Writers: Jon Smet
Director: Frank Bonner
Original Air Date: February 28, 1981
***Very Important***
Welcome back, Sam Anderson! Anderson appears in his third of four "WKRP in Cincinnati" episodes, this time as Special Agent Berwick of the Secret Service, which of course is a division of the Treasury Department. This time, he is a little bit like Les Nesman himself, self-seriously wearing sunglasses in his office. But he actually perks up when he hears his visitors have been sent to him from Washington... D.C.! Anderson gets a great laugh from the pause when discovering the Nesman files and a bigger laugh and ooow upon pulling out the huge file on our beloved "News Beacon of the Ohio Valley." Once again, the best, most versatile guest the show ever had.
With that out of the way, this discussion can go in two directions. We can talk about the A plot of Les meeting his biological father. Or the multiple sub plots involving French, fire and hurt feelings.
We have already seen Jennifer speak French before but in this episode she speaks more French than English! Now as a Canadian, I'm suppose to be bilingual. My teachers would tell you I am definitely not! But according to my Grade 10 French, Jennifer sounds pretty accurate, even if she cranks up the accent to Brigit Bardot levels. The nice secondary joke running here is how the men, Herb and Venus specifically, are enamored of hearing her speak French, even when she is saying terrible things.
I like the continuing call backs to the fire in the control booth stretching from the first scene to the last. We are never told what the problem is, or why Bucky Dornster isn't the one fixing things. However, the little pieces of Fever taking no responsibility while Venus is looking move the blame off of himself just reinforces these characters to us a little bit more.
Gary Sandy is very good in this episode. He flips halfway through from the person in charge, wanting to get to the bottom of Les's security issues with the government to a little boy pouting in the office because his being kept out of the loop. We don't often see this swing from him and it's a nice remindier of what Sandy can do.
Bailey is mostly seen in this episode sitting at Jennifer's desk, filling in for her. She even fills in the role of ego-stroker for Andy, getting up from the desk with a heavy sigh and literally turning on the persona of cheerleader for Andy. She even uses his own words, describing Andy as an "easy-going guy with a natural ability to lead. People seem to want to do what you tell them to do!" for encouragement. Where she has heard that before, we don't know, but Andy recognizes his words back to himself.
There are a lot of subtleties to these secondary performances and I think that is probably an attribute of Frank Bonner as director. This isn't his first time directing WKRP, but I feel like he's trying to show off what every cast member can bring.
All of these small subplots underline something that is true in real life but is rarely shown on TV, even today and even in other episodes of WKRP. That is: just because something monumentally important is happening to one person personally, doesn't mean it is effecting anyone else around them. Their lives just go on.
All of this brings us to Richard Sanders' portrayal of Les Nesman in a moment when his whole personal history is ripped apart. He learns the man he thought was his father was actually his step-father. He learns his mother has been lying to him for his whole life. And he learns why she instilled in him her strong anti-communist and anti-divorce views.
If you have read this blog, you will see I'm not always kind to Sanders' acting, or over-acting as I see it. But here he is at his most restrained. The shouting match in Carlson's office comes across as believable and not showy. As the scales fall from his eyes, we see tears that are earned. I can't imagine how such stunning news would affect me. Les is confused and angry, but we can see in his face he knows the things Mr. Carlson is saying are true.
So Les goes to Kentucky to meet Harvey Moorehouse, former Pentagon barber, former "proven, card-carrying Communist" and former father. And guess what? He's a really nice guy.
Harvey is not a sneaky commie or a no-account deadbeat Dad. He's a small town goofball who people call Pops. He likes big band music and cracking corny jokes and he only charges $3 for a trim. In many ways, he's the man Les is not. Les is self-serious and intellectual; uncomfortable in his own skin. What would he have been like with Pops in his life?
Sanders the actor is very self-contained in these scenes. It was a brilliant move to set this in a barbershop, where the two men could talk naturally without looking at each other eye to eye. He is holding the lid down on a boiling pot in not exclaiming that he is Harvey's son.
We don't hear more about this story in subsequent episodes and it is a real shame. I think there could have been a lot of comedy from the idea of Les trying to rebuild this time with his Pops. And a lot more good Richard Sanders emotional work as well.
Roy
Other Notes - John Block was Reagan's Secretary of Agriculture from 1981 to 1986. Harvey was portrayed by veteran character actor Bill McLean who had 153 IMDB acting credit before he dies in 1994. Writer John Smet has no other writing credits ever and a Google search does not reveal anything about him. Is it possible this is a pseudonym for another writer?
Welcome back, Sam Anderson! Anderson appears in his third of four "WKRP in Cincinnati" episodes, this time as Special Agent Berwick of the Secret Service, which of course is a division of the Treasury Department. This time, he is a little bit like Les Nesman himself, self-seriously wearing sunglasses in his office. But he actually perks up when he hears his visitors have been sent to him from Washington... D.C.! Anderson gets a great laugh from the pause when discovering the Nesman files and a bigger laugh and ooow upon pulling out the huge file on our beloved "News Beacon of the Ohio Valley." Once again, the best, most versatile guest the show ever had.
With that out of the way, this discussion can go in two directions. We can talk about the A plot of Les meeting his biological father. Or the multiple sub plots involving French, fire and hurt feelings.
We have already seen Jennifer speak French before but in this episode she speaks more French than English! Now as a Canadian, I'm suppose to be bilingual. My teachers would tell you I am definitely not! But according to my Grade 10 French, Jennifer sounds pretty accurate, even if she cranks up the accent to Brigit Bardot levels. The nice secondary joke running here is how the men, Herb and Venus specifically, are enamored of hearing her speak French, even when she is saying terrible things.
I like the continuing call backs to the fire in the control booth stretching from the first scene to the last. We are never told what the problem is, or why Bucky Dornster isn't the one fixing things. However, the little pieces of Fever taking no responsibility while Venus is looking move the blame off of himself just reinforces these characters to us a little bit more.
Gary Sandy is very good in this episode. He flips halfway through from the person in charge, wanting to get to the bottom of Les's security issues with the government to a little boy pouting in the office because his being kept out of the loop. We don't often see this swing from him and it's a nice remindier of what Sandy can do.
Bailey is mostly seen in this episode sitting at Jennifer's desk, filling in for her. She even fills in the role of ego-stroker for Andy, getting up from the desk with a heavy sigh and literally turning on the persona of cheerleader for Andy. She even uses his own words, describing Andy as an "easy-going guy with a natural ability to lead. People seem to want to do what you tell them to do!" for encouragement. Where she has heard that before, we don't know, but Andy recognizes his words back to himself.
There are a lot of subtleties to these secondary performances and I think that is probably an attribute of Frank Bonner as director. This isn't his first time directing WKRP, but I feel like he's trying to show off what every cast member can bring.
All of these small subplots underline something that is true in real life but is rarely shown on TV, even today and even in other episodes of WKRP. That is: just because something monumentally important is happening to one person personally, doesn't mean it is effecting anyone else around them. Their lives just go on.
All of this brings us to Richard Sanders' portrayal of Les Nesman in a moment when his whole personal history is ripped apart. He learns the man he thought was his father was actually his step-father. He learns his mother has been lying to him for his whole life. And he learns why she instilled in him her strong anti-communist and anti-divorce views.
If you have read this blog, you will see I'm not always kind to Sanders' acting, or over-acting as I see it. But here he is at his most restrained. The shouting match in Carlson's office comes across as believable and not showy. As the scales fall from his eyes, we see tears that are earned. I can't imagine how such stunning news would affect me. Les is confused and angry, but we can see in his face he knows the things Mr. Carlson is saying are true.
So Les goes to Kentucky to meet Harvey Moorehouse, former Pentagon barber, former "proven, card-carrying Communist" and former father. And guess what? He's a really nice guy.
Harvey is not a sneaky commie or a no-account deadbeat Dad. He's a small town goofball who people call Pops. He likes big band music and cracking corny jokes and he only charges $3 for a trim. In many ways, he's the man Les is not. Les is self-serious and intellectual; uncomfortable in his own skin. What would he have been like with Pops in his life?
Sanders the actor is very self-contained in these scenes. It was a brilliant move to set this in a barbershop, where the two men could talk naturally without looking at each other eye to eye. He is holding the lid down on a boiling pot in not exclaiming that he is Harvey's son.
We don't hear more about this story in subsequent episodes and it is a real shame. I think there could have been a lot of comedy from the idea of Les trying to rebuild this time with his Pops. And a lot more good Richard Sanders emotional work as well.
Roy
Other Notes - John Block was Reagan's Secretary of Agriculture from 1981 to 1986. Harvey was portrayed by veteran character actor Bill McLean who had 153 IMDB acting credit before he dies in 1994. Writer John Smet has no other writing credits ever and a Google search does not reveal anything about him. Is it possible this is a pseudonym for another writer?
Sam Anderson is always a delight! Bonner did an excellent job with directing. I've always agreed with you regarding Sanders' overacting and it always did seem that he was just trying to showcase his abilities to any producers out there watching. But I think Sanders really shone in this episode.
ReplyDeleteI could be wrong but I think in the New WKRP it's mentioned that Les goes to get his haircut at Pop's shop once a month and they talk......However he never mentioned that he's his son.
ReplyDeleteLove when Mr Carlson is in office with Sam Anderson and Anderson asks if he's Andy..... Carlson says Yes