under with the production, Frank's boss Preston Rhinelander brings in consultant Brice Cummings to provide assistance, though Brice secretly wants Frank's job. The night before the show, Frank is visited by the ghost of his mentor Lew Hayward, an unloved miser who died from a heart attack seven years prior. Lew warns him three more ghosts will appear to him over the next day to help Frank avoid the same fate. Before it vanishes, the ghost dials up Claire Phillips, Frank's lost love from years ago. Claire comes to the network to talk to Frank, but Frank does not make time for her and she returns to the homeless shelter where she works. As rehearsals start and Frank wraps up his lunch with Preston, Frank is visited by the Ghost of Christmas Past, appearing as a manic taxi driver. He takes Frank to see his past: how he found solace in television to compensate for a cold and distant father, and how he had fallen in love with Claire but lost her when he prioritized his television career over her. After the visit, Frank goes to the shelter to see Claire, hoping to make amends. However, his attitude quickly sours and he shows his contempt for a homeless man named Herman and the shelter workers. He returns to the studio, but not before telling Claire: "If you wanna save someone, save yourself." The Ghost of Christmas Present arrives as an ethereal, sweet-voiced fairy who punches, kicks and slaps Frank to focus his attention. She takes him to Grace's apartment, showing his assistant's struggles to support her large family, including her youngest son Calvin who has remained mute since witnessing his father's death. The Ghost then shows him James, spending a humble yet festive Christmas with a group of friends and his wife Wendie. James still defends Frank, despite Frank's cheap gifts and his refusal to share in Christmas celebrations with him. The Ghost leaves him in a utility space under a sidewalk with Herman, who, Frank finds to his shock, has frozen to death. Frank desperately tries to escape, breaking through a boarded-up door to end back up on the set of the production. Preston directs Brice to take over rehearsals to give Frank some time off. Retiring to his office, Frank finds a drunken Eliot waiting for him with a shotgun, ready to kill Frank for causing the loss