The group was all very proud at the way the show turned out this time. Everyone was present and accounted for the whole time; Noah and Harold had a truce; Cody was confident. They were about to go out for deli sandwiches and soda pops, when they ran into the man with the sunglasses and the goatee again. "Oh, great," Harold said, "We got cancelled again, didn't we?"
"No," the man with the sunglasses and the goatee responded, "That couldn't be further from the truth. Your show skyrocketed in terms of ratings. In fact…" He made an aside glance. "…You guys are beating the incumbent hit."
"We… we… we are?" Harold asked, and his jaw dropped.
"Yes!" the man responded. He grinned. "You guys are our new cash cow franchise. I don't suppose we could ask you to sign a merchandise deal?"
"Well, I would have moral problems with things that are heavy on labor-sympathetic politics, anything relating to birth control, new school mandates, or anti-gay rights campaigns" Noah responded, "But if none of these things are involved, I'd be happy to sign."
"Of course," Harold said, "If it is anti-labor politics, I would also refuse to sign."
"Don't worry," the man said, "It's just a merchandise deal. No political agenda here, except to make money. CHA-CHING!"
"What kinds of things are we talking about?" Beth asked.
"Oh, just key chains, lunchboxes, T-shirts, play-sets, DVDs, soundtrack CD's, and a McDonalds endorsement," the man said.
"Well," Cody said, "Sounds good to me!"
So, they signed the merchandising deal. Sierra went out of her way to collect every last one of the items on the merchandising list, including the McDonalds toys, which caused her to waste several cardboard boxes. One thing she would always proudly wear is a shirt that said, "By nerds, for nerds" on the front and "N4VS" on the back.
Of course, it wasn't very long before her shirt was outdated. Courtney was added to the cast in August of the following year, and they started working on the second season: The Nerd Pentagon Variety Show. It was very similar to the first season, except that Courtney was in many of the skits, and every episode she would sing a song. She quickly became the audience favorite of those who didn't watch the show before, causing an even greater influx in the ratings.
Sierra went out and bought a new shirt then. It still said, "By nerds, for nerds" on the front, but now it said "N5VS" on the back.
Cody had an idea. Since they were going to have to change the name of the show anyway, they might as well make it traditional to add a new cast member every year, at least for a while. They were signed on for a third season almost as soon as the second one started. He sent an email to Sierra. It read,
"To our biggest fan,
We still think it's great that you saved our show. And we want to give you the deal of a lifetime. We would like you to join our cast the third season.
Your friend,(nothing more)
Cody."
Sierra shrieked and fell out of her chair before she even saw the signature. She responded:
"YES, YES, YES, OMG OF COURSE!"
Sierra joined the cast, in season three, and Harold asked her what kind of solo she wanted. She said, calmly, "I don't need a solo." Then on the brink of tears, she added, "It's just such an honor to work with you guys."
"But Sierra!" Cody said, "All fulltime cast members get a solo."
"Okay," Sierra said, "My solo will be… giving away vital information about Cody!"
"Er, umm…" Cody said, "On second thought, we don't actually need you to have a solo." He pressed his fingers together. He expected Sierra to be mad, but she wasn't.
The show went on for six seasons, when it finally lost in the ratings game to The Boring Guy on a Horse Show." The creators were not bitter. They were in fact relieved that they could finally stop.