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.