The sun had already rose on December 26th
Light came from a window, as a hangover Duke lay sprawled on the couch in his living room.
He wore loose red and green plaid pajama bottoms with no shirt.
A half-empty mug of coffee sat on a table nearby.
Beside him sat Bradley, lying on his stomach.
He wore zip-up footie pajamas with a Blue Beetle emblem on the chest.
Both just staring at the bulky television that was on Nickelodeon, playing Blue Beetle, the animated show.
Duke was making sure to educate the boy properly.
TV time now included a dose of Paramount's shows.
'I dont want to raise a kid that likes Peter Parker.' Duke had always held onto the belief that while the character of Peter Parker was not bad, the story of Spiderman was just sad cause Marvel hated the character.
Cable television was still new in most of the country, but.
Bradley reached over and patted Duke's bare stomach.
The boy looked up with wide eyes. "Dad fat," he said softly.
Duke froze, with his hand stalled halfway to his coffee.
He looked down at his stomach and at Bradley who had a big belly still from baby fat, but he wasnt making comments on it.
He was still in decent shape. But he was no longer the lean 19 year old, 10 years had made his body a bit thicker.
Life as a studio mogul meant boardroom meetings, catered lunches, stress eating which left little time for the gym.
Duke set his coffee back down carefully. "That's not fat, buddy," he explained, tapping his stomach. "There's muscle underneath this."
Bradley poked Duke's belly again. His small finger sank into the flesh "Soft," the boy turned back to the cartoon.
Duke rolled his eyes and laughed. 'Kids lucky he's only 2 years old.'
After Blue Beetle saved the city, the theme of Star Trek, The Animated Series came on.
Duke watched the screen, half-engaged in the philosophical dialogue between Kirk and Spock. He wondered how long until RPG's are a thing again.
'I should buy or create Warcraft in the future,'
Bradley stared with disinterest, turned to look at Duke, and shook his head, "No.".
The pacing and heavy dialogue clearly held no appeal for a child used to superhero action.
He slid down from the couch, and reached for a toy on the carpet, a Mattel Putt-Putt vehicle.
A Mattel Putt-Putt vehicle, were basically minimalist, durable wood vehicles that operated without batteries, utilizing a spring-loaded motor.
When in motion, they produced a mechanical clicking or putt-putt sound.
Duke also slid down, cursing Star Trek for being so boring for kids.
He went on the carpet and pushed a little truck back and forth hitting Bradley's cars.
In the background, the radio played "Dancing Queen" by ABBA.
Duke loved ABBA, whether in this life or in his past life.
Bradley grew frustrated as he watched Duke push the truck onto his car toy.
The boy grabbed the vehicle and clutched it to his chest. "Mine."
Duke gasped in outrage, sofly pushed Bradley on the shoulder and took the truck.
The boy tumbled onto the rug, giggling as he watched Duke run away while clumsily getting up and pursuing him.
The chase was interrupted by a knock on the door.
Duke stopped running. Work was calling again.
He suddenly became aware he was shirtless, of course this would not be a problem in his own house, Bradley clung to his leg trying to get his truck toy back.
Michael Eisner opened the door, and stepped inside, carrying a leather portfolio.
As a jew, Eisner worked through Christmas without a problem, so he came to give updates on things.
Eisner looked down and offered a stiff smile to the toddler.
He was confused on his boss appearance, umkept beard, no shirt, a toy truck on his hand that a little boy was trying his hardest to reach but tried to keep his face neutral.
Duke rested a hand on his son's head who finally turned to look at the guest. "This is your future boss, Eisner," Duke joked. "Remember his face."
Soft footsteps from the hallway as Margaux with messy hair appeared in a morning robe.
She gently took Bradley by the hand. "Come on, little man," she murmured and led him away.
Bradley waved a small hand at Eisner as he led him away. The toy truck still clutched in his fist.
Duke led Eisner down the hallway to his private study.
He grabbed a white button-down shirt draped over a chair and put it on.
Duke sat behind his desk, his playful smile from before was gone.
Eisner took a seat in a armchair and unzipped his portfolio.
"We have a problem in Washington," Eisner announced. He had actually called last night but Duke had told him drunkingly to come in the morning.
He slid a white document across the desk. "The FCC has launched another investigation into Paramount's vertical integration. This is the third inquiry since the Mattel deal closed."
It was the late 1970s, and vertical integration was controverssial.
"The political environment has shifted," Eisner explained. "Since Carter won the election, his transition team has been sending signals that they want to scrutinize large conglomerates."
Duke stared at the FCC letter in annoyance.
After the November election, he'd tried to reach out to Carter and placed a courteous call to his transition headquarters to offer congratulations.
Carter's staff never returned the call.
The snub was clear.
"We're being targeted," Eisner continued. "Carter's people want to look tough on media consolidation. We're the new big player, so we seem to be the primary target."
Duke absorbed the news in silence.
He'd been laying groundwork to support Reagan's 1980 bid for a pro-business, deregulatory platform.
But that long-term strategy offered no protection against the immediate problems of a Democratic administration.
"We need to dial back the public visibility of the company for a while," Duke decided as he tapped a pen against his desk.
Eisner nodded. "We shift the narrative back to programming and emphasize artistic merit. The FCC seems to be worried about our animation ventures in combination with the Mattel Deal."
"Is Disney facing the same scrutiny?" Duke asked, leaning back.
Disney had theme parks, distribution networks, merchandising arms, a police deparment, ski mountain, a whole town, a Civil War Theme park, a drug smuggling island, a Cruise line, etc.
They were just as if not more vertically integrated than Paramount.
But they hid their business practices behind a wholesome facade.
Duke pondered aloud.
"Is this why Disney doesn't produce animated series for television? They have the capital, animators and their animation department is their crown jewel."
"Yet they leave the television market open for the taking... Is the FCC too strong?"
Duke waved his hand. "Never mind. Doesn't matter what they're doing."
He pointed to another stack of papers. "Let's talk about cable. Where do we stand against Time Inc.?"
The conversation shifted to the war between Showtime and HBO.
The premium cable market was expanding fast and they needed to get their feet on the door.
"HBO is pulling away," Eisner reported as he pulled a demographic chart from the pile.
"They crossed 500.000 subscribers this year, mostly cause of Sports."
Eisner slid a second chart forward.
"Showtime is trailing since we're at roughly 200.000 subscribers. Growing steadily, but playing catch-up."
"Time Inc. is also spending heavily on marketing to lock in municipal cable operators."
Eisner leaned forward. "Our advantage is our film library since we have better movies. Plus, we're producing original content they lack like Exclusive theatrical windows. HBO can't match that."
"We lean into our catalog of movies," Duke agreed. "But we focus on Nickelodeon."
"The children's demographic is more vital than the adult market. Adults will subscribe for a month to watch a boxing match and then cancel."
Duke stood and walked to the bookshelf. "Kids are sticky consumers and we need them to watch our animated shows, to then buy toys and drag their parents to our theme parks."
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Next Chapter is about PULSE and FullMetal Alchemist