall appeal of Pahrump.
You know, when headlights hit them, they'll pop.
So, as you can see right now
they pop.
(truck rumbling)
Vern: The only thing I have an issue with with the staircase
is we have a lot of
handicapped people that come to the TV station.
If you wanted to put somebody on the set,
and it's a political season, we got politicians coming in.
Most people can handle the stairs.
I mean, I don't know how many handicapped people
are going to be running for office.
You just never know these days.
♪
Deanna: Brothels are important around this area,
and the brothels are not doing anything right now.
So, yeah, there's a lot of income loss there.
Show me around.
Hostess: This is that newer room.
Deanna: Ooh, it's so pretty.
Hostess: Yeah, this is that video room.
-Oh, it's a video room? -Mm-hmm.
Deanna: So what do you do with the videos?
Hostess: Well, the customer pays a lot of money to be able to--
-Oh, and then they can have them? Oh wow! -Yep.
Deanna: Vern's excited about Vegas,
but if we're mixing in Vegas, we have to start cutting down
on Pahrump coverage,
and I don't want to do that.
Oh, I didn't know you guys had a dungeon.
So much room for activities.
Robin: Here's another property I have to show you.
From the back, you have two restrooms again.
Vern: Very cool, very cool.
Once I get a vision,
it's like I want to explore that
and develop it and build it.
And then, we have a nice big open room for you.
Oh nice, nice, nice, nice.
I never get to a point to where
I kind of feel like I'm satisfied.
It's like the goal line is always moving.
What was here before?
One of Biden's campaign offices.
Oh God, we're out.
-(laughter) -We're over!
-I'm outta here! Goodbye! -Ronda: Bad mojo! Bad mojo!
Vern: Even if the situation here didn't work out
Ronda: They'll find something for us, I hope. So, now what?
I got a dinner date with you.
Panera Bread.
(laughs)
(traffic noise)
♪
Hey, got time to do a commercial for me?
-I do. Is this the jingle? -Yes.
Ronda: My favorite part of being at the station
really is when we do write a jingle
because I'll sing in it.
-Which one is it? JK? -So we are doing JK.
-Accidents happen. -(tires screech, cars crash)
Woman: Oh no! Is everyone okay?
Did someone call the police and medics?
Ronda: JK Nelson Law is a great client.
His name is Jonathan Nelson. He really wanted a jingle.
-(jingle playing) -Ronda (singing): First call Nelson
I wouldn't mind speeding it up. It's killing me.
It's so slow.
When Vern was designing
the station, he really wanted to build
my RAVE audio digital studio
specifically because I'm a singer.
And the initials stand for
Ronda Annette Van Winkle Entertainment.
Announcer: Ready to rock and roll? Artists and bands,
come make your next hit CD.
Also, ask about our karaoke recording special.
You need Nelson ♪
Just call Nelson ♪
Jonathan is due to be here in a few hours.
So, when he comes in,
we want to make sure he's happy.
I think we need to bring it up to date.
Ubaldo: Okay, well, we can do that.
(whistling)
♪
John: We're at the local golf place here in Pahrump.
That's how business is done, so I'm here to meet Nate Boley
and sell him some advertising.
He's a realtor. He's like number 14 in Nye County.
I'd really like to put him up into like the top 10.
Vern wants me to, you know, sell this thing,
and I want to help him. I mean, I want to help grow the station.
Get some dough-re-mi.
My plan is to fluff his ego relentlessly
until he succumbs to my masculine charms
and signs a contract.
(laughs)
-What? -Found you some more clubs.
-I was good with one. -I know. I figure--
I think you're in-- That's the devastator.
-You're in serious trouble. -(laughs)
-Ah! -(both laugh)
Nathan Boley: Advertising can be
a strange-- You gotta kind of find your niche,
so I've been looking into more television.
Things-- Some of the things that John offers.
Before you hit, I want you to think about one thing.
-Give me all your money. -(both laugh)
-(whack) -Shit.
John: Mine almost beat yours!
Oh, you suck, too. This is gonna be great.
♪
-Come on -(whack)
-That's a worm burner. -You're green adjacent,
-as we would put it in real estate. -(both laugh)
John: This is a par five, is it not?
-Nate: I fuckin' hope so. -(both laugh)
-(whack) -Whoa. Nice.
You know what else is nice?
-Radio advertising. -(both laugh)
John: It's the great thing about golf is lots of time to sit and talk
and get this deal done.
Well, I just look at the cost of a billboard,
-and I'm always astounded. -Nate: Yeah, it's strange to me
'cause it'll cost usually about four or five grand
just to get started on a billboard.
John: And what you can do with that on TV and radio
is just astounding.
We can do a whole show,
or if you wanna do like
a weather sponsorship, something like that.
"Nate Boley, awesome realtor! Blah blah blah!"
-Okay. I like that. -You know?
Nye County's most handsome realtor.
(both laugh)
So we could kinda make that like a package thing?
Yeah.
-Okay. Yeah. -Yeah.
Nate: My hesitation in the past from using KPVM
was honestly a lack of John being there.
I've got to know him, so it seems like the timing is right.
♪
(cheering, laughing)
-Call that the Kohler. -It's like I knew what I was doing.
So, we're doing this?
-Nate: Yeah. -John: Alright, man!
♪
Ronda: Can we put Jonathan up on green screen?
Jonathan Nelson: My name is Jonathan Nelson.
I run JK Nelson Law, which is a law firm.
If you've been injured in an accident, don't bother with
the construction and the traffic heading to Vegas. Stay local.
We opened up six years ago here in Pahrump,
and one of the first people I reached out to
was the TV station, Vern and Ronda,
to help get my name out there.
So if you're injured in an accident, call JK Nelson Law.
We also have an office in Vegas to meet the needs of your le--
-Shoot. -Ronda: Not bad.
(laughs)
-We'll come down here. -Jonathan: Yeah.
I can actually show you that jingle.
Ronda: We wanted to make it catchy,
so we were just scripting out like, "What can we say?"
You know, "If you need a hero,
seven-two-seven nine-nine-zero-zero."
We really like it.
Okay. (clears throat)
Um
-(hip-hop music) -Announcer: When you need help,
then you need Nelson.
(echoing): Nelson, Nelson, Nelson.
Ronda (singing): No matter your trouble, you need a hero
Jonathan: Ronda has made this jingle
a rap version.
People get into that.
-(commercial continues) -You need Ooh, I like the smoke.
Ooh ♪
-(siren blaring) -Should I call my insurance or an attorney?
Announcer: When you need help, then you need Nelson.
Ronda: So there's so many layers to this jingle.
(echoing): Nelson, Nelson, Nelson
There's, "No matter your trouble," you know, all that,
and then, like, all these like tracks.
I know I'm supposed to have constructive criticism,
that's pretty good.
Well, that's easy. Okay.
This is how we do it. Quick and dirty
-and get it on the way. -Clean and mean. Okay.
-That's right. -Ronda: It turned out great.
Really turned out great.
Vern must love me a lot to be willing to put in this studio.
(laughs)
He built me something that I want to have, and I wish
that there was something I could do for him.
If I could give him anything,
I think it would be
the self-confidence for him to know that he has done this.
He already is successful.
I feel like maybe he's always wanted
to please his parents.
His dad died
right after we got together.
And I think he wanted his dad to know that he was a success.
His dad didn't get to say,
"Vern, I'm so proud of you."
♪
If you need Nelson ♪
Nelson, Nelson ♪
-Vern: Hey, Eunette? -Eunette: Yes? Hey, Vern!
Vern: I want to talk to you about some ideas, please.
-Okay. -So, obviously,
we're gonna need to be doing some reporting
in the Vegas DMA.
What extent
can you do for me in the area
of producing,
shooting, and editing?
-I mean, is that -I've done it all, you know.
Of course, writing is my forte.
That's what I do, and I shoot.
I've gone out on shoots here for us at KPVM
for Deanna, and I edit.
Part of the issue I see is
is your availability if we needed
shots and story coverage.
Anytime.
I'm ready and willing to go
any and everywhere necessary.
You can handle this?
-Definitely. Definitely. -You sure?
This is good, um.
You've got what it takes.
Eunette: I am so excited.
It's meaningful going to Vegas because
it's fulfilling a personal dream,
but more importantly, fulfilling the dream
that we all have of
expanding the stories that we tell to a wider audience.
-Alright. -Vern: Thank you. Appreciate it.
-Alright. Thank you. -Got it!
I like that.
A story about a missing dog with a happy ending.
That's coming up after the break.
(laughs) Happy ending?
Hey, think what you want! It's a story about a missing dog!
Did you just say "with a happy ending"?
♪
Missey: I'm excited for KPVM in Vegas.
I like contributing to the success.
I want to be part of that. I want to be, I want to--
I love the team activity.
The idea of working together with a group for a goal.
Which I think is the success of the station.
That's what I really like doing.
I also like going home at the end of the night
-and shutting it all off. -(shuts door)
Hey! You want to sit outside
for a while while it's still nice?
-Yes. -Yes?
♪
It is a lemon drop martini.
Ounce and a half of fresh lemon juice.
Maybe like two and a half ounces of alcohol.
The trick is to do it until your hands just about hurt,
-it's so cold. -(shaking)
That's pretty close.
(laughing)
♪
Missey: So you had a meetup
-with Ronda today. How did it go? -It was good.
We were putting together the contract for Nate
and the Nate's neighborhood show.
Hi, good morning. Welcome to "Nate's Neighborhood,"
Nye County's number one real estate show.
-Correct. -(laughs)
Missey: So if they move into Vegas,
do you want to have part of that?
-I do like the sales. I mean, it's kind of-- -Well, I think that, you know
-Yeah. -you have a good calling card with
-being the wacky weather guy to go see people. -Yeah.
(wacky noises)
But I think you could do it in Vegas, too. I think
-I think you could. -It's just a lot of blue sky in Vegas.
Missey: I can't even think about what is going to happen
six months from now.
I mean, I just don't even know.
-Just go with it every day. -Yeah.
Yeah. Do you think we've peaked?
I hope we haven't peaked! I feel like I got
-a lot of life left. I don't wanna peak. -I do, too. No,
-I don't wanna peak, too. Don't want to peak early. -(laughs)
♪
We're here at Nature Health Farms.
-(gobbles) -Snowflake?
He doesn't seem to know his name.
Snowflake?
This gentlemen, who used to be in Las Vegas,
and was a concierge, and he decided
that he wanted to have a farm.
Farmer: Eventually, it'll be open to the public.
Like a family place where you can go and hang out
and check out some old stuff,
-go to the petting zoo. -Deanna: I think Pahrump
does have a reputation of being kind of
like the Wild West.
They're so cute!
But, at the same time,
I like the growth. I like that we're going to have
more things here locally in town.
(birds honking)
So when we talk about me having to cover
more things in Las Vegas and less here in Pahrump
No, no! I was just joking! I didn't-- (laughs)
I decided we have to balance it with both of them
because there's a lot of excitement in Vegas,
but Pahrump is my home.
And then, you have a canoe in your tree.
Farmer: Yeah, I thought it would look good in there.
-(Deanna laughs) -Better than the ground.
Vern: I gotta get that thing straight.
(sighs) Can't have a leaning tower.
-(click) -A leaning tower-- Oh! I dropped a little needle.
♪
Ubaldo: We're gonna start it in five, four, three, two, one.
Good evening. Thank you for tuning in to News 25.
-I'm Eunette Gentry. -Vern: You don't see this from
individuals as much anymore, you know?
This is all done
by big corporations who have large funding,
and we've really worked hard
to get to this point,
-and, uh -Ronda: And then,
and then came a second chapter.
(laughs) Let's see.
In the second chapter of this story
crazy Vern decides to expand
his Pahrump station
to the Las Vegas market.
-(laughs) That is really nice. -So now,
and so the beginning of chapter two starts.
-Vern: That is really cool! -Ronda: Isn't that cool?
That is really, really super cool.
Ronda: Yeah!
I'm not as great as Vern is
about verbalizing how I feel,
and about saying "I love you" regularly
or saying "I'm proud of you" regularly.
But that's what this is right here.
I'm really proud of him.
-Alright. -Vern: Yeah.
-Love you. -Love you.
A lot of hard work, 24 years.
You know?
How do you measure the success?
I don't think that I'm ever gonna get
the pat on the back
from my dad
'cause he passed away from a heart attack,
so who, you know, the only other people
The only two people who could really basically say,
"Hey, you did a great job, you did good, you did great,"
is Ronda to me, and me to Ronda, uh,
because we all want that approval in this world
for what we do.
That's what Ronda did here.
That's exactly what that means.
♪
(labored breathing)
(voice cracking): It's taken a long time, man.
-But, we're there. -("The Blue Danube" waltz playing)
(sighs) Man.
Sometimes, it's hard for me to acknowledge
and recognize the success
that KPVM has, and it has. I mean, it's been tremendous.
The fact that Pahrump, Nevada, a small town of this size
has a TV station, it's, it's very rare.
Welcome back to News 25.
Vern: And it's very rare for somebody
to last 23 years, and go through 9/11,
and then go through the recession, 2007 to 2013,
and then go through this entire pandemic.
-(squawking) -This is a goose.
-Hi, goose. -(squawk)
Vern: The thing of it is is we are still succeeding
at KPVM TV because we have
a lot of great people who work for us,
to cruise through the difficult times.
It was, it was-- It really was sweet.
And now, I'm moving into Vegas.
There's a new contender in town. Very exciting.
("The Blue Danube" ends)
There's no other place like Las Vegas to see ♪
No other place ♪
An accident last night sends one
to a Vegas trauma center via Mercy Air.
This guy ran into a car, and he left a donut
and his cup of coffee.
It was impressive that his coffee cup was still upright.
Missey: His coffee cup was upright on the side of the road.
Deanna: But the donut is on the hood of the car.
-Interviewer: How is the guy? -We don't know.
And there's a new option for washing your car
in Pahrump if you have a slightly dirty one, like me.
Owner: We offer shuttle service
if you want to go do your shopping.
I can drop you off at Walmart or wherever you want.
I'm out of here. We made it!
(insects chirping)
Deanna: Lately with the election, we are flying by
the seat of our pants every day
because you have national news stories
competing for air time.
Okay, here we go.
Three, two, one.
Hi, it's John Kohler from KPVM Channel 25 News.
We're on location at the Sanders Winery,
and, good golly, we've hijacked a hot air balloon.
Deanna: So, now that that's over,
we're just gonna do what we've always done.
Our local news is important,
and that's our niche.
We'll tell you about the whole week ahead when we return.
-(flames roaring) -Up, up, and away! Let's go!
Oh crap. (laughs)
(burner blasting)
John: Whoa Nelly!
♪
(laughing)
("The Blue Danube" waltz playing)
(burner matching beat of waltz)
Let's go! Woo!
(laughing)
♪
We had a bold adventure this morning.
Went up in the air balloon.
-Like 10 feet. That was pretty good. -(laughs)
(laughter)
John: I think it met expectations.
(laughs)
I don't know if it exceeded.
-(waltz continues) -Deanna: Alright. I guess we're done.
John: Do I need to look for snakes out here?
Deanna: No, they wouldn't be out
this time in the morning. It's too cold.
(news theme playing)
♪
Vern: I'm ready.
Ubaldo, we gotta go to the
RAVE shortly for the meeting,
so have yourself ready over there in a couple minutes.
Oh, a lot of snacks.
After the election, I went into a slump.
I mean, it was like I don't know, man.
I was totally freaking out over the fact that
I would need to cut employees.
Very scary times.
The bottom line is that
when something's out of your control,
you really just have to meet everything head on.
These donuts, there's a reason why they call them
-"do-nots." -(laughter)
Ronda: Oh my gosh
Vern: I can now put my full attention towards
what's really important,
and that is developing
the Vegas market.
Ronda: Alright, everybody. Thank you for coming to the meeting today.
Alright, first off, I want to welcome back Brad.
And, Brad,
you little prick.
(laughter)
Look at the work you gave me to freaking--
I told you. It was too far to drive.
After I left here, I thought,
well, I'll go try something else.
Brad Francis, our longtime editor,
is going off to a new job.
And four days later, I was like, "That's enough of that."
Man: Hi, Brad.
Brad: Didn't take long.
I was gone actually about six weeks,
but it was just a lag in getting started
with the other job where I was basically doing nothing.
I didn't get the party that I did when I left though,
so (laughs)
Vern: I think Deanna
is very pleased to have you back,
and of course Missey is also happy
that you guys talk shit about Deanna when she's gone,
-but -(laughter)
Okay, we have some great news,
and I'm very excited about Las Vegas.
I'm very, very excited because
the virus is going back in the, uh, the bottle.
What I see is
a brand new studio.
Pahrump would be Studio A.
Studio B, is what I'm calling it,
would be located in Las Vegas.
Uh, the, the idea is
I want to grab 15 minutes of news
out of the Vegas market each day.
And someone's gonna be sitting on the desk out there.
And then they send it to us here,
and then we combine
that as a separate section
-of our news. -Okay.
The biggest thing I see that
♪
Vern's whole thing is that
he wants to, um, and this is his vision,
is he wants to do news
that is not already being delivered to Las Vegas.
I don't know what that's actually gonna look like
when you're actually on the ground. I really don't.
It's hard for me because who are you
broadcasting to, then?
Pahrump or Vegas?
-Vern: Go ahead, Ronda. -Ronda: Uh, Memorie,
in 2020, you had the top sales
for any salesperson, so congratulations.
-Woo-hoo! -(clapping)
And I just want to recognize
the fact that you're doing two jobs.
-This certificate that I have for you today. -Oh!
I want to reprint this once you change the ink. (laughs)
Memorie: Right? Okay, it's always a good thing
when I have to change the ink because that means
-we're moving and doing stuff. -Vern: Exactly.
-Thank you. -Vern: Thank you.
Ronda: And I think that's it.
♪
Eunette: I love the prospect of the opportunity
to expand in Vegas, and be on air.
That would be fulfilling the dream 2.0.
That would be amazing.
Actually, when I was in junior high school,
a reporter came to our house.
That changed my life. It was like a lightning bolt,
and I thought, "Wow. I could
I could really do something like that."
And so, I'm looking forward
to all of what's in store
in terms of KPVM's expansion.
Deanna: Eunette!
♪
Eunette: Anything that we need
for KPVM in Vegas, I can do it.
From shooting to editing,
so that is something that
Vern hopefully sees.
-Ubaldo: You girls ready? -This is yours, right?
Ubaldo: Five, four, three, two.
Eunette: In more local news,
at Wednesday's Veterans Day celebration,
News 25 had the honor of meeting Janet Porn.
Janet is a veteran of the Vietnam War.
It's also a fun note that Janet's last name,
Porn, is coincidentally an acronym for her career
as a perioperative registered nurse.
There's a third reason why Porn is funny.
(laughter)
Um, alright, so
♪
Officer (on radio): Running southbound through the field.
He's running southbound through the field.
Missey: Is he naked?
Deanna: If he's naked, then we'll go.
If he's not, then we're staying here.
-(laughs) Yeah! -(radio chatter)
Deanna: Yeah, if he is naked, then he might need to be checked out.
(laughter)
Missey: I haven't really talked about my future in Vegas with Vern.
When we decided to just move down here,
my goal was to find a place
I could work where I felt confident in what I was doing.
And so, I want to stay in Pahrump
because I like the people I work with.
But I'm game. Whatever they need me to do.
♪
Vern: I'm trying to accomplish our
Vegas news broadcast.
I want to basically
-start getting somebody sitting on the desk out there. -Yeah.
So now, that changes your
position because
are you going to coordinate how the news
is coming in to Pahrump,
saying, "Hey, what's going on here?
Are we following up on this? Are we doing that?"
Or are you gonna continue to
go out belly-to-belly, getting all this news in Pahrump,
and not have the time to do that coordinating?
Because the last thing I can have you do is working
12-, 14-hour days. I'm not gonna have you do that.
That's what we do now. In the newsroom. We do that now.
I'm kind of excited about it because it's important that
we continue to grow.
But what I'm mostly concerned with is
me having to cover
more things and us not getting any bigger crew
because, I mean,
I missed my doctor's appointment last month,
I didn't put my check in the bank because I don't have time.
I'm still trying to find an hour to water my plants.
If you can basically just ponder it.
-Okay. Alright, we're leaving. -Alright, thanks for talking.
Come on, dog with the cat sweater on you.
-Okay. Goodbye. -Alright, thank you.
Vern: I dig those glasses. Let me see those glasses.
-Ray-Bans. Yeah. -They Ray-Bans? Those are cool.
I got Randy Jackson's on, man.
Oh! Wow-- Oh. Oh yeah!
Vern: It's time to build out Las Vegas,
and the plan is to get John involved.
John is doing weather right now,
but John and I have also talked about him
jumping into the sales department.
John: Woo-woo! Do some weather.
Oh, I just have a website.
This Day Trivia.
I always like including trivia in the weather report.
"Alfalfa killed in a fight over $50."
That's just fun. (laughs)
Alfalfa got shot over $50.
Jesus.
You know who that is, right?
-No. -Oh.
♪
Vern: He's the right person for it
because friends do business with friends.
He will make friends, and he will do business
with those friends.
And here in the paradise of Pahrump,
where the grass is green,
and the lawns are irrigated.
Burning trash is still illegal in your yard.
The business here now for me is to execute Vern's vision.
We all know why the wind blows in Nevada.
It's because California sucks. Ha, ha! Alright.
I think I can convey the power of the media.
You have to like say, "Hey, this is a really good thing to have."
"You're right! I'd love that! Here Take my money please!"
(laughs)
Was that a little interminable, or should we do it again?
Or I don't know, what do you think?
(chickens clucking)
♪
Vern: Alright, let's go to Vegas.
It's so dry in the desert, man. You gotta constantly--
Ronda: Are you gonna bring water or anything?
Yeah, I'll get some water.
-Alright. -(car starts)
There's no other place like Las Vegas to see ♪
No other place like Las Vegas to me ♪
Vern: So the facility that I'm looking for has to have
a feeling of success as soon as you walk in the door.
Ronda: I feel like when we find the right place, we're gonna know it
-almost right away. -Vern: Right.
Ronda: It's just like anything.
Champagne taste on a beer budget. Like, I don't know.
Vern: And I got a definite champagne taste.
-Hello! I'm Vern. -Robin: How are you?
-Hi, Vern. I'm Robin. -Pleasure to meet you.
Ronda: I kind of like this actually.
-Vern: You can do some editing in here. -Ronda: Yeah.
I feel like we're building an entire other TV station.
Vern: In a, in a, in a sense, it is.
Ronda: After 24 years of stress,
he's like, "Okay! We gotta get to Vegas! We gotta do this!
We gotta do that!" And I get it.
It's just tiring.
-Nice little hallway here. -Ronda: But,
you know, I show him I care about him
by helping him with this station.
You do have one pole.
Maybe after hours,
you can do some dancing for me?
(both laugh)
-I'll do a couple for you. -I'll get right on that.
♪
Deanna: Well, it was out with the old
and in with the new this morning in Pahrump
as the town erected a new welcome sign.
Woo-hoo!
-Goodbye, old sign! -Goodbye!
Deanna: Vern's asked me, did I want to, um,
manage running Vegas.
(exhales) It's a hard one because
I like going out around town, getting stories for Pahrump.
These signs should pop and add to
the overall appeal of Pahrump.
You know, when headlights hit them, they'll pop.
So, as you can see right now
they pop.
(truck rumbling)
Vern: The only thing I have an issue with with the staircase
is we have a lot of
handicapped people that come to the TV station.
If you wanted to put somebody on the set,
and it's a political season, we got politicians coming in.
Most people can handle the stairs.
I mean, I don't know how many handicapped people
are going to be running for office.
You just never know these days.
♪
Deanna: Brothels are important around this area,
and the brothels are not doing anything right now.
So, yeah, there's a lot of income loss there.
Show me around.
Hostess: This is that newer room.
Deanna: Ooh, it's so pretty.
Hostess: Yeah, this is that video room.
-Oh, it's a video room? -Mm-hmm.
Deanna: So what do you do with the videos?
Hostess: Well, the customer pays a lot of money to be able to--
-Oh, and then they can have them? Oh wow! -Yep.
Deanna: Vern's excited about Vegas,
but if we're mixing in Vegas, we have to start cutting down
on Pahrump coverage,
and I don't want to do that.
Oh, I didn't know you guys had a dungeon.
So much room for activities.
Robin: Here's another property I have to show you.
From the back, you have two restrooms again.
Vern: Very cool, very cool.
Once I get a vision,
it's like I want to explore that
and develop it and build it.
And then, we have a nice big open room for you.
Oh nice, nice, nice, nice.
I never get to a point to where
I kind of feel like I'm satisfied.
It's like the goal line is always moving.
What was here before?
One of Biden's campaign offices.
Oh God, we're out.
-(laughter) -We're over!
-I'm outta here! Goodbye! -Ronda: Bad mojo! Bad mojo!
Vern: Even if the situation here didn't work out
Ronda: They'll find something for us, I hope. So, now what?
I got a dinner date with you.
Panera Bread.
(laughs)
(traffic noise)
♪
Hey, got time to do a commercial for me?
-I do. Is this the jingle? -Yes.
Ronda: My favorite part of being at the station
really is when we do write a jingle
because I'll sing in it.
-Which one is it? JK? -So we are doing JK.
-Accidents happen. -(tires screech, cars crash)
Woman: Oh no! Is everyone okay?
Did someone call the police and medics?
Ronda: JK Nelson Law is a great client.
His name is Jonathan Nelson. He really wanted a jingle.
-(jingle playing) -Ronda (singing): First call Nelson
I wouldn't mind speeding it up. It's killing me.
It's so slow.
When Vern was designing
the station, he really wanted to build
my RAVE audio digital studio
specifically because I'm a singer.
And the initials stand for
Ronda Annette Van Winkle Entertainment.
Announcer: Ready to rock and roll? Artists and bands,
come make your next hit CD.
Also, ask about our karaoke recording special.
You need Nelson ♪
Just call Nelson ♪
Jonathan is due to be here in a few hours.
So, when he comes in,
we want to make sure he's happy.
I think we need to bring it up to date.
Ubaldo: Okay, well, we can do that.
(whistling)
♪
John: We're at the local golf place here in Pahrump.
That's how business is done, so I'm here to meet Nate Boley
and sell him some advertising.
He's a realtor. He's like number 14 in Nye County.
I'd really like to put him up into like the top 10.
Vern wants me to, you know, sell this thing,
and I want to help him. I mean, I want to help grow the station.
Get some dough-re-mi.
My plan is to fluff his ego relentlessly
until he succumbs to my masculine charms
and signs a contract.
(laughs)
-What? -Found you some more clubs.
-I was good with one. -I know. I figure--
I think you're in-- That's the devastator.
-You're in serious trouble. -(laughs)
-Ah! -(both laugh)
Nathan Boley: Advertising can be
a strange-- You gotta kind of find your niche,
so I've been looking into more television.
Things-- Some of the things that John offers.
Before you hit, I want you to think about one thing.
-Give me all your money. -(both laugh)
-(whack) -Shit.
John: Mine almost beat yours!
Oh, you suck, too. This is gonna be great.
♪
-Come on -(whack)
-That's a worm burner. -You're green adjacent,
-as we would put it in real estate. -(both laugh)
John: This is a par five, is it not?
-Nate: I fuckin' hope so. -(both laugh)
-(whack) -Whoa. Nice.
You know what else is nice?
-Radio advertising. -(both laugh)
John: It's the great thing about golf is lots of time to sit and talk
and get this deal done.
Well, I just look at the cost of a billboard,
-and I'm always astounded. -Nate: Yeah, it's strange to me
'cause it'll cost usually about four or five grand
just to get started on a billboard.
John: And what you can do with that on TV and radio
is just astounding.
We can do a whole show,
or if you wanna do like
a weather sponsorship, something like that.
"Nate Boley, awesome realtor! Blah blah blah!"
-Okay. I like that. -You know?
Nye County's most handsome realtor.
(both laugh)
So we could kinda make that like a package thing?
Yeah.
-Okay. Yeah. -Yeah.
Nate: My hesitation in the past from using KPVM
was honestly a lack of John being there.
I've got to know him, so it seems like the timing is right.
♪
(cheering, laughing)
-Call that the Kohler. -It's like I knew what I was doing.
So, we're doing this?
-Nate: Yeah. -John: Alright, man!
♪
Ronda: Can we put Jonathan up on green screen?
Jonathan Nelson: My name is Jonathan Nelson.
I run JK Nelson Law, which is a law firm.
If you've been injured in an accident, don't bother with
the construction and the traffic heading to Vegas. Stay local.
We opened up six years ago here in Pahrump,
and one of the first people I reached out to
was the TV station, Vern and Ronda,
to help get my name out there.
So if you're injured in an accident, call JK Nelson Law.
We also have an office in Vegas to meet the needs of your le--
-Shoot. -Ronda: Not bad.
(laughs)
-We'll come down here. -Jonathan: Yeah.
I can actually show you that jingle.
Ronda: We wanted to make it catchy,
so we were just scripting out like, "What can we say?"
You know, "If you need a hero,
seven-two-seven nine-nine-zero-zero."
We really like it.
Okay. (clears throat)
Um
-(hip-hop music) -Announcer: When you need help,
then you need Nelson.
(echoing): Nelson, Nelson, Nelson.
Ronda (singing): No matter your trouble, you need a hero
Jonathan: Ronda has made this jingle
a rap version.
People get into that.
-(commercial continues) -You need Ooh, I like the smoke.
Ooh ♪
-(siren blaring) -Should I call my insurance or an attorney?
Announcer: When you need help, then you need Nelson.
Ronda: So there's so many layers to this jingle.
(echoing): Nelson, Nelson, Nelson
There's, "No matter your trouble," you know, all that,
and then, like, all these like tracks.
I know I'm supposed to have constructive criticism,
that's pretty good.
Well, that's easy. Okay.
This is how we do it. Quick and dirty
-and get it on the way. -Clean and mean. Okay.
-That's right. -Ronda: It turned out great.
Really turned out great.
Vern must love me a lot to be willing to put in this studio.
(laughs)
He built me something that I want to have, and I wish
that there was something I could do for him.
If I could give him anything,
I think it would be
the self-confidence for him to know that he has done this.
He already is successful.
I feel like maybe he's always wanted
to please his parents.
His dad died
right after we got together.
And I think he wanted his dad to know that he was a success.
His dad didn't get to say,
"Vern, I'm so proud of you."
♪
If you need Nelson ♪
Nelson, Nelson ♪
-Vern: Hey, Eunette? -Eunette: Yes? Hey, Vern!
Vern: I want to talk to you about some ideas, please.
-Okay. -So, obviously,
we're gonna need to be doing some reporting
in the Vegas DMA.
What extent
can you do for me in the area
of producing,
shooting, and editing?
-I mean, is that -I've done it all, you know.
Of course, writing is my forte.
That's what I do, and I shoot.
I've gone out on shoots here for us at KPVM
for Deanna, and I edit.
Part of the issue I see is
is your availability if we needed
shots and story coverage.
Anytime.
I'm ready and willing to go
any and everywhere necessary.
You can handle this?
-Definitely. Definitely. -You sure?
This is good, um.
You've got what it takes.
Eunette: I am so excited.
It's meaningful going to Vegas because
it's fulfilling a personal dream,
but more importantly, fulfilling the dream
that we all have of
expanding the stories that we tell to a wider audience.
-Alright. -Vern: Thank you. Appreciate it.
-Alright. Thank you. -Got it!
I like that.
A story about a missing dog with a happy ending.
That's coming up after the break.
(laughs) Happy ending?
Hey, think what you want! It's a story about a missing dog!
Did you just say "with a happy ending"?
♪
Missey: I'm excited for KPVM in Vegas.
I like contributing to the success.
I want to be part of that. I want to be, I want to--
I love the team activity.
The idea of working together with a group for a goal.
Which I think is the success of the station.
That's what I really like doing.
I also like going home at the end of the night
-and shutting it all off. -(shuts door)
Hey! You want to sit outside
for a while while it's still nice?
-Yes. -Yes?
♪
It is a lemon drop martini.
Ounce and a half of fresh lemon juice.
Maybe like two and a half ounces of alcohol.
The trick is to do it until your hands just about hurt,
-it's so cold. -(shaking)
That's pretty close.
(laughing)
♪
Missey: So you had a meetup
-with Ronda today. How did it go? -It was good.
We were putting together the contract for Nate
and the Nate's neighborhood show.
Hi, good morning. Welcome to "Nate's Neighborhood,"
Nye County's number one real estate show.
-Correct. -(laughs)
Missey: So if they move into Vegas,
do you want to have part of that?
-I do like the sales. I mean, it's kind of-- -Well, I think that, you know
-Yeah. -you have a good calling card with
-being the wacky weather guy to go see people. -Yeah.
(wacky noises)
But I think you could do it in Vegas, too. I think
-I think you could. -It's just a lot of blue sky in Vegas.
Missey: I can't even think about what is going to happen
six months from now.
I mean, I just don't even know.
-Just go with it every day. -Yeah.
Yeah. Do you think we've peaked?
I hope we haven't peaked! I feel like I got
-a lot of life left. I don't wanna peak. -I do, too. No,
-I don't wanna peak, too. Don't want to peak early. -(laughs)
♪
We're here at Nature Health Farms.
-(gobbles) -Snowflake?
He doesn't seem to know his name.
Snowflake?
This gentlemen, who used to be in Las Vegas,
and was a concierge, and he decided
that he wanted to have a farm.
Farmer: Eventually, it'll be open to the public.
Like a family place where you can go and hang out
and check out some old stuff,
-go to the petting zoo. -Deanna: I think Pahrump
does have a reputation of being kind of
like the Wild West.
They're so cute!
But, at the same time,
I like the growth. I like that we're going to have
more things here locally in town.
(birds honking)
So when we talk about me having to cover
more things in Las Vegas and less here in Pahrump
No, no! I was just joking! I didn't-- (laughs)
I decided we have to balance it with both of them
because there's a lot of excitement in Vegas,
but Pahrump is my home.
And then, you have a canoe in your tree.
Farmer: Yeah, I thought it would look good in there.
-(Deanna laughs) -Better than the ground.
Vern: I gotta get that thing straight.
(sighs) Can't have a leaning tower.
-(click) -A leaning tower-- Oh! I dropped a little needle.
♪
Ubaldo: We're gonna start it in five, four, three, two, one.
Good evening. Thank you for tuning in to News 25.
-I'm Eunette Gentry. -Vern: You don't see this from
individuals as much anymore, you know?
This is all done
by big corporations who have large funding,
and we've really worked hard
to get to this point,
-and, uh -Ronda: And then,
and then came a second chapter.
(laughs) Let's see.
In the second chapter of this story
crazy Vern decides to expand
his Pahrump station
to the Las Vegas market.
-(laughs) That is really nice. -So now,
and so the beginning of chapter two starts.
-Vern: That is really cool! -Ronda: Isn't that cool?
That is really, really super cool.
Ronda: Yeah!
I'm not as great as Vern is
about verbalizing how I feel,
and about saying "I love you" regularly
or saying "I'm proud of you" regularly.
But that's what this is right here.
I'm really proud of him.
-Alright. -Vern: Yeah.
-Love you. -Love you.
A lot of hard work, 24 years.
You know?
How do you measure the success?
I don't think that I'm ever gonna get
the pat on the back
from my dad
'cause he passed away from a heart attack,
so who, you know, the only other people
The only two people who could really basically say,
"Hey, you did a great job, you did good, you did great,"
is Ronda to me, and me to Ronda, uh,
because we all want that approval in this world
for what we do.
That's what Ronda did here.
That's exactly what that means.
♪
(labored breathing)
(voice cracking): It's taken a long time, man.
-But, we're there. -("The Blue Danube" waltz playing)
(sighs) Man.
Sometimes, it's hard for me to acknowledge
and recognize the success
that KPVM has, and it has. I mean, it's been tremendous.
The fact that Pahrump, Nevada, a small town of this size
has a TV station, it's, it's very rare.
Welcome back to News 25.
Vern: And it's very rare for somebody
to last 23 years, and go through 9/11,
and then go through the recession, 2007 to 2013,
and then go through this entire pandemic.
-(squawking) -This is a goose.
-Hi, goose. -(squawk)
Vern: The thing of it is is we are still succeeding
at KPVM TV because we have
a lot of great people who work for us,
to cruise through the difficult times.
It was, it was-- It really was sweet.
And now, I'm moving into Vegas.
There's a new contender in town. Very exciting.
("The Blue Danube" ends)
There's no other place like Las Vegas to see ♪
No other place ♪
An accident last night sends one
to a Vegas trauma center via Mercy Air.
This guy ran into a car, and he left a donut
and his cup of coffee.
It was impressive that his coffee cup was still upright.
Missey: His coffee cup was upright on the side of the road.
Deanna: But the donut is on the hood of the car.
-Interviewer: How is the guy? -We don't know.
And there's a new option for washing your car
in Pahrump if you have a slightly dirty one, like me.
Owner: We offer shuttle service
if you want to go do your shopping.
I can drop you off at Walmart or wherever you want.
I'm out of here. We made it!