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01x07 - The Woman on the Roof

Episode transcripts for the TV show, "Government Cheese". Aired: April 16, 2025 – present.*
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In 1969, Hampton Chambers, a convicted burglar, is released from prison and returns to his home in Chatsworth, Los Angeles, where he reunites with his family and tries to start over with a second chance by inventing the "Bit Magician", a self-sharpening power drill.

01x07 - The Woman on the Roof

Post by bunniefuu »

[Hampton] Family photo.

Okay.

[shutter clicks]

- [shutter clicks]

- Oh, my God.

- [shutter clicks]

- [laughs] Wait.

[shutter clicks]

[speaks indistinctly]

[laughs]

All right. All right.

Einstein, do not hurt yourself!

[engine revs]

Bye, honey.

[Einstein grunts]

[sighs]

All right, Astoria.

This weekend, we make a portfolio that is

gonna knock Mr. Briess's socks off.

You're better than Caroline Purdy.

- Oh, boy.

- [chuckles] Good morning, sweetheart.

Please don't tell me you're making coffee.

Well, of course I am.

That's what I do every morning.

[sighs] I know. That's the problem.

Look, honey, I'll just have

one of the girls at the office

brew me a cup when I get in.

I just don't know what

I could possibly be doing wrong.

It's just coffee.

It's more than just coffee.

If my wife can't make a decent cup of joe,

the boys at work will never respect me.

[scoffs] What am I doing wrong?

[narrator] Don't let bad coffee

tear your family apart.

Kellman's Coffee is guaranteed

to not only brighten your life,

it will make you admire your wife.

- I sure do like the sound of that.

- [chuckles]

Looks like I've got some shopping to do.

[narrator] Put a smile on

your husband's face today

and buy Kellman's Coffee.

Coffee. Yeah.

That's all you need.

[person] Coffee is a metaphor.

What?

The coffee is a metaphor

for taking care of your husband.

That's the role of the wife.

Hmm. I don't want to be that kind of wife.

And that's why you're unhappy.

How do you know I'm unhappy?

Well, for one,

you're talking to a commercial.

And two, you're getting high on reefer,

which I'm pretty sure is ill*gal

and not very ladylike.

[laughs]

Here, taste this coffee.

No.

Here.

No.

Please?

- [sighs] Fine.

- [chuckles]

- It is good.

- [chuckles, sighs]

I make good coffee.

My husband has a better day.

All is right in the world. And I'm happy.

Don't you wanna be defined

by more than just making coffee

to make your husband happy?

I'm only alive for 30 seconds

every few hours.

I don't have time to do anything else.

Well, I never have time to myself.

I need to clear my head.

[playing "Sylvia, Pizzicato", by Delibes]

[Einstein] Ma.

Do we have any baking soda?

Um, in the cabinet.

What do you need it for?

The alkalinity of the pool.

- [chuckles]

- [Einstein] Mini's coming over later.

I noticed Mini spent the night again.

Don't get her pregnant.

You've got a lot of opportunities with

all those offers and acceptance letters.

I understand, Mom.

[Astoria] I'm serious.

Don't get stuck.

I know.

[water splashing]

Don't worry, Mom. I'll never get stuck.

[sighs]

[hammering]

[hammering continues]

[sighs]

See? That is a happy wife.

- That's happy to you?

- She's making her house beautiful,

so when her husband comes home,

he feels like a king.

[hammering continues]

She looks frazzled to me.

And a little crazy.

Oh, you're one of those?

One of what?

Those women who judge

other women unfairly.

Being judgmental gives you wrinkles.

What is wrong with you? Who made you?

I was made by a wonderful man

named Herbert Gibson.

He runs the ad agency. A true genius.

- [knocking]

- [sighs]

- Yeah?

- Mrs. Chambers, Todd Edelbrock.

I'm your husband's parole officer.

Such a pleasure to make your acquaintance.

[grunts] Nice to meet you.

Hampton is on a fishing trip

with our youngest, Harrison.

Nothing more wholesome.

He did let me know

that he'd be out of town.

He's been an exemplary parolee.

Mmm. Is that a child?

Oh.

Let's go.

Yeah, but don't worry about Ruby.

My wife and I are separated.

It's my weekend with her.

I've come round to do

the standard household check.

Without Hampton?

A parolee technically doesn't have to be

on-site when I do the home visit.

In fact, I'd like to speak with you alone.

Just about our plan for successfully

reintroducing Hampton into society.

Shall we get started?

Okay.

[sighs]

[sniffs]

Wow.

This wallpaper is colorful.

I'm not good with compliments.

[chuckles] That's what my wife said.

No. Colorful is what I was going for.

[Todd sighs]

I have to pee.

[sighs]

How did you get out of the car?

That's a stupid question, Dad.

I opened the door and walked out.

It smells like Mom's bathroom in here.

The bathroom is just

down the hall on the right, sweetheart.

Do you mind if I see the bedrooms?

[Astoria sighs]

I have been meaning to

make some space for Hampton.

Just haven't found the time.

Find the time.

Offenders are more likely to re-offend

if they don't feel supported.

- You're all he has.

- ["Sylvia, Pizzicato" playing]

Ruby?

- [sighs]

- Ruby?

[music continues]

Hey. Hey. Hey.

We ask before we touch.

- [chuckles]

- [sighs]

You play beautifully, Ruby.

[sighs]

[chuckles]

[screaming, grunting on TV]

[husband sighs] Now that's what coffee's

supposed to smell like.

Oh. [chuckles]

- And it tastes even better.

- [sighs]

You made this all on your own?

Well, I had a little help

from Kellman's Coffee.

[chuckles] Well,

it's better than any I've ever had.

Oh.

Say, why don't you go

buy yourself a nice dress?

And be ready at 7:00 p.m. sharp.

I'd like to take my beautiful wife

out on the town.

Oh, you.

See what happens

when you can't make coffee?

It all falls apart.

You don't want it to fall apart,

do you, Astoria?

[Todd] Just one more thing.

Let's see.

And forgive me if this is a bit personal.

During the separation,

I really threw myself into work

and my predicament has illuminated

how a special marriage can be

It can be such a blessing.

A solid base can improve

an ex-con's ability to rejoin society.

Immensely.

My wife, she didn't wanna work on this.

On us.

I did. I did.

- It takes two to tango.

- [refrigerator door opens]

- For example

- [bottles clinking]

if you could think of little ways to

show Hampton how much you appreciate him.

Does raising his children not count?

[Ruby] Kids don't count.

Don't eat that. That is not soup.

[Todd] Ruby. Ruby!

Put it back. Come on.

- [refrigerator door opens, closes]

- [sighs]

Sorry. [chuckles]

Uh, doesn't have to be anything grand.

Maybe just his favorite meal.

A good cup of coffee.

[Todd] Yes. The little things count too.

You need to show him that you need him.

That it's important for him to be at home.

Yes.

Unlike my ex-wife, you get it. [chuckles]

All right. [sighs] Well.

All right. Well, I am marking this house

as checked and cleared.

Rubes, I think our work here is done.

- [Astoria sighs]

- Your toilet's broken.

- Thank you, Ruby.

- Thank you, Mrs. Chambers.

[sighs]

[sighs]

Astoria, hello.

Martha, hi.

We have termites.

Someone was supposed to be here by noon

and no one has shown up.

They're in the entire house.

I can hear them in the walls.

It's making me insane.

I can't spend

another minute in that place.

I brought you a housewarming gift.

Tupperware.

I've lived here for seven years.

Can I come in?

[chuckles]

You know, I have had an idea of what

the inside of this house has looked like.

And now that I'm in here, it's just so

cozy.

Nice.

It's like a real family lives here.

Thanks, Martha.

Can I get you something?

Coffee? I've got Kellman's.

Oh, no. You use Kellman's?

I do.

- Is she here?

- Who?

The Kellman's lady.

You see her too?

Well, yeah, she's everywhere.

TV. Billboards.

I can't believe my husband left me.

How could Herbert write that?

You don't argue with her.

You just smile

and have her make some coffee.

[whispers] You can make some coffee.

[mumbling]

[Martha] What's with the ladder?

[Astoria] My son, Einstein,

was cleaning the rain gutters.

Ooh, are you a designer?

No.

- I am just a receptionist

- [sighs]

but pretending that I will be an actual

artist some day gets me through.

You're not the only one

[inhales sharply] pretending.

To be what the world wants us to be.

[inhales deeply]

I guess. [laughs]

- Martha, are you all right?

- Mm-hmm. Yes.

[laughs] Yes.

[sighs] Yes.

Yeah, no, I'm good. I'm good.

I'm just ha having one of those days.

I'm gonna need to lie down.

[breathes heavily]

[sighs] Ten fingers. Ten toes.

Ten fingers. Ten toes.

Ten fingers. [sighs]

Ten toes.

[inhales sharply] Okay.

Tori, come sit.

- Tori?

- Mm-hmm.

It's a nickname I call you all the time.

Come, come, come. Come on.

I don't wanna sit.

- Come on. Come on. Okay. There we go.

- I don't [chuckles, grunts]

Mmm. I'm sorry.

For what?

[sighs] When your husband was

[inhales sharply] detained.

Oh, nope.

- We don't need to do [clears throat]

- Mm-hmm. Yep.

[chuckles] We do.

I treated you unfairly.

I pretended everything was fine.

- And it wasn't.

- Mmm.

[sighs] And I wasn't the only one.

Take my book club for example.

My ex-book club, they kicked me out.

- Hmm.

- Yeah.

I guess they didn't appreciate

my Truman Capote suggestions.

Oh [clears throat] what I'm trying

to say is everyone knew your situation.

Everyone talked about it.

And none of us reached out.

We judged you,

knowing full well that our homes

don't fit the lies that we tell ourselves.

Huh.

Yeah. I'll show you.

Come on. We just need a new perspective.

[sighs] No f*cking way.

[Martha] Yes f*cking way, Tori.

No one calls me Tori.

Everyone calls you Tori.

[sighs]

This is peaceful.

Yeah.

There's nothing between you and the sky.

Hmm?

Come on. Sit.

[sighs]

You are not the only one who's struggling.

[chuckles]

That's Margaret's house.

Margaret's hair is falling out.

She doesn't want her husband to know,

so she wears wigs.

She thinks it's because

her son is irredeemably evil.

That's why she thinks

her hair is falling out?

She's bringing in a priest

two times a week to speak with him.

Over there, that's Corrine's house.

Her husband is underwater.

He has two families.

Guess he couldn't pick just one.

She had to get a job selling Tupperware

to pay for her extended family.

Over there, Shirley's house.

Her daughter, Christina,

ran away with some degenerate.

He took off.

Left her in Washington state,

took all her money.

Now she's pregnant.

[baby crying]

Shirley says

she's still in love with the guy.

[sighs]

She's 16. She might grow out of that love.

Yeah. We all grow out of it, don't we?

We grow out of our dreams,

learn to live in reality.

Are you still in love with Hampton?

Or are you in love with that other man

you've been seeing who is very cute?

Martha, have you been spying on me too?

I spy on everyone.

You can tell me.

[Astoria sighs]

Ronald is

- sweet, and gentle, and easy.

- Mmm.

- Mmm.

- And he doesn't need anything from me.

Hampton was, is all consuming.

When he went away I was devastated,

but then I realized this could be

time to myself

- Mmm.

- time to just breathe

and be my own person without Hampton.

And I found a drive,

and a determination, and ambition

that I didn't even know I had.

There is a job as a design associate

opening up at work and I want it.

But I'm worried that if I go for it,

everything here will fall apart.

And I'm also scared,

what if I'm not good enough?

What if I put

everything I have on the page

and it's not enough?

Bob proposed right out of high school.

I had big dreams of being a chorus girl.

A Rockette.

I have the legs for it. [chuckles]

I was gonna move to New York

and be a dancer.

And so I said, "No."

And Bob said that

I would regret that decision

and that he was not gonna be an option

whenever that happened.

And then the night before I left,

I got scared.

And so I accepted his proposal.

And we bought a house.

And now I have a perfect life

with a husband who believes

the best thing I can do is marry him.

But I always wanted more.

Tori, this isn't enough either.

[car approaching]

[gasps] Bob's home.

I gotta go. [chuckles]

Hey, I'm really happy

that we got to know each other.

- Martha?

- Hmm?

I think you would've been

a really good dancer.

Me too.

[laughs]

Oh, you should get this house

checked for termites.

I can hear them.

Hi, boys. She needed a cup of sugar.

[sighs, chuckles]

[sighs]

[frog croaking]

[sighs]

[gasps, breathes heavily]

[laughing]

[cries]

Yes! Seventeen feet!

No.

No.