Chapter 23: TV Appearance

At the studio, a young and pretty production assistant came and retrieved me from reception and took me to the make-up room. “We’ll just touch you up a little so you don’t reflect too much under the studio lights,” she explained. Another woman came in and proceeded to work on my face for ten minutes. As she finished, a young tech came in and fitted me with a wireless microphone. I was then escorted to a waiting room with six-month old magazines.

The door burst open about half-an-hour before show time and Maggie Moore came bursting into the room. Maggie, I had been told, was the hottest thing on TV in the Midwest. Her show was syndicated and ran on all the networked channels in the State from three to four o’clock just prior to the nationally syndicated Woman’s World Show that immediately followed her. She was big stuff.

She was cordial and friendly, and actually helped reduce my nervousness. She told me a few of the questions she planned to start with so that I’d have some time to think about them. She firmly told me that she wanted to be provocative but not cut me off at the knees or ruin our chances with the book. She actually gave me a hug and told me not to worry, just be relaxed and that it would all be over within fifteen minutes of when we started. She was the expert and on my side.

She led me up to the studio. A man in shirtsleeves was explaining to the audience how they should applaud when the “applause” sign came on, and laugh and go Oooh and Aahh when they felt like it. He explained the mechanics of the show and how the cameras would be moving around and often taking pictures of them. The audience, mostly women, all instantly adjusted their hair and made sure their make-up was acceptable.

I was given a seat where I could watch the start of the show from the wings of the stage. Then I got the surprise of my life. Mel, Chris, Sarah and Holly all suddenly appeared in the studio. They came to me and each woman hugged and kissed me and wished me luck. I noticed a camera taking pictures of the five of us even though we weren’t yet on the air. There was a lot of touching and public loving; we ended with a group hug. After their best wishes were completed, the four of them melted into the audience where four front-row seats appeared to already have their purses and coats on them. They’d gotten there very early to be able to hold those front row seats. God, I loved them.

The audience was revved-up by the announcer, canned music started playing, everyone stood and started cheering and clapping, and Maggie Moore came out and did her little dance that was apparently her opening trademark. She stood and did a short monologue about current events that provoked lots of laughter, and then talked about who was going to be on the show that day and what we’d be talking about. It felt weird to hear my name mentioned; my God, I was going to be on television in seconds!

I could hear some commercials playing in the background. Maggie’s production assistant came and stood by me. She explained that when it was time, she’d give me a nudge; I was to walk out, hug and kiss Maggie, and sit in the big beige chair next to Maggie’s desk while she interviewed me. I suddenly had to pee again but it was too late.

Maggie went into a more extensive recitation of my background and my qualifications as an author and sociological researcher then she said, “And now, please give a warm welcome to Dr. Jim Rice.” The production assistant gave me a large shove. Amazingly, I strode confidently onto the stage and into the bright lights as the audience politely applauded. I gave a Hollywood hug and kiss to Maggie who gestured me into the large, beige chair.

After her welcome, Maggie started, “Jim, you have two books about to come out any day, right?” I nodded and she went on, “One is guaranteed to be a best seller if your readers understand what a ‘polyamorous relationship; is. Right?”

“I guess you could say that, Maggie. Our society is still fascinated by different sexual life styles and certainly a relationship with multiple, mature partners in it is bound to hold fascination for many. It did for me and that’s what drew me into researching this life style and many of the Extended Family units that live that way.”

Maggie asked, “How many people live this way?”

“Well, we estimate that of the 77 million family households in the country that between a half and two-percent are based on an intimate relationship between three or more people. That means there are between about half a million and two million households in polyamorous relationships.” The whole audience went “Ouuuuuuu.”

“What’s the basis for such a relationship, Jim? What about jealousy?” Maggie asked. I responded much as I had to Eleanor Davies a few nights earlier and talked about love and how it was inconsistent with possessiveness and jealousy. I happened to catch Chris’ eye and she was smiling at me confidently, sitting forward on her seat. She looked beautiful and I felt her look calm me.

Then Maggie tossed me a curve ball, “Jim, don’t you live in a relationship like this? Before you answer, I want to show our audience a little film clip one of our cameramen caught about fifteen minutes ago before we went on the air.” She gestured towards a large monitor next to her desk. Up on the monitor came a ninety second clip of Mel, Chris, Sarah and Holly hugging and kissing me and wishing me good luck on the show. I was truly shocked and temporarily speechless. Suddenly, I saw that the picture had changed to a live shot of the four women sitting in the studio audience, each looking sophisticated, educated, sexy and very much her own woman.

Maggie gave a brief exclamation of the clip, “Ladies and gentlemen, what you just watched was some of Jim’s Extended Family wishing him well on this show. It was taken about five minutes before we went on the air. Who are these women Jim?”

I looked at Maggie trying to figure out what her next three questions were going to be, but nothing came to mind. I thought I was sinking fast. “The gorgeous women you refer to are part of my Extended Family, as you put it. I love each of them dearly and I hope they feel the same way about me.”

Maggie tossed a question out to the four women, “Ladies, are you in love with this man?”

A chorus of “Yes,” “Absolutely,” “The man of my dreams,” and “I can’t imagine anyone better,” echoed through the studio up to the stage from my four lovers. The rest of the audience gave a huge round of applause. I wasn’t sure whether they were applauding the girls or me or both ... or for that matter why.

Maggie turned to me, “How can you manage to keep these women happy?” then she added, “and satisfied?” The audience laughed but leaned forward with curiosity.

I laughed too; I was getting into this TV thing. “Well, for one I believe in better living through chemistry. There are some marvelous drugs for men on the market that enable us to have improved endurance, staying power and recovery time. Fortunately for me the times they all ask for simultaneous satisfaction is rare but not unheard of. Lastly, we all love each other and they are all very forgiving of me being a mere male of the species.” The mostly female audience broke into uproarious laughter.

Maggie was almost speechless, “Do you mean you’ve made love to all four of those women at once?”

“Yes,” I responded. I didn’t elaborate.

Maggie sat back in her chair and looked into the camera. “Ladies and gentlemen, we have a very unique person with us today. Wow!”

I was nervous about where she was going so I jumped in before she could ask another question. “The premise that a man or woman can only love one person is one that an increasing number of people challenge on many levels – emotional and physical are just two of them. Intellectually, you can imagine it by realizing that you can have two or four or six children and love them all. For some reason, when it comes to our ‘mates’ we limit ourselves to one, yet if you think about it there’s no particular reason for it other than some artificial societal norms. Historically, it might have been a necessity for survival of the race but that’s no longer true today.” I went on and talked about how the need for couples was as a protective measure for women in olden days and that religions and even the pagans institutionalized monogamy. Now that women are independent and almost on an equal footing with men that is not necessary in some societies.

“Are you a Mormon?” Maggie shot at me.

“No, I’m not,” I responded, “although I did interview several Mormon families or clans as part of my research. I am very spiritual as are several of my ... errr... ‘friends.’ I meditate daily and believe, as many do around the world, that we are working towards a unity with a Universal God – a God that is within us and around us.” I talked about how the Mormon’s viewed group marriages for a bit and that seemed to satisfy Maggie and her audience.

“Wow,” Maggie said. “You are truly a unique individual. I must say I admire you for creating an independent life style for yourself. Don’t you think it’s terribly biased towards satisfying the male, though?” I saw the bait on the sexual bias question and thought for a second about how to dodge the bullet.

“Actually, Maggie, I’m the lone male in an all-female household. If anything, I’m probably the one at a disadvantage. I should point out that one of the women is engaged to a young man that is part of our Extended Family.”

Quick as a flash, Maggie looked out at the women and asked, “Which one of you is that?” Mel raised her hand rather tentatively and blushed. I noticed on the TV monitor that the camera immediately zoomed in on her face.

“You are?” Maggie asked.

“Mel.” She didn’t offer a last name.

Maggie posed the question, “So you have two lovers?”

Mel took a deep breath and answered, “Yes,” firmly and with authority.

Maggie asked, “Well how do you split your time between them?”

“I’ve never seen it as a problem,” Mel smiled and answered forthrightly. “If I’m with Jim, Rob ... errr ... my fiancé can be with one his other loves. Or vice versa.”

“Do you feel ... taken advantage of? Or, how can I say this, sluttish?” Maggie asked.

Mel was on it, “Oh no, quite the contrary. I feel more loved and cared for than anyone else in your audience except my friends. I know I have two gorgeous guys and all my friends that I can always turn to and absolutely count on in any situation, anytime, anywhere. They will move heaven and earth to restore me to happiness and joy, and I will do the same for them. You don’t find many people that you can say that about today. Our relationships are far from shallow sexual trysts that take place and blow away on the next wind. Rather we have deep feelings and commitment to each other; much more I might add that I’ve seen in most marriages.” Mel nodded authoritatively; I was proud of her.

Maggie was speechless and the production gal was practically jumping up and down and waving her arms trying to get her attention for a commercial break. Finally, Maggie got hold of herself. “Jim, you are one of the most interesting guests we’ve had on this show. I’m also glad you brought your ... family with you to be in our audience.” Maggie turned to the camera, “I’m going to ask Jim to come back in a few weeks so we can talk longer about polyamorous relationships. In the meantime, Jim’s book comes out next week, here’s what the cover will look like,” she held up a mock-up of the cover our PR person had apparently given her, “so please stay with us after this short break. After the break, we’ll hear a song from Ohio’s own Lori Harding who’s going to Hollywood as part of the next American Idol competition.” The audience broke into spontaneous applause and we could see on the TV monitors that the commercials had started.

The production assistant rushed up to me, “Thanks, you were great.” She pulled the microphone from my rear belt loop and lapel. Maggie came up and said, “You were perfect. This will be a famous show thanks to you. I hope we help your books sales. I’m so glad your Mel was in the audience. She was great. I hope you bring her the next time.”

“Maggie,” I said, “they are each their own person. I don’t control them. They are not ‘my’ anything except a person I love.” I smiled at her so I didn’t come across as harsh. She got the message and nodded. She added, “I wish I were part of your harem. Maybe we should talk more about that next time.” She caught my shock and gave me a giggle; the famous Maggie Moore had just propositioned me. She hugged me goodbye then went back on stage with an extra waggle of her hips as she walked away from me. About thirty seconds later I heard Maggie welcome everyone back and introduce the singer.

The girls and I were standing in the wings, getting ready to leave. The assistant asked us to stay until the show ended if we could. She said some of the audience members might like to ask informal questions if we were OK with that. I looked at the girls and they all thought it was a good idea. We stayed. As we stood, I whispered to them that they might get some unpleasant comments and that they should prepare themselves to be called names and such. They all looked at me soberly upon that realization.