Ep. 67 and 68 - An Explosive Affair, pt.1 AND pt.2

August 11, 2018

Writer: Steve Marshall
Director: Linda Day
Original Air Date: October 7 and 14, 1981

***VERY IMPORTANT***
^^^FAMOUSLY FUNNY^^^

Just like they did to begin Season Two, Season Four of "WKRP in Cincinnati" starts off with two-parter. But if I had to guess, I think the producers weren't sure if it was going to be two episodes or one hour long episode, because unlike the two halves of "For Love or Money," this feels like  two entirely different scripts that were combined, and then split into two half hour episodes. I say this because the shows jump back and forth between the A and B plots with almost nothing connecting them. The first episode is all set-up - very little action takes places. That's why, if you remember these episodes, you're remembering things from the second episodes, including what may be the second most repeated quote in WKRP history.

I'm going to do something different and discuss these episodes as two different episodes:

1) An Explosive AFFAIR

In the cold opening, an unknown woman walks into the empty lobby and very comfortably answers the WKRP office phone. Jennifer walks in and is put out until she realizes this is Joyce Armor, the previous receptionist before her. They hug and Joyce tells Jennifer she is now an advertising accounts executive living in Cleveland. She has come hoping to have a meeting with her old boss, Mr. Carlson.

Meeting Joyce gives us a little glimpse into the world of WKRP before we got there (we haven't had any of that since the "Bah, Humbug" Christmas episode.) Herb used to be the "Little Guy" to Arthur's "Big Guy" and Jennifer originally came to the station has a young hick from West Virginia. (I'd love to know what brought Jennifer to a radio station in Cincinnati all those years ago, but I digress).

Arthur is thrilled to see Joyce again, calling her "the best little receptionist I ever had" right in front of Jennifer. They go out to one of those three-martini lunches that business people only had in the '70's. There is a lot of laughter and reminiscing between these two old friends, however they are sitting awfully close together in that booth. Then Joyce invites Arthur back to her hotel room that evening because she has a "hot proposition" for him. She is coy and won't tell him what she has in mind, but she purrs this invitation at him very closely. Arthur is suspicious as to what she really wants.

Something to note here is that she calls him "Arthur" and not "Mr. Carlson." Jennifer never does that. Even Andy calls him Mr. Carlson. As a former employee, it's odd she would be comfortable enough to do that.

Back at his office, Arthur calls his wife Carmen, who we hear has been pretty tired lately with the new baby. We can take from this that the Carlsons probably haven't been "romantic" together lately either. Arthur wants to invite her out to dinner; he tells her that he loves her but she is still too tired. Mr. Carlson even comes to Andy saying he's willing to have that budget meeting tonight, but as we'll discuss later, Andy already has is hands full. Mr. Carlson is looking for any excuse not to go to Joyce's hotel room because he doesn't trust Joyce or his own fidelity to his wife.

I'm calling Arthur out here - we have seen many examples over the past three seasons that the one, true love of Arthur's life is his wife Carmen. They have a deep and respectful bond with each other and although Arthur has had thoughts about Jennifer (or even Bailey) in the past, he was never in danger of acting on them. Although he plays with toys, Arthur is a grown man! If he doesn't want to go to a hotel room at night to meet up with a single woman, it's probably a good idea that he doesn't.

But he does go, wearing Old Spice on the way out.

At the hotel, Joyce greets Arthur at the door and shows him she's prepared his favourite drink: a purple cow, which is vodka and grape juice. Joyce, who is wearing business attire, says she is going to go into the other room and change "into something more comfortable." Arthur starts drinking heavily, wracked with guilt that Joyce is about to throw herself at him. There is a part of him that finds Joyce an attractive woman whom he'd enjoy being intimate with. On the other hand, he's married to the woman he loves, with a new baby at home. Gordon Jump plays guilt-ridden nervous wreck better than he plays drunk.

Arthur is disappointed and confused when Joyce comes out of the bathroom in jeans and a hoodie, expecting something much more sexual. He decides he needs to leave, but Joyce complains she hasn't even given him her pitch yet. "I have visual aids in the other room" and Arthur just about dies from shock. She tells him to close his eyes and imagine "it would be like having a branch sales office in another town." Now Arthur is completely confused and asks the question he should have asked back at lunch: "Joyce, what are we talking about?"

Surprise! This whole time she's been trying to sell Arthur on using her Advertising rep firm! And I call BS on the writers here.

She could easily have brought this up back at the office. If she's done any research before coming in, she know WKRP has been losing advertisers after last season's boycott by CURB. Herb even keeps bringing the topic up with Andy throughout the episode. And precisely because they are old friends, she wouldn't need to go through the whole wining and dining of Arthur to bring this point up. At the restaurant, she is affectionate with Arthur, touching his hands and speaking closely to him. And why is the reason for her meeting such a big secret that he needs to come up the her hotel room that night?

The worst is the "slipping into something more comfortable" line. Unless this is literally the first television show you have ever watched, this has been code for "preparing for sex" in movies and TV since the Hays Code of the '30's. And EVEN if the writers were being honest about comfort, she's been in her hotel room long enough to make drinks before Arthur gets there, but not to change her clothes? I believe Arthur was completely correct in assuming Joyce wanted to sleep with him. No serious business person and/or old friend acts or speaks that way.

So were left with two options: either the writer was lazy in crafting the Joyce character this way because he was more focused on the second story, or he believed this was the way a female account representative would have to behave in order to land an account - she would need to sell herself before she could sell the service. Which way do you think he would cop to today?

Once the mix up is revealed, the two old friends do share a tender moment in which they admit to a mutual attraction, but know nothing will happen. Arthur goes back to station.

At the end of the night, still feeling guilty, Arthur asks Jennifer to send his wife a dozen roses and she tells him it's already been done. He smiles and very sincerely tells Jennifer "You really are the best, you know." And we see that Jennifer is grateful to hear that from him.

Doesn't that seem like an entire episode? Throw in a couple of DJ jokes and that is a standalone episode of WKRP. But in reality, it isn't because it's actually been chopped up into this other episode.

2) An EXPLOSIVE Affair

Andy is unfazed that someone cranked called the station with a bomb threat, but as a matter of practice, he calls it into the police anyway. Les tells him a story about a group called Black Monday who blew up a television station Channel 75 in Dayton "right in the middle of the John Davidson Show." This makes Andy worried because it was Black Monday who called in the threat.

Andy also interrupts Venus and Johnny in the booth while they are trying to place bets with Johnny's Chinese bookie. The police are going to search the station for the bomb that is set to got off at 3:30pm. Andy sends the DJs to continue broadcasting from the transmitter outside of town, which was the original WKRP location, until they receive the all clear from him to return.

We have a lot of fun watching Johnny and Venus trying to broadcast with the broken down equipment at the old transmitter. But while they are there, Johnny sees a bet he needs to place: a horse is running at 80-1 odds named "Fever's Break." But the race starts at 3 o'clock, which is in just a few minutes! The bookie, Wing, keeps putting Johnny on hold because he is also running a busy Chinese restaurant. Johnny is still on hold as the race begins and he and Venus listen to the broadcast as Johnny's long shot comes in, paying $1600 on a $20 bet. Johnny is distraught! Venus seems to have calmed Johnny down, but in a moment of frustration, Johnny grabs a toolbox he finds and beats the telephone to piece!

Andy is frustrated he can't get through on the phone to the DJs to let them know the bomb squad has cleared the station. But Les, as always, only cares about the news! So he interviews Andy about the bomb threat. In the course of the interview, Andy learns that the bombing at Channel 75 occurred at their transmitter - the bomb is at the transmitter!

May I interject here that if Andy had just taken Les seriously from the beginning, and found out everything he knew about the Channel 75 bombing in Dayton, none of this would have happened? However, I do want to point out how great Gary Sandy is in these episodes - moving from mocking Les to panic, from frustration to grief seamlessly.

Back at the transmitter, the DJs are cut off from the rest of the world, at least believing they are far from the bomb. Johnny mindlessly drums "tick tock" on the toolbox as Foreigner's "Urgent" plays in the background.

Andy has the idea of cutting into the broadcast live, but Bailey lets him know that's impossible. Until the DJs themselves flip the switch, the station is dead. That's when they both realize they haven't called the police yet to go rescue the DJs.  There is only 15 minutes left!

Herb is talking to Andy in the lobby when a call comes in - it's Black Monday! Andy tells Jennifer to get the police on the other line while he keeps Black Monday busy. He wipes the sweat off of his hands and gets on the phone.The terrorist didn't realize any people would be out at the transmitter, and tells Andy the bomb is in a toolbox.

Cut to the transmitter and Johnny beating on the toolbox with a rock, trying to get it open so he can fix the smashed phone. He hears sirens in the distances; the sirens we know are coming to rescue them. Johnny thinks it's strange to hear sirens in the country until it dawns on him what is happening: "It's the Phone Company!"

"They know what I've done here! I've got to get out of here!" Venus tries to talk sense into him, but Johnny runs away in terror.

Back at the station, Jennifer is on a live patch with the squad car as it races to the transmitter. It's almost 3:30! Andy turns up the radio - as long as WKRP is still on the air, everyone is safe. Now it's past 3:30. There is relief... until the radio goes to static. The police confirm the transmitter has been blown up. There appear to be no survivors.

At this moment, Mr. Carlson returns from a business meeting with an old friend in a joyful mood. He hasn't been around the station for any of this, and Andy takes him into his office to tell him what happened. (There is a time issue in this episode: Mr. Carlson goes for the hotel meeting in the evening and arrives back at the station just after 3:30.) We break for a commercial, which is important - the audience needs time to take in what has just happened to Johnny and Venus.

Coming back, Carlson is mad at himself for not being there all day. Andy is upset that he sent the DJs to the transmitter in the first place. Suddenly, Johnny runs past yelling "You didn't see me!" The audience roars with relief!!

Johnny is trying to hide behind couch in the bullpen as Andy, Carlson, Jennifer and Bailey rush in, trying to find out what happened. Johnny is inconsolable: "I'll play the hits, Travis! Just hide me!" Then Johnny gives one of the most quoted line in WKRP history :"It's the Phone Cops!"

Venus stumbles in, suffering from shock. "The bomb was at the transmitter!" But Johnny will not be convinced "These phone cops play hardball!" Finally Venus explains why Johnny thinks "Phone cops" are out to get them. Andy emphatically explains to Johnny "There is no such thing as Phone Cops" to which Johnny, in full 60's paranoia responds "Oh sure, cover for them."

I want to point out here that the entire "Phone Cops" coda at the end only lasts about two minutes, but it is one of the most memorable scenes in the series. I think that's no only because it's so funny and ridiculous, but it's coming off of such a serious, sombre moment that the juxtaposition stays in your memory. Also, everyday there are instances in which we could blame "Phone Cops" for the problem we're having with our various devices. If the DJs had had cell phones, they wouldn't have had this problem, but then Johnny would be dealing with a whole new level of Phone Cops.

So there we go - two separate WKRP in Cincinnati episode that got edited into one.

By the way, keep in mind that whole "needing a new transmitter" thing. That's going to have consequences in upcoming episodes. The fourth season is the most cohesive season of the series!

Roy

Other Notes: The biggest Easter Egg in WKRP history is the character Joyce Armor shares her name with a writer for the show, who is credited with the "Ask Jennifer" episode. The reason has never been explained. We learn the Carlson's baby's name is Melanie. John Davidson was a '70's and '80's TV staple, hosting "That's Incredible!" and appearing on shows like "The Love Boat." He briefly had his own daytime talk show. "The Killing of a Chinese Bookie" was a 1976 John Cassavettes movie.