Go see how the show is going

I return to the production center with a few minutes to spare before the conclave.

"You missed the big catfight," says one of the technicians. "Jessie got into it big time with Tina, and I wondered if we'd have to go in and break it up."

"What happened?" I asked.

"All of Jessie's teammates have been ragging on her since the competition. It's a pretty safe bet that she's on her way out. I guess she figured that out, too, because she made a beeline to your buddy Kyle, trying to suck up to him by ... well ... sucking him. Once Tina saw what was going on, she came flying into the room and practically pulled Jessie's face out from between Kyle's legs and said, 'So NOW you remember how to suck a guy's dick? Why couldn't you do it when it mattered to the whole team?' It went downhill from there."

I look at the monitor, and I see a couple of the girls gathered around Tina in the bathroom, helping her tend to some scratches. I look around for Jessie, and I finally find her alone in a room, apparently sulking. I also see Kyle, who is walking around with a rather dazed look and a noticeable bulge in his jeans. Evidently Tina pulled Jessie off him before she got the job done.

Alex and Dennis have resumed their commentary, and I listen in.

"It's really a study in time management, wouldn't you say, Alex, the way the contestants have to apportion their time in between contests?"

"That's a good way of saying it, Dennis. Remember that to be completely safe, a contestant not only has to be on a winning team, but has to make sure he or she is in the best of graces with other teammates to avoid being voted off. On top of that, the contestant will want to have an immunity from a judge, but since they don't know which judge can grant an immunity on any given day, they need to try to spend time with each of them. Of course, you also have the diplomatic side of things, when the contestants work out alliances with each other... Trying to do all of that PLUS keep up enough energy for the contests is quite a challenge."

"But that's not too far off from what they'll have to do if they win and want to make it big in the industry, is it?"

"No, you're absolutely correct. Some of those production schedules can almost kill you -- especially the on location scenes. You have to be up before dawn, and they keep you going until midnight sometimes. I remember when I was in 'Dawn of the Planet of the Rapes,' I had to shoot three scenes, back to back, and we kept having problems with the lights that required us to start and stop, start and stop... I basically had to keep an erection for nearly eight hours straight."

"But that's where the fluffers earn their money, isn't it, Alex? And we have two of the best in the business as judges...."

As they discuss the background of Tess and Sally, I look for them on the screens. I happen to see Tess right at the moment the camera zooms in to catch her look of ecstasy as the guy who is kneeling between her legs proves to her that he knows what to do with his tongue. Sally is in another room, toweling off after just emerging from a hottub with two guys. They both seem to be enjoying themselves immensely, and I am confident I made the right choice in my selection of female judges.

The time has come for the first conclave. I can stick around and watch or go make sure things are set for the next contest.