Original subtitles

Hi, I'm Charles S. Dutton.

This year "Roc" will be coming to you live.

Now a lot of you might be saying, "So what's the big deal?

All shows are done before live audience."

But this is live, live. I am here now.

We didn't shoot the show a couple of weeks ago.

We're shooting this while you're watching it.

Unless, it's a, it's a rewrite.

Oh, man. This is more trouble than I thought.

Okay, okay. It's August 16, 1992.

What, you don't believe me? Well, alright.

"The Los Angeles Times."

"The New York Times."

"The Baltimore Sun."

Check out the headlines.

"Orioles, fall in 9th, 5-4,."

Now, we can fake dates but we can't fake headlines.

Oh, so now you might say, "So what?

"They shot the show in the morning

and edited it in the afternoon."

Well, you know what? I don't care anymore.

I got a show to do.

I can't stand here trying to convince you.

It's live, that's it. Enjoy the damn show.

And by the way, happy birthday, Ms. Meryl.

- Let's go. - Here we go.

- 'Fifty seconds.' - 'Here we go, guys.'

♪ Them that's got shall have ♪

♪ Them that's not shall lose ♪

♪ So the Bible says ♪

♪ And it still is news ♪

♪ Mama may have ♪

♪ Papa may have ♪

♪ But God bless the child ♪

♪ That's got his own ♪

♪ That's got his own ♪ Them that's got shall get ♪

♪ Them that's not shall lose ♪

♪ Them that's got shall get ♪

♪ Them that's not shall lose ♪

Happy birthday, baby.

Eleanor! Who are you?

- Who are you? - I asked first.

- Don't touch me. I'll scream. - Alright, alright. Okay.

I know what happened.

You got together with my brother Joey

at a club last night, right? He brought you here.

You're into what? Aerobics? Astrology?

Bulimia?

Oh, of course, you must be Roc.

Joey's told me about you.

Hi, I am Carol. I am Joey's guest.

My brother, Joey, America's innkeeper.

Well, Joey said, you wouldn't mind if I wore your wife's robes

since he is letting you live in his house for free and all.

He let me do what, do what the, what what?

I know, Joey told me, it's only till you find a job.

Good thing. Joey's here to take care of you.

Hey, I was not dreamin'.

- Hey, mornin', baby. - Mornin', baby.

So, uh, I see you two have met, huh?

- Hey, come here a minute, jag. - Sure, jag. Excuse us, we...

What's up?

Well, for starters, I wanna thank you

for lettin' me live in your house.

Oh, yeah, well, I'm sorry the furniture's a little tacky.

Joey, this is my house.

You know, it's bad enough you're spongin' off me.

The last thing I wanna hear you goin' around tellin' people

- I'm spongin' off you. - Alright.

Now go in there and tell that woman the truth.

- That's a good one-- - I ain't askin'.

Fine. Fine. If I do that she'll walk out on me.

Well, you should've thought about that before you lying.

Get in there and straighten it out.

Alright, alright, fine.

But you owe me another woman.

'Hi, guys.'

I hope you like blueberry pan cakes?

Uh, Carol, there's something--

Joey, Joey, Joey, Joey

don't say nothin' till after the pancakes.

♪ Yeah keep on walking ♪

Hey, hey, hey, stop that, right now.

What? I'm just getting the house ready for the party.

You're not allowed to work on your birthday.

I want you to sit down and I'll take care of everything.

Okay, Roc, but I better warn you

I get used to this real quick.

Well, you deserve it, baby. Hm.

It's gonna be a great party.

I got you the greatest present in the world.

- What? - It's a surprise.

Come on, Roc, give me a little hint.

Alright, alright. I got you two presents.

The first one will knock you out.

And the second one will happen after the party...

...in our bedroom...

...while I'm thanking you for the first one.

I likes that.

In fact, we can just skip present number one

move straight on to present number two.

Well, now, you know, I can do that, baby.

- Ooh, I can't. - No, no, you gotta be kiddin'.

- Come on. - No, Roc.

I gotta get to the beauty shop in 20 minutes.

I'll only need but five.

No way, baby. It's my birthday now.

I ain't settling for some rush job.

I want the whole treatment.

Don't make me beg, baby. 'Cause you know I will.

Damn, man. I can't believe this.

- Hey, Roc. - Joey, get

Joey, Joey, get away from here now.

Oh, my God.

What's the matter, Joey?

I just got off the phone with Curtis Vincent.

He's teachin' now.

One of the best bass players in the business.

And he's gotta give it up just so he can make a living.

- Boy, it just blows my mind. - You know, Joey, you amaze me.

It used to be you'd just refuse to get a job.

Now you look down on anyone who works.

You know, you have really twisted values.

Oh, yap-yap-yap.

- Oh, good. You're all here. - 'Hey, pop.'

I finally picked up my pictures from my California trip.

- Alright. - For my birthday?

Hey, uh, pop, thank you

for stayin' out of our room last night.

And, Carol thanks you as well.

Oh, don't mention it, son.

I enjoy spending nights in bus stations.

I slept like a baby.

I mean, those diesel fumes really knock you out.

Wait a minute, pop.

You mean, you spent the night in a bus station?

Oh, Roc, the man wants to show us some pictures.

- Let's take a look, shall we? - 'Let's see 'em, dad.'

Okay.

This is me standing in front of the Hollywood sign.

- Look at you. - Grauman's Chinese Theatre.

- Ah-ha. - This is Sunset Boulevard.

Uh, 7-11 on fire.

The national dog.

That's the national guard watchingthe 7-11 on fire.

Daddy, it just figures the one week

you go to Los Angeles, riots break out.

Yeah, I'm a lucky man.

I was stuck in Jersey doing a '65 Watts riot.

Oh, check out this.

My man, Leo says he's gonna take me to the track.

I'll see y'all later, okay?

Oh, Joey, you could stay and help Roc

get the house ready for the party.

I could also devote my life to helping humanity

but whose got the time, right?

Do you believe him?

I cook for him, I clean for him.

And one day I ask him to help out, my birthday

he can't even show me enough consideration to do.

Ah, he's been getting on everyone's nerves all summer.

Look, I've been thinking about this a lot now

Joey's been living here for a year.

You know what, he's just getting lazier and lazier.

He sure seems to be wasting away.

Yeah, that's our fault because we keep givin' him

the means to do it.

But if we really love him, we gotta do somethin'

to get him off his butt.

And the only thing I can come up with is...

...well, throwing him out.

Roc, now I agree we gotta do somethin'

but isn't that a bit extreme?

Well, hat's the alternative, Eleanor

another lecture on responsibility?

He doesn't listen to that.

We should just toss him in the water and make him swim.

I just wished there was another way.

Oh, look, you two.

Now this is your house.

Now I don't get to vote, and that's fine.

But, this business of brother throwing out brother

it could cause a lot of bad blood.

Now I've seen families torn apart by a lot less than this.

Now if somethin' would have happened to me

I'd wanna know my boys will look out for each other.

That's exactly what I am doing, pop.

Okay, Eleanor, this is your house too.

I'm not doing it unless you're with me.

I don't know, Roc.

Maybe it is time for some tough love.

- Okay, I'm with you. - 'Alright.'

I'll tell him after the party, tonight.

Well, maybe tomorrow.

Well, sometime this week.

Well, I'm still afraid of what might happen

but I guess I can understand why you're doing it.

I never was tough enough on Joey the way he needed it.

- You're a good brother. - Alright, pop.

He sure is.

You'd be a good father too.

Much better than I was.

Oh, thanks, pop.

Too bad your sperm don't work.

♪ Whoa-whoa whoa whoa-whoa-whoa ♪

I still say, it looked better over there.

Oh, now, come on, pop, I told you

nobody will see it if we hang it over there.

I think my point is made.

Ah! Hey! That must be Eleanor's gift.

Hey, hey, Roc. Uh, that's my bouquet--

- Yeah, I know you're not here. - No, pay him, please.

- Mr. Emerson. - Yeah, great.

I've been waiting for this all day. Thanks a lot.

Hey. Hey, look, I've never had somethin' like this delivered.

Am I supposed to tip?

Aw, well, it's optional, sir.

Ah, perfect.

What is that, Roc?

Pa, this is an oil painting of Eleanor.

- She's gonna be so surprised. - Wait a minute.

'How did you get an oil painting of Eleanor without her posing?'

I gave the artist a snapshot and he painted it from that.

You know, the one with Eleanor with her friend Helen.

You know, the sun setting behind her and she looks like

some kind of an angel.

Yet at the same time, she's got this little smile going

like she knows somethin'. And she's hot and ready.

I got a picture of a lulu with the same look.

Oh, yeah, pop. Well, you check this out, huh.

It's not Eleanor. That's her friend, Helen.

I don't care who she is.

She's not going up on the wall next to Malcolm.

He painted the wrong nurse. Oh, man!

Oh, and look, it's even got the artist signature on the bottom.

Stevie Wonder.

Hey, Jake. Yeah, this is Roc Emerson.

Do you know you painted the wrong woman?

Hey, when a black man brings in a picture

of a black woman and a white woman

take a guess which one his wife is.

No! The black one.

Wha-what? Her birthday is today. What am I supposed to do?

Alright, alright, alright. Fine.

Oh, he's gonna rush through another painting.

I just gotta bring the frame back.

- I'll see y'all later. - Goodnight, son.

'Sorry about that, Roc. I am.'

Well, it sure is nice to see Roc ticked off

at somebody besides me for a change.

- Son? - Yeah.

I wanna talk.

Sit down.

Sure, pa.

What's up?

I don't know how to say this. So I'm just gonna say it.

Joey, you've been here for a year now

and I think it's about time you moved on.

Pop, are you, are you serious?

Oh, it's been real nice havin' you around.

But a man my age after all I've been through in my life

I need my own bedroom.

Now, maybe after the party

you should think about making other arrangements.

Listen, pop, now, I, I just need a couple of more months, okay?

See, I got, I, I know this guy, his name is Curtis Vincent.

See, he's available and maybe we can put this--

Maybe. But I don't wanna wait no longer.

Now, it's been a year. And that's long enough.

More "Roc," live, after this.

Then they start coming out with all this adultery stuff.

First they say Clinton had an affair.

Now they're sayin' Bush is having an affair.

I don't believe it. George Bush ain't the cheating type.

Oh, no?

When he speaks at the convention watch his eyes.

He'll be scanning the crowd for babes.

'Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.'

That whole thing get started

I'm on up tomorrow, I'm gonna watch him.

You wanna watch the Republican National Convention. Why?

Well, there's this fun little game I play.

It's called "Finding The Black Delegate."

Roc...

Yeah, I know you've been had a busy day.

- Oh, okay. - But I really gotta talk to ya.

Okay, pop, I'm sorry I ignored you. What's up?

Well, you see, I gotta--

This must be Eleanor's portrait.

Boy, am I glad to see you. I was gettin' worried.

- She is black. - Isn't she?

- As the nation of Islam, sir. - Okay.

Alright. Well, thanks a lot.

I'm sorry, um, we changed our tippin' policy.

- So, tippin' is mandatory now. - Huh?

Well, It's a good thing I bought this under the old policy.

Sir...

How you doin', Helen? Huh? Hey, Cynthia.

Hey, Eleanor, it finally came.

Happy birthday, baby.

Just a little something to show you how much I care.

Thank you, baby.

Ooh, you present from myhusband.

Well, that's not me. Helen, that's you.

I'mblack!

Oh, my God! I-I'm black!

I mean, not that there's anything wrong with being black.

- I mean-- - Oh, Helen.

Perhaps, we better leave these two love birds alone.

Poor thing, her husband must hate her.

Well...

This is the present that was suppose to put me

in a lovin' mood?

I know they say "It's the thought that counts"

but, baby, what the hell was you thinkin'?

I'm sorry, sweetheart. The artist screwed up.

I searched all through every picture I had of you, you know.

I was lookin' for the one that best captured

how much I love about you, you know, and...

Then I found that one with you and Helen

where you look like an...

...angel from heaven.

Yeah, that's it.

He painted Helen, but I got him to redo it.

- And he still... - Oh, baby.

You went through all that trouble for lil' ol' me.

Yeah, and I'd do it again.

Well, you better, 'cause I still don't have

a birthday present yet.

Roc, now, I really have to tell you something.

Alright, pop, what's so important?

Oh, fine. Well, you see--

So you must think you're pretty smart, huh?

- Skip it. - What's the matter, Roc?

You don't have the guts to face me by yourself?

- What're you talkin' about? - Come on, Roc.

Don't play dumb with me, it's your house

you're the only one that throw me out. But, no.

You sent pop to do your dirty work, huh?

You did, pop, did you talk to him?

I told you, I don't want my boys hatin' each other.

Joey, he didn't send me to throw you out.

Whatever, pop, Roc, do you or don't you want me outta here?

Look, damn it, I don't wanna get into this here mess the party.

- Let's talk in the kitchen. - No, I just got my--

No, come on, Joey, let's talk about it.

Now, look, I don't know what pop told you, but I love you, man.

That's what this is really about.

Oh, that's really sweet, Roc.

Now there's no need to be sarcastic.

Pop, please now. This is between me and Roc.

Okay, I'll just stand over here by the refrigerator.

You won't even know I'm in the room.

Joey, don't you see? This is for your own good.

If you're outta here, you've no choice

but to get yourself a job, do something

that'll give your life some meaning.

- Like pickin' up garbage, huh? - Ouch.

- I'm not here. - Look...

Look, Joey, I'm proud of what I do.

I go out there and I bust my butt

and when I come home, I've done something I can feel good about.

Yeah, well, I'm not you, Roc.

Now some dumbass menial job's not gonna make me

a more fulfilled human being. I'm a musician--

No, a musician spends his time playing music.

Not hanging out on the racetrack all day.

How do you know that's what I do, Roc?

How do you know when I say I'm at the track

I'm not out hustling some gig

or goin' to some damn audition?

Every time I lose, I'm supposed to come back

and tell you how I fail?

You know, that's real sad, Joey.

If I didn't think it was one of your scams, I'd be crying.

Oh, right, right, so everything about me is a scam now, huh?

- I should be like you, Roc. - Oh, you could do worse.

No, Roc! I couldn't!

See, you've never been anything more than what you are now.

- Which is nothing. - Oh, this has gone too far.

Roc.

Now, who in the hell are you

to talk to me like that, huh?

I support you for a year and this is what I get?

You know, you treat everyone you know like garbage.

- And you know garbage. - Yeah, I do.

- And I'm lookin' at it. - See, Roc, you're damn fool.

Get the hell outta my house, Joey, before I throw you out.

Alright, you got it, bro, I'm goin'.

Joey? Roc?

L-lovely party, Eleanor.

We really must do this again real soon.

Yeah.

Oh, I'm sorry this had to happen

on your birthday.

Thanks. Goodbye.

Shoot!

I couldn't even fix myself a plate

to take home with me.

♪ Happy birthday to you ♪ Happy birthday to you ♪

♪ Happy birth.. ♪ Happy birth.. ♪

Roc, I can't wait to see what you got planned next?

'Cause if it makes me feel foolish enough

I can still go catch some of the guests.

I'm sorry, sweetheart.

I wanted this, this day to be special, you know.

I guess I screwed up as usual. Damn!

It's not how I wanted this to go.

Alright, I'm goin'.

Where are you going to go?

I don't know. Why do you care?

I care, damn it. Whether you believe it or not.

- I'm doin' this outta-- - I'm going to the bus station.

Tell Ramone, "Andrew said hey."

Well, look, here's a hundred bucks

I don't want you out on the street.

That's not why I did this.

No, Roc, I don't think so.

Joey, take the money.

Alright, if it will make you feel better.

Make it $200.

This is all I got, Joey.

Joey...

...why don't you just stay until you get yourself situated?

No, that's okay, pop.

Happy birthday, sis.

"Roc" will be right back, live.

♪ Whoa-ooh whoa-ooh whoa-oh-whoa ♪

Oh, I'll get it.

Hello?

Joey! Where are you?

- Joey. - 'It's Joey.'

- Hey, how's he doing? - Oh, he sounds fine.

Oh, that's good son.

Yeah, we were all worried about you.

- Yeah. - 'Yeah.'

Me? Oh, I'm fine.

Walking on egg shells though.

You never know when Roc will throw

my tired old butt on the street

Hey! He's right here. You wanna talk to him?

Okay. Hang on.

Uh, he wants to talk to Eleanor.

Oh! Okay. Hey, Joey.

Yeah, yeah. Oh, don't worry, I'll have plenty more birthdays.

Yeah, the portrait came today.

Yeah, it's me. Yeah, I'm black.

Uh-huh, Roc's still here.

Oh! Oh, okay. Hold on.

Ah, he wants to talk to daddy again.

Huh.

Yeah.

Okay.

I'll remember.

Alright, hold on.

- Uh, Roc. Joey wants to-- - He went upstairs, daddy.

Roc went upstairs.

Yeah, I don't understand it either.

After all that's happened, you'd think at least

he'd wanna talk to you. Uh...

Joey, you remember that girl Brandy?

Well, could I have her phone number, son?