Ep 85 - The Creation of Venus

November 23, 2020

Writer: Blake Hunter
Director: Gordon Jump
Original Air Date: March 31, 1982
*** VERY IMPORTANT***

Venus Flytrap has always been the most inconsistently written character on "WKRP in Cinicinnati." It has been stated on this show that he was at various times a solider in Vietnam, a deserter from the Army AND teacher (both high school chemistry and elementary school) as a graduate from teachers' college. All of that would be hard enough for one person, but he has also claimed to have played three years of Double A baseball in Texas and hosted a children's TV show as Sailor Ned. So an episode to try and solidify Venus' back story is probably not a bad idea.

But we also get a closer look into Andy's methods of getting what he wants. We've seen it before, most especially in his handling of a possible union in the station but here we really see him working all sides, telling everybody what they want to hear in order to get what he wants.

The episode opens and Venus is on the air! It is another lush, spiritual soliloquy wrapping the city into the velvety night when... Andy throws a paper ball at him. Alone together in the stations, to two chase each other around like children, in a game they have obviously played before. Andy hides behind the door to grab Venus but grabs... Mama Carlson instead!

The guys try to talk themselves out of the trouble they think they are in. She says "Of course, I knew Mr. Travis liked games, but you Mr. Flytrap, well I thought you were more conservative." Why would she think that about a character like Venus? I went back through the series, and outside of the pilot, Mrs. Carlson and Venus have only even been in the same room once (in Ep. 54 "Baby, It's Cold Inside," while she is singing Gershwin) up until this point. (There is probably a whole article to be written about the fact that the only character the owner of the station hasn't interacted with on screen is the black character.)

So why would she consider him conservative?

Since Mama "has to wait for (her) son to realize what day it is" we go into a flashback episode explaining the TRUE story of how Gordon Sims became Venus Flytrap. It opens with Andy trying to sweet-talk his landlady to let him out of his lease because the station isn't what he thought it might be. Gordon shows up at Andy's apartment, having quit his teaching job in New Orleans to become a full time disc job on a top rated radio station in Cincinnati. How many lies has Andy told in just this short scene?

In fact, Gordon shows up wearing a very professional three-piece suit, because he's so nervous about his big break into radio. In New Orleans, he worked part-time on Saturday mornings as "The Duke of Funk." Imagine Venus' style of music and chatter on a Saturday morning - you'd never get out of bed!

For all of his manipulations, Andy knows talent and he knows how to put it in the right places. Gordon Sims needs to be on at night and WKRP needs a strong nighttime anchor host. Andy also knows how he should be presented - funky, urban, romantic and poetic. And the three piece suit is not going to work. He know the audience can "feel" the talent and wants him to get a new "fly" wardrobe, even if the audience won't be able to see it.

There is a lot of talk by fans of Venus' crazy, pimp-like outfits, but honestly, after the first 10 episodes, we almost never see these looks again. Generally, he dresses like other casual young people in the late 70's. But for his debut, Venus needs to look "Fly!"

Did I say "Venus?" It is right here, on Andy's couch, that we see that name be born. Andy wants something "cosmic." Maybe something astrological, but Gordon's sign is Libra.

Andy: "Well, that sucks."

Venus (offended): "It does not suck!, It's a Love sign, ruled by Venus."

This is a really funny scene, with each line adding another joke while still explaining to origin of the nom de airwaves.

Andy: "Okay, what's the first thing you think of when you hear the word "Venus?"

Venus: "Flytrap"

Andy: "Like the plant that eats bugs? Don't be an idiot."

So they decide on "Venus Rising" and the stage is set for the new format change the very next day. "We're going to do this format change with style and grace and class all the way." 

Smash cut to Johnny scratching the record and what is probably the most interesting choice made for this episode... the re-filming of iconic scenes from the pilot. The first is the instant format change, in which Johnny tells Cincinnati "it's time for this town to get down!" Much like a band that has been playing their biggest hits hundreds of time, Howard Hesseman has now had four year to think about how this scene should play out. He doesn't just launch into his monologue, he pauses and thinks about what he wants to say. It takes moment for him to come up with the Dr. Johnny Fever name, which he then promptly forgets.

We also now see the reactions of the others in the station. Jenifer, Herb and Les each look shocked and appalled. Andy is laughing with Bailey in the hallway as his plan starts coming together. The dungarees are taking over! Literally, Mr. Carlson is being awoken in his office by the change. This is the "awakening" that will take hold later.

We get to be in the lobby this time when Mama comes to the station to find out what is going on. From the pilot we know Mr. Carlson is panicking and has called Herb and Les into his office to prepare for Mama while he's firing Andy. But that's not what we see this time. Now we're watching Jennifer and Bailey discussing what's going on. Jan Smithers isn't playing Bailey quite as shy and mousey as she was in pilot. She wants to see the changes Andy is beginning take hold and she talks a big game about standing up to Mama Carlson... until Mama shows up.

But next we get the entrance of Mr. Venus Rising, in all his purple velvet splendor! The women break down to Mr. Rising that Andy is being fired. His "cool" demeanor falls away quickly and he reverts to the polite, conservative school teacher. The women suggest he going into the meeting and fight for Andy, the format change and in the end, himself. Venus questions if that will work, to which Bailey replies: "Oh you'll scare the Hell out of her!"

Next we see the re-filming of the scene in which Arthur is standing up to his mother, and this time it is Carol Bruce, not Sylvia Sidney. You rarely get to see how two different actresses would play a scene and I've always felt Bruce's elegant iciness works better than Sidney's shrill yelling. She reluctantly agrees to go for the format change but admonishes Andy "I warn you, nothing weird. nothing strange." And that's the moment Venus enters. In the excitement of his confrontation with Mama, Andy messes up the name, and now Gordon has to go with the new name for the rest of his career. Welcome the birth of Venus Flytrap!

Cut to Venus being shown around the station. The set decorators have just presented the old station as the same station with all the posters taken down. It makes the workspace depressingly colourless and lifeless. That's not the only thing that has changed. Working with Venus for four years have made Herb and Les a little more racially sensitive. Going back to that first day, the two of them can't stop from making insensitive comments - Les is even still using the word "negro." He would never do that in 1982.

We get some inconsistency with the Les character in an episode that is clearing up the Venus backstory. Herb says Les has been with WKRP for 24 years. In the season 2 episode "Baseball," Les says he is 37 years old. So 36-24 is 12, meaning Les was 12 when he started on radio. In reality, Richard Sanders was 38 years old when "WKRP in Cincinnati" went on the air - the same age as Howard Hesseman.

Finally we learn of the last pieces of the Venus Flytrap mythos. He panics when Andy tells him he's going on the air that very night. He's going out to get wind chimes Venus can play on the air, rather than an accordion, and to calm him down, Andy tells him to call the audience what he used to call his students. With wind chimes tinkling in the night, that becomes his catchphrase "my children."

The episode returns to the present, where Andy claims he always knew what was best for the station and if he hadn't lied about Venus' experience, he wouldn't have gotten "a sure thing." But Mama says she was never fooled and had the two of them investigated

[To Venus] "You taught chemistry full time, worked at a radio station part-time. You love the Classics, Never married. Parents divorced when you were young, Raised by your grandmother and... you play the accordion."

"And you Mr. Travis collect baseball cards. And you wet the bed until you were seven."

Satisfied, she leaves but rather than being chastised, Andy and Venus go right back to playing their game. Andy goes into the very same stance, hiding behind the door, until he catches... Mr. Carlson

Roy

Other Notes: This episode was directed by Gordon Jump. It is his only directing credit on IMDB.

Andy quotes the theme song in saying he was tired of "packing and unpacking, town to town up and down the dial." In fact, he says it in such a way as if it would be a common expression, rather than the lyrics of a song none of the characters could ever have heard.

Also, this is a whole episode about how Andy changed the station from easy listening to rock 'n roll, and the song we hear Venus playing at the beginning is Ernie Watts' saxophone cover of the Theme from "Chariots of Fire." That's something that could have very easily been worked into an easy listening station