Writer: Hugh Wilson
Director: Will MacKenzie
Original Air Date: April 30, 1979
Sparky Marcus was not the Omen. That was an English kid named Harvey Stephens. Sparky Marcus was just another 1970's precocious child star who worked a lot playing kids who acted much older than they were.
I bring that up because there is a scene in this episode, when Andy introduces Arthur Carlson jr. (played by Sparky Marcus) to Venus, that Johnny calls the child "the Omen" and the audience reacts with an enormous laugh - a much bigger laugh than that joke deserves. And I don't know why.
Big Guy and Little Arthur
I get that "Little Arthur" has a special gift for doing or saying the one thing that will offend a person the most. I just don't think that qualifies as the spawn of Satan. It might be something even more annoying.
The first time he meets Johnny, Little Arthur immediately moves into the role of an authority figure, telling Johnny to get a haircut and a shave. He doesn't act like that to anyone else but it would be the one thing that Johnny would hate the most - someone acting like a parent or a cop.
For Jennifer, it's digging into her personal things and disrupting her orderly life. For Venus, it's something else.
This is another episode about showing who these characters are, but coming at it from a unique perspective: How would our regular WKRP friends act if they met the person who most annoys them? That it's all the same person, a child, and the boss's kid (someone they clearly shouldn't retaliate against) makes it all the juicier.
Herb's reaction is uniquely Herb-ish. What annoys him is the idea that the Carlson family is talking about him and he doesn't know what they are saying. Now, this is ridiculous! The Carlson family, especially Mama Carlson, doesn't think enough of Herb to ever mention him "around the dinner table." Only a complete egotist would think otherwise,.. oh yeah, we're talk about Herb here.
Les is bothered by Herb knowing something he doesn't know. Little Arthur is just using all of this to get $10 and amuse himself by watching two idiots fight over which one gets to be "adle-minded." Watching Les read the dictionary to find out what "obtuse" means, only to realize it is an insult, might be the funniest bit in the episode: "Don't tell me to calm down! I just paid $5 to find out I'm 'Rounded at the Free End!'"
The reason we are initially given for this behaviour is that Little Arthur has been away at Prussian Valley Military Academy and has been sheltered by their strict military ways. So much so, he is shocked to see a real, live black man! And in calling Venus "boy," Little Arthur both finds Venus' breaking point and loses all audience sympathy. Now he's not a precocious kid; he's a straight up racist and Venus is first the person who has threatened to kill him who might actually do it.
But the writers are playing with out preconceptions of what life at a military academy would be about. We learn he's flunking out and "just dying for attention." Arthur Carlson didn't learn to offend people from Prussian Academy; he's getting kicked out of Prussian Academy because he offends people.
So what would bother his father, Arthur sr., the most? We've always been lead to think it's the fear that he might not be a good enough son for Mama Carlson. It turns out his afraid he hasn't been a good enough father to his son.
It has only been two episode since Gordon Jump poured real emotion into standing up to, and standing up for Venus when he had to face the Army, going so far to say he was his "father." Now he does it again, giving an impassioned monologue about his guilt as a father. Carlson confesses his failings to his son for almost two minutes straight without a laugh. It's touching. Then it nicely sets us up to end on some warmhearted laughter over the Big Guy's collection of toys.
The lesson is just as strong in today's world. Mama Carlson says her grandson has just suffered "a traumatic career setback" to which Mr. Carlson argues "this is just an eleven year old boy." We see this argument played out today, with parents who push their children into better schools and academies, hoping to advance them in life, rather than just letting them be kids.
Other notes: Why is Bailey so unimportant she doesn't even merit getting annoyed? Her role in the episode just seems to be settling everyone else down. Prussia is the region in Germany around Berlin and is usually referred to for "professionalism, aggressiveness, militarism and conservatism;" Interesting choice for the name of a fictional military academy.
Roy
The ONLY regular in the series entire 6-year run that I didn't like... was Art Jr., as played by Lightfield Lewis. (I don't know how more than 20 years went be before I found out he was Geoffrey Lewis' son!) Yet in ne of his final episodes, the one where Arthur is hypnotized into thinking he's a chicken, Art Jr. for once shows some humanity. With his Dad unable to hear what he's saying, Art Jr. revealed how torn he is between trying to follow in his Dad's footsteps-- a boss that everybody loves working for-- and his grandmother's-- to whom MONEY is the only think in life that matters.
ReplyDeleteEarlier, in the episode where Art first comes to work at the station, Herb surprises himself by fixing a problem Art. Jr. unknowingly set up in dealing with a very crooked carnival owner. Later, Arthur, knowing nothing of this, tells Herb how lucky he is to have his son still living at home with him, since no matter how old they kid, they're still their kids, and to some extent, still need looking after.
Actually, its Les Nessman who asks what grandmother says around the dinner table
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