07x17 - All in the Neighborhood, Part 1

[bunniefuu]

♪ ♪

(no voice)

♪ I bet we've been together
for a million years ♪

♪ And I bet we'll be together
for a million more ♪

♪ Oh, it's like
I started breathing ♪

♪ On the night we kissed ♪

♪ And I can't remember
what I ever did before ♪

♪ What would we do, baby,
without us? ♪

♪ What would we do, baby,
without us? ♪

♪ And there ain't no nothing we
can't love each other through ♪

♪ What would we do, baby,
without us? ♪



That was a wonderful dinner,
Elyse.

Every time I come here,

I learn so much
about health food.

I like your family, Elyse.

Even this guy.

When he's not talking politics.

(chuckles)
Come on, Gus.

On the big issues,
we're not that far apart.

- Mm-hmm.
- Matter of fact,

I have always felt, uh,

kind of a special bond with you.

I cried when Bush was elected.

So did I.

Mine were not tears of joy.

All right, okay,
so we don't talk politics.

It's one area we'll just avoid.

How are things going
down at the station?

Oh, your dad and I
are producing a documentary

comparing, uh,
Reagan's presidency

to medieval Europe's
bubonic plague.

Nine out of ten people
prefer the plague.

All right, so we don't talk
about work.

Hey, how's Mike doing
at Harvard?

Oh, oh, very well, very well.

He's working part-time
for Ted Kennedy.

You're k*lling me, Gus.

Maya, I understand you guys
are looking for a house.

Have you had any luck?

(sighs) Not yet.

The market is really tight.

Seems like there's
nothing out there.

Well, if, uh, Alex and Gus don't
wind up coming to blows here,

uh, why don't you take a look
at the house across the street?

The Obecks are moving.

(gasps)
The Obecks are moving?

That's wonderful.

Why is that such good news?

Oh, well...

I never liked Marty Obeck.

He was always running around
telling people

the only things
I was interested in was makeup

and clothes and shoes.

What, you dispute that?

No.

I just think it's very rude
of him to point it out.

(Steven chuckles)

What's the house like, Elyse?

Kind of like this one.

Victorian, with a lot of charm.

Do you think we could see
the house this weekend?

Well, I'll talk to the
real estate agent and set it up.

Just out of curiosity, Steve,

how many black families
are there in the neighborhood?

Well, let's see.

There's the...

Well, uh...

with you, there'd be one.

Let's say we didn't move in.

How many would there be?

Didn't move in?

GUS:
Uh-huh.

This will take a minute. Um...

That would be none.

Well, I think
that might say something

about the neighborhood.

Look, Gus, I want you to know

this neighborhood
is not like that.

We've lived here for years.

There's never been
one racial incident.

That's a pretty
impressive record

for a one-race neighborhood.

It'd be great to have
you guys as neighbors.

Gus and I could carpool to work.

Hey, I'm all for that.

Oh, I get so tired
of driving to work alone

with nothing but the radio
for company.

What do you listen to?

Strictly elevator music.

Welcome to
the neighborhood, Gus!

I just know your friends,
the Thompsons,

are going to absolutely love
this house.

It's just one of the most
charming old Victorians

- in Leland Heights.
- Mmm.

And you know it's been
completely restored?

Everything brought up to code
in every respect.

Oh, heck with the Thompsons.
We'll take it.

(laughs) Listen, I'm gonna open
the blinds in the kitchen.

It's so pretty with the sunlight
streaming through.

Sorry we're late.

Alex and Gus insisted
on sitting in the car

until the accordion version

of "Rock Around the Clock"
was over.

Oh...

ELYSE:
Oh.

Uh, uh, Christine Chadway,

these are our friends,
Gus and Maya

and Michael Thompson.

Uh, Christine is the real estate
agent who handles this house.

Uh, how do you...
how do you do?

Oh, this house is so charming.

It's the best one we've seen,
isn't it, Gus?

Yes, isn't it?

This is our dream house.

This is the house
I saw my family in.

D-Don't show so much enthusiasm.

It'll only make the price go up.

- (Steven chuckling)
- Yeah. For once in his life,

my dad is offering
some sound financial advice.

Pretend you hate the house.

Make her have to work
to sell it to you.

- Yeah.
- Okay?

This house has
a lot of problems.

Well, the roof leaks.

Uh, the basement floods.

You know, it needs
a lot of work.

I mean, quite frankly,
they ought to just tear it down.

Now, this woman has a very
unusual sales technique.

Didn't you just say
that it'd been

brought up to code in every way?

Look, the workmanship
is so shoddy, I just...

I just don't feel that I can,
in good conscience,

sell this house
to these very nice people.

Excuse me, uh, Christine?

It seems to me that you're
trying to discourage us

from buying this house.

Oh, no...

Excuse me.

Uh, no, I-I just want
to make sure,

right up front, that you know

the really miserable shape
this house is in.

Well, suppose we offered you
full price

- for the house right now.
- Uh, whoa.

Uh, full price?

Uh, can I speak to you
for a moment, Gus?

Maya, you like the house,
don't you?

- Yes, I do.
- Yeah, well, good, good.

We're offering your client full
asking price for the house.

Yo, Gus.
Yoo-hoo, Gus, big fella.

We haven't met. Hi.

Well, Christine, it looks like

you've got an offer
you can't refuse.

I don't know that my clients

are really ready
to sell this house yet.

I mean, actually, they just
asked me to kind of

feel out the market
for them first.

That's not true.

I happen to know that the Obecks
are very anxious to sell.

Yeah, the absence of furniture
is a bit of a tip-off.

I think it's obvious
what's going on here.

She doesn't want to sell
the house to us

because we're... black.

Black? Me? Never.

No.

You're not black; we are.

This behavior
is totally offensive.

I, uh...

I want to apologize
to my friends.

Christine, um...

I suggest you take this offer
back to your clients,

and that they, uh...

they give this the serious
consideration it deserves.

Well, actually, yes.

I-I do... I do have to talk
to my clients.

I'm beginning to think this
isn't about money at all.

And that pains me
on every conceivable level.

Are you aware, uh...

Christine Chadway,

Realtor license number ...

that there are
anti-discrimination laws

in this state?

MICHAEL:
Dad, uh, why don't we just...

get out of here?

This was a big mistake.

No, no, no, no.

The only mistake
made here today was hers.

Michael. Maya.

Come on.

Let's, uh... let's look
at the rest of our house.

It's scary the things I miss
when I'm not here.

Mom baked a apple pie.

And it's still warm, Alex.

Well, what are we waiting for?

Let's get the Kn*fe.

Alex, we can't have any.

It's a... it's a
"welcome to the neighborhood"

gift for the Thompsons.

(Alex sighs)

Yeah, but Mom just baked it
to t*rture us.

She's not above that, you know.

Ooh.

Sure smells good.

Probably tastes even better.

This could be her best work yet.

This pie is mine.

Do it, Alex.

What about the Thompsons?

We'll get 'em
a store-bought pie.

They'll never know
the difference.

Come to papa, come to papa...

Freeze, Alex!

You eat that pie,
that's the last thing you eat.

(laughs)

Welcome to the neighborhood,
Gus.

Well, thank you, Alex.

That's, uh, very sweet of you.

Thanks very much.
Baked it myself.

Ooh, I came over
to give you something, too.

- What's this?
- Here.

" All-Time Greatest Hits
for the Dentist's Office."

Oh, Gus. Oh, Gus.

(Gus laughs)

I'm just glad I finally found
someone to share this with.

Oh...

Oh! You...

You know, I had a root canal
to "The Streets of Laredo."

What is this?

What is it, honey?

Nothing. Nothing.

What was that letter, Dad?

Uh, no, just... junk.

Uh, something about a sale.

Dad, have you lost your mind?

It's okay, Steve.

I know what it is.
We got one, too.

What is it?

It's a letter
from some of your neighbors,

asking you to join them
in their effort

to rid the neighborhood
of the new unwanted element.

Oh, Gus, I'm-I'm so sorry.

This is terrible.

They can't get away with this.

I'm gonna find out who they are,

and I am gonna give them
a lecture on freedom

and constitutional rights
that they will not soon forget,

and they are not gonna bother
anybody after that.

Well, I've heard your lectures,
Alex,

and I can't condone
that kind of v*olence.

What's going on?

This is .

Things like this
don't happen now.

Well, I guess they do.

It's just so shocking to find it
happening in your backyard.

Oh, don't be shocked, Elyse.

Oh, this thing always comes up,

and it doesn't take much
to bring it to the surface.

Well, you're not gonna
move out now, are you?

No, we are not.

Maya and I want to stay.

STEVEN:
Gus,

we have to find out
who wrote this letter.

No, Steven, no.

No, the best thing to do
is to ignore it.

Once they realize
we're not moving out,

they'll give up.

Look, you're not alone here.

We're gonna keep
an eye out for you.

Thank you, Steven.

But it's, uh... it's okay.

Look, uh, I got to go.

Let me drive you home.

I live across the street.

Let me walk you home.

(laughs)

Look, Steven, when I get home,

I'll come back over here
and tell you I'm fine.

Okay.

Then I'll walk you home.

(doorbell rings)

Hey, Michael.

How you doing? I heard you
were in from Harvard.

Hey, Alex, good to see you.

- Come on in, man.
- Thanks. Thanks.

So, Harvard, huh?
What's it like

going to the best
business school in the country?

I'm not in the business school.

I'm in liberal arts.

They still have that?

Sorry to disappoint you,
Alex, but... they do.

And to tell you the truth,
I think, uh,

poets are more important
than bankers.

Well, try getting a car loan
from the Brontë sisters.

You know, it's going
to be interesting

living in the same neighborhood
with you, Alex.

- Whoa.
- (accordion music plays)

Hey, Dad, would you turn
that down a little?

Wait, wait, you don't want
to listen to that?

Hey, that's
the "Beer Barrel Polka."

The two of you should rent
an elevator,

fix it up and move in together.

Listen, Mike, let me tell you
why I really came by.

Um, I just wanted you to know,
while you're back at Harvard,

that, um, you don't have
to worry about your folks.

If there's any more problems,
we'll be here.

Problems?

What kind of problems?

Uh, it's nothing, really.

I mean, nothing.

All right.

The house is haunted.

Look, somebody
in the neighborhood,

uh, is passing around
this r*cist letter

trying to convince people
to get your parents to move.

Damn.

Alex, I told them
this would happen

if we moved
into an all-white neighborhood,

but they wouldn't listen to me.

♪ Roll out the barrel... ♪

Hey, Alex.

Oh, you should have been
listening to WNTW.

You missed
an uninterrupted polka fest.

Dad, uh,

Alex told me about the letters.

Oh, well, don't worry
about it, Michael.

Chances are this whole thing
will just blow over.

Well, I am worried.

How am I supposed to keep an eye
on you and Mom

if I'm miles away in Boston?

Hey, well, you don't have to.

Look here.

You see, we have
our own personal vigilante.

Hi there.

Looks like rain.

Steve, old buddy,
I appreciate your concern,

but it really isn't necessary
for you to guard our house.

You can't be too careful, huh?

- Okay.
- (chuckles)

Alex, I didn't see you
come over here.

Yeah, I walked right by you
on the porch, Dad.

- Hi, Alex.
- Hi, Maya.

Hi, Steve.

Hi, M...

Maya, I didn't see you
come home.

Oh, I walked right by you
on the porch.

It's a heck of a service
you provide here.

(phone rings)

Hello?

Look here,
if you ever call here again,

I'm gonna have you arrested.

Oh, and I'll, uh, take a box
of mint cookies, too.

Damn Brownies.

How long has this
been happening, Dad?

Oh, ever since Troop
started that sales push.

I think he has a right
to know what's happening here.

All right.

Besides the letter,

there have been
some phone calls.

It's not the first time
this kind of thing has happened,

and it won't be the last,

but we can deal with it.

Who you calling?

I'm, uh, canceling my flight
back to Boston.

- Hello?
- You'll do no such thing.

You've got midterms coming up.

We'll be all right, Michael.

We don't want you
to miss school.

What good am I going to be
in school

if I'm worrying
about you two all the time?

You deliberately put yourself
into a dangerous situation

and naively think
it's gonna blow over.

Well, it's not.

Well, what do you wants us
to do, Michael? Move?

Yes, that's exactly
what I think we should do.

Well, I'm sorry.
We're not gonna be run

out of here like criminals.

We worked hard
to own a place like this.

Why are you so stubborn?

This is a r*cist society.

You can't change that.

Yes, we can.

Look at you.

I mean, you are at Harvard.

Now, do you think you got there
by people sitting back

and saying,
"I can't change things"?

I'm all for change,

but not when it comes
to placing my family in danger.

You're overreacting, Michael.

No, I'm not.

You just don't seem
to understand

what could happen to you here.

I know Steven's one hell
of a watchman,

but it's not enough.

I know what needs
to be done here.

I'm gonna call
a neighborhood meeting.

We've got to put an end to this.

Nobody should have to live
under guard.

Hi, honey.

Hi.
Elyse, when did you get here?

I came to hang curtains.

Walked right by you
on the porch.

Come on, Eagle Eyes.

I'll walk you across the street.

If you ask me,
that's a trick porch.

Thank you all for responding
to the call to come here

and talk about what's going on
in the neighborhood here.

Well, I'm ashamed to say

that ever since Gus
and Maya Thompson

moved in here
to this neighborhood,

they have been threatened
and harassed

with hate mail
and-and phone calls.

It-it has to stop.

Yes, it does.

Not everybody
in this neighborhood is a bigot.

We're-we're nice people
and we're good neighbors,

unless we're taken advantage of,

which brings me
to the other reason

why I'm here tonight.

What's that, Phil?

I want my hedge clippers back.

You had them since last May.

And my electric sander.

Yeah, and my snow shovel.

We, uh... we promise
to return everything

after the meeting.

Uh, I-I should apologize
for my parents not being here.

They're visiting my aunt
in Detroit.

Um, but I-I'm sure that I speak
for my whole family

when I say
that black and white together

make more than a nice piece
of marble cake.

They make brotherhood.

Look, uh, let me, uh...
let me start by saying

most everybody
in this neighborhood

is happy to have you here.

We don't care about the color
of your skin.

All we care about is, uh,

what dish you'll bring
to those potluck parties

and whether or not you have
good tools I can borrow.

Um, I feel there's something
I have to say.

Now, I may not know much
about history...

(Alex chuckles)

...or politics or...

math,

economics,

language arts, phys ed...

Mal, we want to wrap this up
about : .

Okay, okay.

I just have
to include chemistry.

Um, but I do know people,

and when I look
at the Thompsons,

I see these are...
these are good people.

These are warm people.

These are
stylishly dressed people.

Uh, I-I-I'd like
to say something.

I just want to thank you for all
the kind words that you've said.

Now, we know that the trouble
is being caused

by only a few people.

We don't know who you are,

and quite frankly,
we don't care,

but if you're here tonight,

let me say, loudly and clearly,

you are not scaring us
out of this neighborhood.

We are not moving.

I have something to say.

Go ahead, Glen.

I worked at Franklin Steel
for eight years,

graveyard shift,
to try to save up enough money

to put a down payment
on my house

so that my wife, Ginny,
and our kids could have

a decent place to live,

and, uh,

now I hear that,
since they've moved in,

the value of my house
has dropped by $ , .

And it's just gonna
keep dropping

as more and more blacks
move in here.

My house is the only
investment I have,

and if it goes under,
so does my family.

So what am I supposed to do?

Stand by and watch everything
I've worked for

just slip away?

Now, I've got nothing
against you personally.

This is all about economics.

Yeah, well, maybe it is to you,

but we have to take it
personally.

I mean, we're the ones
that are getting

the hate mail
and the phone calls.

Well, I'm sorry that's happening
to you,

but nobody asked you to move
into this neighborhood.

I wasn't aware that I had
to get permission.

But there are plenty of nice
black neighborhoods around.

I mean,
why'd you have to come here?

We came here because we have
the right to live here,

just as you do.

You don't see me trying to move

into one of your neighborhoods,
do you?

This is one of my neighborhoods,

an American neighborhood,

and I am an American,
and I fought in Vietnam

and Mississippi and Memphis
to defend the freedoms

that some of us
would like to enjoy.

Well, your freedom
is my financial disaster,

and if your family won't move,
mine has to.

- Come on, Ginny.
- ALEX: Wait, wait, Glen.

Glen, Glen, just before you go,

you, uh...
you mentioned economics,

so I feel that I must speak.

Now, the only way
the property values

in this neighborhood
are gonna go down

is if people like yourself
start panic-selling.

Now, in-in the current market,

uh, our homes
have been appreciating

by approximately . % per annum,

. % if you made
any home improvements.

How can we?
Your dad has all our tools.

Anyway, what I'm trying
to say is this.

I hope that we
in this neighborhood

can continue to live in harmony,

and to sell our homes

to people of all creeds
and all colors,

all races...

at tremendously
inflated profits.

Listen, Alex,
I hope you're right,

but I can't afford
to take that chance.

I am moving out now,

and there's a lot of you
in this room here

who are gonna be following me,

even if you're too ashamed
to admit it.

He won't be moving so fast.

I have his trailer hitch.

I...

I'm terribly sorry
this has happened.

Uh, we found a house we liked,
and we moved in,

but we didn't mean to disrupt
the neighborhood.

Well, obviously this
neighborhood needs disrupting.

Disrupting is healthy.

You know, my whole life, I've...

I've heard my parents talk
about the ' s,

how they disrupted
the social order

to change the things
that they thought were wrong.

Well, I wish I were there
in the ' s

so I could say to the world,

"I want to fight
for justice, too."

That was a beautiful thought,
Jennifer,

and very well-timed considering
tie-dye is coming back in.

But it's only one family
that's moving.

The rest of us are staying,
right?

- Yeah.
- Of course.

- Right.
- Good.

Peter?

Phil? Nancy?

Well, how...

What can you be thinking?

(Phil sighs)

Well, none of us
want to move, Elyse,

but we can't afford to lose
a lot of money, either.

I think we'll just have to wait
and see what happens.

Gus, Michael, I want to talk
to you in private.

I think we should go home.

Look, don't let anything
that's happened here

change your mind.

Steven, I'm sorry.

In my life,
my family comes first,

and right now, I'm not so sure

that staying here
is the best thing for us to do.

Michael, don't let them do this.

(chuckles)

It was never my choice
to move here.



MAN:
Sit, Ubu, sit. Good dog.

(Ubu barks)