David Duchovny's character writes a personal story that is being considered for a pilot. He is forced to accept a series of compromises from his choice for the male lead, to a intimate plot device (suicide), even down to the name of the pilot. On each issue he compromises his original vision in order to satisfy his desire to get the pilot 'picked up'. Rationalizing that having the pilot made in a compromised format is better than not at all, he gives in, only to see the final product turn out so far from the original smart and funny concept that he is ashamed of the outcome.