Sunday 9 November 2014

Ep. 3- Les On a Ledge

November 9, 2014

Writer: Hugh Wilson
Director: Asaad Kelada
Original Air Date: October 2, 1978

^^^FAMOUSLY FUNNY^^^


Could you IMAGINE this episode airing today?!? This is only the third episode! It is the first episode that doesn't deal specifically with the new Rock format. And what topic does Hugh Wilson want to tackle with this new show of his? The Stigma of Homosexuality in 1978!


So let's be clear, this episode is about the STIGMA of homosexuality. Look at some of things that happen in this episode: Johnny tricks Herb into staying away from Jennifer by suggesting she had a sex change operation; Les is banned from the Cincinnati Reds locker room after a player complains that Les might be "queer"; Les is prepared to commit SUICIDE because his fellow journalists might find out he has been accused of homosexuality.


Although the episode tries to take great pains to say it doesn't matter is Les is gay or not, even the most liberal characters are reserving their reactions until there is an answer. And EVERY character is in attack mode against the allegations, because that allegation is what could really ruin Les's career.


That's a lot to take in now in 2014. It's almost impossible to see any of those things being possible in today's world in middle America. Let's work backwards. Les' career (not just sports, but news and award-winning farm reports) could have been ruined by the Stigma of Homosexuality. Today, it could be ruined by the fact he is a sports journalist who doesn't know a contest of baseball teams is called a "Game."  Today, a professional ball player could have his career ruined for making any sort of homophobic statement (Hello, John Rocker!) much less using that as a pretext for banning a reporter from a locker room. Trying to ban any journalist from a locker room would also probably hurt his career.


Thirdly, in a world with Laverne Cox and Carmen Carrera, the idea of a beautiful transgendered woman isn't as ridiculous as the running joke of Jennifer once being a man. I understand in this case it is really just the crux of a farce, used to make Herb look stupid, rather than a discussion of gender acceptance but today, the joke falls back against the audience. Originally, the audience is laughing so hard because Herb is actually believing a woman as beautiful as Jennifer Marlowe might once have been a man! Silly Herb! But today, that is a reasonable outcome to gender reassignment. Okay, Loni Anderson style beauty is possibly a bit much to hope for, but it's not as ridiculous as the audience seems to think it is.


Kind of a twisty Mobius strip of social norms and comedy, isn't it? Let look at some of the other stuff in this episode.


Notice there was no Bailey or Venus? Tim Reid only ever missed three episodes of the show. Jan Smithers only missed four. Just two too many more opinions for this episode?


At the end of his phone call with the player who made the accusation, Les says "Goodbye, Bruce" and the audience roars with laughter. There was no one named Bruce on the Reds in 1978. This is just a reference to a stereotypical "Gay" name that the audience recognizes as a 'Gay' name. This was such a stereotype in the 70's that the comic book character of Dr. Bruce Banner on had his name changed to David for "The Incredible Hulk" TV series.


I understand the script is calling for Les to spout Shakespeare while contemplating his death, but the delivery is given like he's trying to reach the balcony of the Globe Theatre, not like he's standing on a ledge in Cincinnati. Les is reciting the Cardinal Wolsey soliloquy from Henry VIII ("Farewell to all my greatness."). It's a good choice, because in the play, Wolsey is addressing his rivals, who have driven him out. But Les can remember this whole passage and still thinks a golfer is named "Chai Chai Rodraqueeze"?


Roy

11 comments:

  1. In know what you mean in terms of how the homosexuality and trans jokes seem today, but to be fair to the show, it aired in 1978.

    And at least these issues got talked about on the show. At one point Jennifer tells Herb "So what if he is" which is a very modern, liberal point of view. (Herb's reply: "Sure, you'd say that," is great, it works as a sort of illiberal counterpoint. And, as we already know, Herb is a bit of a jackass, and will readily switch sides when it suits him (see episode 1 when Carlson walks into Andy's office and he goes with him after sucking up to Andy.) So the scenes in Carlson's office play off this to some extent.

    To have it all worked out as a misunderstanding was okay to me - they didn't want Les to be gay (it would have been difficult to have an openly gay character on a US sitcom in 1978. Here in the UK we had "Are You Being Served" with Mr Humphries who was (reading between the lines) a well manicured, slightly camp gay man.)

    So for WKRP to tackle the issues of someone being gay, or trans, and sex change operations and still get big laughs is amazing, as far as I am concerned. I can let things that don't fit well nowadays pass as I realise they were one of the first to talk about this kinda stuff.

    Sanders as Nessman is great in this one in terms of his acting, I really liked it. The whole thing hangs off how he behaves while on the ledge, and the interplay between the other characters as they try to work things out and get him back in safely. For me, he did a great job, especially the phone call (you can imagine the other half in your head ("What you up to?") when he says things like "not much."

    And the ending is a nice nod towards how Les and Herb will be over the coming series - friends but strange bedfellows.

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    1. Dear God, how we loved Are You Being Served? in college. To this day, we pull out its punchlines, and serve butchered cuts of its set-ups in our dialogue around the house!

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  2. Hi Pete,

    I have been reading your comments and have been enjoying the discussion. Sorry I haven't written back sooner.

    In the US, WKRP is being rebroadcast on a station called MeTV and they have skipped over this episode, possibly because of the touchy material. It's amazing how much somethings have NOT changed in 38 years!

    You'll read that I can get very hot and cold on Sanders' acting style. I often find him to be showy. Watch Frank Bonner and Gordon Jump over the course of the show. Both can be over the top (of course!), but when they need to be emotional, I find them believable.

    By the way, as a Canadian of a certain age, I'm very familiar with Mr. Humphries and "Are You Being Served?" That's a show that only cared about making its audience laugh!

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    1. I juat noticed tonight that MeTV skipped the episode. However, I don't think it was out of fear of the subject itself, but rather how out of date the particular material appears now. I will always credit this episode -- as well as "Soap!" -- for giving me a much more progressive foundation to understanding LGBTQ+ issues.

      -Robb

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  3. I might also add that Gender Affirmation Surgery, or Sex Change Operation, as it was known by in those days was a very rare operation. The first surgeries in Canada, didnt start until 1982. I.know the first transwoman to get that procedure. The surgery at that time was very basic, so to say that Jennifer had the procedure was a laugh. In bad taste of course but still funny.

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  4. Hmmm. MeTV just showed this episode today. So they do show it. WKRP what a classic and well written show.

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  5. And they showed it again today! One of my favourite episodes, and I am trans!

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  6. I think you'll find that they never actually mention that it's the Reds, or specifically say any team. It could have been the Bengals, or the Bearcats, or any other teams Cincinnati hosts (I don't follow the sports). They were very generic--"ball player," "stadium."

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  7. Just watched the Shout Factory version of this episode. Was curious about what others thought of the show's handling of LGBTQ+ issues (thanks to all who posted). Did anyone else notice the curious dialogue dub when Herb announces to Les that "it's ok if you're a gay"?... his lips say "homo"

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  8. Hey Bruce. I just watched the episode and caught that overdub immediately. I know that I used to watch WKRP as a kid during its initial network run. I'm wondering at what point they changed that line.

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  9. I think it was changed before the first broadcast. No doubt the "standards and practices" department nixed the word "homo." I'm not sure if that would would make it to air today but it probably would.

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