THE G.Y.M. — PILOT, ACT ONE

From Table Read by Manifest Media / TABLE READ

May 5, 2026 · 17 min · Episode 52

About this episode

The episode introduces Valerie and her quirky team as they navigate the challenges of running a struggling gym amidst a luxury competitor's grand opening.

THE G.Y.M. — PILOT, ACT ONE By Dani Hanks Welcome to the run-down fitness shithole at the end of the strip mall. Two buildings left standing, a tech repair shop and The G.Y.M., and across the street a brand new chrome-and-barbell luxury chain called Solstice is having its grand opening on the same day Valerie is trying to film her grand re-opening commercial. Valerie inherited her childhood sanctuary the hard way. The previous owner got hauled off in handcuffs as "The Flamingo King," the FBI took the penguins, and she sank her life savings into keeping the bulldozers off the lot. Now the bike handlebars are snapping mid-shoot, the wifi is down, the POS is down, the smoothie blender is wifi-controlled (a mistake), and a real estate vulture in pinstripes will not stop circling the parking lot. Her ragtag crew, an Insta-thirsty trainer, a Finnish golden retriever on a visa, a chaos-gremlin receptionist who cannot swim, a buttoned-up IT guy from next door, a smoothie-bar veteran who misses the cocaine era, and a crystal-worshipping yogi with prison connections, is the only thing standing between Valerie and the wrecking ball. It's a found-family workplace comedy in the bloodline of…

People in this episode

Host: Dani Hanks

Topics covered

workplace comedy
fitness
found family
struggles of small business
television pilot
character dynamics

Keywords

fitness
comedy
pilot
small business
characters
HBO
Austin Film Festival

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Austin Film Festival, ISA, HBO

Books & works: Cheers, Superstore, The Bear

Places: The G.Y.M., Solstice, strip mall, parking lot