Cancellation Day
A Later Today story starring Jodi Applegate, Florence Henderson & Asha Blake
Written by Nemesoak
Written by Nemesoak
Note to readers: This story was inspired by something I actually saw on the final episode of this show. Unfortunately, the real-life event went without a hitch and no soaking resulted. This story, however, imagines what could - or as I think should - have happened. I also took some liberties with the wardrobe since I couldn't remember what each woman wore that day. It also incorporates a suggestion by one of our site forum posters as well as one by Wetcouple from the Bravenet board. Enjoy!
It was the summer of 2000 and the day had come at last. The final broadcast of the very low-rated "Later Today" program on NBC. The broadcast was nearing the end and it was time for a little bit of gallows humor from the the producers. In a parody of "Survivor" a tiki torch was lit and set up on stage. The gag was going to be for one of the staff to come and snuff out the torch to symbolize the show's cancellation. Everything seemed to be going fine, but the director seemed to have a problem.
Looking at a monitor up in the control room, the director shouted "That damn torch looks like a candle! I need a bigger flame!" The cameras were stopped, the torch was extinguished, and some adjustments were made. Then it was relit.
"A little better," said the the director, "but we still need more flame. Turn up the gas!"
"Okay." said the technician as he fiddled with a hidden valve. The flame became much larger and brighter.
All the while Florence Henderson, one of the women on the show, watched what was going on and felt uneasy. She had been in show business longer than most of the stage crew had been alive and she had a sense that something was going to go wrong. However, since this was the final program, she wanted to get this experience over with, so she kept her concerns to herself.
"That's more like it!" exclaimed the director. "Just a second, and we can roll the cameras..."
Florence was right to have reservations. The torch was located directly underneath one of the heat sensors for the building's fire alarm and suppression system. If the flame was at the level it was originally supposed to be, it wouldn't have heated the sensor in the short time the sketch was going to take. But, this flame was much brighter and hotter. In a matter of seconds, the sensor detected it and, since it couldn't differentiate between a controlled fire and a blaze, went into action.
The sprinkler system was activated. As the result of some recent remodeling and upgrades to the building, the fire suppression system was also upgraded to a powerful top-of-the-line model. As a result, torrents of water gushed from the sprinklers and several small water cannon. This had the effect it was built for and extingiushed the torch. However, the three women on stage - Jodi Applegate, Florence Henderson, and Asha Blake were soaked to the skin in a matter of a few seconds. Due to the cameramen, stage crew, and the audience making for the exits, the trio was stuck in the studio as the sprinklers continued their deluge.
Each had a slightly different reaction to the situation. Asha was huddling and holding her jacket closed in a vain attempt to keep at least a part of her dry. The fact that the water was cold only added to her misery. Florence gave up and just stood there, mumbling in language her most famous character - Carol Brady - would never use about how her clothes were getting ruined. Adding to her anger was the embarassment caused by how tightly her soaked grey two-piece business suit clung to her slender frame. "Just hope I can get out without being photographed..." she thought.
Jodi, on the other hand had a different reaction. The sprinklers reminded her of that shower she took with her husband after her first clothed swim (chronicled in the story "Jodi and the Party Person"). However, the water could have been warmer. But, Jodi had to hide her calmness and enjoyment from her friends, lest they think she was a nut. Glancing down, her white blouse was now quite translucent. But Jodi was wearing a sweater-like jacket with it, so she could easily close it sufficiently to hide her now visible bra. Her knee-length blue skirt was clinging tightly to her legs. While showers were nice, Jodi felt that nothing beats the weightless feeling of total immersion. But, this unplanned soaking wasn't too bad.
After a few minutes, the sprinklers stopped and the exits cleared. The soaked trio then waded through the inch or so of water on the studio floor and made their way out of the building. Outside, there was the audience and also the stage crew, discussing damage to their equipment. The New York City Fire Department was there, since they responded to the alarm that went off when the sprinklers were activated. Jodi soon saw Asha standing with her husband, wrapped up in a fire department issue blanket which covered her soaked red jacket, white blouse, and most of her black slacks.
Florence let the authorities know she was all right, then quickly left for home. She was still fuming about how the sprinklers ruined her outfit. Chances were that the NBC executives would get a very angry phone call from her later.
After checking in with the authorities, Jodi remembered that she had left something in her office. While Jodi didn't really mind being soaked, she didn't want to travel through the city in her wet outfit either. If she could get the gym bag she had in her office, she could change into her dry gym clothes and go about without raising any eyebrows.
Jodi entered the building and soon reached the room that served as her office. The room was bare except for a desk and chair as Jodi took her stuff out a few days earlier. A quick glance around the room and she found what she was looking for. Sheltered under her desk was her gym bag.
Taking the bag and standing in a corner out of view of the window, Jodi quickly stripped off her wet clothes, towelled dry, and changed into her gym clothes (a plain white T-shirt and black sweat pants). After this was done, Jodi left the room and the building.
After wondering what to do and where to go, Jodi decided to head to the local gym. She reasoned that a workout might be the thing to get over her hurt feelings about the cancellation. A short while later, Jodi arrived at the gym and signed in.
As she was standing around trying to figure out what activity would be the best, the emotions - the pain of having your shot at the national big time go down in flames - hit her. Jodi was very upset. Also, she was afraid that this failure might hurt her career. She was almost to tears.
Just then, Jodi saw a woman walk into the gym. She was average height, blonde, and dressed casually in a dark T-shirt and jeans. Seeing Jodi in her current emotional state, the woman walked over and asked "Are you all right? Wait a minute... You're Jodi Applegate. Too bad about the show. It wasn't your fault."
Composing herself, Jodi responded. "Thanks. I'll be all right. I was just a bit upset about it. Failure still hurts."
"I know." the woman replied. "Permit me to introduce myself. I'm Jane Fisher and I believe that you may benefit from my stress-reduction sessions that I run here at the gym every month."
"Oh," commented Jodi, "that's why I've seen you here a few times before. How does your stress reduction technique work? Yoga? Massage?"
"Not even close!" Jane answered. "I'll show you and you can decide if you want to give it a try."
"Sounds good to me!"
The two women made their way to the pool room. It was a standard type of indoor pool that one would find at places like the Y. Looking around, Jodi asked "Where is your equipment?"
"I don't need any." Jane replied. "You could say that the technique I teach is a form of hydrotherapy."
"That sounds wonderful, but I don't have a swimsuit. I guess I'll have to pass."
"Well..." Then Jane's cell phone chirped. It was a call from one of Jane's students saying that they had to cancel this session and that their friends had other sudden commitments today. "Looks like it is just us two. As for what you were saying before. Neither do I. What you are wearing right now will work just fine. You see, Jodi, the point of my technique is that it is done fully clothed. Turning our normal clothes into swimwear creates a sensation of delightful absurdity that reduces stress."
"Excuse me, but I thought clothed swimming was prohibited in this pool."
"Normally it is, but when you know which closets the owner keeps their skeletons in, many things are possible. Now, if you don't mind..." With that Jane removed her shoes and jumped right in the pool. "Come on in! The water is nice and warm!"
A flash of inspiration hit Jodi and she answered "I'll be right back! You just gave me an idea!" Then Jodi went to the ladies locker room, gym bag in hand.
Once inside the locker room, Jodi opened the gym bag and retrieved her damp clothes and changed into them. Then she exited the locker room and went back to the pool.
"What the..." Jane asked, noticing Jodi's wet outfit. "Did you go for a swim on the show?"
"Not exactly." Jodi replied. "Some sketch backfired and set off the sprinklers."
"You realize that, with the warm chlorinated water in the pool, your clothes might get damaged. They don't look like wash-and-wear casual."
"I know. If they get ruined, and anyone asks, I'll just say it was the accident with the sprinklers. And now..." With that, Jodi did a racing dive right into the deep end. As she went down in the warm water, she thought "Now this is more like it! Nice and warm!"
Surfacing, Jodi asked "Is it my imagination or is this water warmer than usual?"
Jane answered "Yes. It is. The water temperature is in the high 80's. I have found that it helps relax the muscles."
"You're right about that!" Jodi exclaimed as she did a backstroke. Then she dove down and did some underwater swimming, enjoying the feel of her skirt rubbing against her legs.
When Jodi surfaced, Jane asked "You seem to be a natural. Have you done this before?"
"Yes. Once, about two years ago, I did an on-location interview with this woman who showed how to make pool decorations. At any rate, she jumped into the pool fully clothed afterwards. My husband was there, saw what happened, and was ogling her. Couldn't have that happen, could I? So, if that was what he liked, I decided to give him something better to look at and dove in myself. Worked like a charm. And what happened after that... let's just say it was excellent."
"Wow! That was quite a story!" Jane responded.
"Yes," Jodi commented as she removed her sweater jacket. "Too bad my husband isn't here right now..."
"Just as well. These sessions are women-only. If we allowed husbands and boyfriends to join in, let's say that might lead to some 'problems' and could get me booted out of here."
Jodi replied "I understand. It is just that I recall how enjoyable it was to share an experience like this with my husband."
At this time Jodi noticed her blouse had come untucked and it was bobbing, revealing quite a bit of her midriff. The sensation of the blouse rubbing against her was pleasant, but she was concerned about the buttons falling off (due to weakend threads) and getting sucked into the filter. Jodi had an idea. Since there was no one in the room other than Jane, Jodi started to unbutton her blouse and asked "Would you mind?"
Jane responded "Go right ahead, but nothing naughty. All right?"
"Don't worry." With that, she finished unbuttoning her blouse and completely exposing her bra. Fortunately, it was quite opaque and was no more revealing than the top of her two-piece swimsuit she had at home. Jodi then swam toward a ladder, letting her blouse flow like a cape behind her. Once at the ladder, she exited the pool and headed for the diving board. Jodi then got on it and did a nice deep dive. On her way back to the surface, she let the blouse slide off completely. Surfacing, Jodi exclaimed "That was fun!"
A while later, Jane said "Hey, take a break before you wear yourself out with all the swimming and diving." Exiting the pool, Jane located two pool noodles (long solid foam cylinders) and tossed one to Jodi before jumping back in. Using the noodles as floatation devices, Jodi and Jane just floated around and talked.
After the break, Jodi said "There's something I want to try before we call it a day." With that, Jodi removed her skirt, revealing her opaque panties. "This is weird. What I have looks like a swimsuit, yet I feel quite a bit different. It's kind of fun, actually."
Jodi then dove down and retrieved her clothing. Garments in hand, she exited the pool. Jane was right behind her. "Thanks," Jodi said "It was fun today and I sure feel a lot better. How much do I owe you?"
"Today is on the house. You had a rough break and you deserve it. If you want to get in on the program, the phone number is on the bulletin board in the lobby."
"I'll look into it." Jodi then went into the locker room and headed straight for the shower. After rinsing off the pool chlorine, Jodi stuffed her wet clothes back into her gym bag, changed into her dry gym clothes and headed for home.
Upon arriving home, Jodi removed her soaked suit from the gym bag and hung it up to dry in the bathroom. It would be several hours before her husband got back from work and the stuff would be dry by then. There was nothing for her to do except decide what to make for dinner.
Some hours later, Jodi's husband arrived home from work and asked her how the final episode of the show went. Jodi told him the story about the sprinklers and her trip to the gym. "No wonder why you seem to be in such a great mood for a woman who just had her show cancelled." her husband responded.
After dinner, Jodi decided to check on her suit. The pool water did a number on the sweater and it was no longer suitable to wear if she was going out anywhere, though she could still wear it in the house. Her blue skirt had faded somewhat. Looking over the damage, an idea occurred to Jodi. She could set this outfit aside and save it for use as a special "swimsuit". It would work and her husband would definitely approve.
Just before turning in, Jodi's husband took a shower. He was not alone for long, as Jodi joined him, saying "I really wish you could have been with me at the pool today..."
"I know..." he replied. "But here we are now..."
They had found a great way to end this "Cancellation Day".
Looking at a monitor up in the control room, the director shouted "That damn torch looks like a candle! I need a bigger flame!" The cameras were stopped, the torch was extinguished, and some adjustments were made. Then it was relit.
"A little better," said the the director, "but we still need more flame. Turn up the gas!"
"Okay." said the technician as he fiddled with a hidden valve. The flame became much larger and brighter.
All the while Florence Henderson, one of the women on the show, watched what was going on and felt uneasy. She had been in show business longer than most of the stage crew had been alive and she had a sense that something was going to go wrong. However, since this was the final program, she wanted to get this experience over with, so she kept her concerns to herself.
"That's more like it!" exclaimed the director. "Just a second, and we can roll the cameras..."
Florence was right to have reservations. The torch was located directly underneath one of the heat sensors for the building's fire alarm and suppression system. If the flame was at the level it was originally supposed to be, it wouldn't have heated the sensor in the short time the sketch was going to take. But, this flame was much brighter and hotter. In a matter of seconds, the sensor detected it and, since it couldn't differentiate between a controlled fire and a blaze, went into action.
The sprinkler system was activated. As the result of some recent remodeling and upgrades to the building, the fire suppression system was also upgraded to a powerful top-of-the-line model. As a result, torrents of water gushed from the sprinklers and several small water cannon. This had the effect it was built for and extingiushed the torch. However, the three women on stage - Jodi Applegate, Florence Henderson, and Asha Blake were soaked to the skin in a matter of a few seconds. Due to the cameramen, stage crew, and the audience making for the exits, the trio was stuck in the studio as the sprinklers continued their deluge.
Each had a slightly different reaction to the situation. Asha was huddling and holding her jacket closed in a vain attempt to keep at least a part of her dry. The fact that the water was cold only added to her misery. Florence gave up and just stood there, mumbling in language her most famous character - Carol Brady - would never use about how her clothes were getting ruined. Adding to her anger was the embarassment caused by how tightly her soaked grey two-piece business suit clung to her slender frame. "Just hope I can get out without being photographed..." she thought.
Jodi, on the other hand had a different reaction. The sprinklers reminded her of that shower she took with her husband after her first clothed swim (chronicled in the story "Jodi and the Party Person"). However, the water could have been warmer. But, Jodi had to hide her calmness and enjoyment from her friends, lest they think she was a nut. Glancing down, her white blouse was now quite translucent. But Jodi was wearing a sweater-like jacket with it, so she could easily close it sufficiently to hide her now visible bra. Her knee-length blue skirt was clinging tightly to her legs. While showers were nice, Jodi felt that nothing beats the weightless feeling of total immersion. But, this unplanned soaking wasn't too bad.
After a few minutes, the sprinklers stopped and the exits cleared. The soaked trio then waded through the inch or so of water on the studio floor and made their way out of the building. Outside, there was the audience and also the stage crew, discussing damage to their equipment. The New York City Fire Department was there, since they responded to the alarm that went off when the sprinklers were activated. Jodi soon saw Asha standing with her husband, wrapped up in a fire department issue blanket which covered her soaked red jacket, white blouse, and most of her black slacks.
Florence let the authorities know she was all right, then quickly left for home. She was still fuming about how the sprinklers ruined her outfit. Chances were that the NBC executives would get a very angry phone call from her later.
After checking in with the authorities, Jodi remembered that she had left something in her office. While Jodi didn't really mind being soaked, she didn't want to travel through the city in her wet outfit either. If she could get the gym bag she had in her office, she could change into her dry gym clothes and go about without raising any eyebrows.
Jodi entered the building and soon reached the room that served as her office. The room was bare except for a desk and chair as Jodi took her stuff out a few days earlier. A quick glance around the room and she found what she was looking for. Sheltered under her desk was her gym bag.
Taking the bag and standing in a corner out of view of the window, Jodi quickly stripped off her wet clothes, towelled dry, and changed into her gym clothes (a plain white T-shirt and black sweat pants). After this was done, Jodi left the room and the building.
After wondering what to do and where to go, Jodi decided to head to the local gym. She reasoned that a workout might be the thing to get over her hurt feelings about the cancellation. A short while later, Jodi arrived at the gym and signed in.
As she was standing around trying to figure out what activity would be the best, the emotions - the pain of having your shot at the national big time go down in flames - hit her. Jodi was very upset. Also, she was afraid that this failure might hurt her career. She was almost to tears.
Just then, Jodi saw a woman walk into the gym. She was average height, blonde, and dressed casually in a dark T-shirt and jeans. Seeing Jodi in her current emotional state, the woman walked over and asked "Are you all right? Wait a minute... You're Jodi Applegate. Too bad about the show. It wasn't your fault."
Composing herself, Jodi responded. "Thanks. I'll be all right. I was just a bit upset about it. Failure still hurts."
"I know." the woman replied. "Permit me to introduce myself. I'm Jane Fisher and I believe that you may benefit from my stress-reduction sessions that I run here at the gym every month."
"Oh," commented Jodi, "that's why I've seen you here a few times before. How does your stress reduction technique work? Yoga? Massage?"
"Not even close!" Jane answered. "I'll show you and you can decide if you want to give it a try."
"Sounds good to me!"
The two women made their way to the pool room. It was a standard type of indoor pool that one would find at places like the Y. Looking around, Jodi asked "Where is your equipment?"
"I don't need any." Jane replied. "You could say that the technique I teach is a form of hydrotherapy."
"That sounds wonderful, but I don't have a swimsuit. I guess I'll have to pass."
"Well..." Then Jane's cell phone chirped. It was a call from one of Jane's students saying that they had to cancel this session and that their friends had other sudden commitments today. "Looks like it is just us two. As for what you were saying before. Neither do I. What you are wearing right now will work just fine. You see, Jodi, the point of my technique is that it is done fully clothed. Turning our normal clothes into swimwear creates a sensation of delightful absurdity that reduces stress."
"Excuse me, but I thought clothed swimming was prohibited in this pool."
"Normally it is, but when you know which closets the owner keeps their skeletons in, many things are possible. Now, if you don't mind..." With that Jane removed her shoes and jumped right in the pool. "Come on in! The water is nice and warm!"
A flash of inspiration hit Jodi and she answered "I'll be right back! You just gave me an idea!" Then Jodi went to the ladies locker room, gym bag in hand.
Once inside the locker room, Jodi opened the gym bag and retrieved her damp clothes and changed into them. Then she exited the locker room and went back to the pool.
"What the..." Jane asked, noticing Jodi's wet outfit. "Did you go for a swim on the show?"
"Not exactly." Jodi replied. "Some sketch backfired and set off the sprinklers."
"You realize that, with the warm chlorinated water in the pool, your clothes might get damaged. They don't look like wash-and-wear casual."
"I know. If they get ruined, and anyone asks, I'll just say it was the accident with the sprinklers. And now..." With that, Jodi did a racing dive right into the deep end. As she went down in the warm water, she thought "Now this is more like it! Nice and warm!"
Surfacing, Jodi asked "Is it my imagination or is this water warmer than usual?"
Jane answered "Yes. It is. The water temperature is in the high 80's. I have found that it helps relax the muscles."
"You're right about that!" Jodi exclaimed as she did a backstroke. Then she dove down and did some underwater swimming, enjoying the feel of her skirt rubbing against her legs.
When Jodi surfaced, Jane asked "You seem to be a natural. Have you done this before?"
"Yes. Once, about two years ago, I did an on-location interview with this woman who showed how to make pool decorations. At any rate, she jumped into the pool fully clothed afterwards. My husband was there, saw what happened, and was ogling her. Couldn't have that happen, could I? So, if that was what he liked, I decided to give him something better to look at and dove in myself. Worked like a charm. And what happened after that... let's just say it was excellent."
"Wow! That was quite a story!" Jane responded.
"Yes," Jodi commented as she removed her sweater jacket. "Too bad my husband isn't here right now..."
"Just as well. These sessions are women-only. If we allowed husbands and boyfriends to join in, let's say that might lead to some 'problems' and could get me booted out of here."
Jodi replied "I understand. It is just that I recall how enjoyable it was to share an experience like this with my husband."
At this time Jodi noticed her blouse had come untucked and it was bobbing, revealing quite a bit of her midriff. The sensation of the blouse rubbing against her was pleasant, but she was concerned about the buttons falling off (due to weakend threads) and getting sucked into the filter. Jodi had an idea. Since there was no one in the room other than Jane, Jodi started to unbutton her blouse and asked "Would you mind?"
Jane responded "Go right ahead, but nothing naughty. All right?"
"Don't worry." With that, she finished unbuttoning her blouse and completely exposing her bra. Fortunately, it was quite opaque and was no more revealing than the top of her two-piece swimsuit she had at home. Jodi then swam toward a ladder, letting her blouse flow like a cape behind her. Once at the ladder, she exited the pool and headed for the diving board. Jodi then got on it and did a nice deep dive. On her way back to the surface, she let the blouse slide off completely. Surfacing, Jodi exclaimed "That was fun!"
A while later, Jane said "Hey, take a break before you wear yourself out with all the swimming and diving." Exiting the pool, Jane located two pool noodles (long solid foam cylinders) and tossed one to Jodi before jumping back in. Using the noodles as floatation devices, Jodi and Jane just floated around and talked.
After the break, Jodi said "There's something I want to try before we call it a day." With that, Jodi removed her skirt, revealing her opaque panties. "This is weird. What I have looks like a swimsuit, yet I feel quite a bit different. It's kind of fun, actually."
Jodi then dove down and retrieved her clothing. Garments in hand, she exited the pool. Jane was right behind her. "Thanks," Jodi said "It was fun today and I sure feel a lot better. How much do I owe you?"
"Today is on the house. You had a rough break and you deserve it. If you want to get in on the program, the phone number is on the bulletin board in the lobby."
"I'll look into it." Jodi then went into the locker room and headed straight for the shower. After rinsing off the pool chlorine, Jodi stuffed her wet clothes back into her gym bag, changed into her dry gym clothes and headed for home.
Upon arriving home, Jodi removed her soaked suit from the gym bag and hung it up to dry in the bathroom. It would be several hours before her husband got back from work and the stuff would be dry by then. There was nothing for her to do except decide what to make for dinner.
Some hours later, Jodi's husband arrived home from work and asked her how the final episode of the show went. Jodi told him the story about the sprinklers and her trip to the gym. "No wonder why you seem to be in such a great mood for a woman who just had her show cancelled." her husband responded.
After dinner, Jodi decided to check on her suit. The pool water did a number on the sweater and it was no longer suitable to wear if she was going out anywhere, though she could still wear it in the house. Her blue skirt had faded somewhat. Looking over the damage, an idea occurred to Jodi. She could set this outfit aside and save it for use as a special "swimsuit". It would work and her husband would definitely approve.
Just before turning in, Jodi's husband took a shower. He was not alone for long, as Jodi joined him, saying "I really wish you could have been with me at the pool today..."
"I know..." he replied. "But here we are now..."
They had found a great way to end this "Cancellation Day".
Epilogue
As for Asha Blake, once she got home after the incident at the studio, took a warm shower, and changed into some dry clothes, she started to feel better. Soon she got over the incident and the cancellation in general and began to plan the next step in her career. "Hopefully, no one will set off any sprinklers on my next job," she thought.
Just as expected, Florence Henderson made a very angry call to NBC and complained about the sprinklers and how they ruined her suit. Anxious to avoid any trouble, the network responded promptly by firing the director responsible and by sending the three women checks to cover the cost of their ruined clothing. Since TV programs in general have only a vague idea what stuff is worth, the checks came out to about what twice the clothes were actually worth (in Florence's case) to about three times what they were worth (Jodi and Asha).
Jodi's next job was filling in for Soledad O'Brien on the weekend show when she was on leave. As for the pool sessions, Jodi signed up and went to one shortly after her "Weekend Today" stint ended. It was great having a suit she could use just for stuff like this. This time, Jodi waited until she got home before taking her shower so she could share it with her husband.
All in all, that cancellation turned out to be a rather interesting experience.
Just as expected, Florence Henderson made a very angry call to NBC and complained about the sprinklers and how they ruined her suit. Anxious to avoid any trouble, the network responded promptly by firing the director responsible and by sending the three women checks to cover the cost of their ruined clothing. Since TV programs in general have only a vague idea what stuff is worth, the checks came out to about what twice the clothes were actually worth (in Florence's case) to about three times what they were worth (Jodi and Asha).
Jodi's next job was filling in for Soledad O'Brien on the weekend show when she was on leave. As for the pool sessions, Jodi signed up and went to one shortly after her "Weekend Today" stint ended. It was great having a suit she could use just for stuff like this. This time, Jodi waited until she got home before taking her shower so she could share it with her husband.
All in all, that cancellation turned out to be a rather interesting experience.