Atlas Shilled - Anton Project #1 Topic

Synopsis

Ayn Rand (Jim Parsons), a young Russian emigre to the United States, tries to find her voice as a writer while working at a call center.


Principal Cast

- Ayn Rand (Jim Parsons, "Big Bang Theory")

Ayn recently emigrated to the United States to try and make it as a writer in Hollywood, and is in love with all things American. Unfortunately, her finances only allowed her to make it as far as Omaha, where she got a job in the call center for 'not available in stores' marketing company Atlas International.

Ayn is quite smart and passionate when she finds a cause, but often comes across as arrogant and abrasive, and her ignorance of social norms and sometimes broken English often causes her embarrassment.

- Tabitha "Tabby" Daggert (April Bowlby, "Two and a Half Men", "How I Met Your Mother")

Tabby is one of Ayn's co-workers in the Atlas call center. She's sexy and she knows it; to Tabby, flirting is as natural an impulse as breathing. When she started working at Atlas, she made a list of all the guys she wanted to have sex with, and has been methodically working her way down that list ever since.

When she's not on the prowl, Tabby is a daydreamer whose relentless optimism drives Ayn crazy.

- Hank Gordon (Stephen Rannazzisi, "Samantha Who?", "The League")

Another of Ayn's co-workers, Hank is one of the few guys from Tabby's list she's crossed off but stayed friends with. The stereotypical dumb jock, Hank still wants to grow up to be a fireman some day, or maybe a rock star (he still fronts a garage band, Gordon Metal, on weekends) despite the fact that he's already grown up.

Ayn sees him as the perfect American male, and has a desperate crush on him as a result. The fact that Tabby's already gotten him and tossed him aside drives Ayn crazy.

- Wes Crouch (Wil Wheaton, "Big Bang Theory")

The office politician, Wes sees sucking up to management and stabbing his co-workers in the back as merely 'part of the game'. The fact that he's being such a dick to try and get ahead in a dead-end call center job in Omaha doesn't seem to occur to him, nor does he understand why anyone would hold any grudges over his petty betrayals. He also assumes he's somewhere on Tabby's list, despite all evidence to the contrary.

He's Hank's best friend, mainly because Hank is the only person too dumb to see through him.

- Floyd Wheeler (Danny DeVito,"It's Always Sunny in Philadephia", "Taxi")

The 'pit boss' of the call center, Floyd has been in the business too long. He goes through the motions of being the gruff taskmaster, but he lets the staff get away with pretty much whatever they want so long as the quotas are met.

His irregular 'A-B-C' speeches, tired retreads of Baldwin's Glengarry Glen Ross speech, are the stuff of legend in the call center.

- Vince Tender (Bill Hader, "Saturday Night Live")

The pitchman and President of Atlas International, Tender has a knack for finding crappy products and cutting unintentionally funny commercials for them that become YouTube sensations. He sees the company, and the ads, merely as a stepping stone to stardom.

- James Daggert (Barry Watson, "Samantha Who?")

James is a bartender at Hollywood's (the office watering hole) and Tabby's older brother. He long ago gave up trying to be protective of her, realizing she could take care of herself, but he still tries to ruin her action now and then. Tabby does the same thing right back, and usually comes out on top, leading to some very frustrating and frustrated nights for James.

- Gwen Eaves (Aisha Tyler, "Friends")

Hollywood's other bartender and server, Gwen is as cynical, sarcastic and bitchy as they come, an insult comic trapped in a model's body. Anyone stupid enough to think she'll give them a sympathetic ear, or some good advice, is likely to leave the bar bleeding. Behind that pricky exterior though, is... more prickles. Made of steel. And tipped with poison.
11/9/2009 4:46 PM
Wow, character names already? I'm impressed.
11/9/2009 5:08 PM
What part do I get?
11/9/2009 5:11 PM
Quote: Originally posted by toddcommish on 11/09/2009Wow, character names already?  I'm impressed.

It'll all make sense when you see the synopsis.
11/9/2009 5:16 PM
Pilot

Ayn (Jim Parsons) gets ready for her first day of work. In her small apartment we see her choose between three basically identical black frocks, brush her teeth with an almost maniacal intensity, then put on a green flapper-style hat and head out the door. In front of a Starbucks she stops, looks around, and happily does a Mary Tyler Moore toss with her hat (complete with quick freeze frame). She waits for it to fall back down, but it never does.

At the headquarters of her new place of employment, Atlas International (a statue in front of the main door shows the mythical Atlas having set the Earth down and leaning on it, while wiping his brow with his other hand) Ayn gets to know some of her new co-workers: Tabby (April Bowlby), Hank (Stephen Rannazzisi) and Wes (Wil Wheaton), and their boss Floyd (Danny DeVito). They seem less than interested in finding out about Ayn, however, and it quickly comes out that she got assigned the 'cursed cubicle' - no one who's sat there has lasted more than a couple of days.

The curse seems to hit Ayn right out of gate. Her computer keeps crashing and rebooting, cutting off callers and costing her sales. The fluorescent light above her cubicle flickers ominously. And an awful smell from her bottom desk drawer proves to be a dead albatross.

Thinking the albatross is a bit over the top, Ayn ropes Tabby into staking out her cubicle after her shift is over and they discover that Wes has been blackmailing Danny, one of the IT guys (guest star Joe Lo Truglio), into sabotaging her system. Tabby tells Ayn she'll take care of it. The next day, it's Wes' computer that acts like it's possessed, and Tabby explains to Ayn that she bumped up the IT guy on her list in exchange for Wes getting the 'curse' instead.

Her job safe, Ayn has a drink with Tabby, Wes and Hank at Hollywood's after their shift. Wes tells Ayn she's made an enemy for life. Everyone laughs, and Tabby slips off to the women's washroom with Danny in tow.
11/10/2009 10:22 AM
Episode 2: Kings, Queens and Egoists

Cold open: Ayn tries to close a sale with a drunken, antagonistic caller (voiced by Kelsey Grammer) who mishears her say 'quick chopping action' as 'sick shopping accident'.

Ayn gets invited to join the weekly office poker game, and nearly ruins it with her abrasive, hyper-aggressive style of play. Meanwhile, Hollywood's gets a boost in business when rumors spread of Gwen getting a new piercing.
11/10/2009 10:22 AM
Episode 3: The Loud Voice of Reason

Cold open: Ayn tries to close a sale with an elderly woman (voiced by Betty White) who's just lonely, and wants Ayn to pretend to be her grand-daughter.

Floyd's latest Baldwin-esque rant, "Always Be Cellular", leads to the call center switching over from their headsets and computers to wandering around the office with Crackberries, and chaos results. Meanwhile, Hank tries to convince everyone to come out and see the first gig of his band, Gordon Metal.
11/10/2009 10:22 AM
Episode 4: Second Hand Lives

Cold open: Ayn tries to close a sale with a bored housewife (voiced by Reese Witherspoon) who's more interested in talking about her prized fighting ****.

Vince rushes his latest product, Gehry Blocks (a child's building toy with which it's impossible to make conventional structures), to market to get the jump on a similar product created by his brother and rival Billy (guest star Bob Odenkirk). Meanwhile, Floyd is convinced his wife (guest star Marilu Henner) is having an affair with the Elvis impersonator who lives down the block. The episode ends with Floyd blowing up the office's demo Gehry Blocks set with a couple of firecrackers.
11/10/2009 10:22 AM
Episode 5: Rooting Interest

Cold open: Ayn tries to close a sale with a harried woman (voiced by Amy Poehler) trying to be heard over the din of her family.

Ayn decides to become more American by picking favorite sports teams, while Wes sneaks a peek at what he thinks is Tabby's list, and plots to eliminate all the names ahead of his on it.
11/10/2009 10:23 AM
Episode 6: Bridal Prejudice

Cold open: Ayn tries to close a sale with a man (voiced by Harry Connick Jr) who gets overly familiar with her.

Ayn is forced into some embarrassing admissions when she's confronted by a man (guest star Harry Connick Jr.) who claims she's his Russian mail order bride. Meanwhile, James ends his losing streak with women... only to find he's being kept by a rich widow (guest star Christine Baranski).
11/10/2009 10:23 AM
Episode 7: The Atlas Shruggie

Cold open: Ayn tries to close a sale with a very indecisive man (voiced by Gilbert Gottfried).

At the office Hallowe'en party Vince introduces his latest brain child, the Shruggie (an "easy access" version of the Snuggie). Tabby not only lands a prominent role in Vince's raunchy pitch ad thanks to her suggestive costume, she also winds up as a VP in the company and as Floyd's boss, and proves to be a total hard-*** when it comes to running the call center. Meanwhile, after Ayn wins the costume contest with her "Chernobyl mutant" outfit, rumors sweep the office that it may not have been a costume.
11/10/2009 3:39 PM
Episode 8: Rand Ole Time

Cold open: Ayn tries to close a sale with a woman (voiced by Lauren Graham) who has very particular shipping instructions.

Ayn's life is turned upside-down when her wild younger sister Nadia (guest star Taylor Swift) shows up on her doorstep, having run away from her tennis camp, while Tabby starts having trouble picking up guys after getting kissed by Gwen.
11/10/2009 3:39 PM
Episode 13 (Season Finale): We the Livid

Vince brings Param, the head of Atlas' Bangalore call center (guest star Kal Penn), over to tour the Omaha facility, leading to a 'friendly' wager between Floyd and Param and rampant rumors that the Omaha office will be closed.
11/10/2009 3:45 PM
Wouldnt Winnona Ryder made a better Rand...and also be the right gender?
11/10/2009 3:53 PM
awesome.
11/10/2009 4:01 PM
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Atlas Shilled - Anton Project #1 Topic

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