November 11, 2019
Writer: Peter Torokvei
Director: Will MacKenzie
Original Air Date: January 27, 1982
So now we have to talk about Tom Dressen.
In 1982, most audiences would know him as one of Johnny Carson's favourite guest comedians on "The Tonight Show." He made dozens of appearances. He also was Frank Sinatra's opening acting - a job be did for 14 years. But he got his start as one half of the first black/white comedy team in America. The team was called "Tim and Tom" and the Tim was our very own Tim Reid! It was as a comedy team that both of them got into show business. Starting in 1968, the team had cutting-edge comedy about race relations at a time in America when that issue had boiled to the surface. But this caused the pair to never really succeed and, after five years, the two broke up.
Then, almost 10 years later, on one of the most explicitly racial episode of "WKRP in Cincinnati," the pair were back together.
The episode begins with Venus and Herb arguing about fashion and style. It seems like a throwaway conversation, like the one between Bailey and Les earlier, but it's really the premise of the entire episode: The image we present is important. We are judged by that image, whether through fashion or accent - changing it will change what people think about you. But what is real, and what is just the image? And which is really important? That is definitely not a throwaway idea!
Exploring those ideas through the two most fashion conscience characters is a good idea.
Starting with Herb, his change is played more for laughs. Herb takes Jennifer out for a "Mercy Lunch" to his favourite restaurant. He is so excited that everyone can see him out with her, he spills red wine on his lap. That's enough to humble him and admit to Jennifer that, lately, he feels people have been laughing about his clothes behind his back. Jennifer sees this as her opportunity to "redo [Herb] like I redid the lobby" giving him a whole new image.
Immediately after the commercial break, she introduces the "brand new Herbert R. Tarlek jr." to the bullpen - he is in a grey three-piece suit with pocket watch. Everyone is very impressed - Bailey gets the vapours! Now Herb is ready to sign his new client from Run 'n Sun Tanning.
EXCEPT his new potential client is a guy just like the old Herb. "I'm a slime bucket. I'm tasteless! I like it!" In just the previous episode, Herb told Andy "I keep telling you... tasteless sells!" Now Herb is acting too classy and refined to get new clients! The perfect Jennifer has to admit that... she is wrong. This leads to one of the MANY great quotes that come out of this episode: "I want you to go down to the parking garage, pick out your favourite car seats and wear them home."
Venus's story revolves around an interview he's going to give to Black Life Magazine and Herb advises that the media always comes in with preconceived notions "Remember that TV interview I did last year? They tried to kill me!" which is a wonderful callback to the "Real Families" episode from last season. Venus starts getting into his own head... Is he "black enough" for the readers of Black Life magazine?
Going through the album library with Johnny, Venus even says "I don't want to pass for black. I want to BE black!" then realizes what he's said. "What the hell am I saying?" Then, in the most incongruent moment in the history of WKRP in Cincinnati, Mr. Carlson steps out of the shadows to give Venus some good advice: "You're worrying too much about colour and forgetting the most important thing... That you're a fine person with an interesting job." I leave it to you to determine why Carlson would have been in the shadows in the first place.
Immediately after the new Herb comes into the bullpen, here comes the "old" Venus. We haven't seen him in one of these disco club outfits in a while and Jennifer delivers the line most commonly remembered when TV fans describe the character Venus Fly Trap: "Are you Earth, Wind or Fire?" He has boned up on "being black" and is ready for whatever this reporter is going to do.
Enter the aforementioned Tom Dressen as Rick Jesperson, the only white employee of Black Life magazine. What follows is something only a five year partnership can bring together. The initial dead-pan conversation between Rick and Venus is wonderful! If you watch it on the box set, replay this minute a couple of times. There is no breaking up, no variance in the tone. It's great!
Maybe even greater is Rick confessions to Venus. This is WKRP writing at it's sharpest. "I'm the only person of another colour at the magazine. Do you have any idea what it's like to be THAT MUCH in the minority?" These are things Venus would never have said out loud, not even to his closest friends like Andy or Johnny. They have faced larger racial tensions in the past (Venus dating Andy's sister comes to mind) but it's the everyday occurrences Rick brings up that Venus would have to deal with alone. "I have to be careful around the girls (at the magazine)," Rick says. "I mean, I even feel funny putting my hand on their shoulder!"
To bring the comedy of their mutual situation to light, Rick describes a working environment so much like WKRP, Venus steals it word for word for the interview "We're still small in the market... somewhere around the middle. It's run by a great, kind-hearted guy... we're all loyal to him. Well, actually his mother owns the place."
Rick Jesperson responses back to Herb's earlier idea that everyone is pretending to be something they are not in his summation: "It's a cliche, but people are people... you link yourself to people you love no matter what you are or what they are."
That's what Herb should read on a T-shirt.
Roy
Other Notes - Wanna feel old? Les congratulates "the Royal Couple" (that would be Charles and Diana) on their forthcoming first baby (that would be William). Think how much has happened to the royal family since that joke! Jan Smithers does two accents in this episode: first as a jive talkin' black dude and the second as a southern belle
Monday 11 November 2019
Monday 14 October 2019
Ep. 78 - Pills
October 14, 2019
Writer: Steve Marshall
Director: Asaad Kelada
Original Air Date: January 20, 1982
What we love about "WKRP in Cincinnati" is that it would tackle subjects no one else ever thought to tackle. I have never seen, or even heard of, another sit-com that discusses selling over-the-counter Speed.
I also can't recall a show that tackles festival seating or radio censorship either. The writers on this show go places other writers just never seem to THINK of. There are a bunch of shows that have shown the dangers of TAKING Speed, from the "The Love Boat" to "Mad Men" but this is a unique angle. However, the point that absolutely, 100%, with a sledge hammer, that Steve Marshall wants to get across is... IT'S ALL LEGAL. Andy says it. The Lawyer says it. Wickerman says it several times. Just because WKRP is taking a unique look at something doesn't mean they can't also be heavy handed about it.
The episode begins with a very long cold opening in which 1) Johnny rails against the idea of a taped DJ (which we never hear about again) 2) Herb and Johnny negotiate a performance fee for performing 3 60 second commercials 3) Herb introduces Johnny to Dave Wickerman (and we see he's a Herb kinda guy) 4) Johnny and Wickerman begin recording the spots cold, without even a one-time run through (also with no producer or engineer) 5) Johnny realizes the "hidden meaning" in the copy and 5) Johnny quits the sessions and calls Herb a snake. That's a lot for four minutes of a 22 minute show before the opening credits.
Certainly as a kid watching this show in syndication I didn't pick up on all the hidden messages in the commercial copy, and I don't think most of America would have picked up on it in 1982. That's why it's so important to have Johnny and Les (??) explaining it to Andy. If they were explaining it to Herb, it would just be the cool kids telling the out-of-touch square about something. If Les wasn't a big part of what is two solid minutes of exposition, there would be no laughs. Because we always have to remember this is a sit-com. Finally, if Johnny doesn't explicitly say "What does studying for finals have to do with losing weight?" I think some in the audience might still think Johnny is acting paranoid. We've seen him be paranoid lots of times (Phone Cops, anybody?), so we need to see that Andy has been convinced and is taking him seriously.
It is very sly that this is an episode in which we see Mr. Carlson worrying about his weight, as they take on a weight loss clinic. It presents lots of opportunities for one liners and the physical comedy of Gordon Jump on a tiny trampoline. Also, I can't count the number of times I have used the joke about "on you, donuts seem to tun into hair."
Now to the crux of the conflict: Herb has signed a contract with Wickerman's Weight Loss Clinic to run two weeks of ads, but the WKRP staff realizes this is just a front to sell counterfeit amphetamines "or turkeys, as we call them on the street." The staff wants out of the contract but Wickerman won't let them. He needs to advertise. So what should WKRP do?
Well, don't do what the station did and listen to Johnny Fever! Listen to your lawyer!! Because Johnny forgot the whole reason Wickerman wanted to advertise in the first place... to bring attention to his store. If the DJs had just read the boring warning line the lawyer had provided before playing his dull, average commercials, nothing much would have happened. But once Johnny got "that vigilante justice look" in his eyes, they couldn't let that happen. But by calling their advertiser a different name every time it's played, and messing with the tape itself, it made Wickerman the most popular advertiser on the station! How did they NOT know that would be the result? Even Herb knew that would happen! "I've been telling you... tasteless sells!"
Speaking of Herb, in this episode he finally gets to do what he's wanted to do since the Pilot episode... "Herb is going on the air!"
It's always a mixture of heartbreaking and hysterical when Herb actually expresses his true feelings, rather than just put on the guise of a slick salesman. When he learns about a kid passing out in his gym class after taking Wickerman's "diet pills," he tells Andy "I've GOT to do the right thing!" He wants to personally tell the audience that he is pulling the ads and that he shouldn't have sold them in the first place. In a strange moment of self-awareness, he says "I'm tired of being the only person around here without a shred of human decency." which is probably going a little too far.
The epilogue tells us that, in part because of WKRP, Wickerman's Weight Loss Clinic has been picketed and his landlord has revoked his lease. But, he's just moving his business to another part of town... "All Perfectly Legal."
Roy
Other Notes - Guest Stars Galore! Dave Wickerman is played by Robert Ridgley, who spent most of his career as a voice-over actor but is probably most famous as The Colonel in "Boogie Nights," where he plays "in the opinion of this announcer, and is in no means a provable fact... a real scum bucket." Max Wright played the father, Willie, on the TV classic "ALF." Please don't sleep on the scene in which Mr. Carlson is telling Bailey and Jennifer how to dispose of each and every other member of the staff one by one, ending with "Jeez, it a pleasure doing business with women!" It might be the most liberated thing he ever says on the show.
Writer: Steve Marshall
Director: Asaad Kelada
Original Air Date: January 20, 1982
What we love about "WKRP in Cincinnati" is that it would tackle subjects no one else ever thought to tackle. I have never seen, or even heard of, another sit-com that discusses selling over-the-counter Speed.
I also can't recall a show that tackles festival seating or radio censorship either. The writers on this show go places other writers just never seem to THINK of. There are a bunch of shows that have shown the dangers of TAKING Speed, from the "The Love Boat" to "Mad Men" but this is a unique angle. However, the point that absolutely, 100%, with a sledge hammer, that Steve Marshall wants to get across is... IT'S ALL LEGAL. Andy says it. The Lawyer says it. Wickerman says it several times. Just because WKRP is taking a unique look at something doesn't mean they can't also be heavy handed about it.
The episode begins with a very long cold opening in which 1) Johnny rails against the idea of a taped DJ (which we never hear about again) 2) Herb and Johnny negotiate a performance fee for performing 3 60 second commercials 3) Herb introduces Johnny to Dave Wickerman (and we see he's a Herb kinda guy) 4) Johnny and Wickerman begin recording the spots cold, without even a one-time run through (also with no producer or engineer) 5) Johnny realizes the "hidden meaning" in the copy and 5) Johnny quits the sessions and calls Herb a snake. That's a lot for four minutes of a 22 minute show before the opening credits.
Certainly as a kid watching this show in syndication I didn't pick up on all the hidden messages in the commercial copy, and I don't think most of America would have picked up on it in 1982. That's why it's so important to have Johnny and Les (??) explaining it to Andy. If they were explaining it to Herb, it would just be the cool kids telling the out-of-touch square about something. If Les wasn't a big part of what is two solid minutes of exposition, there would be no laughs. Because we always have to remember this is a sit-com. Finally, if Johnny doesn't explicitly say "What does studying for finals have to do with losing weight?" I think some in the audience might still think Johnny is acting paranoid. We've seen him be paranoid lots of times (Phone Cops, anybody?), so we need to see that Andy has been convinced and is taking him seriously.
It is very sly that this is an episode in which we see Mr. Carlson worrying about his weight, as they take on a weight loss clinic. It presents lots of opportunities for one liners and the physical comedy of Gordon Jump on a tiny trampoline. Also, I can't count the number of times I have used the joke about "on you, donuts seem to tun into hair."
Now to the crux of the conflict: Herb has signed a contract with Wickerman's Weight Loss Clinic to run two weeks of ads, but the WKRP staff realizes this is just a front to sell counterfeit amphetamines "or turkeys, as we call them on the street." The staff wants out of the contract but Wickerman won't let them. He needs to advertise. So what should WKRP do?
Well, don't do what the station did and listen to Johnny Fever! Listen to your lawyer!! Because Johnny forgot the whole reason Wickerman wanted to advertise in the first place... to bring attention to his store. If the DJs had just read the boring warning line the lawyer had provided before playing his dull, average commercials, nothing much would have happened. But once Johnny got "that vigilante justice look" in his eyes, they couldn't let that happen. But by calling their advertiser a different name every time it's played, and messing with the tape itself, it made Wickerman the most popular advertiser on the station! How did they NOT know that would be the result? Even Herb knew that would happen! "I've been telling you... tasteless sells!"
Speaking of Herb, in this episode he finally gets to do what he's wanted to do since the Pilot episode... "Herb is going on the air!"
It's always a mixture of heartbreaking and hysterical when Herb actually expresses his true feelings, rather than just put on the guise of a slick salesman. When he learns about a kid passing out in his gym class after taking Wickerman's "diet pills," he tells Andy "I've GOT to do the right thing!" He wants to personally tell the audience that he is pulling the ads and that he shouldn't have sold them in the first place. In a strange moment of self-awareness, he says "I'm tired of being the only person around here without a shred of human decency." which is probably going a little too far.
The epilogue tells us that, in part because of WKRP, Wickerman's Weight Loss Clinic has been picketed and his landlord has revoked his lease. But, he's just moving his business to another part of town... "All Perfectly Legal."
Roy
Other Notes - Guest Stars Galore! Dave Wickerman is played by Robert Ridgley, who spent most of his career as a voice-over actor but is probably most famous as The Colonel in "Boogie Nights," where he plays "in the opinion of this announcer, and is in no means a provable fact... a real scum bucket." Max Wright played the father, Willie, on the TV classic "ALF." Please don't sleep on the scene in which Mr. Carlson is telling Bailey and Jennifer how to dispose of each and every other member of the staff one by one, ending with "Jeez, it a pleasure doing business with women!" It might be the most liberated thing he ever says on the show.
Monday 2 September 2019
Ep. 77 - You Can't Go Out of Town Again
September 2, 2019
Writer: Dan Guntzelman
Director: Howard Hesseman
Original Air Date: January 13, 1982
It may not have been planned this way, but I get the sense this episode is both a sequel to the Season Three episode "A Simple Little Wedding" and a foreshadowing of the upcoming, and Very Important episode "Circumstantial Evidence."
"A Simple Little Wedding" is a different Arthur and Carmen centred episode in which the couple wants to celebrate their wedding anniversary by renewing their vows until Mama wants to turn it into the biggest event in Cincinnati. It ends with them running off to a seedy motel out of town.
Like many sequels, "You Can't Go Out of Town Again" hits the same big beats, but it's not as well written. The cold opening in an excuse for Mr. Carlson to explain the setup for the rest of the episode. It is the weekend of his college reunion. He was in a "fraternity" called the Omegas. Well, it was a real fraternity "Mother rented this house for a bunch of us who couldn't get in." He doesn't really want to go, but he believes it was important to Carmen; this is where he and Carmen met despite the fact he was not very popular on campus. The best thing that happened to him was the time Carmen invited him to a Sorority dance... but they never arrived. They end up at the Eat and Sleep Motel (gasp!)
All of this exposition just gets dumped on Venus before the credit ever roll! Although necessary, it feels clumsy here. But there's even more of it!
The next scene is Jennifer helping Carlson making the arrangements for the trip. Again he tells her about the Eat and Sleep Motel (gasp!). He also tells her about how much he dislikes Hank "the Hunk" Kremsky, the only other Omega we will meet in this episode. Once Carmen arrives, she tells Jennifer that she's only going because it is so important to Arthur (ooooh!)
So there is ALL of this set up to get us to the Eat and Sleep Motel, which I my opinion plays out as a revisit to the cheap hotel in the "Simple Little Wedding" episode. Both feature this very loving WASPy couple thrown into a very uncomfortable situation that they survive by reminding each other that because they love each other so much, they can survive any situation.
Even Arthur finding out he was on the Dip List! (To be fair, ALL of the Omegas were on the Dip List). Arthur had harboured the fantasy that this bright, beautiful girl on campus had seen through all of the "Moose" and Omega stuff to find the good person within and pursued him. And she did! But that was really only after Carmen went on a date with Arthur as a dare to get into her Sorority. He had started the rumour that the two of them skipped the dance to go to a motel (gasp!) and even through they only went for hamburgers, she didn't stop the rumour either. (oooooh!)
This all comes to light after Arthur has a couple of beers with his old frat brother Hank "the Hunk" Kremsky, who really should be a frat brother with Herb. Like Herb, he is a loud, obnoxious lout - no wonder he was also on the Dip List. His wife, Fluffy, was rushing the same Sorority, so he assumes Arthur knows all about this story.
I want to take a moment here and discuss Fluffy. I get that she's an airhead who married a guy who got rich but the writers couldn't come up with a more realistic name than "Fluffy"? Have you ever met ANY HUMAN named Fluffy or whose nickname is even Fluffy? Just getting a laugh with a dumb name is below the standards of the comedy writing we know this show aspires to. I don't even know what the sore calves thing is suppose to mean.
There is a very prominent B plot in which Venus is having a date in the booth while on the air. We've seen hints of this before but this episode spends a lot of time - in fact, two dates - with Venus and this woman, and the elaborate spread he prepares for her. There are cheese and wine, gherkins and crab puffs. Tupperware containers full of crab puffs! Venus' mounting frustration with the several interruptions to his dates is funny, but as I said, I believe this is all to set up what will be a more serious episode coming up in a few weeks.
Roy
Other Notes - This is Howard Hesseman's second time directing. That why we only see him in the short scene with Jennifer discussing Crab Puffs. In 1982, Bailey wants the station to buy a "computer!" Imagine now how she could do her job without one! Alice Nunn, the actress who plays the lady running the motel is none other than Large Marge from "Pee Wee's Big Adventure." If Arthur was in a Cardinal mascot costume, that would mean he attended Otterbein University in Westerville OH, just outside of Columbus. The song Arthur plays on the jukebox at the end has obviously been replaced for the boxset. It originally should have been "Satisfaction" by the Rolling Stones, which probably costs a fortune to license.
Writer: Dan Guntzelman
Director: Howard Hesseman
Original Air Date: January 13, 1982
It may not have been planned this way, but I get the sense this episode is both a sequel to the Season Three episode "A Simple Little Wedding" and a foreshadowing of the upcoming, and Very Important episode "Circumstantial Evidence."
"A Simple Little Wedding" is a different Arthur and Carmen centred episode in which the couple wants to celebrate their wedding anniversary by renewing their vows until Mama wants to turn it into the biggest event in Cincinnati. It ends with them running off to a seedy motel out of town.
Like many sequels, "You Can't Go Out of Town Again" hits the same big beats, but it's not as well written. The cold opening in an excuse for Mr. Carlson to explain the setup for the rest of the episode. It is the weekend of his college reunion. He was in a "fraternity" called the Omegas. Well, it was a real fraternity "Mother rented this house for a bunch of us who couldn't get in." He doesn't really want to go, but he believes it was important to Carmen; this is where he and Carmen met despite the fact he was not very popular on campus. The best thing that happened to him was the time Carmen invited him to a Sorority dance... but they never arrived. They end up at the Eat and Sleep Motel (gasp!)
All of this exposition just gets dumped on Venus before the credit ever roll! Although necessary, it feels clumsy here. But there's even more of it!
The next scene is Jennifer helping Carlson making the arrangements for the trip. Again he tells her about the Eat and Sleep Motel (gasp!). He also tells her about how much he dislikes Hank "the Hunk" Kremsky, the only other Omega we will meet in this episode. Once Carmen arrives, she tells Jennifer that she's only going because it is so important to Arthur (ooooh!)
So there is ALL of this set up to get us to the Eat and Sleep Motel, which I my opinion plays out as a revisit to the cheap hotel in the "Simple Little Wedding" episode. Both feature this very loving WASPy couple thrown into a very uncomfortable situation that they survive by reminding each other that because they love each other so much, they can survive any situation.
Even Arthur finding out he was on the Dip List! (To be fair, ALL of the Omegas were on the Dip List). Arthur had harboured the fantasy that this bright, beautiful girl on campus had seen through all of the "Moose" and Omega stuff to find the good person within and pursued him. And she did! But that was really only after Carmen went on a date with Arthur as a dare to get into her Sorority. He had started the rumour that the two of them skipped the dance to go to a motel (gasp!) and even through they only went for hamburgers, she didn't stop the rumour either. (oooooh!)
This all comes to light after Arthur has a couple of beers with his old frat brother Hank "the Hunk" Kremsky, who really should be a frat brother with Herb. Like Herb, he is a loud, obnoxious lout - no wonder he was also on the Dip List. His wife, Fluffy, was rushing the same Sorority, so he assumes Arthur knows all about this story.
I want to take a moment here and discuss Fluffy. I get that she's an airhead who married a guy who got rich but the writers couldn't come up with a more realistic name than "Fluffy"? Have you ever met ANY HUMAN named Fluffy or whose nickname is even Fluffy? Just getting a laugh with a dumb name is below the standards of the comedy writing we know this show aspires to. I don't even know what the sore calves thing is suppose to mean.
There is a very prominent B plot in which Venus is having a date in the booth while on the air. We've seen hints of this before but this episode spends a lot of time - in fact, two dates - with Venus and this woman, and the elaborate spread he prepares for her. There are cheese and wine, gherkins and crab puffs. Tupperware containers full of crab puffs! Venus' mounting frustration with the several interruptions to his dates is funny, but as I said, I believe this is all to set up what will be a more serious episode coming up in a few weeks.
Roy
Other Notes - This is Howard Hesseman's second time directing. That why we only see him in the short scene with Jennifer discussing Crab Puffs. In 1982, Bailey wants the station to buy a "computer!" Imagine now how she could do her job without one! Alice Nunn, the actress who plays the lady running the motel is none other than Large Marge from "Pee Wee's Big Adventure." If Arthur was in a Cardinal mascot costume, that would mean he attended Otterbein University in Westerville OH, just outside of Columbus. The song Arthur plays on the jukebox at the end has obviously been replaced for the boxset. It originally should have been "Satisfaction" by the Rolling Stones, which probably costs a fortune to license.
Wednesday 21 August 2019
Ep. 76 - Love, Exciting and New
August 21 2019
Writer: Lissa Levin
Director: Frank Bonner
Original Air Date: January 6, 1982
I have been having a terrible time trying to write about this episode. I written things and scrapped them and written again and I think I've finally come to a conclusion as to why: THIS is the episode of WKRP in Cincinnati that doesn't hold up. THIS is the one for which the changes in society over 40 years have finally been too much for the writing to survive. And to be clear, this is a show in which Les has appeared in blackface and also threatened to kill himself because someone thought he was gay. And this episode is also very funny, which IS the point of the show after all. Although it often took on issues of the day, this is a situation COMEDY and the situations Andy finds himself in here are very funny. Andy caught on all fours on a pool table is inherently funny!
Also, we are into a fourth season with these characters. We understand their motivations so there is no REAL threat. Also, this might be Carol Bruce's best performance in the role of Mama Carlson and Gary Sandy plays to all of his strengths here. Make no mistake, this is a very well executed episode of WKRP.
And yet. And yet.... yeech.
WKRP has a history of using the first episode of a calendar year to explore a topic no one else of television is tackling and I have to wonder, before January 6th, 1982, how many people in the audience had even heard the term "sexual harassment."
Of course, everybody knew what it was. It was so prevalent as to have become invisible. So the humour in this episode comes from giving it a name and shining a light on it and and they way they do that is by reversing the standard gender roles - Andy is the victim of his female employer.
At first, Andy thinks he's the clever one, flattering Lillian Carlson by going to dinners and the opera with her in order to have her pay for a new transmitter (a call back to the beginning of season three and the "phone cops" episode). When Les let's the others at the station know about what Andy has been doing, they each react in the same way: "Are you insane?"
The only one who doesn't know is Arthur Carlson, who is just delighted his mother has seemed so happy lately. Andy brings Arthur to the mansion to discuss the transmitter with her because Andy is starting to feel as if he may not have the situation as in control as he thinks.
There are two scenes in this episode that don't age well. This is the lesser of those scenes. In the "games room" (not a random use of the phrase), Mama quietly threatens Andy that when she expects to see him alone, she doesn't want him to bring anyone else. The most important line in this scene comes from Lillian. As she is chalking up a cue stick, she explaining the rules of the game "Everyone plays very hard and in the end, I win." Everyone but Arthur knows she is not talking about pool.
The scene that ALMOST redeems the episode is next, in the station lobby. Andy asks Jennifer and Bailey their opinion of his feeling a sense of pressure from his employer. It is something he realizes more commonly happens to women. During this exchange, Andy stands up to Herb for bothering Jennifer and uses the term "sexual harassment." This is important because it highlights that sexual harassment, even at that benign level, has been a staple of WKRP since the beginning. In fact a "Herb hits on Jennifer" joke is the VERY FIRST LINE delivered in the pilot episode.
Herb brushes it off as if it's no big deal but Andy is learning it is a big deal. The Big Guy is also learning that any of this is going on, as he overhears Andy, Jennifer and Bailey's conversation.
The Big Guy calls his mother over to the station to clear up what may be going on, and it is THIS scene, in Carlson's office, that in my opinion is a bridge too far. Arthur wants to know what his mother's intentions are and why she is using Andy in this way. And she says: "He's an employee of mine and that's what you do with employees (use them). What's the point of being in charge?"
"He wants something... a transmitter. And I want something... good hair." That idea that when an employer is paying an employee, they get to do whatever they want is a corrosive, evil idea and here it is a punchline! Especially when Arthur follows up "That all sounds pretty innocent to me."
But next, now that Lillian knows of Andy's discomfort, she wants to use that knowledge to mock him. Back in the Game Room that night, Andy is trying to build up the confidence to confront her when he spills his drink on the pool table. He's desperate to clean up this mistake, using his jacket to soak up the stain and even climbing on the table to apply more pressure. So this is where Lillian finds Andy... with his jacket off on all four on top of her pool table! It's a very funny reaction shot and the audience loves it!
Lillian tries coming on strong to Andy, in an effort to make him even more uncomfortable. Andy insists she must be kidding. She holds him from behind and says "Let's run away together... to Los Angeles. They'll understand there." The LA based studio audience roars! The scene concludes when Andy knocks the wall rack off, letting the billiard balls clank off the floor. They have arrived at peak ridiculousness and now begin to talk and clear the air.
At the end, Andy confronts Carlson about not telling him what his mother had in mind. Andy is mirroring Lillian - Arthur does the same "are you kidding" routine - around and around the desk as Andy make Carlson more and more uncomfortable.
Just not as uncomfortable as I was with previous scene in his office.
Roy
Other Notes - So Many Notes! This is the only time we ever see Les Nesman's "Show Beat." In it he interviews real life actress Colleen Camp who is promoting the Peter Bogdonovich's film "They All Laughed." I have no idea what the connection between WKRP and this film were, but that film has a weird, twisted history. It was the last film from actress and Playboy Playmate Dorothy Stratton. According to the film "Star 80," it was her affair with Bogdonovich that drove her boyfriend to murder her. This was also Audrey Hepburn's last major role. Bogdonovich went into bankruptcy trying to self-distribute the film.
Andy yells at Les for grilling Colleen Camp "like she was Adolph Eichmann." Eichmann was one of the major organizers of the Holocaust and, when captured in 1960, was interrogated for months before his trial.
Check out the first scene in the Game Room: Gary Sandy is trying not to break up as Gordon Jump obviously improvises that he can't find all the balls.
Writer: Lissa Levin
Director: Frank Bonner
Original Air Date: January 6, 1982
I have been having a terrible time trying to write about this episode. I written things and scrapped them and written again and I think I've finally come to a conclusion as to why: THIS is the episode of WKRP in Cincinnati that doesn't hold up. THIS is the one for which the changes in society over 40 years have finally been too much for the writing to survive. And to be clear, this is a show in which Les has appeared in blackface and also threatened to kill himself because someone thought he was gay. And this episode is also very funny, which IS the point of the show after all. Although it often took on issues of the day, this is a situation COMEDY and the situations Andy finds himself in here are very funny. Andy caught on all fours on a pool table is inherently funny!
Also, we are into a fourth season with these characters. We understand their motivations so there is no REAL threat. Also, this might be Carol Bruce's best performance in the role of Mama Carlson and Gary Sandy plays to all of his strengths here. Make no mistake, this is a very well executed episode of WKRP.
And yet. And yet.... yeech.
WKRP has a history of using the first episode of a calendar year to explore a topic no one else of television is tackling and I have to wonder, before January 6th, 1982, how many people in the audience had even heard the term "sexual harassment."
Of course, everybody knew what it was. It was so prevalent as to have become invisible. So the humour in this episode comes from giving it a name and shining a light on it and and they way they do that is by reversing the standard gender roles - Andy is the victim of his female employer.
At first, Andy thinks he's the clever one, flattering Lillian Carlson by going to dinners and the opera with her in order to have her pay for a new transmitter (a call back to the beginning of season three and the "phone cops" episode). When Les let's the others at the station know about what Andy has been doing, they each react in the same way: "Are you insane?"
The only one who doesn't know is Arthur Carlson, who is just delighted his mother has seemed so happy lately. Andy brings Arthur to the mansion to discuss the transmitter with her because Andy is starting to feel as if he may not have the situation as in control as he thinks.
There are two scenes in this episode that don't age well. This is the lesser of those scenes. In the "games room" (not a random use of the phrase), Mama quietly threatens Andy that when she expects to see him alone, she doesn't want him to bring anyone else. The most important line in this scene comes from Lillian. As she is chalking up a cue stick, she explaining the rules of the game "Everyone plays very hard and in the end, I win." Everyone but Arthur knows she is not talking about pool.
The scene that ALMOST redeems the episode is next, in the station lobby. Andy asks Jennifer and Bailey their opinion of his feeling a sense of pressure from his employer. It is something he realizes more commonly happens to women. During this exchange, Andy stands up to Herb for bothering Jennifer and uses the term "sexual harassment." This is important because it highlights that sexual harassment, even at that benign level, has been a staple of WKRP since the beginning. In fact a "Herb hits on Jennifer" joke is the VERY FIRST LINE delivered in the pilot episode.
Herb brushes it off as if it's no big deal but Andy is learning it is a big deal. The Big Guy is also learning that any of this is going on, as he overhears Andy, Jennifer and Bailey's conversation.
"He wants something... a transmitter. And I want something... good hair." That idea that when an employer is paying an employee, they get to do whatever they want is a corrosive, evil idea and here it is a punchline! Especially when Arthur follows up "That all sounds pretty innocent to me."
But next, now that Lillian knows of Andy's discomfort, she wants to use that knowledge to mock him. Back in the Game Room that night, Andy is trying to build up the confidence to confront her when he spills his drink on the pool table. He's desperate to clean up this mistake, using his jacket to soak up the stain and even climbing on the table to apply more pressure. So this is where Lillian finds Andy... with his jacket off on all four on top of her pool table! It's a very funny reaction shot and the audience loves it!
Lillian tries coming on strong to Andy, in an effort to make him even more uncomfortable. Andy insists she must be kidding. She holds him from behind and says "Let's run away together... to Los Angeles. They'll understand there." The LA based studio audience roars! The scene concludes when Andy knocks the wall rack off, letting the billiard balls clank off the floor. They have arrived at peak ridiculousness and now begin to talk and clear the air.
At the end, Andy confronts Carlson about not telling him what his mother had in mind. Andy is mirroring Lillian - Arthur does the same "are you kidding" routine - around and around the desk as Andy make Carlson more and more uncomfortable.
Just not as uncomfortable as I was with previous scene in his office.
Roy
Other Notes - So Many Notes! This is the only time we ever see Les Nesman's "Show Beat." In it he interviews real life actress Colleen Camp who is promoting the Peter Bogdonovich's film "They All Laughed." I have no idea what the connection between WKRP and this film were, but that film has a weird, twisted history. It was the last film from actress and Playboy Playmate Dorothy Stratton. According to the film "Star 80," it was her affair with Bogdonovich that drove her boyfriend to murder her. This was also Audrey Hepburn's last major role. Bogdonovich went into bankruptcy trying to self-distribute the film.
Andy yells at Les for grilling Colleen Camp "like she was Adolph Eichmann." Eichmann was one of the major organizers of the Holocaust and, when captured in 1960, was interrogated for months before his trial.
Check out the first scene in the Game Room: Gary Sandy is trying not to break up as Gordon Jump obviously improvises that he can't find all the balls.
Wednesday 14 August 2019
Ep. 75 - The Consultant
August 14, 2019
Writer: Hugh Wilson
Director: Dolores Ferraro
Original Air Date: December 30, 1981
^^^FAMOUSLY FUNNY^^^
I think Hugh Wilson writing this episode is very interesting because I propose this episode is about two things that are of great interest to him specifically. The first is the direction of the entertainment industry as a whole and radio in particular. The second is the expectations and judgements of types of people that he has always played with.
Let's begin with Norris Breeze, an old friend of Andy's that has come to Cincinnati to "evaluate" the station. Many in the radio business would look at him and say he has surpassed his old boss and become even more successful. Breeze is programming 45 radio stations across America - Cincinnati would be a small pick up to the empire he is building. And he is very clear about that with Andy - he's not interested in evaluating Andy's performance to help improve it at all. He is there to sell his programming service, meaning one more station would sound like 45 other stations.
This is of course the way radio has gone. Virgin Radio, Clear Channel and I Heart Radio now don't only program 45 stations - they program hundreds at a time. But Wilson is fighting against this and Andy is his stand-in. Andy doesn't even program ONE radio station; the DJs play their own stuff. Wilson is arguing for this very personal approach to the music and the audience. He purposely makes Breeze a villain with a coke habit who calls Cincinnati "small town." But it's Andy who judges Breeze for "changing" ie. selling out. I think Wilson may be commenting of people in the Hollywood industry who he has seen "surpass" him and sell-out their artistic beliefs, not just to make money but to accumulate power.
You know what we haven't talked about for a while? The Suits vs the Dungarees! "WKRP in Cincinnati" exists to blow up the preconceived perceptions about how these two groups behave. At this station, it is the Dungarees who are responsible and the Suits are the buffoons. Even Mama Carlson says "I only trust my son and I always trust him to do the wrong thing." So how can Andy and the rest of the staff make a mockery of Norris Breeze's evaluation?
Play into the stereotypes.
Jennifer is a gorgeous blonde? She must be an airhead. Bailey just came out of college? Probably still using drugs (let's just jump over Norris' coke use when judging a stoned Bailey). One black man working at the station? There's probably racial tension and he's probably armed. Wilson steers his cast into the roles society would have expected them to play.
But his (or Andy's) most brilliant move is to get the Suits to play the roles they should be playing in WKRP. Arthur Carlson SHOULD be constantly on top of the station's numbers as the General Manager running a family business. Herb SHOULD be exhausted as the only salesman on the staff. Most radio stations have more salesmen than DJs in real life! Also having these two "responsible" looking men tell Breeze that they need his sort of service just give them greater credibility in his mind.
And I personally have always believed that WKRP should have promoted Les as the wacky newscaster, rather than try to hide him and be ashamed of him. NOBODY listens to a rock station for cutting edge news reporting! But I'm not being paid to be a radio consultant.
Of course, the coupe de gras is Andy, the man who manipulated everyone in the station in order to keep the union out, coming across as naive, even while sitting on Mama's couch during the evaluation. Once again he has manipulated everyone, especially his old friend Norris.
Notice something here with Mama: she is not mad at Andy. She is bemused at what Andy has done. She loves the paring back and forth the two of them are doing. My wife watched this episode with me and said "why does she keep Hirsch around if he acts that way all the time?" The reason is because she likes it! So many people in her life are frightened or grovel around her; especially her son. She likes it when people stand up, speak their mind and are not afraid of her. That's why she would keep a rude houseboy for over 40 years. It's also why we hear no more of Norris Breeze.
Roy
Other Notes - David Clennon, who played Norris Breeze is a long time character actor who is probably best known for playing Miles on "twentysomething" - who was essentially just a meaner version of Norris. Bailey is singing the like Farfel the dog, a puppet who did Nestle Quik commercials from 1953 to 1965. See that side eye Andy gives Herb when he says "No Problem-o" rather than "No Problem"?
NEW NOTE - I was watching the episode "Pills" when my seven year old daughter came into the room and decided she wanted to watch Daddy's show with him. So I stopped watching the episode about taking Speed because that would raise just too many questions, I looked for what I thought would be the funniest episode on the same disc... "The Consultant."
But she didn't find it very funny and that is because she didn't know any of these characters. It hadn't dawned on me because I've spent three decades with this show, but in a vacuum, this episode makes very little sense. And that made me think more about season four as a whole. This is the season in which WKRP really leaned into the continuity, and I have praised them for that. But the flipside is the writers are expecting the viewers to bring a lot of knowledge with them.
But she did think Loni Anderson's airhead voice was really funny!
Writer: Hugh Wilson
Director: Dolores Ferraro
Original Air Date: December 30, 1981
^^^FAMOUSLY FUNNY^^^
I think Hugh Wilson writing this episode is very interesting because I propose this episode is about two things that are of great interest to him specifically. The first is the direction of the entertainment industry as a whole and radio in particular. The second is the expectations and judgements of types of people that he has always played with.
Let's begin with Norris Breeze, an old friend of Andy's that has come to Cincinnati to "evaluate" the station. Many in the radio business would look at him and say he has surpassed his old boss and become even more successful. Breeze is programming 45 radio stations across America - Cincinnati would be a small pick up to the empire he is building. And he is very clear about that with Andy - he's not interested in evaluating Andy's performance to help improve it at all. He is there to sell his programming service, meaning one more station would sound like 45 other stations.
This is of course the way radio has gone. Virgin Radio, Clear Channel and I Heart Radio now don't only program 45 stations - they program hundreds at a time. But Wilson is fighting against this and Andy is his stand-in. Andy doesn't even program ONE radio station; the DJs play their own stuff. Wilson is arguing for this very personal approach to the music and the audience. He purposely makes Breeze a villain with a coke habit who calls Cincinnati "small town." But it's Andy who judges Breeze for "changing" ie. selling out. I think Wilson may be commenting of people in the Hollywood industry who he has seen "surpass" him and sell-out their artistic beliefs, not just to make money but to accumulate power.
You know what we haven't talked about for a while? The Suits vs the Dungarees! "WKRP in Cincinnati" exists to blow up the preconceived perceptions about how these two groups behave. At this station, it is the Dungarees who are responsible and the Suits are the buffoons. Even Mama Carlson says "I only trust my son and I always trust him to do the wrong thing." So how can Andy and the rest of the staff make a mockery of Norris Breeze's evaluation?
Play into the stereotypes.
Jennifer is a gorgeous blonde? She must be an airhead. Bailey just came out of college? Probably still using drugs (let's just jump over Norris' coke use when judging a stoned Bailey). One black man working at the station? There's probably racial tension and he's probably armed. Wilson steers his cast into the roles society would have expected them to play.
But his (or Andy's) most brilliant move is to get the Suits to play the roles they should be playing in WKRP. Arthur Carlson SHOULD be constantly on top of the station's numbers as the General Manager running a family business. Herb SHOULD be exhausted as the only salesman on the staff. Most radio stations have more salesmen than DJs in real life! Also having these two "responsible" looking men tell Breeze that they need his sort of service just give them greater credibility in his mind.
And I personally have always believed that WKRP should have promoted Les as the wacky newscaster, rather than try to hide him and be ashamed of him. NOBODY listens to a rock station for cutting edge news reporting! But I'm not being paid to be a radio consultant.
Of course, the coupe de gras is Andy, the man who manipulated everyone in the station in order to keep the union out, coming across as naive, even while sitting on Mama's couch during the evaluation. Once again he has manipulated everyone, especially his old friend Norris.
Notice something here with Mama: she is not mad at Andy. She is bemused at what Andy has done. She loves the paring back and forth the two of them are doing. My wife watched this episode with me and said "why does she keep Hirsch around if he acts that way all the time?" The reason is because she likes it! So many people in her life are frightened or grovel around her; especially her son. She likes it when people stand up, speak their mind and are not afraid of her. That's why she would keep a rude houseboy for over 40 years. It's also why we hear no more of Norris Breeze.
Roy
Other Notes - David Clennon, who played Norris Breeze is a long time character actor who is probably best known for playing Miles on "twentysomething" - who was essentially just a meaner version of Norris. Bailey is singing the like Farfel the dog, a puppet who did Nestle Quik commercials from 1953 to 1965. See that side eye Andy gives Herb when he says "No Problem-o" rather than "No Problem"?
NEW NOTE - I was watching the episode "Pills" when my seven year old daughter came into the room and decided she wanted to watch Daddy's show with him. So I stopped watching the episode about taking Speed because that would raise just too many questions, I looked for what I thought would be the funniest episode on the same disc... "The Consultant."
But she didn't find it very funny and that is because she didn't know any of these characters. It hadn't dawned on me because I've spent three decades with this show, but in a vacuum, this episode makes very little sense. And that made me think more about season four as a whole. This is the season in which WKRP really leaned into the continuity, and I have praised them for that. But the flipside is the writers are expecting the viewers to bring a lot of knowledge with them.
But she did think Loni Anderson's airhead voice was really funny!
Thursday 1 August 2019
Ep. 74 - Jennifer & the Will
July 31, 2019
Writer: Blake Hunter
Director: Dolores Ferraro
Original Air Date: December 2, 1981
This is the episode from which, most of us in 1981, learned what an executrix is. And it has nothing to doing with high heels and leather!
Colonel H. Buchanan had been a hero of the second world war, during which he had become the beloved leader of the Fightin' 42nd Division. Upon returning to Cincinnati he beaome a multimillionaire entrepenear who enjoyed the finer things in life, such as expensive French dinners and going out with our own Jennifer Marlowe. The prologue takes place during one of these dinners and by the end, the Colonel passes away.
This sets up an interesting duality running though this episode. On one hand, it's been a running joke that Jennifer almost only ever dates older, wealthy men. We've heard in past episodes of Jennifer being jetted off to Paris for supper or that the Admiral is waiting for her in the car. We've always laughed at these lines because we've snickered at Jennifer being a gold digger. But in this episode we see the other side of Jennifer: she really cares for the Colonel. She may be the only person in the episode who is genuinely upset that the man, not the millionaire, has died. It at once goes against our snickering while reinforcing Jennifer's role as the caretaker of the group. Now she will be caretaking the Colonel's final wishes.
But there are a few things standing in her way and these make up the next three acts of the episode. First are the reactions of her co-workers, who are uncomfortable even discussing death and unsure as to how to comfort her. The people you think would be cool are uncomfortable now dealing with her. Johnny offers to take her out to night court (imagine an episode in which Johnny and Jennifer go on a date to night court!) Yet it's Herb, someone who is comfortable with himself all the time, who makes Jennifer feel better. He would love to have led the life the Colonel did: "He caught the big bus while eating at the best joint in town. Pretty good if you ask me."
Next are the people of Cincinnati, specifically the press, who are curious as to the torrid details surrounding the death of this rich a famous man and the "blonde floozie" he was last seen with. When Mr. Carlson accompanies Jennifer to the funeral, it turns into a madhouse! She can't just be allowed to respectful grieve the loss of someone she cared about.
The scene goes back to our "theatre of the mind" discussions, with Mr. Carlson telling Andy and Bailey about how the press ran across the cemetery, trampling flowers to get a picture of the mystery woman. We never see the chaos but we can imagine it. The highlight is someone shouting out "Hey! She's with another old coot!"
But mostly it is the Buchanan family Jennifer will need to overcome. They've used their powerful connections to plant the stories about "blonde floozies" to lay the groundwork for contesting the will.
And now we see something that only ever happens in TV sit-coms... the video will. In fact, "WKRP" appears to be one of the first shows to use what is now a TV Trope. Often in these video wills, the deceased will respond to what the living characters say because he knows them so well
"Do you have anything to say, Cedric?"
(whining) "No"
(exaggerated whining) "Nooooooo"
Maybe my favourite line from this episode is the Colonel's reason why his first brother is getting nothing: "You've always been an all-or-nothing type of fellow and since you can't have it all, you get... nothing." Even Jennifer, who asked that he leave her nothing so that she wouldn't appear to be a gold digger, receives one dollar, and they two throw kisses to each other.
As executrix, seeing the Colonel like this gives her the strength to face down the family. The Colonel wants the money to go to his beloved Fightin' 42nd Division, not his money grubbing family. He know that she actually cared about him, and how capable she can be. The Colonel's lawyer sees both how beautiful and how capable Jennifer is when he says "Dating Ms. Marlowe might just prove his mind was as clear as a bell!"
Roy
Other Notes -- Pat O'Brien, a very well known character actor from the 30's, 40's and 50's played the Colonel. WKRP was one of his final roles. Bailey runs to the lobby with Les' tearsheets, however she puts her coat on to enter the lobby. Continuity error!!
Writer: Blake Hunter
Director: Dolores Ferraro
Original Air Date: December 2, 1981
This is the episode from which, most of us in 1981, learned what an executrix is. And it has nothing to doing with high heels and leather!
Colonel H. Buchanan had been a hero of the second world war, during which he had become the beloved leader of the Fightin' 42nd Division. Upon returning to Cincinnati he beaome a multimillionaire entrepenear who enjoyed the finer things in life, such as expensive French dinners and going out with our own Jennifer Marlowe. The prologue takes place during one of these dinners and by the end, the Colonel passes away.
This sets up an interesting duality running though this episode. On one hand, it's been a running joke that Jennifer almost only ever dates older, wealthy men. We've heard in past episodes of Jennifer being jetted off to Paris for supper or that the Admiral is waiting for her in the car. We've always laughed at these lines because we've snickered at Jennifer being a gold digger. But in this episode we see the other side of Jennifer: she really cares for the Colonel. She may be the only person in the episode who is genuinely upset that the man, not the millionaire, has died. It at once goes against our snickering while reinforcing Jennifer's role as the caretaker of the group. Now she will be caretaking the Colonel's final wishes.
But there are a few things standing in her way and these make up the next three acts of the episode. First are the reactions of her co-workers, who are uncomfortable even discussing death and unsure as to how to comfort her. The people you think would be cool are uncomfortable now dealing with her. Johnny offers to take her out to night court (imagine an episode in which Johnny and Jennifer go on a date to night court!) Yet it's Herb, someone who is comfortable with himself all the time, who makes Jennifer feel better. He would love to have led the life the Colonel did: "He caught the big bus while eating at the best joint in town. Pretty good if you ask me."
Next are the people of Cincinnati, specifically the press, who are curious as to the torrid details surrounding the death of this rich a famous man and the "blonde floozie" he was last seen with. When Mr. Carlson accompanies Jennifer to the funeral, it turns into a madhouse! She can't just be allowed to respectful grieve the loss of someone she cared about.
The scene goes back to our "theatre of the mind" discussions, with Mr. Carlson telling Andy and Bailey about how the press ran across the cemetery, trampling flowers to get a picture of the mystery woman. We never see the chaos but we can imagine it. The highlight is someone shouting out "Hey! She's with another old coot!"
But mostly it is the Buchanan family Jennifer will need to overcome. They've used their powerful connections to plant the stories about "blonde floozies" to lay the groundwork for contesting the will.
And now we see something that only ever happens in TV sit-coms... the video will. In fact, "WKRP" appears to be one of the first shows to use what is now a TV Trope. Often in these video wills, the deceased will respond to what the living characters say because he knows them so well
"Do you have anything to say, Cedric?"
(whining) "No"
(exaggerated whining) "Nooooooo"
Maybe my favourite line from this episode is the Colonel's reason why his first brother is getting nothing: "You've always been an all-or-nothing type of fellow and since you can't have it all, you get... nothing." Even Jennifer, who asked that he leave her nothing so that she wouldn't appear to be a gold digger, receives one dollar, and they two throw kisses to each other.
As executrix, seeing the Colonel like this gives her the strength to face down the family. The Colonel wants the money to go to his beloved Fightin' 42nd Division, not his money grubbing family. He know that she actually cared about him, and how capable she can be. The Colonel's lawyer sees both how beautiful and how capable Jennifer is when he says "Dating Ms. Marlowe might just prove his mind was as clear as a bell!"
Roy
Other Notes -- Pat O'Brien, a very well known character actor from the 30's, 40's and 50's played the Colonel. WKRP was one of his final roles. Bailey runs to the lobby with Les' tearsheets, however she puts her coat on to enter the lobby. Continuity error!!
Tuesday 23 July 2019
Ep. 73 - Three Days of the Condo
July 23, 2019
Writer: Lissa Levin
Director: Linda Day
Original Air Date: November 18, 1981
In 1980, there were only 2.2 million condominium units in the United States. That number today is north of 14 million. But it is strange today to think of a time when this form of home ownership was looked at with suspicion, as if the builders were "scamming" buyers by selling them a home without selling them the land. It was synonymous with conforming to the majority to relinquish your homeowner rights to live in a cookie-cutter condo with condo fees and condo rules.
It's not just the cheesy "Gone With the Wind" theme that is causing people to laugh in this episode. The very idea of Johnny Fever in a condo that they are reacting to.
In 1980, homosexuality was illegal in the United States. It wasn't until 2003 that the Supreme Court struck down same-sex sodomy laws, essentially making laws against consensual sexual activity unconstitutional. But it is strange today to think of a time when this form of relationship was looked at with suspicion, as if gay couples were "corrupting" people into joining them. It was synonymous with abandoning decency to "choose" homosexuality despite the fact most people knew and/or were related to homosexual people.
It's not just the "whole slavery bugadee boo" that is causing people to laugh in this episode. It is the very idea that Johnny Fever could be gay that they are reacting to.
See what I did there?
But lets begin our discussion of this episode with probably its most controversial plot point: Johnny Fever has money!
Johnny receives a settlement cheque of $24,000 from the radio station in L.A. that fired him all those years ago for saying "Booger!" on the air. It was a great call back to the very first episode that Jennifer gets a laugh just for saying the word "Booger." An inflation calculator tells me that in 2018 dollars, that would be a cheque for $62,700. Another funny call back is that the first things Johnny and Venus can think of doing with that much money involve careless ways to pay more for your phone bills (always worrying about the phone cops!).
Johnny immediately blows over a $1000 in one day on leather clothes, women, intoxicants of some sort, harmonicas and "soap you can see through!" But he had previously asked the more financially savvy Venus to help him manage his money. Venus wants him to be smart with this money and invest it. "Real Estate has never failed" he tells Johnny and, it just so happens, Herb has the perfect investment opportunity: his client Gone With The Wind Estates. According to their radio spot "it's Con-Doo-Minium Living... Plantation style."
The gang visits Johnny in his new condo, each commenting on how much they like it, before he confesses to Venus how much he hates it. They need to get him out of this deal.
Venus arranges for a meeting between Johnny and himself and the condo salesman Mr. Wainwright and "one of the company's top people" Ms. Archer. Ms. Archer is some sort of cross between Miss Trunchbull and a women's prison warden; all tightness and cruelty. Venus tries to approach these "Gone With the Wind-ers" like a true financial consultant at first, or perhaps even as a lay lawyer. He is reasonable, even offering a cash penalty.
At this point you may wonder why Ms. Archer et al are so unwilling to let Johnny out of an agreement that isn't even a day old at this point. Most reputable condo companies don't want owners who are so unhappy with their situation that they are even threatening to raffle off the condo to get out of the agreement. I will submit the idea that Gone With the Wind Estates is doing poorly - very poorly. That the good people of Cincinnati don't want to live on Piddy Pat Lane. My evidence is two-fold: first, they have to hire a hard ass like Archer to keep owners in line in the first place; and second, they have stooped to advertising with WKRP.
Much like Mr. Carlson in certain situations, we sometimes forget how wise Johnny can be. He has seen some things, and although he will burn through money buying clear soap, he has survived this long by being able to read people and make unemotional choices (other example include the union and Venus dating Andy's sister). So as Venus fails, Johnny reads Wainwright and Archer, the Old South themes of the Condo and Venus' fuchsia suit and develops his plan.
Once again, please remember that this is 1981, 15 years before Nathan Lane in "The Birdcage." A flouncy, broad depiction of gay behaviour BY ITSELF would still read as very funny in ways that it might not widely today. But please consider what Johnny is trying to do here - we wants to make Wainwright and Archer so uncomfortable with what would be Venus' and his openingly gay lifestyle that they would be willing to go back and rip up the contract. They can be no half measures! He has to go full "Liza Minnelli this and Liza Minnelli that." So even more of the comedy comes from watching Mr. Wainwright and Ms. Archer squirm (as well as, unfortunately, Venus). As well, the places he goes with this, from "textures" to "scampi" to "we will practically LIVE in the sauna" are very inventive and each chosen for maximum discomfort. And maximum comedy.
As a nice bonus, Johnny also knows this is all making his buddy Venus very uncomfortable as well.
Roy
Other Notes - More continuity - is Venus helping Johnny sort out his finances as a result of Johnny's run in with gambling debts in the previous episode? This is the episode in which we learn where Herb gets his suits! The Harmonicats were exactly what you think they were - a harmonica-based musical group from the 1940-50's. They even had a #1 Billboard hit in 1947 called "Peg O' My Heart."
Writer: Lissa Levin
Director: Linda Day
Original Air Date: November 18, 1981
In 1980, there were only 2.2 million condominium units in the United States. That number today is north of 14 million. But it is strange today to think of a time when this form of home ownership was looked at with suspicion, as if the builders were "scamming" buyers by selling them a home without selling them the land. It was synonymous with conforming to the majority to relinquish your homeowner rights to live in a cookie-cutter condo with condo fees and condo rules.
It's not just the cheesy "Gone With the Wind" theme that is causing people to laugh in this episode. The very idea of Johnny Fever in a condo that they are reacting to.
In 1980, homosexuality was illegal in the United States. It wasn't until 2003 that the Supreme Court struck down same-sex sodomy laws, essentially making laws against consensual sexual activity unconstitutional. But it is strange today to think of a time when this form of relationship was looked at with suspicion, as if gay couples were "corrupting" people into joining them. It was synonymous with abandoning decency to "choose" homosexuality despite the fact most people knew and/or were related to homosexual people.
It's not just the "whole slavery bugadee boo" that is causing people to laugh in this episode. It is the very idea that Johnny Fever could be gay that they are reacting to.
See what I did there?
But lets begin our discussion of this episode with probably its most controversial plot point: Johnny Fever has money!
Johnny receives a settlement cheque of $24,000 from the radio station in L.A. that fired him all those years ago for saying "Booger!" on the air. It was a great call back to the very first episode that Jennifer gets a laugh just for saying the word "Booger." An inflation calculator tells me that in 2018 dollars, that would be a cheque for $62,700. Another funny call back is that the first things Johnny and Venus can think of doing with that much money involve careless ways to pay more for your phone bills (always worrying about the phone cops!).
Johnny immediately blows over a $1000 in one day on leather clothes, women, intoxicants of some sort, harmonicas and "soap you can see through!" But he had previously asked the more financially savvy Venus to help him manage his money. Venus wants him to be smart with this money and invest it. "Real Estate has never failed" he tells Johnny and, it just so happens, Herb has the perfect investment opportunity: his client Gone With The Wind Estates. According to their radio spot "it's Con-Doo-Minium Living... Plantation style."
The gang visits Johnny in his new condo, each commenting on how much they like it, before he confesses to Venus how much he hates it. They need to get him out of this deal.
Venus arranges for a meeting between Johnny and himself and the condo salesman Mr. Wainwright and "one of the company's top people" Ms. Archer. Ms. Archer is some sort of cross between Miss Trunchbull and a women's prison warden; all tightness and cruelty. Venus tries to approach these "Gone With the Wind-ers" like a true financial consultant at first, or perhaps even as a lay lawyer. He is reasonable, even offering a cash penalty.
At this point you may wonder why Ms. Archer et al are so unwilling to let Johnny out of an agreement that isn't even a day old at this point. Most reputable condo companies don't want owners who are so unhappy with their situation that they are even threatening to raffle off the condo to get out of the agreement. I will submit the idea that Gone With the Wind Estates is doing poorly - very poorly. That the good people of Cincinnati don't want to live on Piddy Pat Lane. My evidence is two-fold: first, they have to hire a hard ass like Archer to keep owners in line in the first place; and second, they have stooped to advertising with WKRP.
Much like Mr. Carlson in certain situations, we sometimes forget how wise Johnny can be. He has seen some things, and although he will burn through money buying clear soap, he has survived this long by being able to read people and make unemotional choices (other example include the union and Venus dating Andy's sister). So as Venus fails, Johnny reads Wainwright and Archer, the Old South themes of the Condo and Venus' fuchsia suit and develops his plan.
Once again, please remember that this is 1981, 15 years before Nathan Lane in "The Birdcage." A flouncy, broad depiction of gay behaviour BY ITSELF would still read as very funny in ways that it might not widely today. But please consider what Johnny is trying to do here - we wants to make Wainwright and Archer so uncomfortable with what would be Venus' and his openingly gay lifestyle that they would be willing to go back and rip up the contract. They can be no half measures! He has to go full "Liza Minnelli this and Liza Minnelli that." So even more of the comedy comes from watching Mr. Wainwright and Ms. Archer squirm (as well as, unfortunately, Venus). As well, the places he goes with this, from "textures" to "scampi" to "we will practically LIVE in the sauna" are very inventive and each chosen for maximum discomfort. And maximum comedy.
As a nice bonus, Johnny also knows this is all making his buddy Venus very uncomfortable as well.
Roy
Other Notes - More continuity - is Venus helping Johnny sort out his finances as a result of Johnny's run in with gambling debts in the previous episode? This is the episode in which we learn where Herb gets his suits! The Harmonicats were exactly what you think they were - a harmonica-based musical group from the 1940-50's. They even had a #1 Billboard hit in 1947 called "Peg O' My Heart."
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