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.

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!

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!!