Tuesday 26 April 2016

Ep. 34 - Sparky

April 26, 2016

Writer: Peter Torokvei and Steven Kampmann
Director: Rod Daniel
Original Air Date: December 24, 1979

What follows is my imagined WKRP writers' room meeting upon learning the show was going to have Sparky Anderson as a special guest on this episode:

"Who's Sparky Anderson?"
"He was the manager when the Cincinnati Reds won the world series a few years ago."
"Would our viewers know that? Would our characters?"
"We'll explain it all in the cold opening!"
"Is he funny?"
"No. He's a baseball manager."
"What's he going to do on the show?
"He'll just meet all of our characters. Maybe talk about getting fired out of Cincinnati."
"Wait! He's not even the manager in Cincinnati right now?"
"No. Now he manages in Philidelphia"
"Why is he in Cincinnati then?"
"To be on WKRP!"
"To do what?"
"Maybe he can host a sports talk show!"
"What does anyone in the WKRP universe know about hosting a sports talk show?"
"EXACTLY!!"

Watching the episode, you get the feeling this is about as much thought as went into having Sparky Anderson on the show. Anderson is a pleasant enough fellow and game enough to go through with the script. But there is a tonne of dumb stuff that is out of character for the staff and that we as the audience are suppose to forget in order for this episode to occur.

The episode opens with Andy breaking the "bad news" to Les that the Big Guy has hired Sparky Anderson to host this radio show, with dreams of syndicating it nation wide. Lots of problems there: a rock station is hosting a nationally syndicated sports radio show? It will be hosted by a locally fired coach who now works in another city? What happens to the show when the baseball season starts up again? Since when has Les been show eager to host a sports talk show - he has no interest in sports? Why would Andy think this is bad news - the last few episodes have been about him trying to get back on top? Why does Andy complain that he "hates looking like the bad guy" - we've just seen him recently want to be a tougher manager?

All those logistical problems and the credits haven't even rolled yet!

I understand that cold opening was written to provide a lot of exposition for the non baseball fans watching in 1979, but it may even be more valuable for those of us watching the episode 35 years later

There are many other logic problems.

Jennifer has seasons tickets to all the Reds home games and a computer like memory of baseball statistics that she has never displayed before and will never display again? Venus played three years of double A baseball in Texas? Was that while he was on the run from the US Army for being a deserter or while he was DJing in New Orleans? (Later in the series, we learn he was a teacher in New Orleans, but we never hear about baseball or Texas again). Neither of them showed any real baseball skills in the episode entitled "Baseball."

Staying with Venus for a moment, the shot of him introducing Sparky's new show must be the worst dub we have come across yet in the box set. Shout! Factory obviously didn't get the rights to whatever was playing, but a voice that is clearly not Tim Reid's refers to "The Surf Riders." Surely, a more talented voice actor could have imitated Venus better.

Returning to my complaints rant, I have two more. I don't know which one is worse; I'll let you decide.

Sparky on the Air!

The failure of The Sparky Anderson Show is that they simply rushed him onto the air, with no preparation, no producer handling the phones and no idea who his guest is. Bailey did hand Sparky a list of questions that could be asked. One of them had to be better than "What's your favourite colour?" She gave Sparky out of town scores (to what I don't know. It's not baseball season and the show seems to be on in the afternoon (although it's in the middle of Venus's night time show)) that he doesn't read. What exactly did Mr. Carlson expect Sparky Anderson to do for two hours.

They other is that sports coat! We laugh now at Herb's wardrobe, but really, does Herb dress any worse than Sparky does?



Are these two jackets really so different? One is stylish and the other is a joke

Let's get to some positive stuff now. Johnny's set up of calling Herb a jackass paid off much later for Sparky when he finally meets Herb. It's Sparky's best laugh of the show.

Les' dream about Mr. Carlson seems, to me, to be the writers' rebellion against what they had to know were the problems in a stunt casted show. "I'm a big fat muffin who loooooves to explode!" is ridiculous nonsense in the very best way. It is a great non sequitur in a whole episode that doesn't make much sense.

Other notes: The Cincinnati Kids were a real Indoor Soccer League team that only played in the 1978-79 season. Why use that team? Probably because it was co-owed by Spaky's old buddy Pete Rose. The oil man is played by Hugh Gillin who also played the WPIG reporter at the Linda Taylor press conference in "Love Returns." Regular story editors Torokvei and Kampmann were the writers on this episode.

Roy




Saturday 16 April 2016

Ep. 33 - Jennifer's Home for Christmas

April 14, 2016

Writer: Dan Guntzelman and Steve Marshall
Director: Rod Daniel
Original Air Date: December 17, 1979

Merry Christmas from Cincinnati!

I found this is an episode that didn't get shown as much in syndication. I don't remember it as well as others. That is kind of a shame because the writers take great pains to not trade in the typical Christmas episode tropes (I'm looking at you, ep. 53!) and it makes for a truly touching show - unlike last week's episode which swerved at the end to force in a touching moment.

It's also a rare episode that is both a frame for big set gags AND a fully rounded character study. Written by the show's regular story editors, Dan Guntzelman and Steve Marshall, maybe they were trying to show the other writers how it should be done.

The episode's first half revels in the cynical side of Christmas: Johnny playing syrupy music; Herb's house being infested with in-laws; even Bailey is grouchy about trying to get a flight to Chicago! Christmas can be a stressful, expensive and uncomfortable time. WKRP showed that years before movies like "Christmas Vacation," "A Christmas Story" or "Bad Santa" made complaining about Christmas a trope of its own.


Decking the Hall with Boughs of Holly

Mr. Carlson seems to be reenacting scenes from a Charlie Brown Christmas, especially when it come to Christmas trees. Telling the story to Jennifer about going out every year to find a tree only to have his mother be disappointed sounds to me like Charlie Brown and Lucy's relationship. Another sign of the tight writing here is the call back joke to this story at the end of the episode, in which Carlson takes all the trees to please his mother.

Rather than the Christmas tropes, this episode plays with the trope of the prettiest girl in school not being invited to the prom. Could Jennifer really be alone at Christmas?

Jennifer has made a family for herself in Cincinnati with her co-workers, even if they don't necessarily see themselves that way. She was happy to get them gifts without expecting anything in return. We saw by her apartment that gifts don't have much meaning for her. The office party was meant to be her time to enjoy the holidays rather than having to worry about being perfect in front of the Admiral or the children. She didn't ruin the party for them - they ruined the party for her first.

As much fun as we'e had in the first cynical half, the episode moves quickly to sweetness with Venus' panicky phone call to Johnny. Despite the cynicism, one of their friends is depressed and needs attention now! Rally the troops! Buy the tress! Christmas plans be damned! And eventually everybody comes to the realization Jennifer had originally - they are a family.

We get a chance to examine Jennifer Marlowe from many different sides on this occasion. Giddy Jennifer, planning a party and laughing at Mr. Carlson's corny jokes. Angry Jennifer, disappointed by her co-workers. Reluctant Jennifer, knowing how telling people she's taking orphans to Bethlehem sounds to regular working folks. Poignant Jennifer, touched at the outpouring of love from her friends. This is Loni Anderson's best performance to date.

It's a great character piece, but there are also many funny pieces here, like decorations on a grand tree! (Hmmm, maybe I'm getting a little too Christmas sentimental here myself). First is Venus as Santa; perfectly set up by Carlson trying to imagine what that would look like just before Venus walks in. No one in the audience could have imagined it, but the moment you see it, he couldn't have been anything else - it's what the cover of the Earth Wind & Fire Christmas album should look like!

Santa Cool

Herb has a nice running story about how crowded his house is right now, culminating in the phrase "I took a shower with a bald man this morning!" A great balance is achieved between Herb as sad sack loser and his slimier side, like coming over to give Jennifer a "Christmas Goose." Where the goose Herb, indeed.

The best gag is Andy telling Herb he has to leave Jennifer's place because he didn't bring a Christmas tree and the rest of the gang going along with it. Even Carlson plays along! I wonder what kind of tree Herb would have found, as the parade of firs into Jennifer's apartment continued to get scrawnier and scrawnier. Carlson's tree does look like the famous Charlie Brown tree sprung to life.

"I never thought it was such a bad little tree" said Linus.

These are playful scenes but they don't take away from the main plot. If anything they show the banter and friendliness that Jennifer wants to be a part of for the holidays.

Other notes: For those keeping track, Jennifer has now kissed three of her co-workers, Johnny, Andy (after the tornado) and now Herb. George Gaynes played the French admirer in Jennifer's apartment. He was the real life husband to Allyn Ann McLerie, who played Carmen Carlson in Ep. 30. Writer Steve Marshall plays the second delivery man; the one who says to Andy "Out of the way, Sport"

Roy

Wednesday 13 April 2016

Ep. 32 - Bailey's Big Break

April 13, 2016

Writer: Steve Marshall
Director: Will MacKenzie
Original Air Date: December 10, 1979

It is easy to see this episode as a companion piece to last week's episode in which the ratings came out and Andy was upset he had not made more changes to the station. The very first shot is of Andy, sitting in Les' chair while the two of them listen to audition tapes. Les obviously doesn't want the help so it must be Andy driving this change.

We also know this because of Andy's exclamation at the end "I can't get anything DONE around here!" Andy finally wants to get things done!

Have you ever heard of "vocal fry"?

In this age of podcasting, it gets discussed more, but it that growly sound when a speaker doesn't put enough air or strength into the end of a sentence. But if you Google the term, what you will find is female podcasters get called out on this as an annoying trait far, far more often then their male counterparts.

What I mean to say is that in 2016, there are still a lot of people who will find more flaws in a female broadcaster's voice than than in a man's voice. This has made it difficult for women to move into those jobs. This episode shows us that the same excuses have been used for 40 years.

In an historic moment, the most competent is going on the air of WKRP

The voice of a woman not having the authority to present the news is the excuse Les tries to give to Andy and Andy is so determined to get things done at the station, and so ready to fight for Bailey's rights, he believes that is Les' reason for being so upset. Andy profiles that Les will be a sexist in this matter and misses the real cause of Les' distress. We as the audience are led into profiling Les this way as well.

However Les' real concern is that the news is all he has. There is no family at home. There is only his commitment to ten (!) news updates each and every day. News that is presented the Nesman Way - starting with farm reports even though they are in the city and reorting on swim meets that occur in water.

Okay, all you Bailey lovers - here are her legs

It's been a while since we've had Richard Sanders really chewing up the screen like he did so much in the first season but hear he is at his mood swinging best. Whether swinging wildly from mocking Bailey, pouting to Mr. Carlson or crying in his office, it looks like the return of our worst Les Nesman. It takes an episode about gender parity in the work place and turns Les into a sympathetic saint just for doing the thing he should have been doing since the beginning of the episode.


Other notes: This is the second episode in a row in which Andy's hair gets mussed. One day on the job and Bailey has a phone interview with Ted Kennedy? Someone please create the meme (or better yet, the T-shirt)  of Herb Tarlek saying "I do everything on the basis of sex"

Roy

Saturday 2 April 2016

Ep. 31 - Baby, If You Ever Wondered

April 2, 2016

Writer: Bill Dial
Director: Rod Daniel
Original Air Date: December 3, 1979
***VERY IMPORTANT***

I have been waiting for this episode to rant about one of my long held theories concerning "WKRP in Cincinnati." Here it is: Andy Travis is not very good at his job!

He doesn't program the music; he let's the DJs program their own stuff even though by this point in American radio, nobody followed that practice. He doesn't help Herb generate leads or close sales; when he wants more money for the station, Andy sends Carlson off to see his mother. He doesn't advise Les on what direction the news reports should take. Mostly what he does is roll his eyes and complain when things don't go the way he wants them to.

It always amazed me that Andy doesn't take advantage of any of the situations that have been presented to him, the way a seasoned radio professional who has travelled "up and down the dial" ought to.

Let's go through the list of complaints Andy shares with Venus: 1) what radio station relies on one sales person? Years ago, I worked for my university radio station (ie community, back funded) and they had THREE sales people, plus the station manager. If you don't like what Herb is doing, hire someone else to work with him. 2) nobody is listening to a rock radio station for its hard hitting journalism, but they would definitely listen to someone who says things like "Chai Chai Rod-ra-queeze." Why WKRP doesn't have billboards up touting "More Rock and Les Nessman" is beyond me. 3) If Jennifer is the highest paid employee at the station, then get her to do more. Have JENNIFER generate sales leads for Herb. We seen men throw money at her just for looking at them 4) You're a rock station! You WANT your DJ's saying on they air that they would rather throw themselves in front of Donna Summers tour bus than play disco music. Andy would know that if he PROGRAMMED THE MUSIC!!!

Clean Up! Bailey's coming in!

Andy is absolutely right - everything worthwhile he accomplished at WKRP he did within his first week. The rest of the time, he just seems to stroke egos. Les believes if his ratings are bad in Cincinnati, his "next stop" will be the Washington Post? Herb believes he deserves a new car with "rich Corenthian leather." Mr. Carlson wants to build a new station !?!? Who has spent a year convincing everyone that this is where he is leading them? Andy Travis. What has he done to get them there? Nothing but made friends with them.

Okay. My rant about Andy is done. Now I'm going to rant about Venus' lecture at the end of the episode.

"You can't fire the little guys if you can't fire the Big Guy." What does that mean?? Carlson is Andy's boss - Andy can't fire him. Carlson's mother clearly knows what kind of station manager he is and has never fired him. She's not going to do it on Andy's word. Carlson would happily let Andy be the heavy and fire Herb or Les or Johnny. I don't know where you work, but anywhere I've worked, employees don't fire their bosses - especially in a family owed company.

Venus' advise breaks down into "Don't worry about not being perfect at your job anymore. Now you're a screw up like the rest of the people who work here... except for me." That's not really inspirational.

It's impossible not to watch this episode about radio ratings and not believe it reflects the thoughts of the cast and crew towards their own CBS ratings issues. On one hand, everyone is obviously nervous about the ratings, while some still put up the front of ratings no mattering. Johnny says he doesn't care about the ratings before swigging from a coffee carafe. Bailey says there is too much emphasis on ratings but hasn't had the experience Herb has of trying to sell a station with poor ratings. I can easily imagine young, creative writers in the WKRP writers room fighting for artistic quality being more important than ratings while producers and network executives complain about selling ads on "WKRP" when its ratings are poor.

Herb and Johnny are closer than we think

This episode revolves around each characters reactions to the ratings. I found it interesting how similarly the characters worried about what the numbers meant for them instead of remaining in their "dungarees vs suits" camps. Both Herb and Johnny press their ears up to Mr. Carlson's door for a hint of what the book reveals. (In real life, Hesseman is only two years older than Bonner, whereas we tend to consider Herb significantly older). Both Les and Venus exclaim loudly at their positive ratings when we don't see them reacting similarly to many other things.

This episode also revolves around one of the great equations in life: happiness equals reality divided by expectations. (Feel free to use that in an inspirational poster in your office). The same reality that makes Andy trash his office has Carlson popping his champagne cork!

Roy

Other notes: For decades, the Arbitron company was the ratings book of record in American radio, until purchased by Neilson in 2013. We see the widest shots of the set that we will ever see on the show, from the long panning shot of the lobby after the theme song to the edge Carlson's office when he clicks his heels. Remember when Andy introduced the idea of changing the format by unfurling a KISS poster behind his desk? Now, it's a Chuck Mangione poster.  Regular producer Rod Daniel directed this episode and must have wanted to show where all the set money has gone. (Extra Note: a couple of weeks after this posting, Rod Daniel passed away at age 73. My condolences to his loved ones)