Benjy Stone, the narrator, recalls the summer (in his "favorite year" of 1954) he met his idol, swashbuckling actor Alan Swann (inspired by Errol Flynn, whose title roles like "Captain Blood" would be evoked by Swann's imagined (but screened) one in "Captain from Tortuga"). During television's early days, Benjy works as a junior comedy writer for a variety show called "Comedy Cavalcade", starring Stan "King" Kaiser that is broadcast live from the NBC studios at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. The still-famous Swann, whose career is largely washed up, is booked as a guest star. When he arrives at the studio falling-down drunk, Kaiser nearly "dumps him" until Benjy intervenes, promising to keep Swann sober during the week preceding his scheduled appearance.