The Loved One

The Loved One[1]

Series
In The Dark
Original Broadcast Date
1993
Cast
Joe Frank, Grace Zabriskie, Arthur Miller, Laura Esterman, Lester Nafzger, Farley Ziegler, Heidi Nordberg, Harvey Perr
Format
Serious Monologue, Absurd Monologue, Scripted Actors, 28 minutes
Preceded by:	When I'm Calling You
Followed by:	Coma

"When I was in high school, I hung out with a tall, skinny guy named Howard."

The Loved One is a program Joe Frank produced as part of the series In The Dark. It was originally broadcast in 1993.

Synopsis

Stories of people who feel drawn to Joe. Howard goes into a downward spiral and ends up living with Joe. Joe works at a wholesale boutique for Earl, who finds that Joe is the only one who can understand him. Joe moves into friends Vincent and Diane's guest cottage. Joe describes in detail the curse of being so beautiful as people find him so alluring, they want to kiss and hug him - even despite his attempt to live in disguise. A series of desperate messages left for Joe on an answering machine. Joe defends a woman in a bar.

Music

• "Third Stone From The Sun" - Pat Metheny (from Stone Free: A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix, 1993) | YouTube

Additional credits

The original broadcast credits state: "[C]reated in collaboration with Mike Meloan and David Rapkin. The story editor was Farley Ziegler. Recorded and mixed by Theo Mondle. The performers were Joe Frank, Laura Esterman, Lester Nafzger, Grace Zabriskie, Arthur Miller, Heidi Nordberg, Harvey Perr, and Farley Ziegler. Special thanks to Jennifer Ferro."

Miscellanea

The monologue in this show about Joe's cursed beauty also appears in the show Lover Man, and Waiting For The Bell

Commentary

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