SUPER:    “NEW YORK CITY, DECEMBER 1980.”

FADE IN

INT. NEW YORK CITY APARTMENT

POKEY CRIBBAGE, a Chihuahua-terrier mix, lies on the  1950s motif davenport fast asleep.  The football game on the TV roars scratchily.  Outside, a siren wails and flashes of red and blue cut through the window to dance across the walls.  They keep dancing.  Pokey awakens.  He makes a low-pitched, quiet howl.  He gets up, his hair raised a bit in simple irritation, and walks to his drinking pan in the kitchen.  He stands over it a moment and laps unenthusiastically once, twice -- missing the water entirely the second time.  He howls again, and there is a trace of a growl in the sound.  The sirens die away in time, and Pokey returns to the davenport and is soon sleeping again.  The TV blares on.  The lights on the wall flash brighter.  They dance on the wall and on the sleeping dog.  The TV screen is now nearly all green with the expanse of Astroturf.  Football players are running across the field.  From the TV comes the voice of HORACE GOLDING. 
 
                GOLDING (V.O.)
There are some things more important than a football game.  News from New York City.  James McKay composer and former leader of the Storm Kings shot in the back and dead on arrival at ...

There is the sound of muttering from the TV, and a pause of several seconds. 

            GOLDING (V.O.)
What?

The voice pauses again and then comes back. 

        GOLDING (V.O.)
I stand corrected.  McKay's condition is not known.......and I am told now that he has been critically...  but I will say nothing more.

 There is still another pause.

            GOLDING  (V.O.)
Idiots.  God damn it! Get me the facts first -- the facts.  Fools.