Rise To Stardom - Chapter 135

Chapter 135: Fame Surge
(A few minutes earlier…)

In one of DreamLand Inc’s private screening hall for movies or series that were yet to be released, Jon, Tiana, and Barry, were watching the first episode of The 10th season of [The Curator] which was projected onto the white screen, genuinely happy smiles adorning their features.

In addition to the trio was Bruno, their Marketing Director, employees from marketing and PR department alongside screenwriters of the show, all of whom were yet to watch the final product before it had aired.

As a result, there was a noticeable air of hyped-up excitement in the air of the screening hall as this was their very first viewing of it.

No sooner had the episode ended though, one of the PR employees, after checking out the broadcasting company’s analytics for the first episode, muttered out loud in shock;

“This is insane…”

“What is?” Bruno curiously asked, glancing over to the employee who had garnered everyone’s attention.

Yet, without even raising his head up from the tablet and unaware of everyone’s eyes on him, the young employee spoke in response;

“33.9 million people tuned in for the first episode…”

Hearing his words, everyone else in the room, save for Jon, Barry and Tiana, widened their eyes in disbelief and swiftly, pulled up their phones to confirm!

But then, even the trio, had a fairly shocked expression on their features.

“Sweet Mother of God!” a female employee who worked as a screenwriter, gasped in shock.

“Heavens!” another employee who worked in the advertising department, exclaimed in a mix of shocked amazement.

As far back as DreamLand Inc. had been formed, the highest concurrent number of people, simultaneously viewing something on their broadcasting channel was 35.2 million.

And that too, had been back when The last episode of the 5th Season of [The Curator] had aired.

Yet, now, before their very eyes, the very first episode of The 10th season of [The Curator], was already sizing that number up with a taunt, almost as if warning it that it was coming for it with the rest of its episodes.

Sure one of the major reasons why they even had that many people tuning in when compared to last season’s abysmal 14.4 million viewers (which was also the lowest in the history of the show), was because of the trailer and the fact that Jon was back to spearhead the 10th season.

But…

Far more than that…

There was another, very obvious reason.

Kyle Kestis.

The young star himself.

From the controversies surrounding his casting, to the constant backlash on social media, all the way to if he could even capture the gravitas of The Curator… these were the major reasons why people tuned in.

Many, many fans of the show, all from various parts of the world had tuned in, simply to check for themselves if the young star whose casting they had been so against, would be any good as the titular time traveler.

The answer, obviously, was something that they had now all witnessed, and it was safe to say, Kyle Kestis, was slowly becoming more than just a one-time wonder actor.

“Well, this was certainly unexpected.” Jon casually stated, although there was a noticeable hint of joy in his sugar-gray irises.

“Unexpected in more ways than one…” Barry, who was similarly delighted about the whole thing, watched as his phone started buzzing with back to back messages.

It seemed as if all the major media houses, magazines, publications, talk shows, variety shows and the likes, all of whom had also found out about the number of people who tuned in for the show with their own resources, finally woke up from the slumber they had been in all these while.

If before they were pretending not to know about the 10th season of the show, now, they were all jumping at the chance to get an interview with any of them, be it Jon, Barry himself and Tiana.

But, most especially, they were dead set on having Kyle for an interview, even if it was just for a few seconds!

This kind of attention-hogging bandwagon from a young, versatile and multi-talented star who was on an uphill run to stardom; the type that would get people talking and interested for ages; that was what they thrived on and lived for.

As a feeling of frenzied excitement, slowly started to circulate through the room, Tiana, gazing at her personal phone as she casually disregarded her work phone which kept buzzing continuously in her purse, widened her eyes in shock at the message she saw from Oliver.

Blushing a bit and accepting his offer to be his date and plus one to a wedding event next month, Tiana soon texted back, asking about how he was coping with Kyle’s current surge in fame.

To that, the agent, simply replied that he had muted his work phone and placed it aside for now since it started becoming more of a nuisance than anything else with its constant buzzing, a response Tiana chuckled in response to.

And just like that, from the other side of the screen, Oliver glanced over at his ward who was sitting on a bean bag, similarly switching off his phone with a casual expression.

“Stop ruining my mojo with your vibrations…” he quietly muttered, a pencil behind his ear as he focused on the lyrics sheet in his hands, a thin, beautiful smile, nestling on his lips.

For the first time, Oliver was watching his ward write a song without constantly stressing and pulling his hair out in an effort to make the song as perfect as he possibly could.

Rather, the young star was composing the wedding song in strides while enjoying every second of it.

Yet, even then, Kyle wasn’t unaware about everything that was probably brewing due to the first episode’s release.

Before the entire thing had blown out of proportion though, enough for him to simply switch off his smartphone altogether, Jasmine had already called him and told him to mute his phone for the first few hours after the episode had aired for his own peace of mind.

The lady who already had experience with an explode in popularity more than once, knew more than anyone the sort of response Kyle was going to get after the episode aired.

That was why, she had told him over the phone a few hours ago;

“Oh Sapphire… you’d think you’re famous until the first episode airs…”

“Then you’d be surprised by how wrong those thoughts of yours are…”

“Because trust me when I say, you have no idea…”

Subconsciously remembering what she had told him, Kyle grateful for her words, maintained his attention on the lyrics sheet in his hands, only for Oliver to swiftly get off the couch and briskly walk towards the window blinds.

Slowly sweeping asides the curtain and parting the window blinds a bit, Oliver couldn’t help but cuss when he saw his mortal enemies, pulling over to the neighborhood in their stupid vans;

“Well shit.”

“Paparazzi, I’m guessing?” Kyle sighed and questioned from where he was.

“Yep.” Oliver responded, a small frown on his face and a strong hint of annoyance in his tone.

…

…

…

Geek Lord – ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Kyle Kestis’ performance really was the highlight of the entire first episode of [The Curator]’s tenth season. From the first scene where he had literally no one to bounce his dialogue off of yet still delivered on what people are now terming as the ‘Chaotic 10th’, Kyle’s iteration of The Curator, despite clearly being in the infancy of his story arc, had us warm up to him quickly and easily despite all the odds. A truly remarkable chapter in a show that has otherwise struggled these past few years! I as a fan of the show, would never have expected to be this excited for the next episode of [The Curator] in an extremely long while!

Pop Times – ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

To say an actor completely and unequivocally, owned the role of the titular time traveler would even be an understatement at this point! Seeing Kyle’s youthful yet energetic and quirky portrayal of The Curator, already paints the entirety of this new season of the show in a fresh yet authentic new coat of paint!

Time & Space Bugle Express – ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

The first episode of [The Curator’s] 10th season is nothing short of fantastic! Yet, there’s something undoubtedly manic and crazy about Kyle’s take on the character that makes him instantly likable and unique. Also, where’s our darn second episode?!!

StarSpotter Magazine – ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Kyle Kestis’ debut as The Curator is a triumph (in more ways than one)! Under Quentin’s new direction for the show, Kyle brings a brilliant mix of childlike wonder, chaotic intensity that feels hilarious yet not overly done, and a dangerous edge that every other iteration before him had, firmly establishing his own place in the show’s long history. We hope the upcoming episodes, do not disappoint and do justice to what has already being an amazing first episode.

–

The reviews for the first episode of The 10th season of [The Curator] was out!

And for the first time in a very long while, it was obvious that both critics and the audience alike, were unanimous in their beliefs that the 10th season of the popular show was going to be a big hit.

33.9 million tuned in viewers was no joke at all to say the least.

As a result, just as critics and their various publications and media houses were excited for the prospect of how they could milk the popularity of [The Curator] again, fans were going absolutely bonkers on various social media platforms!