The Industry

- Season 4

(2001)

When Richard is running dry on new show ideas, Alan offers a top-notch story consultant to write two hit TV series. Meanwhile, Victor becomes obsessed with joining Veronica and Wanda's all-female gym and Alan attempts to solve the crisis in the Middle East.

Disaster looms when Alan finds out that cute new intern Eliza happens to be the network head's daughter. Alan eliminates all potential suitors by banishing Victor and Richard from the office. While the boys are preoccupied, Eliza sets her sights on Veronica.

When Pyramid's dreadful reality series "Roomies" is about to be canceled, Richard is forced to make the show more outrageous and hip. The line between truth and fiction is blurred when Victor, Alan and Veronica join "Roomies" star Criz on the show.

When Richard overhears Wanda and Veronica chatting in the kitchen, he suspects Veronica is pregnant. After divulging his gossip to Alan and Victor, they all attempt to make her admit her condition. Meanwhile, Belinda, a well-meaning publicist, tries to drum up some press for Pyramid's fledgling shows.

With absolutely no warning, the Pyramid staff finds themselves traveling to a corporate retreat in the country. Even the modicum of survival skills these office dwellers possess proves useless when they find themselves held hostage by Langley, an overgrown, hyperactive camp counselor-turned-motivational expert.

While an embittered television critic relentlessly continues to seek revenge on Alan for producing misogynistic pablum, Richard teaches Wanda the benefits of playing on the dark side.

Shirley Douglas ("Wind at My Back") guest stars as a right-wing American movie star appearing in a role on "Beaver Creek." While she demands to tape a public service announcement for the NRA on set, Alan schemes to blackmail the rest of the "Beaver Creek" cast to tape lucrative, yet highly embarrassing commercials for the Japanese market.

The elusive Chief Financial Officer at Pyramid passes away. A search is on for someone who understands film financing, is good with numbers and will turn a blind eye to what may be considered as standard operating procedure by some and fraud by others.

After a failed pitch to the network, Alan resorts to new management techniques to encourage cutting-edge ideas at Pyramid. Meanwhile, when Wanda is mistakenly audited for taxes, the gang at Pyramid think she's rich.

After spending years in a psychiatric hospital, Alan's brother Frank arrives at Pyramid. When it turns out that he owns the company and cancels a much-anticipated company trip to the Banff Television Festival, Richard leads the Pyramid team in convincing him that he is still crazy.

When the ever-so-dense star of "The Sword of Damacles" fails to produce a contracted book for the German market, Richard and Veronica crack open a bottle of tequila and write the book for him. When it's hailed as the simple man's "Art of War," "Damacles" comes to a startling conclusion. Not only does he play a god on television, he is a god in real life.

To reclaim the company website from an external owner, Richard and Victor discover that Veronica's old school friend, Crystal, is actually a gold-digging widow with her sights on Alan.

When Richard, Veronica and Victor are asked to lecture at the prestigious Toronto Film Institute, Alan gets in a snit. After numerous attempts by all to coerce the TFI into asking Alan as well, Victor succeeds in hosting a roast for him, and Alan reveals his secret key to producing comedy.

Diane Parkman, an obnoxious American network executive, meets with Pyramid to produce a television documentary on the War of 1812. Things are going fine until she demands some slight script changes: the red coats become the "Teal Coats" and in the end, the Americans must win the war. Meanwhile, Alan spends time with Colin, the god of TV market research.

Richard destroys a Canadian historic site while directing an episode of "The Sword of Damacles." When the production is barred from its location and is missing some key scenes, Richard's solution is as old as television itself - have the hero from the past travel into the future.

When Alan demands to organize the "Beaver Creek" wrap party, the sushi and champagne are quickly replaced with chips, dip and tequila punch. A karaoke machine, ego-driven actors and substance-abusing network executives do not mix.