Jackie and Max planned to unveil the second episode of The Real Family Stone of Portland, Oregon one week after Jackie put “Operation Answer Fan Mail” into action.
Working with Max, Jackie had created a promotional sheet for their show: a pixilated black-and-white photo of Jared, Deirdre, Jackie, and Megan sitting on a couch and watching television. The scene depicted what the vast majority of middle-class American families did every single night, and was remarkable for how unremarkable it was. Across the top of the sheet, in thirty-six-point Calibri, were the words: “The Real Family Stone of Portland, Oregon: The Truth Behind the Most Popular Show on Television, Now on YouTube.”
Jackie printed out 342 copies (one for each piece of fan mail she planned to answer) and included a typed, personal message:
Thank you so much for writing to me! If you want to see what life is really like in our house, watch the video series I’m posting on YouTube. This sheet explains it all. The next episode will be live one week from today!
And then she dated it and signed it in ink.
Jackie folded the sheets, stuffed and stamped the envelopes, and mailed them.
In addition to the 342 letters to adoring fans, Jackie also sent a copy of the promo sheet to Hazel Huck. Her address was easy enough to find—there were only four Huck families listed in Huntsville, and with a bit of Googling, she was able to determine which was the right one. To Hazel, Jackie added this handwritten note:
Hi, Hazel!
We don’t know each other, but I wanted to thank you for what you tried to do for my dad. I read about it in a newspaper. I’m glad there are still nice people in the world. I also thought you would like to see my new video series. Tell all your friends.
Sincerely,
Jackie Stone
Andersona, the ATN producer who had, under orders from Ethan, been trying to develop a relationship with Jackie, was thrilled that her charge was answering her fan mail. She sent Ethan a note to report that “the Stone girl is finally getting on board with the program.”
Andersona provided Jackie with the envelopes and stamps and offered to take her to the post office. She even let Jackie interview her for her “school video project.” She was starting to feel a really strong bond with the girl.
For Jackie and Max, everything was going according to plan.
***
The lead director of Life and Death, a veteran of reality TV by the name of Nigel, was growing concerned. Jackie and Deirdre were keeping to themselves, and while Megan had her friends over, they expended so much energy mugging for the camera that the footage wasn’t really usable. Worst of all, Jared spent more and more time sleeping. None of it was making for very good television. Nigel spoke to the producers, who spoke to Ethan, who arranged for the first celebrity drop-in.
While viewership for Life and Death remained high, the incident with Sherman Kingsborough and Trebuchet left a bad taste in the collective mouth of America, so none of ATN’s franchise stars were willing to be connected to the show. The best the network could offer was a character actor from a sitcom called Oh, Charlie. It was a family-based, formulaic show about a teenager named Charlie who always seemed to be getting into trouble and then posting his exploits online. It was like a pale imitation of iCarly for boys. The actress who played Charlie’s aunt Kelley—Jo Garvin—was tasked with doing the drop-in.
The producers prepped the family at their daily morning briefing. They encouraged Jared to get lots of rest as they wanted him at the “top of his game” when their guest arrived; the girls were asked to dress in their finest clothes and “smile, a lot”; and Deirdre was asked to serve dinner. Everyone agreed with varying degrees of enthusiasm: Jackie rolled her eyes, Deirdre shrugged, and Jared simply said okay. Only Megan, thrilled at the chance to meet a real TV star—not realizing that she had more star power than Jo Garvin by a factor of ten—had a grin that stretched around her entire head.
When their dinner guest arrived, the entire Stone family, even Jackie, was on its best behavior. Deirdre and Jared greeted Jo warmly at the door, invited her to sit down for hors d’oeuvres, and then into the dining room for a home-cooked meal. Dinner consisted of Shake ’N Bake chicken, Kraft Stove Top stuffing, Green Giant green beans, Wonder brand bread, and Entenmann’s crumb cake for dessert. Everyone drank Coke, and everyone, other than the kids, had Folgers coffee with their dessert. The entire meal netted ATN nearly a million dollars in advertising placement fees.