tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80272899293311155412024-03-05T06:53:13.631-08:00WKRP RelivedRoy Penneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06127773923455609042noreply@blogger.comBlogger95125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027289929331115541.post-74857148485469380512022-02-06T14:15:00.000-08:002022-02-06T14:15:19.294-08:00Remembering Howard Hesseman<p> February 6, 2022</p><br /><div> Howard Hesseman was given a mission statement from Hugh Wilson in 1978. This character of Dr. Johnny Fever had to be more than funny, or cool, or wise. The fact that a Johnny Fever can even exist is because, to this character, Rock and Roll is IMPORTANT. </div><div><br /></div><div>Keep in mind, in 1978, rock and roll wasn't important. The King had just died as a bloated, bedazzled caricature of his former self. Disco was rising. Art Rock and Prog Rock and Country Rock were taking the place of music that was just old stuff your parents listened to. Even though Andy says he wants to turn WKRP into a Rock and Roll station, he only means that compared to the easy listening music the station played before his arrival. He really meant a Top 40 Pop station, and he only meant it because it could turn a profit.</div><div><br /></div><div>Wilson needed a character who would move across the country, from job to job, breaking up two marriages, leaving a daughter behind, live "like a college student" from hand to mouth just to proselytize the transformative magic of rock and roll. Wilson knew he needed an actor who could make that audience at home not look at this person as some '60's hippie washout, but as the only man in the room who had heard the truth and was wise enough to follow that truth, while STILL delivering the laughs and look cool while doing it. Howard Hesseman's mission was to make us believe that rock and roll was important.</div><div><br /></div><div>Hesseman died last week at the age of 81 and you can find many well researched biographies of the man on line. But they will all begin with some version of "actor who played "WKRP in Cincinnati's" Dr. Johnny Fever..." It's a role he played for four years, plus one season of "the New WKRP;" the same length of time he played Charlie Moore on "Head of the Class." But you need to read farther down those obituaries to see that credit, or "The Bob Newhart Show," or "This is Spinal Tap" or "Police Academy." It's Fever we remember because Fever was important.</div><div><br /></div><div>I want to provide here a small list of Howard Hesseman's best performances on WKRP. The thing with being the breakout character on a show like this is that Dr. Fever always got at least one or two great gag lines on every episode, so you may read this list and think "Hey! What about ...?" I'm hoping to highlight some of the places in which Howard Hesseman the actor was at his best; being funny or sweet or vulnerable or completely over the top.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>1) Dr. Fever and Mr. Tide (Season 3 Eps. 13-14)</b> Originally a full hour long episode, this exists to give Hesseman an acting showcase, following his nomination for the best supporting actor in a comedy series the season before. This did, in fact, give him his second nomination.</div><div><br /></div><div>Johnny takes on hosting duties for a new TV show called "Gotta Dance" but only discovers 45 minutes before it is to go live on the air, that it is a disco dance show a la "Solid Gold." He is expected to wear gold lamé suits and play Olivia Newton-John songs. Johnny, of course, balks but the producers show him the contracts he drunkenly signed and threaten to sue him beyond the poverty he already lives in. The man behind Dr. Fever, Disc Jockey for hire John Caravella, needs to make a decision: save himself and the integrity he has spent his whole life building up or fulfill the "Gotta Dance" contract. The decision literally rips his mind in half!</div><div><br /></div><div>John Caravella creates the character of Rip Tide, a sleazy, trend-happy musical clown that might be the most successful thing he has ever done. People love him! The ratings are hot! The money is flowing! And all Johnny has to do is turn his back on everything he has ever cared about.</div><div><br /></div><div>I wish we knew how much of this script was improvised and how much was on the page, but Hesseman fully embraces both characters, sometimes within the same sentence! There are differences in voice, walk, mannerisms and speech patterns between the two characters. We feel real empathy for the Johnny who is scared he's being pushed aside by his friends and the station. He's confused about how easy it is to slip into the personality of someone completely against his moral code. We also really laugh and are a little scared of this self-centered, self-indulgent "schlemiel" who's tired of the lonely, destitute life Johnny's moral code has made him live.</div><div><br /></div><div>Simply, Hesseman was never better.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>2) Three Days of the Condo (Season 4, Episode 7)</b> So what if Dr. Fever got money without the moral dilemma? </div><div><br /></div><div>Johnny receives a $24,000 settlement cheque from the station in LA that fired him for saying "Booger!" on the air. He immediately starts blowing the cash on wine, women and "soap you can see through" until Venus convinces him to invest in a condo. But Johnny hates that and the two of them have to get him out of his condo deal.</div><div><br /></div><div>Two years before Hesseman plays an outrageous pimp in "Doctor Detroit," he plays an outrageous, cash flush lunatic here. Buying leather suits and harmonicas, with a woman on each arm, Johnny is wallowing in his own crapulence! </div><div><br /></div><div>But a trapped Johnny is a very funny Johnny and when the condo people play hardball with Venus and him, Johnny comes up with a plan to make them so uncomfortable they won't want him in their condo - he plays gay. I mean over-the-top, mincing, flaming super gay, going on about how he and Venus are going to "practically live in the sauna." It wouldn't play well today, but Hesseman certainly throws his all into the role.</div><div><br /></div><div>(Fun Aside - for six seasons, Hesseman played a recurring role on the "Bob Newhart Show" as a group therapy patient would later came out as gay. It's a far more sensitive portrayal)</div><div><br /></div><div>3) <b>God Talks to Johnny (Season 2, Episode 13)</b> The title says it all. Johnny hears a voice in the middle of the night, telling him that it loves him. Could it be God?</div><div><br /></div><div>This episode follows the classic WKRP premise of one character bringing his problem to all the other characters to get their reactions. In this case, do you believe in God, and if so, would he talk to Johnny Fever? This episode won a Humanitas Award, which is an award for writing "that promotes human dignity, meaning and freedom." Hesseman brings all of that to this script, and it is probably what earned him his first Emmy nomination. Johnny is grateful to be told he is loved, scared he might be losing his mind and confused at being asked to become a golf pro. </div><div><br /></div><div>Hesseman often comes up with fantastic physical comedy. Watch him gesturing with limp celery here!</div><div><br /></div><div><b>4) Jennifer and Johnny's Charity</b> (Season 4, Episode 14) In Johnny's world, he's the responsible successful person, looking out for his less fortunate friends. In Jennifer's world, Johnny is a bum. In this episode, we see the two worlds colliding.</div><div><br /></div><div>Hesseman and the other breakout star of WKRP, Loni Anderson, really did play well off of each other, because they were both very funny as well as complete contrasts. Check out their chemistry in "Baby, It's Cold Inside (Season 3, Episode 8). At the beginning of this episode, we see Johnny acting responsibly, trying to raise money for a shelter after a kitchen fire. It's a shelter he needs to eat at often himself. Later, when Jennifer's rich friends start spending money just to be charitable, Johnny gets angry and even confronts his friend Jennifer to maintain the dignity of his less fortunate friends. A lesser actor might have either leaned more into joking about the shelter friends or pulled back on making his anger with Jennifer seem real and dangerous. Hesseman does neither, bringing respect to both sides.</div><div><br /></div><div> 5) <b>Hold Up (Season 1, Episode 5)</b> Hesseman played best against great comedy actors (in the cast, especially Tim Reid, Loni Anderson and Gordon Jump) and he never got better than Hamilton Camp, also from his 60's comedy troupe The Committee. Camp plays a fast talking stereo store owner where Johnny is doing a live broadcast. The store is taken hostage by a hapless out-of-work DJ, who Johnny decides to help out. </div><div><br /></div><div>That description does not do the episode justice. Hesseman goes into straight man mode, allowing Camp to become unhinged at the whole situation, all the while remaining in complete control. He feeds and baits Camp's character the whole way. Only five episodes in, this showed where Hesseman could take what might have been a one-note, burn-out character.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>6) Pilot (Season 1, Episode 1)</b> I wanted to make this a list of five Hesseman-centric episodes that displayed his range as an actor and his comedic talents. In writing this, I see I could have made it 20 episodes long. But the pilot is where Hesseman presented us with so much of the iconography we remember about Dr. Johnny Fever 40 years later. A perpetually tired morning man with a giant mug of coffee he uses to list all the air names he's used in the past. The wise observer who explains the true motives and personalities of all the people around him. The once-was who knows he's too old to live the life he's been living but doesn't know any other way.</div><div><br /></div><div>And the Rock and Roll Prophet, who scratches a record and unleashes a pent up hellion with the clarion call: "It's time for this town to get down! The character who is not afraid of this music or what it can do to the listeners. Hugh Wilson gave Howard Hesseman the mission to show all of us in the audience what both men had personally known since the 1960's: Rock and Roll is important!</div><div><br /></div><div>Thank you, Mr. Hesseman, for teaching the children about Bo Diddley.</div><div><br /></div><div>Roy</div><div><br /></div><div>Also to be watched: The Doctor's Daughter (Season 2, Episode 20); Fish Story (Season 1, Episode 21) (better known as <i>The One Where Fever Gets Faster the More He Drinks</i>); Up and Down the Dial (Season 4, Episode 22); Filthy Pictures (Season 2, Episodes 21 & 22); An Explosive Affair, pt 2 (Season 4, Episode 2) (t<i>his is The Phone Cops episode</i>) and For Love and Money (Season 2, episode 1 &2). Actually, just go watch the whole series. It's very funny!</div><div><br /></div><div>Thank you to Allen Stare of the "WKRP-Cast" podcast for insisting I include the Pilot episode. Please go listen to his and Donna Stare's re-watch podcast wherever you download quality podcasts.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div>Roy Penneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06127773923455609042noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027289929331115541.post-9809462197992519562021-01-02T17:39:00.003-08:002021-10-28T18:48:47.824-07:00My WKRP Episode RatingsHello everyone, <div><br /></div><div>Now that I have FINALLY completed the individual reviews for each episode of "WKRP in Cincinnati" as it appears on the Shout! Factory, I'm boiling down 88 blog posts into one.</div><div><br /></div><div>You might have noticed I had special headings at the top of certain episode.
**Very Important** means these are episodes that are very important to the history of "WKRP In Cincinnati," either in universe or in the real world, and sometimes both. For example, "The Union" is very important to the continuing motivations in the story of WKRP, but "Venus and the Man" won a Humanitas Award.
**Famously Funny** means these episodes have the biggest laughs, and often you can tell just from audience reactions. For example, "Fish Story" is not a great, well written episode, but there are so many jokes it's hard not to pause the show to catch your breath for a minute.</div><div><br /></div><div>So I'm listing these marked episodes in chronological order; they are not ranked. Also, I am not providing a list of the "Best" or my "Favourite" episodes. If you want to know my opinions of an episode, read the blog! These lists are a starting point for newcomers: if you want to follow the "universe" of WKRP, check out the first list. If you want to laugh, see the Funny list. It's not surprising there is some crossover. The point of WKRP in Cincinnati was always to make you laugh:</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Very Important</b> </div><div>Ep 1 - Pilot (part one) </div><div>Ep 7 - Turkeys Away </div><div>Ep 18 - Who is Gordon Sims? </div><div>Ep 31 - Baby, If You Ever Wondered </div><div>Ep 36 - A Family Affair</div><div>Ep 41 - In Concert </div><div>Ep 48 - Real Families </div><div>Ep 50 - Hotel Oceanview </div><div>Ep 57 - Venus and the Man </div><div>Ep 61 - Secrets of Dayton Heights </div><div>Ep 66 - Clean Up Radio Everywhere </div><div>EP 67 and 68 - An Explosive Affair (parts 1 & 2) </div><div>Ep 69 - The Union </div><div>Ep 82 - Circumstantial Evidence </div><div>EP 84 - Dear Liar </div><div>Ep 85 - The Creation of Venus </div><div>Ep 87 - To Err Is Human
Ep </div><div>88 - Up and Down the Dial </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Famously Funny</b></div><div>
Ep 3 - Les on a Ledge </div><div>Ep 5 - Hold Up </div><div>Ep 7 - Turkeys Away </div><div>Ep 17 - A Commercial Break </div><div>Ep 21 - Fish Story </div><div>Ep 28 - Carlson for President </div><div>Ep 37 - Herb’s Dad </div><div>Ep 39 - The Americanization of Ivan </div><div>Ep 50 - Hotel Oceanview </div><div>Ep 56 - Frog Story </div><div>EP 67 and 68 - An Explosive Affair (parts 1 & 2) </div><div>Ep 75 - The Consultant </div><div>Ep 87 - To Err is Human </div><div><br /></div><div>I hope you enjoy "WKRP in Cincinnati" as much as I do and Thank you so much for reading this blog.</div><div> </div><div>Roy</div>Roy Penneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06127773923455609042noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027289929331115541.post-37350113819468129942020-12-25T12:21:00.000-08:002020-12-25T12:21:48.345-08:00Ep. 88 - Up and Down the DialDecember 25, 2020<br /><br />Writer: Dan Guntzelman<br />Director: George Gaynes<br />Original Air Date: April 21, 1982<div><p>**VERY IMPORTANT**</p><p>I propose that in television the difference between a "finale" and a "final episode" is forewarning. When the creators of a show know this is its last season and last episode, they can build to it, wrap up all the loose ends and say a tear-filled goodbye to the audience. M*A*S*H, Cheers, Newhart and Seinfeld all had finales. Even WKRP's mother show "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" had a famous finale that shows up every year on "Best Finales Ever" lists. But other beloved shows like The Jeffersons or Taxi just ended because the writers and producers didn't have the forewarning. They didn't know it was the end.</p><p>"WKRP in Cincinnati" is in a somewhat different position. The producers and writers "kinda" knew this was the end. There were strong indications the show was about to be cancelled, but not enough to promote it as a "finale." So now I make another proposal: "Up and Down the Dial" should be considered a finale, and moreover, should be considered as great of a finale as any of those above mentioned classics. If not a finale, then perhaps as the greatest final episode of all time!</p><p>Throughout 88+ blog entries, I have tried to steer clear from ever proclaiming this show, or any of it's episodes as the greatest anything. There are certainly classics and I have my own favourites, but I make this point now because I don't know of any other final episode which is used to explain why the show exists. This episode doesn't answer questions like "Will Bailey and Johnny get together" or "Does Les ever get walls." It answers this question: Why does a station like WKRP even exist?</p><p>Everybody who works there knows it's screwed up. They know there should be more than one salesman (even the smallest stations have two or three)! They know Les is incompetent - not just poor at his job but dangerously unqualified for anything beyond farm reports. They know the format is all over the place - there is no station in America on which Johnny's music and Venus' music is both played, and neither of those is "a Top 40 Rocker" like Andy claims. They know the General Manager is asleep or playing with toys. Once you get over the comedy of all of this, a reasonable person should ask, why would Mama Carlson allow this to happen?</p><p>In this final episode, we get the answer. It's so simple it is elegant. The answer is delivered beautifully, with stakes on the line. The episode ends with the characters in a place they should all be in. Even the title of the episode feels like the end.</p><p>"WKRP in Cincinnati" did get the finale it deserved. We just didn't realize it at the time.</p><p>------</p><p>As it opens, Andy calls a meeting in his office because the new ratings book has come out. At first he pretends to be angry saying there are going to be some changes around here. That's called foreshadowing, kids. Notice nobody is surprised that the ratings might be bad. Herb says "he could feel it on the streets for weeks now." Instead they should all be shocked the ratings might be bad. But Andy was kidding! He's thrilled the station has risen to sixth in the market. Johnny's #1 overall. Venus is #3 overall and #1 with women 18-35 (of course he is). After four years, the station is finally making some money. </p><p>Andy keeps putting Les off when he asks how the news ratings are until Andy finally conceeds that news "never does that good on a Top 40 Rocker. " That raises a lot of points: so this is already not a destination station for anybody wanting the news. That will come up later. Also, if that's the case, why does Andy care whether Les does rutabaga stories or not? The audience isn't tuning in for the news anyhow. Or is it that the ratings could be even higher if news, and mostly Les, wasn't dragging them down?</p><p>But this is WKRP and good news can never last for long. Jennifer comes in and tells Andy there is a man in the lobby claiming to be the new News Director.</p><p>Charles von Sanker looks like a man who would expect his office to have walls. Andy is convinced by his story of being hired over the phone by Mrs. Carlson that he is a legitimate hire because that's the way he was originally hired. Mr. von Sanker is a well-spoken family man from Fargo ND who would have jumped at the chance to get to market like Cincinnati and sounds reasonable enough to know what a actual news story is. Also, he is heavily sucking up to Mama Carlson even when she isn't there. I'm sure that's something that she would like after four years of Andy Travis.</p><p>Les is paranoid his bad ratings mean he's going to be fired and that's also what Andy thinks as he tears out of the station to confront Mrs. Carlson and fight for Les' job.</p><p>By some bizarro logic, Herb thinks that the station being more popular means he can do even less work. "The phone's gonna ring off the wall!" he says. He wants to pal around in the DJ booth (which of course he sees as fun and not real work) to the irritation of Johnny and Venus. When asked why he's there Herb advises "Enjoy this John. It sure as hell can't last." (Is that character to character or actor to actor? Given the real life situation, it's pretty profound). In the funniest sight gag of the episode, the DJ's silently roll Herb out into the hall.</p><p>Symbolism alert: When Andy gets to the Carlson mansion, Hirsch is sharpening a knife. Cuts are coming!</p><p>Mrs. Carlson intended to discuss Mr. von Sanker with Andy next week, but he demands answers now. He asks if she has three solid reasons why Les should be fired "Yes, he's incompetent, unprofessional and very weird." It didn't take her even a second to rhyme those reasons off.</p><p>But she then pulls out a 660 pages report she has had prepared by one of the top radio consultant firms in the country, all about the Cincinnati market and WKRP's place in it. It concludes: "WKRP's Top 40 audience is at its peak. The sound quality of the AM signal can not compete with FM stations. If WKRP is to remain profitable in the long run, we recommend changing to a non-music format: All News."</p><p>Von Sanker wasn't hired to replace Les. He was hired to replace Andy. </p><p>Andy is in shock and angry! they are finally making some money at the station and she wants to throw away all of that hard work, mostly HIS hard work to move to a format he knows nothing about. She asks "Are you through?" and Andy replies "Well you tell me." Next shot is him cleaning out his office.</p><p>Everyone comes back in from the party celebrating the good ratings, tipsy and thrilled. Even Les has a little glow about him. When Andy delivers the news of the format change, they all think he's pranking them again, like he did at the beginning of the day. Once the news settles in, Herb delivers what might be his most Herb-defining line: "Wait, wait wait a minute. How does this effect me?"</p><p><br /></p><p>Some time has passed and Johnny, Venus and Andy are commisserating drunkenly in the booth when Mr Carlson comes in. He's been talking to his mother about the changes for the station. He believes his mother is doing what's best for the station. "She wants us to be #1!" Andy can stay on as public relations director. Venus would become traffic reporter. Arthur talks about how being number one is the American Way, but each example he gives is wrong. Johnny asks "Were you this effective with your Mother?" and it gets a big laugh. </p><p>Arthur says "I'm just trying to make a point" to which Johnny replies: "So am I." He leaves the booth with no further explanation. It seems like a joke, but as we've learned about Johnny, he's faster when he's drunk. </p><p>I'm so happy that Hirsch made one final appearance in WKRP! This is one of his best! Greeting Johnny at the door, he assumes it's a homeless man coming to beg for money. But when he learns this is Johnny Fever, his manner changes dramatically. "You're the DJ who has caused her so much discomfort over the years. Please make yourself comfortable!"</p><p>What follows is the single most important conversation in the history of the show. That is not an overstatement. It is between two characters at the farthest spectrum from each other, economically, socially and politically. One is the boss, the other the employee. But where do they connect? They are both survivors. Both are willing to go to extremes for what they believe in. And most importantly, and oddly, they both actually care about Arthur Carlson. Somehow all of that seems appropriate for the final episode that explains why WKRP is the way it is and has been for years</p><p>Johnny doesn't come in with much of an argument other than to say that this decision is going to hurt the existing staff. "Probably the farthest things from your mind was the people who work for you."</p><p>Mrs. Carlson says everybody gets to keep a job with the new format "If you're an announcer, you can announce." She says this in a way that makes her seem charitable. "I didn't have to do that." But Johnny sees through that, pointing out if she wants the new format to work, people like Venus, Andy and himself are all gone. He's trying to explain that if the profit is all that counts, what she will have to do is... But she firmly cuts him off.</p><p>"The profit is NOT all that counts!"</p><p>Johnny is confused but Mrs. Carlson explains: <b>"Profit and loss are merely theoretical terms in a diversified conglomerate like Carlson Industries. It's not the plus and minus, Mr. Fever. It's the plus and plus IF the minuses are played correctly."</b></p><p>And Johnny finally gets it! It's a way for thinking the dungaries crowd just doesn't do and suits in the station would be too stupid to think of. But Johnny is older, has seen more in life and is certainly not stupid. "This is so deeply warped even I get it."</p><p><b>" 'KRP is not suppose to make money! That's the deal! We're set up to lose. But we didn't. And that's why your changing the format! So you can lose money for two more years."</b></p><p>We can see Johnny mind spinning at the news. She has said several times through the years that she doesn't trust her son to ever do the right thing. Why give him a job like General Manager? Why keep a nitwit like Les on the air? No radio station of WKRP's size, in a market the size of Cincinnati would have one salesman. There should be four or five, on top of a General Manager who would be in charge or maintaining relationships with the existing clients. Why only keep one, especially when that one is a lazy con man like Herb? The receptionist should not be the highest paid employee. Why hire a washed up old hippie as a drive time DJ? Finally FINALLY it all makes sense.</p><p>Except for the lying.</p><p>"You're telling your own son that you want him to be the General Manager of the number one station in the market, and you'd be happier if it were sixteenth.</p><p>How do you think he'd feel if he knew?"</p><p>I don't think that notion had ever occurred to her before. All Arthur has ever wanted to do is make his mother happy and the thing that makes her happiest is his continued failure. "How do you think he'd feel if he knew?</p><p>It has not been a funny conversation, so Hirsch, breaking the fourth wall for the first time ever on the show is a relief. "An very interesting turn, don't you think?"</p><p>Arthur comes to the door. Andy and Venus follow, staggeringly drunk. He brought them so Mama could explain to them, the way she had to him, why this format change will be good for everyone. Johnny is playing Chicken with her. He has nothing to loose. Everything he cares about is going to be taken away if she doesn't change her mind, so he barrels forward in telling Arthur what he's learned. The whole time, he's keeping his eye on Mama.</p><p>"Oh was our conversation confidential?"</p><p>Finally she relents. She tells Arthur to keep the format as it is. Johnny is very proud "Ah! A Mother's Love!"</p><p>The final scene of the series takes place the next morning in Andy's office. He is nursing a terrible hangover. As the staff starts filtering into his office, he thanks the guys for talking Mama out of changing the format and Johnny gives all the credit to Mr. Carlson. He has spun the story that she has decided to believe in her son's decision making and faith in the format. But then Andy started to wonder why everyone is coming into his office. </p><p>It's a party for Andy! He missed the first one and everyone wants to congratulate Andy for turning the station around and making everything great at WKRP! Even Herb is thrilled to present Andy with a congratulatory cake. But he trips on Les' tape recorder and throws the cake, covering Andy! As the credits role, each staff member trickles out of the office, including a hung over Venus who crawls away. Finally like a naughty boy, Johnny scoops a handful of cake off and skips away as Andy sits alone and stunned, covered in his own cake. This is the life that one day before Andy had fought so hard to keep.</p><p>I think it's wonderful that, after everything we've watched, "WKRP in Cincinnati" end with a classic,old fashioned, lowbrow cake-in-the-face gag!</p><p>Roy</p><p>Other notes: Charles von Sanker was played by Nicholas Hormann. He is mostly a theatre actor with over 75 credits on IMDB, mostly in TV guest spots. Sadler, Selman and Cardone is a made-up radio consulting firm. This is George Gaynes' ONLY directing credit. You would recognize his from "Police Academy," "Punky Brewster" even a guest shot on the "Jennifer Home for Christmas" episode of WKRP. But his closest connection to the show is he was the real-life husband of Carmen Carlson, Allyn Ann McLerie!</p><p>I want to thank everyone who took some time to read any or all of the blog posts. I have made nothing from it but friends, so I feel very rich indeed. Thank you all! May the good news be yours.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Roy Penneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06127773923455609042noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027289929331115541.post-56624616360364354512020-12-16T18:46:00.001-08:002020-12-19T17:46:09.257-08:00Ep. 87 - To Err Is HumanDecember 15, 2020<br /><br />Writer: Lissa Levin<br />Director: Linda Day<br />Original Air Date: April 14, 1982<div>***VERY IMPORTANT***<br />*** FAMOUSLY FUNNY***<br /><br /><p>Here's another episode that feels like two separate episodes stapled together, and those staples are a staple remover salesman! The first half is extremely funny but the second half comes off like a "very special" episode about treating the disabled with dignity, which although important, isn't really funny. </p><p>Should we even discuss how advertising shampoo on the radio is a ludicrous notion to begin with? So at least WKRP and the Soul Suds company are putting cardboard standees of Venus Flytrap and his laid back hair in every grocery store and and drug store in Cincinnati. The attention this will bring the station should be huge!</p><p>But Herb messed it all up by being greedy, cheap, lazy and incompetent. Instead of hiring a professional photographer, Herb paid himself to take the pictures of Venus with his own personal camera. Instead of checking up with the printers to proof their work, he was in his backyard barbequeing. So when Herb showed up that morning and is ushered into Mr. Carlson's office, he is faced with dozens of cardboard standees of himself saying "I'm Venus Flytrap and I use Soul Suds Shampoo."</p><p>As Mr. Carlson questions "This is a shampoo marketed EXCLUSIVELY to the hip, young black customer. So why am I looking at a picture of a really idiotic looking white man?" And later "We can't even tell how the shampoo works on you, Herb, because you've got a hat on!!"</p><p>Then Venus steps into Mr. Carlson's office. Nobody is quite sure how to react until suddenly, Venus screams and runs to attack Herb! The next couple of seconds before the credits may seem like nothing, but they really sum up how Herb survives at the station: Andy and Arthur literally come to Herb's defense, holding Venus back while Herb nonchalantly dusts off a standee, pretending to not notice the chaos in his wake.</p><p>The thrust of this episode is to see just how incompetent Herb can actually get. This whole stunt with Soul Suds has cost the station $5000 ( which is worth about $13,500 in 2020). Bailey asks Herb if he thinks he should be fired and he thinks he's surprising her by saying Yes. But Herb is confident and comfortable that management will never fire him. "Carlson is a marshmallow. Andy is too nice of a guy." Herb even dares Bailey to pretend to fire him and even she can't bring herself to do it. And that is Herb's whole argument. "Nobody ever gets fired around here."</p><p>But I'm getting ahead of myself. We're passing some very funny scenes, including the very first scene in the show. A salesman comes into the lobby trying all of his best lines to get past Jennifer to see Mr. Carlson. But she's heard them all before and each rejection is funnier than the last. How this gets woven in later is just great writing.</p><p>Coming back from the commercial, Johnny is playing the Soul Suds ad as Venus is walking down the hall dragging a Herb standee. He comes into the both and shows Johnny while the commercial says "so look for a life-sized poster of me wherever they sell Soul Suds shampoo." Hysterically Howard Hesseman waits and waits before telling Venus "You've got to stop using this stuff right away." The entire exchange in the booth is worth the price of admission on it's own, whether it's Johnny telling Venus he's now washed up as a black man or the end with Venus punching cardboard Herb in the face.</p><p>Getting back to Herb, Carlson confides to Jennifer that this time, he really is going to fire him. Jennifer knows he means it this time and she's shocked., because like Herb, she has come to believe that nobody ever gets fired from WKRP. Carlson asks her to send Herb in from the lobby. But Jennifer hatches a wacky scheme. She makes Herb go right away down to the offices of Hester Sherman, owner of Soul Suds to apologize and fix the situations and then she sends Les into Carlson's office to discuss the metric system for an hour and a half. She wants to distract Carlson, let him cool off and maybe Herb can right the ship.</p><p>This is where the first half of the show ends, the second half starts and two me, these feel like two totally different episodes that were jammed together. My notations calling this episode "Very Funny" and "Very Important" are all about the first half. Although the second half does have some funny things, there are some real jumps in logic and timing. Don't get too caught up trying to figure out for how long Herb, and then Jennifer are out of the office. But the split is so distinct, it occurs at the 11:35 mark of the episode.</p><p>That's when Herb walks into the offices of Hester Sherman, someone we have only heard described as "tough as nails..." twice! How has Herb never met this person before? How did he get the sale without knowing more about him. Herb is as rude to Sherman's receptionist as the first salesman was to Jennifer, but when she realizes he's the man on the standee, she sends him right in!</p><p>Sherman is blind. His guide dog barks at Herb loudly... dogs always know best. What comes next I think is only funny because it makes Herb look like a jackass; I don't believe Sherman is being belittled at all, but I do see the bullying taking place. Herb thinks he's being clever but he's obviously being a fool.</p><p>Herb obnoxiously "tests" Sherman to see if he really is blind. He waves his hand in front of his face. He spins in his chair. He takes papers off of Sherman's desk to pretend they are letter of praise from customers who love the standee. He pulls faces, shoots finger guns and even dances by the door. What is Herb thinking?!? He is so confident in his place in the world, he's not even offering the man behind one of his biggest accounts some basic human respect.</p><p>Sherman had already settled the issue with Andy on the phone but sarcastically tells Herb he's so delighted he came down there, he's going to call Andy up and change all that! Then he makes a face and shoots finger guns at Herb, indicating he's known what's been going on all along.</p><p>Andy had settled the issue with Soul Suds <u>not</u> pulling their ads, but Herb's visit changes that.</p><p>Jennifer now feels guilty because her wacky scheme has lost WKRP the client, so she goes to try to Sherman's office to change his mind with her feminine wiles.</p><p>This next bit in Sherman's lobby is the funniest bit in the second half and what ties the two sides together. Jennifer uses all the same tactics we saw used against her but Sherman's receptionist is as experienced as Jennifer and will not be fooled. So then Jennifer just waits... until that very same salesman comes in to see Mr. Sherman. So being <u>A</u> receptionist, she just sends him right in! In the confusion she gets into Sherman's office where, even blind, he knows this is a beautiful woman and agrees to meet with her. </p><p>Jennifer's treatment of Hester Sherman is the polar opposite of Herb's. She respectful, heartfelt and honest. She truthfully tells him "WKRP hires some people whole otherwise couldn't get jobs at another radio station." She also admits why she is fighting for a jerk like Herb: "I like him. It's crazy, but I like him." which is kind of what we saw in the "Fire" episode with them trapped in the elevator together.</p><p>But the episode quickly gets bogged down into a discussion of how the handicapped are perceived and treated by society. Sherman tells Jennifer "When you're handicapped, you're always trying to show the world you can be a little bit better. " The sentiment is nice, but it's not very funny. However, the worst thing about it is Jennifer relating being visually impaired with being beautiful.</p><p>"I'm a pretty blonde so when people meet me they naturally think I'm dumb." </p><p>"I didn't think that."</p><p>"Well, that's because you can see through all that." Jennifer jokes, and now the two of them are equals in society! But not really, right? I mean, I don't think most people think of being pretty and blonde as a handicap. Otherwise Loni Anderson would still be a brunette!</p><p>Very quickly, Sherman becomes as creepy as any salesman who has ever ogled Jennifer. "Can I feel your face?" Eeew. She rightly calls it out as "some sort of sightless come-on?"</p><p>When we get back to the station and everything has been sorted out (back to the arrangement Andy agreed on, I believe), we get the best call back of the show, and a bit of writing that takes this from a average to an above average episode. The original salesman comes back! He rightly tells Jennifer she owes him and she agrees, sending him into Mr. Carlson to pitch his "Super New Staple Remover," right after Carlson just finished discussing the metric system with Les. What should normally have been a one-off salesman-and-Jennifer joke to be quickly forgotten actually becomes a running gag that gooses the plot along and ties two separate plotlines together!</p><p>And that's how Herb kept his job!</p><p>Roy</p><p>Other Notes - Tom Sullivan was something of a celebrity in the late '70's and early '80's, primarily famous for being a blind musician and comedian. He appeared on many game shows and talk shows around that time, especially "The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson." A movie based on his memoir, both called "If You Could See What I hear," was released in in 1982 (same as this episode!) starting Marc Singer.</p><p>According to the Michael B. Kassel book, "America's Favorite Radio Station," this is the final episode actually filmed.</p><p>Also, we only see two people, but are there no black people working at Soul Suds Shampoo? </p><p>I don't usually write about all the music on an episode, but this episode includes the first network airplay for Huey Lewis and the News with "Do You Believe in Love."</p><p><br /></p></div>Roy Penneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06127773923455609042noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027289929331115541.post-29764434283089108512020-12-08T06:22:00.000-08:002020-12-08T06:22:36.085-08:00Ep. 86 - The Impossible Dream<p> December 8, 2020</p><br />Writer: Richard Sanders and Michael Fairman<br />Director: Nichlas Stamos<br />Original Air Date: April 7, 1982<br /><p><br /></p><p>When I started this blog, I was very hard on Richard Sanders. My memories of him were as someone who went out of his way to show he was acting. I then saw he had written five episodes of the show, most of which like "A Date With Jennifer" focus on Les. But over the seasons, I had somewhat mellowed on Sanders as I felt he had gracefully blended into the ensemble.</p><p>Then I watched "The Impossible Dream." This is Les' last real mark on the series and it end with Richard Sanders in a dress. Sigh.</p><p>The whole episode revolves around Les' birthday and with the major life changes Les wants to take on, I'm guessing it's suppose to be his 40th birthday (Sanders was 41 years old in real life). He has rashly decided to finally go out to New York City and break into big time broadcast journalism. He feels like it's now or never for him to give it try.</p><p>This is the modern version of the "Special Dream" he and his mother had shared that he would become a writer with the "New York Times." Oh yes, it is important to know that Les' mother has travelled to Cincinnati to celebrate her son's birthday. What influence has she had on this sudden decision?</p><p>There are a couple of obstacles in Les' way. The first is that he doesn't have any vacation time right now - Andy does. And as Andy will whine for the next ten minutes "There's an eight foot base with a two foot powder at Aspen!" I have no idea if Andy is suppose to know what that means.</p><p>The second, and certainly more pressing issue is that Les is not very good at journalism and has no idea what he's doing. Hundreds of journalists across America dream about what Les is dreaming, but they've put in the years of work to even have a chance at that kind of job. Les is giving himself a two week vacation to make that dream come true. Everyone, especially Andy, knows he's going to fail "They're going to ship him back in a body bag!" Andy says charitably.</p><p>Yet with this all happening, Jennifer decides to throw a surprise birthday party for Les, mostly so she can meet his mother. As cloying as the script is with Les' character, it gives Loni Anderson a lot to play with. It's always fun to see the cool, in-control Jennifer get frazzled and this party gives us that. She invites the staff over to her apartment for seven o'clock and tells Les to bring his mother by at eight.</p><div><p>However, Les arrives at the party before even 7 o'clock! She's not ready at all! Also, that's when Les tells Jennifer how much he hates birthdays, and begs her not to tell anyone else. That's about when Jennifer headache starts.</p><p>The rest of the staff starts to trickle in. Andy and Mr. Carlson are trying to think of the best way to tell Les not to go. Jennifer tells them not to mention Les' birthday. Herb shows up hoping he might be early and get some alone time with the hostess. Jennifer tells him not to mention Les' birthday. Johnny and Bailey show up with party hats and serpentina! She admits to Les that everyone knows it's his birthday, but now he's fine with it! The headache worsen.</p><p>This gives us her great delivery when Andy doesn't want to wear a party hat: "Put on the damned hat!"</p><p>Les is in a giddy mood. He's about to start an adventure and he has has a video audition reel made up to sell him in New York. He's had it professionally produced at "Twilight Video Arts," a client of Herb's. You have to remember, this is still a time when having a private video made was a big deal. You had to have money to even have a video player. So of course, Jennifer has five. Les is excited to get the gang's opinions.</p></div><div>But he doesn't even wait to hear they have to say. Cheaply made, it shows Les miss pronouncing President Reagan's name (he says REE-gan). The script is inane and opinionated. The wrong photos are shown on the screen behind him mixing up a car with an anteater. I like that Herb is sitting front and centre for the whole thing, loudly encouraging Les' name on the screen. But he's also the first to turn it off. Everyone know it is a disaster, unusable and, most sadly, an accurate portrayal of what Les Nessman would be like on the news.</div><p>Les is humiliated and runs out of the apartment. Jennifer turns back to her guests, giving up on the party she had planned and just says "Whaddya say guys? Triple vodkas all around?"</p><p>We know from Bailey earlier that Venus is on the air at the station and that's where Les winds up. I'm guessing he doesn't want to go back to his apartment and his mother quite yet. Venus is having Chinese food with two beautiful women in the control booth, but he has learned something from a couple of episodes ago. This is actually a meeting with his broker Adele and Tiffany his bookkeeper. And he really is having a business meeting this time! You tell Andy!</p><p>Venus is the first person to straight up ask Les "Why do you want to go to New York?" Venus is also the only person Les has asked "Do you think I'm good enough to go to New York?" Venus has fulfilled a "trusted advisor" role on the show before. Venus is also someone Les believes he can learn from.</p><p>Perhaps the best written joke in the episode occurs when Venus goes on the air and tells the audience "I hear you asking yourself Am I good enough? Should I take the chance? Will I Fail? Well, only you know your true worth. So seek not reflection in another's eyes." He then turns to Les and asking if that helps and Les replies "Oh I'm sorry Venus. I wasn't listening"</p><p>But the ladies are the most honest with him, telling him stories about how tough New York can be. Tiffany even says "Maybe those guys are just fifty times better than you are." Perhaps because they aren't his close friends, they can be a little most honest with Les. </p><p>Next morning, in the lobby, Carlson, Jennifer and Andy are wondering if Les really wen to New York. Johnny comments how when Bailey did the news this morning it's the first time it's made sense in years!</p><p>I'm about to reveal a sixty year old spoiler, so please be ready. At the end of the movie "Psycho," Norman Bates runs out wearing his dead old mother's dress. I'm telling you this to prepare you for the next shot.</p><p>In walks Richard Sanders wearing old woman drag- permed, grey wig, pinched glasses and white gloves. The audience howls with laughter. Johnny asks "Nessman, are you going to New York or San Francisco?"</p><p>"I'm Lester Nessman's mother. I came here on the bus!"</p><p>Les did not go to New York after all. His mother has come down to the station to blame them for putting these "silly ideas" about New York in his head and Mr. Carlson says he thought New York was her idea.</p><p>"Mothers don't create false expectations in their childrens' minds. Although, Lester would make an interesting anchorman, wouldn't he?" She grins and sounds like Mother Bates as she says it.</p><p>In a final trick, Herb walks in and like Johnny, he also thinks this is just Les in a dress. He mocks her and gooses her as she's leaving. The director, believing no one in the audience has ever seen a camera trick before, has Les angrily walking into the lobby a second later. See? It wasn't the same person after all!</p><p>Roy</p><p>Other notes - Every newsman Les mentions (Roger Mudd, Charles Kuralt) is or was a CBS newscaster. Even Andy asks are you going "to replace Dan Rather?" The end credits read "Mother Nessman as Herself"</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Roy Penneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06127773923455609042noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027289929331115541.post-76813702610184902572020-11-23T19:49:00.003-08:002020-11-23T19:49:31.134-08:00Ep 85 - The Creation of VenusNovember 23, 2020<br />
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Writer: Blake Hunter<br />
Director: Gordon Jump<br />
Original Air Date: March 31, 1982<br />
*** VERY IMPORTANT***<br />
<br />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.<div><br /></div><div>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.<br /><div><br /></div><div>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!</div><div>
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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.)</div><div><br /></div><div>So why would she consider him conservative?</div><div><br /></div><div>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?</div><div><br /></div><div>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!</div><div><br /></div><div>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.</div><div><br /></div><div>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!"</div><div><br /></div><div>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.</div><div><br /></div><div>Andy: "Well, that sucks."</div><div>Venus (offended): "It does not suck!, It's a Love sign, ruled by Venus."</div><div><br /></div><div>This is a really funny scene, with each line adding another joke while still explaining to origin of the nom de airwaves.</div><div><br /></div><div>Andy: "Okay, what's the first thing you think of when you hear the word "Venus?"</div><div>Venus: "Flytrap"</div><div>Andy: "Like the plant that eats bugs? Don't be an idiot."</div><div><br /></div><div>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." </div><div><br /></div><div>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.</div><div><br /></div><div>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.</div><div><br /></div><div>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.</div><div><br /></div><div>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!"</div><div><br /></div><div>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!<br /></div><div>
<br />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.</div><div><br /></div><div>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.</div><div><br /></div><div>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."</div><div><br /></div><div>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<br />
<br />[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."<br />
<br />"And you Mr. Travis collect baseball cards. And you wet the bed until you were seven."</div><div><br /></div><div>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</div><div><br /></div><div>Roy</div><div><br /></div><div>Other Notes: This episode was directed by Gordon Jump. It is his only directing credit on IMDB.</div><div>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.</div><div>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<br /><br />
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<br /></div></div>Roy Penneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06127773923455609042noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027289929331115541.post-17592916125981885112020-11-16T15:05:00.000-08:002020-11-16T15:05:04.439-08:00Ep. 84 - Dear LiarNovember 16, 2020<br />
<br />
Writer: Steve Marshall<br />
Director: Frank Bonner<br />
Original Air Date: March 24, 1982<br />
*** VERY IMPORTANT***<br />
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A Prologue before I begin: With this episode, we are now into the final six episodes of the original "WKRP in Cincinnati." Various interviews and sources indicate that the cast and crew were pretty sure, if not certain, this would be the end of the series. As such, it seems to me the team we've come to love and respect who made this show, knew they wanted to go out on a high mark. There are ideas the writers wanted to get out. There are performances the actors wanted to sink their teeth into. There are character and story arcs the creators wanted to finish.<br />
I think it helps to understand and break down this and the following episodes with that fact in mind.<br />
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There is a LOT going on with this episode. It could easily have been two completely separate episodes - one about plagiarism and the other about integrity. A couple of episodes ago, with "Circumstantial Evidence," I wrote about the feeling that the writers ran out of time to fit in all of their ideas. This episode does not suffer that fate. The fact that all the pieces fit so well together, while still delivering big laughs, is really a credit to Steve Marshall and the whole writing staff.<br />
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Also, this is Jan Smithers' best episode, hands down!<br />
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Now, after all that gushing, I'm going to tell you that the episode starts off with Les promoting a five part docu-series entitled "Rutabaga - The Vanishing Vegetable!" He has even brought in a rutabaga into the booth with him as a prop to shake in furious indignation, even though he's on the radio and no one can see it.<br />
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Of course, Andy doesn't want any part of this. WKRP is a rock station and he wants their news to have real weight in the community. A story... no, pardon me... a FIVE PART DOCU-SERIES about rutabaga does not fit in with those goals (I've written elsewhere about why he would care about the news department of a rock station, so I won't repeat those thoughts here). As Johnny labels it, Les' stories always seem to have a "barnyard aroma" to them and Andy, quite bluntly asks Les why "you never seem to do any PEOPLE stories." I think there is a whole episode and therapy session to be had discussing why Les feels more comfortable discussing vegetables and pigs than the people in his city.<br />
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Andy happens to have a "people piece" he wants him to do: the Northside Children's Clinic, a pet project of Mama Carlson. The Clinic has been running into funding issues lately. Les truly does not care about the problems of sick kids. He sees that kind of heart tugging story as hokey and not worth his time. But the biggest issue for Les is that this docu-series is going to be his entry for this year's Buckeye NewsHawk Award (which as we learned in Ep.9 "Mama's Review," is awarded to "the best news story specifically about, or related to, tap root production in the Tri-State area and some areas of West Virginia"). THAT is his motivation - winning another award. For Les, it's not about community outreach or helping others. It's about the acclaim he can receive. That's important to keep in mind later in the episode.<br />
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Les complains to Bailey that Andy is making him do this hospital story and she says she'd be willing to do it. At first, he really does think it's too boring to do, but Bailey's enthusiasm to be able to get a piece on the air gets Les' more sinister side going. He can get Andy off his back with the hospital story, dangle the chance for Bailey to read it on the air to get her to do it, and all the while work on his prized rutabaga story. Oh, and don't forget, Andy is also dangling the idea that if Mama Carlson likes the story, Les could finally get walls for his office. For Les, it's a win-win-win-walls situation.<br />
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Inadvertently, Les gives Bailey her motivation in the story. He says if it's good enough, maybe he'd let her do it on the air. So in her mind, it can't be stale "It'll be the best darn story you ever read!" she promises him and she is way more genuine in making that promise than Les is in making his promise to her. But that's just another sign of Bailey's naivete.<br />
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We have just gone over all of this, and we aren't even into the main plot of the episode yet! Yikes!!<br />
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Bailey goes down to the Northside Children's Clinic and meets their Chief Administrator Edna Perkins. Her office is constantly busy with people running in and out, telephones ringing and Edna arguing on the phone about the prices of laundry service. She is stressed, tired and cynical all while trying to get enough funding to really make a difference in the lives of these sick kids. Into this situation comes fresh-faced Bailey Quarters, who says:<br />
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<i>"I would like to find out everything I can about your operation. Then I'll be able to write my story and solve your problem."</i><br />
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Bailey honestly believes that's how journalism works, how the world works; that once she's identified a problem and told it well enough, the problem we be solved. Maybe I'm stressed, tired and cynical myself but it's hard to believe any college graduate who has hung out with Johnny Fever as much as Bailey has would think that identifying a problem itself will cause people to take action to solve a problem. Those are two very different things.<br />
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Edna Perkins running the hospital knows this isn't true and that Bailey is in for a stark awakening. But for whatever reason, she takes Bailey on a tour of the six hospital wards<br />
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Then we are back at the station, with Bailey looking over the typewriter. We never see the hospital or any kids. But we can tell she has been very effected by what she saw. She is distracted in her own thoughts when Jennifer comes into the bullpen. The two of them go to lunch and Bailey is rambling on about what she saw at the clinic.<br />
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So now to follow the story, we need to watch the timeline. Bailey and Jennifer go to lunch at noon, while Les is giving his noon report. During this, he is reading the first of his five-part rutabaga series. Andy is furious! He literally backs Les up against the wall to say this is important to Mama Carlson and he must do the hospital story at 2 o'clock. If he does, he can still do the rutabaga story at 4 o'clock. Les has less than two hours to come up with a story when he hasn't even gone to the hospital! Bailey doesn't get back to the station until 2 o'clock and we know this because Les is already on the air reading the story when she and Jennifer get back (It's always good to go to lunch with Jennifer, because then no one will yell when you take a two hour lunch break).<br />
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After his confrontation with Andy, Les doesn't know what to do... until he finds Bailey's story in his typewriter. Her note book is right beside it. It's all there. And we know he doesn't even bother to check it over before he reads it on the air, or he never would have made the "bearing children" gaff.<br />
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As Bailey promised, it's the best darn story he's ever read. It's shows personality and emotion. Bailey really took in all the patients she saw at the hospital. We only hear the last minute or so of the story, but even with Les' typically wacky reading, it's an emotional story, wrapped up with a simple flower picture handed to her by Bobby, a 10-year old boy unable to speak. His spirit of generosity is stronger than his disability. It's a beautiful capper to the story Les presents.<br />
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Bailey is furious at Les for reading her story and tells Jennifer, who assumes this is another instance of Bailey not standing up for herself. She tells Bailey to go back, confront Les and tell Andy what he did. But Bailey doesn't want to do that. Jennifer insists but Bailey wants this all to go away, and that's when she confesses... The story is a fake. There is no flower picture... and no Bobby.<br />
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Jennifer's first thought is the station could loose its license over this, and I don't really see that being the problem. I can't imagine the FCC shutting down a station that already threw live turkeys from helicopter for a fake flower drawing. But it does raise the dramatic tension as we go to commercial.<br />
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We come back to a scene that was cut from syndication! (Thank you Shout Factory) Les presents Mr. Carlson with 3 estimates from contractors to build his walls. Carlson tells him he's getting a $25 / week raise that he doesn't seem to care about. Mama wanted him to get a raise because of how good the story is. Carlson suggested walls might be a good idea for Les... padded walls.<br />
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This scene usually opens at the point when Jennifer walks in to say the Cincinnati Enquirer called. They want to run the story, verbatim, in tomorrow's Features section. Jennifer, knowing the story is fake, suggests maybe they shouldn't because maybe it's exploiting the boy. But Andy sees this as a huge opportunity for WKRP to make an impact in the community.<br />
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Les might be more excited about getting a story into print than he is about getting walls! Remember, his motivation through all of this is acclaim and a published story is even more impressive than a Buckeye NewsHawk Award. Bailey congratulates him sarcastically, and shamed, Les offers to share the byline with Bailey. He apologizes later in private for stealing the story, promising he'll never do it again. But he SOOOO wants to be in the paper. He's even is willing to but the flower picture from Bailey... for Ten Dollars! And that's when the truth comes out.<br />
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Nothing good can happen to WKRP without it coming with a moral quandary. Andy and Mr. Carlson both have there heads in their hands as they hear the news. Les stands with them as if he has the moral high ground. Once he forces Bailey to confess what she's done, Les proclaims "The journalistic integrity of my news department has been compromised!"<div><br /></div><div>That leads to the best joke in the episode. In trying to defend Bailey against Les' attack Andy tells Les "I want you to go to your desk, get out your dictionary and look up the word "Plagiarism." Of course, in the heat of the argument, Les says "Alright!" and leaves the office to do just that. The capper is when he returns after the audience has forgotten about him to literally read the definition of plagiarism straight from the dictionary, and that it is "something plagiarized".</div><div><br /></div><div>Finally Andy and Bailey are alone to really discuss what happened. As Edna had thought, Bailey wasn't ready for how many children she saw or how serious their injuries and illnesses were. "I couldn't pick out just one and I couldn't begin to describe them all so I just put them all into... Bobby."</div><div><br /></div><div>Bailey is ready to fall on her sword. The journalistic integrity argument is one she can't get over. But Andy is successful with a crazy station like WKRP because he doesn't see the world in such blacks and whites. "This is the station that's employed Herb Tarlek for the last 16 years," he tells her. "Don't talk to me about integrity." As is his job, Andy is going to make everything all right.</div><div><br /></div><div>
But then he has a little throw away line that, I think, might have really been an interesting idea if the show had gone on another season. Andy warns Bailey "You ever do that again, you'll be the best looking reporter on the unemployment line." And she coyly looks back at him and smiles. "Best looking?"</div><div><br /></div><div>Andy nods and smiles as Bailey leaves. </div><div><br /></div><div>I'm going off on a tangent here, but wouldn't Bailey and Andy make a more logical couple than Bailey and Johnny? Could there be love triangle in the station? Which side would Venus support? It's all speculation now but, I'm just saying, their kids would have great hair!<br />
<br />The newspaper still wanted to run the article, because they realized what everyone else should have realized: it's not about the flower picture! It's about a children's hospital in the middle of their city that is facing a funding crisis. That's why Mama Carlson wanted a story about it in the first place. The feature ran entirely under Bailey's name, with prologue stating the character of Bobby was a composite of the children she met that day.<br />
<br />At that moment Edna comes in to thank Bailey with 87 flower pictures for Bailey, saying the story brought in "over six thou in new donations this morning" which is just fantastic late '70's slang. Nobody says "Thou" for one thousand anymore and maybe we should. </div><div><br /></div><div>Jan Smithers gets to do a little of everything we've ever seen her do in this one episode: she the optimistic do-gooder saving the Flimm building; she is the angry fighter telling Les and Herb to shut up; she's the caregiver getting a Russian to Cleveland. Smithers does it all here and does it all naturally. I believe it is her best performance</div><div>
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Roy<br />
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Other Notes: Edna is played by Barbara Cason, who appeared on dozens of TV shows including "Trapper John, MD" "All in the Family" and played Garry Shandling's mother on "It's Garry Shandling's Show,"<br /><br />The entire "integrity" angle is a reflection of the story of Washington Post report Janet Cooke, who won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing in 1981 for "Jimmy's World" about an 8-year old Heroin addict. She is the only person to have had to return a Pulitzer, once it was discovered the story had been fabricated, along with many of her credentials.. She was fired and never went back to journalism again<br />
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<br /></div>Roy Penneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06127773923455609042noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027289929331115541.post-64461414837041518722020-07-02T19:30:00.002-07:002020-07-02T19:34:33.340-07:00Ep. 83 - FireJuly 2, 2020<br />
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Writer: Dan Guntzelman<br />
Director: Will MacKenzie<br />
Original Air Date: March 17, 1982<br />
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Since starting this blog, I have learned there is a small but passionate subsection of the WKRP in Cincinnati fan base who are obsessed with the layout of the office. Where do the halls lead? Where is Andy's office in relation to Mr. Carlson's office. For them, this episode is a treasure-trove of information. For the rest of us, not so much.<br />
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"Fire" is like a combination of two earlier episodes: Ep. 12 "Tornado" and Ep. 37 "Put Up or Shut Up." In "Tornado," we see how each member of the staff respond in an emergency (spoiler: Herb is a coward), giving each cast member a couple of minutes to show their reaction to the same events. In "Put Up or Shut Up," Jennifer finally goes on a date with Herb. In the course of that episode, the two of them share secrets and become vulnerable with each other, resulting in them having a deeper friendship. Both of these things happen in this episode, but not as well as those original episodes.<br />
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Everyone is going home on a Friday night. Andy going to the Bahamas with a stewardess for weekend of snorkelling (I guess he doesn't need the "I'll Take Romance Computerized Dating Service" anymore!) that he's desperate for people to ask him about, but he's trying to come off as coy and humble. This comes off as if Andy is writing a letter to Penthouse magazine.<br />
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In a real nod to history, Bailey needs to deposit her paycheque as soon as possible so the other cheques she has written in the past couple of weeks won't bounce. Kids, cheques were these things people would write out to other people (usually in cursive) as an instruction for a bank to give some of your money to the person/company receiving the cheque. You would even receive a cheque as your payment from work! All this was before direct deposits or interact payments.<br />
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There's even a concrete reason for Johnny to be in the building this late at night - he read his clock wrong and is 12 1/2 hours early. Usually he or Venus just... happen to be there. Venus is there to begin his shift. And Mr. Carlson is just going home.<br />
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Suddenly there is the smell of smoke and a bunch of fire trucks are surrounding the building. Johnny says he doesn't know what's happening because, as he was coming through the lobby "everything was... kinda foggy." The Flemm Building is on fire!!<br />
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Well not the whole building, just an office on the fifth floor. But someone down there has opened a fire door, blocking the stairwells with smoke, and the elevator has broken down... with Jennifer and Herb trapped inside!<br />
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This sounds like the beginning of Herb's Penthouse letter. At first he's thrilled to be trapped with Jennifer. But then they are told there is a fire in the building and Herb starts to panic! He becomes claustrophobic and starts taking off his clothes. Jennifer tries to remain calm and be the adult in the room, but she is scared too.<br />
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Back up on the ninth floor, the gang is panicking. The fire warden for the floor is... Mr. Carlson. He wanted to wear the firefighters' hat. So that really means Andy is in charge. After speaking with the fire chief, he takes Venus' Security Hose (there's a phrase!) and looks for a volunteer to lower down onto the elevator car. The suddenly energized Dr. Fever decides to "leap into the jaws of danger" for reasons probably best described as "the writers wanted to lower Johnny down an elevator shaft."<br />
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Just as an aside, this is the episode that proves to me that, if WKRP were in the real world, Les would have been the most successful radio personality to have survived the 80's. A right-wing conspiracy theorist who can take a small event (like an office fire) and sensationalize it into a headline grabbing delirium (a towering inferno!). We are seeing the beginnings of a conservative talk radio host like Rush Limbaugh or Morton Downey jr. emerging from Cincinnati's "News Beacon."<br />
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Back down in the elevator, Herb says he knows why this is happening: "God wants me out of the way and He's burning down a whole building to do it. He's been working on this all my life. The heart trouble? I've had it. Drinking problem? That's me. Real Estate? I bought a home in the only neighbourhood in the whole world where the property values have gone down. My best friend is Les. Lucille thinks sex is a reward."<br />
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Both to calm him down and because she really is frightened, Jennifer asks Herb to put his arm around her. Then she tells him a secret: she didn't have any big weekend plans; she was just going to go home...alone... and read a trashy romance novel! I think we the audience are suppose to be much more shocked by this revelation. Herb is! But I think we are too familiar with the troupe of the beautiful, lonely woman to be very surprised. Herb's confession is that he tells every man he meets that he and Jennifer are together on the side. I always assumed he was doing that already.<br />
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These are Herb's and Jennifer's big revelations to each other, and as far as revelations go, they've each had more personal conversations in other episodes.<br />
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Then Johnny sticks his head through the top of the elevator car. He's learned he could just climb the emergency ladder down to them. Strangely emboldened by his success and hero's welcome, Johnny turns his attention to the control panel on which he somehow electrocutes himself. like a cartoon character, to bring the elevator back up to the gang.<br />
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Everyone is relieved and excitedly telling each other about their part in the story. The fire chief calls to let them know it's now safe to leave. But there's a bit of a let down after the adrenaline rush of the fire and everyone just sort of awkwardly leaves for the evening as they originally planned to.<br />
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Except for Herb. He takes the stairs<br />
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Awkward might be the best description of this episode. It's not wacky enough to be really funny. It's not vulnerable enough to be very touching. Much like the Friday night depicted, something happens and then it ends.<br />
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Roy<br />
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Other Notes: Is Hugh Wilson the voice of the Fire Chief? There is no credit given, but it sort of sounds like him. Does anyone know? "The Towering Inferno" is a movie from 1974 that the writers and audience would have been very familiar with. It stars... everybody and was the highest grossing film of the year. It is about a burning skyscraper that is a little taller than the Flemm Building... 135 stories tall!<br />
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<br />Roy Penneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06127773923455609042noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027289929331115541.post-77953712781453813792020-05-22T09:33:00.000-07:002020-05-22T09:33:28.507-07:00Ep. 82 - Circumstantial EvidenceMay 22, 2020<br />
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Writer: Tim Reid and Peter Torokvei<br />
Director: Frank Bonner<br />
Original Air Date: February 24, 1982<br />
*** VERY IMPORTANT***<br />
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I have no evidence to back this up, but here's what I think happened while making this episode: writers Tim Reid and Peter Torokvei wanted to write a script that focused on Big Ideas, like racial inequality in the justice system and the power of faith in times of crisis. They also wanted it to be really funny, with a set piece for all of the cast members to be on a witness stand and a clever opening in which Reid would be the receiver of romantic advances, rather than his usual persuer role. There were a lot of ideas to be touched on but when the script came back, it was about 10-15 minutes too long. So someone, whether the producers or the network or the writers themselves decided that the parts to leave in were the comedy bits and give short shrift to the Big Ideas.<br />
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This makes the ending seemed rushed; maybe even a little confusing.<br />
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The opening is simple and a play on a long running joke: Venus has snuck a woman up to the station late at night during his shift. He has even pre-recorded the show to spend more intimate time with the lovely Jessica Langtree. She gives Venus a diamond earring. "This is a gift?" he asks, and she says what turns out to be her most honest line in the episode "You're not too perceptive. I like that in a man."<br />
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To Venus' confusion, Jessica walks out in the middle of their date. He doesn't know what happened until two police officer come to the station. Jessica has been arrested and named Venus as her accomplice in a string of jewellery store robberies. Johnny, in disguise visits Venus in holding and explains the situation, to both him and us. Jessica was stopped with the stolen jewellery and Venus is suspected because he is the one who snuck her past the building's security guards.<br />
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That's a lot just in the first few minutes of the show.<br />
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Frank Bonner gives us some nice direction by using the very funny sight of Johnny in a fake beard, in the visitors' room of the jail as a vehicle to deliver a lot of exposition to the audience. The "dancing vs. boxing" routine provides a good shorthand as to how far out of his element Venus is in jail.<br />
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Oh, and by the way... Venus is right. Jennifer should absolutely be the person to get him a lawyer, not Mr. Carlson. But that would have ended the show in three minutes.<br />
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Max Wright returns as WKRP's Mama-provided lawyer, Mr. Bartman, and he goes through a painfully drawn out explanation on the definition of circumstantial evidence. But he begins this speech by saying "The law is set up by, and for, our society as a whole." I'm sure he, and any other lawyer of his generation was taught that very phrase on Day One of law school. But look who he's saying that to... a room full of white people. This is not a coincidence. This is a message the writers are trying to get across to the audience. Unfortunately, it is even more strongly felt by today's audience. There is no point, from the moment Venus gets handcuffed in his own workplace to here, that we believe he is not in danger from the system. Not just at it's mercy, but really threatened by what is about to happen to him.<br />
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What is about to happen is only a preliminary hearing to determine if the state has enough evidence to proceed with a trial. We're not even at the trial stage yet, but the feeling of danger against Venus is real.<br />
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Bartman wants the whole WKRP staff to act as character witnesses at the hearing (except for Les, unless things go bad, which of course means we are going to see Les on the stand) and this is just a blatant excuse to get everyone on the witness stand. In a real hearing, only Andy has anything relevant to say about the night in question.<br />
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In the courtroom, we learn Venus has been charged with five counts of burglary, one count of possession of stolen property, conspiracy to commit a felony and pandering. That's quite a bit. Venus is in even more danger.<br />
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The lawyer (as well as the officer who handcuffed Venus) is black and that is not an accident. This lawyer is part of the system that is attacking Venus; it is not the lawyer himself who is attacking. He's doing his job to the best of his abilities and as we will soon see, he's doing a pretty good job.<br />
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The first witness called is Miss Langtree and even both Carlson and Herb say they like her on sight. This is another commentary - if these two white men didn't personally know Venus, they would have pre-judged Langtree as someone they liked before she had even said a word! She claims that she was a "victim of love" who would do whatever Venus told her to do. Venus makes himself look reckless by jumping up and yelling that she's lying. But this causes the whole courtroom, including his own lawyer, to look unfavourably at Venus.<br />
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"I'm not going to sit here and let her lie!" Venus tells his lawyer. "You have to. This is a court of law!"<br />
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As predicted, the staff's testimony only goes to wreck Venus' credibility. Carlson admits the composite police sketch does look like Venus. Bailey is condesending to the judge and goes off on a tangent about killing baby seals (?!?) Johnny is asked if he himself has ever been arrested and we cut to Jennifer before we ever get his answer.<br />
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The most damning testimony comes from Venus' best friend Andy, verifying Venus had used the prerecorded tape of his show for an hour (maybe? maybe more?) and that he couldn't confirm where Venus was during that time. Andy feels terrible about it.<br />
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Back on the stand, we get a couple of callbacks to past episodes. Herb tells the story from ep. 66 "Nothing to Fear but..." of when Venus pulled a gun on Andy. Then Les (who was only being called upon if they were going for a mistrial) repeats the store from ep. 44 "Filthy Pictures pt 2" of the gang breaking into the photographer's studio.<br />
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Finally, Venus takes the stand. He makes a good point that the composite picture is of a black man with a beard. But then he starts to bury himself. He claims the worst thing he ever did was worked on Nixon's campaign because "a good-looking girl asked him to."<br />
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The judge rules there is enough evidence, circumstantial as it may be, to proceed to grand jury. Bail is set at $200,000.<br />
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The rest of the episode runs only about four minutes and is interrupted by a commercial break. This is where, I feel, all the big ideas get jammed in together. I remember watching this episode in syndication as a teenager and not understanding what was happening. It's all too rushed.<br />
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Venus is led to the elevator by one of the arresting officers. Venus once again pleads his innocence, but the cop isn't buying it. "I've never seen an innocent man go in. It just don't work that way, my friend." Next, Venus is mumbling to himself and the cop asks "What are you doing? Some sort of Muslim thing?" "Praying to my God" answers Venus.<br />
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Stop right there! There's a lot in that exchange. First go Google InnocenceProject.org about "it just don't work that way." Second, I understand that in 1982, the American public at large didn't know as much about Muslim culture as they do today, but even back then wouldn't "some sort of Muslim thing?" come off as offensive? It sounds as dismissive as "some sort of plantation voodoo thing that gets paint off a frog." Third, although we know Venus is a spiritual man, as is Tim Reid himself, answering with "praying to <u>my</u> God" seems very "other" as if his God is superior to whatever God the cop might be worshipping.<br />
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Back to the scene. The elevator doors open and Venus, lead by his police officer and Jessica Langtree, lead by her officer get on board. Just as the doors start to close, a third officer calls for them to hold it. He brings on a third person, who stands next to the still praying Venus. The cop looks at both of them, then over to Langtree who is clearly flustered, then back to the two men. They are identical. And what has this new bearded black man been arrested for? Jewellery store heist. The audience gasps and we go to commercial.<br />
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The epilogue is so long, a good chunk of the credit roll through it. Venus is back in the bullpen with Carlson, Andy, Johnny and Les. He explains Langtree was the ringleader of the jewellery heists all along and had tricked the doppelganger the same way she had tricked him. He calls it "a miracle - pure and simple."<br />
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I wish this had been a two part episode and if WKRP hadn't been on the verge of cancellation at the time it was recorded, it might have been. There was a lot of humour that could have come out of the Venus-doppelganger idea., or more conspiracy theories from Les about the justice system. I guess I mean to say that the writers chose to go a punchier, more targeted direction like boxing and I would have preferred a little more dancing.<br />
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Roy<br />
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Other Notes - So many important guest stars! First among them, Daphne Maxwell played Jessica Langtree. She has had a long and successful career, as a regular on "Simon and Simon" and Tim's Reid own "Frank's Place" and most famously as the second Aunt Viv on "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air." But by that time, her credits read as Daphne Maxwell-Reid and she has been Mrs. Venus Flytrap since 1982. If you were trying to remember where you had seen Venus' arresting officer before, try picturing him with a Russian accent. Michael Pataki played Ivan the Russian defector in ep. 39 "The Americanization of Ivan."<br />
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<br />Roy Penneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06127773923455609042noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027289929331115541.post-78965803589668189322020-04-26T13:30:00.000-07:002020-04-26T13:30:10.114-07:00Ep. 81 - I'll Take RomanceApril 26, 2020<br />
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Writer: Lissa Levin<br />
Director: Asaad Kelada<br />
Original Air Date: February 17, 1982<br />
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Sometimes WKRP tackles important socio-political issues through the lens of comedy and sometimes it's a funny show about nerd on a date. This episode is one of the second ones. It seems every season there is an episode about Les with a woman, whether he's wearing a MACO toupee to a date with Jennifer, or inviting a groupie over to his apartment. Somehow we are always supposed to be shocked by this event because Les is just so... Les. But honestly, we've seen more dates for Les than we have for pretty boy workaholic Andy.<br />
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More about Andy at the end of this episode.<br />
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It is time for the Cincinnati Broadcasters Dinner Dance which strangely Carmen Carlson never seems to be able to attend. Who wouldn't want to hear two hours of guests speaking about radio ad rates? Jennifer remembers each cold and flu Carmen has used to get out of this event with Arthur, but Jennifer is able to reschedule the christening of a ship in order to attend with Mr. Carlson.<br />
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Carlson wouldn't have had to ask Jennifer he he had just used's Herb's new client, the "I'll Take Romance" Dating Service, wherein you fill out a questionnaire and a computer finds your perfect match.<br />
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Here is a real time capsule of attitudes towards computers in 1982. The very idea that someone would use a computer to find love seems desperate or cold in some way to the staff. The general sense is that it's not a natural or loving way to find someone. Proof of how weird it is comes simply from the fact that they are one of Herb's clients. However in our world, as of 2017, research found 39% of American heterosexual couples had met online.<br />
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The entire staff has ideas about how computers work that seem to come from sci-fi movies. Jennifer says Les' date is "programmed to like you." Today, if you are reading this blog, you have a computer. Most of us carry a computer in our pockets that are more powerful anything from 1982. Computers are a safer, more natural way for new couples to interact today than the answer Andy has from his time "I pick [women] up in bars."<br />
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The action of the story is that Herb has filled out a questionnaire but put Les's name on it, so he could see who he would get matched up with. With the Broadcaster's Dance coming up, it's a perfect reason for Les to need a date.<br />
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But Les is just as frightened of what a computer might match him with as anyone else. "I'm a complicated man," he tells Herb and Johnny. "I need a complicated woman."<br />
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While rewatching this episode, I kept thinking why isn't Mr. Carlson inviting Bailey to the dance since she is the one who might be interested and would be able to "network" with other Cincinnati broadcasters. She is friendly with and, respected by Mr. Carlson and she could certainly feel safe with him. So I was pleased to see this very notion being addressed when Andy invites Bailey, using the same logic. But it's really only as a last result because none of the "four women" Andy is currently dating wanted to attend because "the event...is dull as hell." Bailey was really just Andy's last resort, and even SHE turns him down to go to the movies with Johnny.<br />
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So Andy gives his tickets to Les so he has a place to take his computer date.<br />
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Les still has his reservations and these are another of those early 80's time capsule issues. He genuinely asks Jennifer "What if she's one of those "feminists"?" with some real distain in his voice. He follows up by asking "Do we still hold chairs out for <u>them</u>?" as if 1) Jennifer isn't one of "them" and 2) women are a whole other species to be mistrusted. Those are questions that would NOT get asked today. Still the show reveals the true connection between Les and Lorraine later when he does hold out her chair and she sincerely thanks him.<br />
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But I'm getting ahead of the reveal! The whole staff nonchalantly find themselves in the lobby at the time Les' date is suppose to arrive. Lorraine enters and everyone is stunned that THIS beautiful woman is the computer match.<br />
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A couple of notes about Johnny in this episode and how shabbily he treats Bailey. When Herb is trying to convince Les to take out his computer match, Johnny seems eager to step in to take her out. Later when Johnny sees Jennifer in her gown, he stares at her agog IN FRONT OF BAILEY. He does the same when Lorraine herself shows up. In fact, the only thing that causes Johnny to leave is when Bailey reminds him she's paying for the movie. There are a lot of Bailey fans out there who would say Johnny is blind to what he already has.<br />
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I'm always surprised about the things Jennifer knows about that I wouldn't expect her to know about. We've seen in previous episodes she knows about kickback schemes and the names of the jailers in the Cincinnati vice tank. It really makes me feel a lot happened between her arriving from Rock Throw, WV and starting work at WKRP. In this episode, she reveals her knowledge of the inner workings of prostitution.<br />
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Lorraine reveals her true profession to Jennifer, because she think Jennifer is the full time "escort" for Mr. Carlson. Lorraine is a hooker and "I'll Take Romance" is just a front for prostitution. Knowing this gives us a lot of comedy, as Jennifer is now uncomfortable throughout the date. Should she tell Les, who is obviously having a wonderful night?<br />
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She tells Herb the next day, who has a fantastic retort when Jennifer asks him if he knows what this means. "It means I wasted a $200 hooker on Nesman"<br />
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She confides what's she's learned to Bailey who responds "Maybe Les is the man that will turn this girl around and make her leave that sort of life forever!" Jennifer is shocked by that naivete and asks Bailey what movie she and Johnny saw. "Cinderella!"<br />
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Finally, Jennifer pins Les down to tell him. He's been in exuberant spirits believing that he may have finally found his perfect match. But the more Jennifer tries to soft pedal her revelation, the more upset he becomes. He asks Jennifer if she thinks he's not worthy of Lorraine. "I'm trying to tell you Lorraine's not worthy of you."<br />
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Next comes the funniest line of this episode, and a classic Nesman-ism:<br />
"Les I'm talking about the oldest profession."<br />
"Lorraine's a farmer?"<br />
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Les is shocked and heartbroken. But Jennifer is just as shocked to learn Lorraine has asked Les out on a date herself. She told him she doesn't often meet men who just want to talk. Today, we know we are watching one of the final episodes of the show and there is never any additional talk of Les' love life after this. I think it's kind of a romantic thought that maybe Les and Lorraine stayed together for a while. Maybe Bailey wasn't so far off after all.<br />
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But don't forget about Andy! At the end of the revelation scene, Andy drops an envelope into the out mail box. In the epilogue, which is probably a week later, Andy confides to Les that he himself had sent in a questionnaire to "I'll Take Romance," and had ALSO been matched up with Lorraine. He tries to do the noble thing, assuring Les "I would never take your girl, Les."<br />
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It's sort of insulting that Andy thinks he COULD take Les's girl. Andy is obviously not the type of guy she's interested in. But this does give Les the chance to sit Andy down and explain the Facts of Life.<br />
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Roy<br />
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Other Notes - A few episodes ago, when Herb had signed a different client that was just a front for selling over-the-counter uppers, the entire station came together to shut him down. This time, nobody is very concerned about the crime. The visual joke about Mr. Carlson's tuxedo doesn't really work. Is it that just the shoes are too small or the crotch of the pants? It fits too well to be a joke suit. Actress Livia Genise played Lorraine and has had an interesting career. She was in Hollywood for about 10 years, getting small roles in TV and movies. But she then moved to the Pacific Northwest where she became a regional theatre actor and director even up until today. She founded the Camelot Theatre in Talent, Oregon and is a very respecting acting veteran in the area.<br />
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<br />Roy Penneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06127773923455609042noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027289929331115541.post-35639461032078286932020-03-10T17:06:00.002-07:002020-03-10T17:06:54.630-07:00Ep. 80 - Jennifer and Johnny's CharityMarch 10, 2020<br />
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Writer: Blake Hunter<br />
Director: Will MacKenzie<br />
Original Air Date: February 3, 1982<br />
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America has now gone through one full year of Ronald Reagan as its President, and a year of Reaganomics - deep cuts in Social Services and deep tax cuts for the highest earners. The writers for WKRP have not been shy in taking swipes at Reagan this season. Just in the last episode, Herb gives a practiced speech about Trickle Down Economics which Jennifer calls "a little too good." But this is the first episode that takes this issue straight on and your political views probably shape how successful you think this episode is.<br />
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Right from the cold opening, we hear that the problems the Vine Street Mission has with rebuilding their kitchen after a fire swept through it, is the result os "a loss of Federal Funding." So the first half of the episode show that long standing WKRP trope of going from character to character to get their reactions to a situation. This time that situation is charity.<br />
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However, this time those reactions are as much a reflection of our characters political views as anything else. On the right side of the political spectrum, Les needed a little convincing, but eventually gives $10. Mr. Carlson offers $10 also, but is tricked by Johnny into donating $160, as is Andy. Carlson is fine spending literally sixteen times as much money on a toy for himself than giving that money to some charity of Johnny's. On the far side of the right is Herb, who says he doesn't believe in charity - that people should pull themselves up by their bootstraps ("like Venus did" which displays a different right wing view). He only decides to donate when Bailey tricks him into admitting he does claim to be charitable when he files his taxes!<br />
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Herb does bring up a point that the end of the episode is going to turn on. He thinks that people only give to charity so they can feel better about themselves.<br />
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On the left side of the spectrum, Bailey is not only donating, she's organizing the fund raising at the station. There was never a question she would donate. Venus is also willing to give, prepared to give triple of what Johnny is going to give (more in the Other Notes). Johnny gives what he can but he simply doesn't have that much to give. That's why he hangs out at the Mission in the first place - he needs the free meals.<br />
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Jennifer is happy to help, but stops when she figures she has already raised the $30,000 the kitchen needs. To the shock of everyone who is donating $10 or a little more, Jennifer is operating at a whole other level, where $30,000 is "a piece of cake." We are already seeing the income divide that would come to define politics and western economies in the 21st century.<br />
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Even the most generous of the WKRP staff has to consider how much they can afford to give. Jennifer and her friends operate in a whole other stratosphere. She knows just by throwing a little cocktail party with a couple of the right people, she can get $30,000 on one night. For everyone else on the staff, that's more than a year's salary.<br />
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The second half of the episode is the party in Jennifer's apartment. But wait! you say. Didn't Jennifer move into a house across the river last season? Yes, and the writers, in a great move of continuity explain away that small fact by commenting that she moved back when that whole neighbourhood was re-zoned to commercial. Most viewers wouldn't have remembered that, but it is wonderful someone on the writing staff cared (more than they do about the seemingly dozens of jobs Venus has held throughout his life, but I digress). The apartment is a far more opulent set than the house, which makes the later point of the episode more vivid.<br />
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What happens at Jennifer's party is little more than a pissing contest between two very rich men trying to one up each other and impress their own wives. Judge Randall offers a piece of land on which to build a new Mission. Mr. Mittenhoff ups him with a $50,000 donation towards the building of the Mission. Then the Judge matches that donation. And just like that, the Mission has three times as much money as they need.<br />
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Next, miscommunication rears its comedic head! Johnny, misunderstanding Jennifer from earlier, thinks bringing the people from the Mission to the party will help secure the money. Johnny operates in a world where all the stops need to be pulled out to get the kind of money he's looking for. Jennifer operates in a world where that kind of money is a rounding error. So Johnny brings Sheila, Charlie and Percy from the Mission and the rich people get to meet exactly the sort of people their money is going to. And those people are not impressed.<br />
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First of all, they don't want a new Mission built, and certainly not in the suburbs. "There are drunks out there looking for it.You can't move that thing a foot!" Next, they don't need that much money - they just need enough to rebuild the kitchen. They have ideas on how best to spend this money on themselves that are not in line with the fancy ideas of their benefactors.<br />
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Oddly, it is Jennifer who is most offended by the attitude of the Mission group. She feels they are being ungrateful to her friends. "I haven't heard a Thank you" she tells Johnny. Johnny feels the rich people are being condescending to his friends. "This is just chequebook charity," he says, thinking her friends just care about the tax deduction and not about the people involved.<br />
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It comes down to Sheila, speaking one on one with Mr. Mittenhoff to really get the heart of the situation because, as a former exotic dancer, she knows something about the way the world works (Herb had come to basically the same conclusion earlier in the episode and he is definitely not an exotic dancer, so I'm not sure what that really has to do with anything). She knows rich people like giving money because it's fun! "It's a kick," she says and we saw that plainly earlier at the party. "So see! Everybody gets what they want!"<br />
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Except the rest of the WKRP staff, who had no real need to be at this party, and all get shunted off to the kitchen while the real business of the episode is taking place anyway. As they proceed to set fire to her kitchen, Bailey concludes "this is just a very bad week for kitchens in Cincinnati."<br />
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Roy<br />
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Other Notes - Classic Les Nesman news bulletin as a "Monster Lizzard Ravages the East Coast." Listen to his entire report and notice that no other word would have used the letter B. The song "Come Together" is played during this episode, and it really sounds like the Beatles... but it's not. It's a cover band, which makes me wonder why Shout couldn't have used more cover bands for songs they couldn't clear.<br />
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<br />Roy Penneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06127773923455609042noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027289929331115541.post-50279379008845133322019-11-11T12:44:00.000-08:002019-11-11T12:44:02.911-08:00Ep. 79 - ChangesNovember 11, 2019<br />
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Writer: Peter Torokvei<br />
Director: Will MacKenzie<br />
Original Air Date: January 27, 1982<br />
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So now we have to talk about Tom Dressen.<br />
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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.<br />
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Then, almost 10 years later, on one of the most explicitly racial episode of "WKRP in Cincinnati," the pair were back together.<br />
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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!<br />
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Exploring those ideas through the two most fashion conscience characters is a good idea.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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."<br />
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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?<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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!<br />
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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!"<br />
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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."<br />
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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."<br />
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That's what Herb should read on a T-shirt.<br />
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Roy<br />
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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 <u>two</u> accents in this episode: first as a jive talkin' black dude and the second as a southern belle<br />
<br />Roy Penneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06127773923455609042noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027289929331115541.post-76408468742204426132019-10-14T12:55:00.000-07:002019-10-14T12:55:06.216-07:00Ep. 78 - PillsOctober 14, 2019<br />
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Writer: Steve Marshall<br />
Director: Asaad Kelada<br />
Original Air Date: January 20, 1982<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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."<br />
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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?<br />
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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!"<br />
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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!"<br />
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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.<br />
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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."<br />
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Roy<br />
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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.<br />
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<br />Roy Penneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06127773923455609042noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027289929331115541.post-39858100178368530352019-09-02T18:43:00.000-07:002019-09-02T18:43:48.900-07:00Ep. 77 - You Can't Go Out of Town AgainSeptember 2, 2019<br />
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Writer: Dan Guntzelman<br />
Director: Howard Hesseman<br />
Original Air Date: January 13, 1982<br />
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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."<br />
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"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.<br />
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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!)<br />
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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!<br />
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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!)<br />
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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.<br />
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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!)<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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Roy<br />
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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.<br />
<br />Roy Penneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06127773923455609042noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027289929331115541.post-90768943912016446702019-08-21T19:36:00.001-07:002019-08-21T19:36:21.585-07:00Ep. 76 - Love, Exciting and NewAugust 21 2019<br />
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Writer: Lissa Levin<br />
Director: Frank Bonner<br />
Original Air Date: January 6, 1982<br />
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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!<br />
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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.<br />
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And yet. And yet.... yeech.<br />
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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."<br />
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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.<br />
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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?"<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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?"<br />
"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."<br />
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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!<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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Just not as uncomfortable as I was with previous scene in his office.<br />
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Roy<br />
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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.<br />
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.<br />
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.<br />
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<br />Roy Penneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06127773923455609042noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027289929331115541.post-30589296196022169002019-08-14T19:19:00.003-07:002021-01-02T17:36:19.866-08:00Ep. 75 - The ConsultantAugust 14, 2019<br />
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Writer: Hugh Wilson<br />
Director: Dolores Ferraro<br />
Original Air Date: December 30, 1981<br />
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^^^FAMOUSLY FUNNY^^^<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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?<br />
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Play into the stereotypes.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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Roy<br />
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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"?<br />
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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."<br />
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.<br />
But she did think Loni Anderson's airhead voice was really funny!<br />
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<br />Roy Penneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06127773923455609042noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027289929331115541.post-20207810428603449712019-08-01T06:45:00.000-07:002019-08-01T06:45:44.206-07:00Ep. 74 - Jennifer & the WillJuly 31, 2019<br />
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Writer: Blake Hunter<br />
Director: Dolores Ferraro<br />
Original Air Date: December 2, 1981<br />
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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!<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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."<br />
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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.<br />
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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!"<br />
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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.<br />
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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<br />
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"Do you have anything to say, Cedric?"<br />
(whining) "No"<br />
(exaggerated whining) "Nooooooo"<br />
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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.<br />
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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!"<br />
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Roy<br />
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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!!<br />
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<br />Roy Penneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06127773923455609042noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027289929331115541.post-83303061734633464152019-07-23T08:10:00.002-07:002019-07-23T08:10:51.020-07:00Ep. 73 - Three Days of the CondoJuly 23, 2019<br />
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Writer: Lissa Levin<br />
Director: Linda Day<br />
Original Air Date: November 18, 1981<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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See what I did there?<br />
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But lets begin our discussion of this episode with probably its most controversial plot point: Johnny Fever has money!<br />
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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!).<br />
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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."<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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As a nice bonus, Johnny also knows this is all making his buddy Venus very uncomfortable as well.<br />
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Roy<br />
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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."<br />
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<br />Roy Penneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06127773923455609042noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027289929331115541.post-26889378387232854412018-10-25T17:57:00.000-07:002018-10-25T17:57:18.078-07:00Ep. 72 - Who's On First?October 25, 2018<br />
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Writer and Director: Dan Guntzelman<br />
Director:<br />
Original Air Date: November 11, 1981<br />
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One of my favourite WKRP episode is ep. 50 "Hotel Oceanview;" an episode full of mistaken identities and oddball guest characters that builds and builds in its ridiculousness. This is not that episode. It doesn't have the same clockwork precision of that script, but it shares much of the same DNA with generally good results. And it all builds to one, huge joke.<br />
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The continuity continues with the episode opening on Herb in the hospital awaiting the test results from the previous episode. His greatest fear of going to the hospital has been realized - not that he may be ill but that WKRP will think he's too sick to keep working. The station has run an ad for a new salesman. But Mr. Carlson swears to him his job will be there "as long as he wants it."<br />
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This upsets Andy. Carlson got panicky AGAIN after he had already explained to Carlson why they should hire a SECOND salesman, not replace Herb. Andy has complained that having only one salesman is wrong since the first season. Now Andy is frustrated that he'll have to meet with a concert promoter from Philadelphia himself.<br />
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That's when Jennifer throws out a strange curveball that, if the series had gone one more season, would definitely have been the source of some great stories - maybe SHE would like to become an account executive! I wonder if this idea comes out of seeing her predecessor, Joyce Armor, become an account executive in Cleveland. Anyhow, Mr. Carlson agrees to help train her by accompanying her to this meeting with the promoter.<br />
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Look how well she does right away. Pat Parillo is in a panic that he can't be busted again for fraudulent contracts. Carlson doesn't understand what he's talking about, but Jennifer understands immediately - so quickly in fact that she's essentially translating Parillo's slang and innuendo to him in real time. In the previous episode, we saw that Jennifer knew the holding cell guard by name. What other seedy dealings is she just as aware of? Because she also immediately has a solution for Mr. Carlson - it's only a kickback if he accepts it and he doesn't want to add to Andy's disappointment.<br />
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BUT there's a wacky catch - Herb has told Parillo that Carlson is incompetent, and Parillo thinks Carlson IS Herb, so... Parillo wants to meet Carlson and see how incompetent he is for himself!<br />
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While all of this has been going on, Johnny has begged everyone in the station for money to pay off a poker debt of... $562.16. This runs as the classic WKRP situation of one staff member bring a problem to each of the other staff members and watching their reactions. The best is either Les's description of his depression, cured only by "beating his rugs" or Bailey's response to the number $562.16: "Who do I have to kill to get it?" Unfortunately, this isn't just any poker debt - it's owed to famed Cincinnati gangster Guido Scalici! Guido is so disappointed that Johnny hasn't paid, that he has sent a gentleman to meet Johnny at the station.<br />
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The episode starts getting where it wants to go, and gets a big audience reaction, when Dave comes into the lobby where Bailey is eating a sandwich. The director made Bailey look very small at the desk when she looks up, waaay up, to look at Dave, played by the 6'7" character actor Mickey Morton. She looks like a tiny little girl compared to this mountain of a man.<br />
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Jennifer runs in and quickly tells her Carlson is Herb. They bring Parillo into Carlson's office and Jennifer goes off to find a Mr. Carlson. The real Carlson, as Herb, hears more of the insults Herb had said about him to Parillo. Jennifer returns with Les to play Carlson, but his acting and improv skills are so bad, it makes "Carlson" seem "looney tunes" to the promoter.<br />
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Johnny has to do some fast talking when he and Venus run into Dave in the lobby. He quickly introduces himself as Andy Travis, introduces Andy as his brother Randy and ol' Venus, of course. Andy watches all of this happening as the new accounts executives come out of Carlson's office, where Les is Carlson and Carlson is Herb and Bailey is not Jennifer. All of this mind swirling name swapping convinces Andy that the place is falling apart and he takes his digs at Mr. Carlson, calling him "Herb" and sarcastically compliments him for the sales department "running like a well oiled machine."<br />
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The entire episode has been building to this joke, and something we should have all learned by now... don't underestimate Mr. Carlson. With a quick glance to Dave, Carlson says "I'm just doing my job, Johnny." Dave looks Andy, Andy turns white and the audience builds in its reaction. It's the sound both of laughter and recognition - recognition of both what Mr. Carlson has just done and what is about to happen to Andy.<br />
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But Carlson doesn't end there. In the epilogue, in which Carlson and Jennifer go visit Herb in the hospital, we learn Andy is in emergency, although "no bones were broken." But he does want to speak with Johnny. He also asks several times making sure Herb is feeling great, as he rolls up his sleeves. Mr. Carlson would never go back on his swear that Herb's job will be waiting for him. And he would never hurt a man while he's already injured. But he still has no problem beating Herb down with his bare hands.<br />
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Roy<br />
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Special Notes - One of my all-time favourite quotes from this show, one I have used countless times is "Do you know what will happen if you don't eat?" Because invariably the person will answer "What?" to which I can finish the quote... "You'll die!"<br />
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Other Notes - Mickey Morton portrayed Chewbacca's wife, Mailia, in the infamous "Star Wars Holiday Special." (That may be the greatest WKRP/Star Wars piece of trivia ever!).<br />
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<br />Roy Penneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06127773923455609042noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027289929331115541.post-28866156110399709732018-09-28T10:35:00.000-07:002018-09-28T10:35:15.513-07:00Ep. 71 - Straight From the HeartSeptember 28, 2018<br />
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Writer and Director: Dan Guntzelman<br />
Original Air Date: November 4, 1981<br />
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Some episodes of "WKRP in Cincinnati" were written to explore social issues in America through the eyes a diverse group of individuals. And some episodes were written to have a scene in which that same diverse group of individuals end up in a porno theatre.<br />
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This is a very awkward episode. After a few episodes in which a lot of plot moved across our screens, this one seems like it's kind of treading water, with a few interesting set piece that don't quite add up to a whole.<br />
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The first thing is the running plot of Les winning the Copper Cob award for "conservative agrarian broadcasting" and needing to get to Omaha Nebraska to accept his reward. This gives us a strange scene in which Andy is overly proud of his wrapping job for Les' present and a staff presentation that no one, including Les, is interested in. But it does give us the line "Omaha! Oh, Omaha seems like dream to me now!" which I've found can be used in all sorts of real life situations.<br />
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The next next major plot is Jennifer becoming suspicious of Herb's behaviour before he goes on vacation, resulting in her determining that he was actually going to the hospital. On one hand, it's sweet to see that it is Jennifer, of all the staff members, who takes the time to check on Herb. We have often suggested she is the "mother" to this group, and here is a prime example. EXCEPT, and here is an awkward moment, she does not accompany Les to the hospital to confront Herb. She is also not the person Les calls to help get him back to the hospital - he literally calls EVERY OTHER MEMBER OF THE STATION to meet Herb and him at the adult cinema and not the one person who knows what is going on.<br />
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The second half of the episode shifts to Herb, who runs away from the hospital to "embrace life." Of course Herb's idea of embracing life wouldn't involve going to see his wife and kids, but going to a 3D German porn theatre when (as we learned from Les' news story earlier) the city is in the midst of an "adult theatre" crackdown. But this all starts in the hospital, where Les sneaks in to visit Herb who is in for a "few tests." This might be the most awkward we have ever seen Bonner and Sanders act towards each other, as if the script just said "the two buddies improvise for three minutes before Herb escapes." The two of them are just sitting on the bed slapping each other. Herb is just starting to look at his own mortality but he is too shallow to look very deeply. All he sees is the fear, not of death, but that other may see him as weak; that being weak might cost him his job. There should be more going on here, but we're really just moving the scene along to get to the theatre.<br />
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Once at the theatre, the only real joke is the audience dodging whatever is coming out of the screen in 3D. Otherwise it's just the sight of our cast walking in the dark in 3D glasses and an argument between a scared and vulnerable Herb vs his young and healthy boss, Andy (once again I will point out, Andy is not actually Herb's boss - they are equals who each report to the station manager. But Andy takes on that role here). And why is everyone so concerned about what Bailey will see on the screen? Is THIS where the chivalry is going to come out of Venus and Johnny?<br />
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The final set piece is in the holding cell and here it all comes down to a game of chance. Simply cut the cards and Herb could win $200, two weeks vacation and a night with Jennifer "[he] will never forget." Personally, I would have liked about two seconds more of the camera to hold on Herb while he contemplates his card. I want to see him really consider how much each of his co-workers care about him, that they would get arrested with him AND offer up so much in an effort to get him to return to the hospital, before he says he drew the low card. We are suppose to assume this is why he won't show his card, but it's played too subtly for this episode.<br />
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By the way, Jennifer knows the holding cell guard by name?!? And not in a way that suggests she just learned his name, but in a way that suggests she has been here before. Who else has Jennifer had to bail out? As this whole episode has taught us, Cincinnati can be seedy after dark.<br />
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Roy<br />
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Other Notes - We learn Bailey was Summa Cum Laude from Ohio State University. Jan Smithers mistakenly flashes the card she drew towards the camera - it was the two of clubs!<br />
<br />Roy Penneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06127773923455609042noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027289929331115541.post-59995176190769360162018-09-10T18:31:00.000-07:002018-09-10T18:31:31.005-07:00Ep. 70 - RumorsSeptember 10, 2018<br />
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Writers: Peter Torokvei<br />
Director: Linda Day<br />
Original Air Date: October 28, 1981<br />
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Alright all you Bailey lovers! This is the episode you have been meme-ing, screen capturing and pause buttoning for the past 37 years. Any image search of "Bailey Quarters" will find a dozen pictures of Bailey in Johnny's T-shirt. And we will discuss that! But first, getting to what really matters... Sam Anderson is back!<br />
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The fourth and final character Sam brings to life for "WKRP in Cincinnati" is the creepy/harmless mid-morning DJ Rex Erhardt. At one moment, he is seductively pouring Perrier water for lonely housewives listening to his show and the next he is flustered at making simple conversation with Bailey. Once again, Sam Anderson creates a fully rounded character in just a couple of minutes of screen time.<br />
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"Continuity is so important," says Bailey. "Thank you for always being a jerk, Herb." That's a funny line, but the first part could have been written on a plaque in the writers' room for this season. There is a direct line of continuity from last episode. Andy continues with his plan for remodeling the lobby, and begins to give out the much deserved raises. These links will continue all season long.<br />
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This episode is called "Rumors" because it follows the intertwining of two related rumors going around the station. The first is Andy is going to give his morning drive time slot to the younger Rex Erhardt. Johnny created this idea himself, of course, but as he says "when everyone is out to get you, paranoid is just good thinking!" The second is that Johnny and Bailey are sleeping together since he is spending the week at her apartment while his place is being fumigated for lizards. (Do you believe Johnny was telling Les the truth about the lizards?)<br />
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Focusing on second rumor first, it's not hard to see why the whole station thinks something is up. Bailey has been openly pining for Johnny since the beginning of season two in episode 23 "For Love of Money," when she asks him out on a date to the movies. In Ep. 60 "I Am Woman," Johnny asks Bailey if he were to get her a pair of cut off jeans, and he got a boat... and she cuts him off by just saying "Any time." We know they like each other, and that they have chemistry.<br />
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1981 is also the middle of the broadcast run for "Three's Company," (a show that was WAY more successful in the ratings than "WKRP in Cincinnati" ever was) that was entirely about the sexy misadventures of a man living, platonically, with TWO women. The idea is in the collective conscienceness. So the staff has been primed and ready for the idea of these two together. If Les were staying at Bailey's place, no one would think much of it.<br />
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However, the one person who also thinks there might be something going on is Johnny himself, and I'm going to go back to my commentary about Joyce Armor and Arthur Carlson in this season's premier, "An Explosive Affair." In that, Joyce behaves in such a way that ANY reasonable person would think she's coming on to Arthur. Also so here, under the guidance of the same director, Linda Day, Bailey rubs her hands all over Johnny and tells him to "reach out and touch that beauty. Take advantage of your situation!"<br />
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It may not be "changing into something more comfortable" but it's pretty suggestive. Especially at a time when Johnny is worried people think he's getting old.<br />
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Bailey may think Herb is being a jerk by suggesting something is going on, but really he's just being the most forthright in saying what literally EVERYBODY at the station is thinking. Les is shocked at the inappropriateness of Bailey and Johnny's arrangement. Jennifer wants the girl gossip. Andy and Venus reveal how silly they can be together as they snicker and, literally, howl at the thought of Johnny with Bailey. So it's peculiar that they would then be so offended when Rex says "I hear Johnny's squeezin' her." Which, on one hand, ewww, but on the other hand is exactly what Andy was just lying on the floor laughing about.<br />
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Bailey comes home and ties the two rumors together for Johnny. She is upset that the station thinks she is some sort of a "floozie" or that Johnny would be anything less than a gentleman. She also feeds Johnny's paranoia by reporting that Venus agrees that testing for Rex in his time slot for a week would be a perfect way to moving Johnny out. She soft pedals that fact that Venus also said he doesn't think Andy has any plans to do this. She is so tied up in the rumors herself that she doesn't notice Johnny had prepared an entire candlelight dinner for the two of them.<br />
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Then, playing back into the mixed messages set up, Bailey tells Johnny she should just give the station what they all want... then leaves him cold. It's the turning point of the episode.<br />
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I am going to direct all readers of this blog to what I wrote about Ep. 45 "Most Improved Station" when it comes to Bailey fandom. Because the next scene is the same level of fan service to Bailey's fandom that Jennifer's scene in the bathing suit from "Filthy Pictures" is to her fan base. This is Bailey's sexiest scene in the series. It concludes with Bailey straightening Herb's tie and purring "I was naked Herb. And this was on the bed so... I put it on."<br />
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Johnny shows up in Andy's office and finally becomes the gentleman Bailey thinks he is, defending her honour before fighting for himself. Johnny just wants to deal with the truth. It hurts him to see Bailey thought of poorly and it's tiring to stay paranoid. Returning to the continuity, Andy confirms "Alright. There's going to be some changes around here," starting by giving Johnny a $200 a month raise (which is a pretty good raise even today!)<br />
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The final misunderstanding, between Mr. Carlson who has just learned of the Bailey/Johnny rumors and Bailey, who is talking about being given the hand-me-down business show, doesn't really work. The business show plot was too thin for Bailey to really be that upset about, but it does allow her to say "I get off on it" to Mr. Carlson, which is weird in it's own right.<br />
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Roy<br />
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Other Notes - Number of times I, as a Canadian, spelled "Rumors" with an extra "U" while writing this post... seven! Things in Bailey's apartment include: a chalk board shopping list that includes "Milk, Vitamin C and Wheat Bread." Isn't all bread wheat bread? How crunchy granola does Bailey have to be to remind herself that if she's buying bread, it needs to be "wheat bread?" Also a poster for the Sea Shepherd, a conservation group (still in existence) that uses "direct action" to protect marine life.<br />
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<br />Roy Penneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06127773923455609042noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027289929331115541.post-5258351290258779712018-08-29T19:34:00.002-07:002018-08-29T19:34:14.657-07:00Ep. 69 - The UnionAugust 28, 2018<br />
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Writers: Blake Hunter<br />
Director: Linda Day<br />
Original Air Date: October 21, 1981<br />
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** IMPORTANT EPISODE **<br />
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I realize my last blog entry was very long, so today I'm just going to discuss the history of trade unionism in America.<br />
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"It's as American as apple pie," according to Bailey.<br />
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No, I won't put you through that, but this is one of those WKRP episodes that really demonstrate how the world has changed in 35 years. I don't think a sit-com would take on a topic like unionization today, and even if it did, it would take a very different approach.<br />
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This is also the pivotal episode the season. Many of the actions that are coming up, including the finale, flow directly from the "Deal" Andy makes with Mama Carlson. I have a couple of ideas about that deal.<br />
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Mama Carlson never leaves her patio throughout the entire episode, even when Andy is having drinks. We are introduced to her through her thoughtful soliloquy on the spirituality of nature: "You know, people today live without spiritual awareness." She is tell Arthur about how important the garden is to her; how she nurtures each plant and they in turn nurture her spirit. She believes this make her spiritually in tune.<br />
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But look who she is telling this to - the one person she was suppose to nurture throughout his life: her own son. Yet he lives his life starved for that nurturing and attention from her. Arthur does not cultivate his spiritual growth through plants - he receives it from the people around him. He care about his employees and wants to make them happy when he can. He pays attention to each of them and thinks of them all has his family, with him sitting as benevolent father on the top.<br />
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So when the station cracks the finally, after three years of rock n' roll, cracks the Top Ten rated stations in the Cincinnati market, he wants to give the staff a little raise. In part because they've each contributed to the success of the station, but mostly, as he tells Jennifer "it makes me feel good too!"<br />
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Mama Carlson does not care about her employees and Carol Bruce runs ice water through her veins at the news that the employees are thinking about unionizing. She quickly thinks about how she and the other station owners can stop this before it starts. "We'll crush them like a bug!" she smiles as she takes in a deep, nourishing breath from a flower.<br />
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The employees are not nourished. There are a couple of things they are wanting from a union. Obviously, the first thing is more money. But the next thing is a sense of leadership. What Venus and Bailey are most excited by is the notion that they were personally chosen by the Brotherhood of Midwestern Radio Workers to lead up the union drive, before learning that everyone else had also been approached. Even Les, who is adamantly opposed to unionization becomes part of the drive because "I just like being in charge for once." Johnny become the leader mostly because he sees the payday that could be in store for himself as an "old timer" in the business.<br />
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All these opposing forces are about to clash in the end, and these moments are as good of a retelling of the roots of Reagan era capitalism as you'll ever find in a sitcom. Once again, we can be amazed looking back at this show a third of a century after it originally aired, knowing how many of the economic and business decision made in the early '80's have turned out. We no longer have a battle between the suits and the dungarees - the battle has become more sophisticated.<br />
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On one side there are the workers, who we might call have once called the dungarees, wanting what they consider their fair share of the profits of their labours. But it's the suits that are split. One group is who we would traditionally think of as the suits - the owners who want to keep as much money for themselves as possible, and consider their workers as expendable and expensive. Of course, this is represented by Mama Carlson. But then there is also the benevolent owner, represented by Arthur. He's like the old Mr. Fezziwig character in Dickens' "A Christmas Carol;" someone who worked as hard as his employees but also enjoyed having fun with them and respected them as human beings, and in so doing earned his employees' respect, and even affections. As financially successful as Mama Carlson may be, she has earned neither from her employees. That's why they are prepared to unionize.<br />
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But Arthur doesn't see it this way. He has put his spirit into cultivating his relationships with his employees and tells Andy "This whole union thing is a personal attack on me!" Arthur agrees with his mother that he doesn't want a union at WKRP, but it is for very different reasons than her. She, rightly, sees a union as a limiter to profits and control. Arthur sees as something that is breaking up the family; something that will limit how much love and respect he can choose to show his employees.<br />
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What we can see clearly now, more than 30 years later is that Mama Carlson's side won. Cold-eyed economics became the measurement of success, not the human relationships that can be built between employer and employee. If you think that's cynical, wait until you read my next ideas!<br />
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The crux of the episode rests in the final moments, when it is revealed that it was Andy's plan all along to manipulate the people involved to keep the union out of the station in order to get more money into the station from Mama Carlson. I'm going to propose two left-field ideas: 1) Andy contacted the Radio Workers Union to have them notify his people about unionizing the station, and 2) Andy would win whichever way the station went. Here's my thinking:<br />
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Andy has told us many times he's worked in radio all his life, so at some point he must have come across this Union and would know some of it's members. If that's so, then it wouldn't be too much of a leap to think he could reach out to them. That's a more likely scenario that this union just discovering WKRP because they've now hit the Top Ten. After three years, Andy has determined he will never get the money he needs to take the station where he wants it to go directly from Mama Carlson. A union creates the pressure point he's been looking for. As he tells Mr. Carlson "I'm on the side of the station."<br />
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If he makes a deal with Mama, and keeps the union out, he finally shows how invaluable he is and gets the money he needs. BUT if he DOESN'T get keep the union out, the union will force Mama's hand and demand the money that the station needs, especially regarding salaries. So he still gets the money. It's a low risk deal for Andy for Andy to make.<br />
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Look at his attitude when he comes back to that station the next day after meeting with Mama. Andy is practically giddy! His first idea is to clean up the lobby, something he probably wouldn't have gotten if the union had won out. Andy is happy to let Mr. Carlson think that it was his speech to the employees that won them over - that's the way they themselves would have recounted it too. Andy doesn't need the credit... he's already won!<br />
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Roy<br />
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Other Notes: The union loses by a vote of 5-4. Count the number of people at the meeting... there are eight. Jennifer provides most of the humour in the episode, from dealing with a crazed admirer sending her hundreds of roses to discussing her own union: "The International Sisterhood of Blonde Receptionists."<br />
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<br />Roy Penneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06127773923455609042noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027289929331115541.post-37667627010639317952018-08-11T09:02:00.000-07:002018-08-18T19:03:06.473-07:00Ep. 67 and 68 - An Explosive Affair, pt.1 AND pt.2August 11, 2018<br />
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Writer: Steve Marshall<br />
Director: Linda Day<br />
Original Air Date: October 7 and 14, 1981<br />
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***VERY IMPORTANT***<br />
^^^FAMOUSLY FUNNY^^^<br />
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Just like they did to begin Season Two, Season Four of "WKRP in Cincinnati" starts off with two-parter. But if I had to guess, I think the producers weren't sure if it was going to be two episodes or one hour long episode, because unlike the two halves of "For Love or Money," this feels like two entirely different scripts that were combined, and then split into two half hour episodes. I say this because the shows jump back and forth between the A and B plots with almost nothing connecting them. The first episode is all set-up - very little action takes places. That's why, if you remember these episodes, you're remembering things from the second episodes, including what may be the second most repeated quote in WKRP history.<br />
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I'm going to do something different and discuss these episodes as two different episodes:<br />
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1) An Explosive AFFAIR<br />
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In the cold opening, an unknown woman walks into the empty lobby and very comfortably answers the WKRP office phone. Jennifer walks in and is put out until she realizes this is Joyce Armor, the previous receptionist before her. They hug and Joyce tells Jennifer she is now an advertising accounts executive living in Cleveland. She has come hoping to have a meeting with her old boss, Mr. Carlson.<br />
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Meeting Joyce gives us a little glimpse into the world of WKRP before we got there (we haven't had any of that since the "Bah, Humbug" Christmas episode.) Herb used to be the "Little Guy" to Arthur's "Big Guy" and Jennifer originally came to the station has a young hick from West Virginia. (I'd love to know what brought Jennifer to a radio station in Cincinnati all those years ago, but I digress).<br />
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Arthur is thrilled to see Joyce again, calling her "the best little receptionist I ever had" right in front of Jennifer. They go out to one of those three-martini lunches that business people only had in the '70's. There is a lot of laughter and reminiscing between these two old friends, however they are sitting awfully close together in that booth. Then Joyce invites Arthur back to her hotel room that evening because she has a "hot proposition" for him. She is coy and won't tell him what she has in mind, but she purrs this invitation at him very closely. Arthur is suspicious as to what she really wants.<br />
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Something to note here is that she calls him "Arthur" and not "Mr. Carlson." Jennifer never does that. Even Andy calls him Mr. Carlson. As a former employee, it's odd she would be comfortable enough to do that.<br />
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Back at his office, Arthur calls his wife Carmen, who we hear has been pretty tired lately with the new baby. We can take from this that the Carlsons probably haven't been "romantic" together lately either. Arthur wants to invite her out to dinner; he tells her that he loves her but she is still too tired. Mr. Carlson even comes to Andy saying he's willing to have that budget meeting tonight, but as we'll discuss later, Andy already has is hands full. Mr. Carlson is looking for any excuse not to go to Joyce's hotel room because he doesn't trust Joyce or his own fidelity to his wife.<br />
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I'm calling Arthur out here - we have seen many examples over the past three seasons that the one, true love of Arthur's life is his wife Carmen. They have a deep and respectful bond with each other and although Arthur has had thoughts about Jennifer (or even Bailey) in the past, he was never in danger of acting on them. Although he plays with toys, Arthur is a grown man! If he doesn't want to go to a hotel room at night to meet up with a single woman, it's probably a good idea that he doesn't.<br />
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But he does go, wearing Old Spice on the way out.<br />
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At the hotel, Joyce greets Arthur at the door and shows him she's prepared his favourite drink: a purple cow, which is vodka and grape juice. Joyce, who is wearing business attire, says she is going to go into the other room and change "into something more comfortable." Arthur starts drinking heavily, wracked with guilt that Joyce is about to throw herself at him. There is a part of him that finds Joyce an attractive woman whom he'd enjoy being intimate with. On the other hand, he's married to the woman he loves, with a new baby at home. Gordon Jump plays guilt-ridden nervous wreck better than he plays drunk.<br />
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Arthur is disappointed and confused when Joyce comes out of the bathroom in jeans and a hoodie, expecting something much more sexual. He decides he needs to leave, but Joyce complains she hasn't even given him her pitch yet. "I have visual aids in the other room" and Arthur just about dies from shock. She tells him to close his eyes and imagine "it would be like having a branch sales office in another town." Now Arthur is completely confused and asks the question he should have asked back at lunch: "Joyce, what are we talking about?"<br />
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Surprise! This whole time she's been trying to sell Arthur on using her Advertising rep firm! And I call BS on the writers here.<br />
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She could easily have brought this up back at the office. If she's done any research before coming in, she know WKRP has been losing advertisers after last season's boycott by CURB. Herb even keeps bringing the topic up with Andy throughout the episode. And precisely because they are old friends, she wouldn't need to go through the whole wining and dining of Arthur to bring this point up. At the restaurant, she is affectionate with Arthur, touching his hands and speaking closely to him. And why is the reason for her meeting such a big secret that he needs to come up the her hotel room that night?<br />
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The worst is the "slipping into something more comfortable" line. Unless this is literally the first television show you have ever watched, this has been code for "preparing for sex" in movies and TV since the Hays Code of the '30's. And EVEN if the writers were being honest about comfort, she's been in her hotel room long enough to make drinks before Arthur gets there, but not to change her clothes? I believe Arthur was completely correct in assuming Joyce wanted to sleep with him. No serious business person and/or old friend acts or speaks that way.<br />
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So were left with two options: either the writer was lazy in crafting the Joyce character this way because he was more focused on the second story, or he believed this was the way a female account representative would have to behave in order to land an account - she would need to sell herself before she could sell the service. Which way do you think he would cop to today?<br />
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Once the mix up is revealed, the two old friends do share a tender moment in which they admit to a mutual attraction, but know nothing will happen. Arthur goes back to station.<br />
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At the end of the night, still feeling guilty, Arthur asks Jennifer to send his wife a dozen roses and she tells him it's already been done. He smiles and very sincerely tells Jennifer "You really are the best, you know." And we see that Jennifer is grateful to hear that from him.<br />
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Doesn't that seem like an entire episode? Throw in a couple of DJ jokes and that is a standalone episode of WKRP. But in reality, it isn't because it's actually been chopped up into this other episode.<br />
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2) An EXPLOSIVE Affair<br />
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Andy is unfazed that someone cranked called the station with a bomb threat, but as a matter of practice, he calls it into the police anyway. Les tells him a story about a group called Black Monday who blew up a television station Channel 75 in Dayton "right in the middle of the John Davidson Show." This makes Andy worried because it was Black Monday who called in the threat.<br />
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Andy also interrupts Venus and Johnny in the booth while they are trying to place bets with Johnny's Chinese bookie. The police are going to search the station for the bomb that is set to got off at 3:30pm. Andy sends the DJs to continue broadcasting from the transmitter outside of town, which was the original WKRP location, until they receive the all clear from him to return.<br />
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We have a lot of fun watching Johnny and Venus trying to broadcast with the broken down equipment at the old transmitter. But while they are there, Johnny sees a bet he needs to place: a horse is running at 80-1 odds named "Fever's Break." But the race starts at 3 o'clock, which is in just a few minutes! The bookie, Wing, keeps putting Johnny on hold because he is also running a busy Chinese restaurant. Johnny is still on hold as the race begins and he and Venus listen to the broadcast as Johnny's long shot comes in, paying $1600 on a $20 bet. Johnny is distraught! Venus seems to have calmed Johnny down, but in a moment of frustration, Johnny grabs a toolbox he finds and beats the telephone to piece!<br />
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Andy is frustrated he can't get through on the phone to the DJs to let them know the bomb squad has cleared the station. But Les, as always, only cares about the news! So he interviews Andy about the bomb threat. In the course of the interview, Andy learns that the bombing at Channel 75 occurred at their transmitter - the bomb is at the transmitter!<br />
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May I interject here that if Andy had just taken Les seriously from the beginning, and found out everything he knew about the Channel 75 bombing in Dayton, none of this would have happened? However, I do want to point out how great Gary Sandy is in these episodes - moving from mocking Les to panic, from frustration to grief seamlessly.<br />
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Back at the transmitter, the DJs are cut off from the rest of the world, at least believing they are far from the bomb. Johnny mindlessly drums "tick tock" on the toolbox as Foreigner's "Urgent" plays in the background.<br />
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Andy has the idea of cutting into the broadcast live, but Bailey lets him know that's impossible. Until the DJs themselves flip the switch, the station is dead. That's when they both realize they haven't called the police yet to go rescue the DJs. There is only 15 minutes left!<br />
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Herb is talking to Andy in the lobby when a call comes in - it's Black Monday! Andy tells Jennifer to get the police on the other line while he keeps Black Monday busy. He wipes the sweat off of his hands and gets on the phone.The terrorist didn't realize any people would be out at the transmitter, and tells Andy the bomb is in a toolbox.<br />
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Cut to the transmitter and Johnny beating on the toolbox with a rock, trying to get it open so he can fix the smashed phone. He hears sirens in the distances; the sirens we know are coming to rescue them. Johnny thinks it's strange to hear sirens in the country until it dawns on him what is happening: "It's the Phone Company!"<br />
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"They know what I've done here! I've got to get out of here!" Venus tries to talk sense into him, but Johnny runs away in terror.<br />
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Back at the station, Jennifer is on a live patch with the squad car as it races to the transmitter. It's almost 3:30! Andy turns up the radio - as long as WKRP is still on the air, everyone is safe. Now it's past 3:30. There is relief... until the radio goes to static. The police confirm the transmitter has been blown up. There appear to be no survivors.<br />
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At this moment, Mr. Carlson returns from a business meeting with an old friend in a joyful mood. He hasn't been around the station for any of this, and Andy takes him into his office to tell him what happened. (There is a time issue in this episode: Mr. Carlson goes for the hotel meeting in the evening and arrives back at the station just after 3:30.) We break for a commercial, which is important - the audience needs time to take in what has just happened to Johnny and Venus.<br />
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Coming back, Carlson is mad at himself for not being there all day. Andy is upset that he sent the DJs to the transmitter in the first place. Suddenly, Johnny runs past yelling "You didn't see me!" The audience roars with relief!!<br />
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Johnny is trying to hide behind couch in the bullpen as Andy, Carlson, Jennifer and Bailey rush in, trying to find out what happened. Johnny is inconsolable: "I'll play the hits, Travis! Just hide me!" Then Johnny gives one of the most quoted line in WKRP history :"It's the Phone Cops!"<br />
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Venus stumbles in, suffering from shock. "The bomb was at the transmitter!" But Johnny will not be convinced "These phone cops play hardball!" Finally Venus explains why Johnny thinks "Phone cops" are out to get them. Andy emphatically explains to Johnny "There is no such thing as Phone Cops" to which Johnny, in full 60's paranoia responds "Oh sure, cover for them."<br />
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I want to point out here that the entire "Phone Cops" coda at the end only lasts about two minutes, but it is one of the most memorable scenes in the series. I think that's no only because it's so funny and ridiculous, but it's coming off of such a serious, sombre moment that the juxtaposition stays in your memory. Also, everyday there are instances in which we could blame "Phone Cops" for the problem we're having with our various devices. If the DJs had had cell phones, they wouldn't have had this problem, but then Johnny would be dealing with a whole new level of Phone Cops.<br />
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So there we go - two separate WKRP in Cincinnati episode that got edited into one.<br />
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By the way, keep in mind that whole "needing a new transmitter" thing. That's going to have consequences in upcoming episodes. The fourth season is the most cohesive season of the series!<br />
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Roy<br />
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Other Notes: The biggest Easter Egg in WKRP history is the character Joyce Armor shares her name with a writer for the show, who is credited with the "Ask Jennifer" episode. The reason has never been explained. We learn the Carlson's baby's name is Melanie. John Davidson was a '70's and '80's TV staple, hosting "That's Incredible!" and appearing on shows like "The Love Boat." He briefly had his own daytime talk show. "The Killing of a Chinese Bookie" was a 1976 John Cassavettes movie.<br />
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<br />Roy Penneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06127773923455609042noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027289929331115541.post-9145061953675073292018-06-22T16:43:00.000-07:002018-06-22T16:43:42.311-07:00Bonus Feature - "Baby, If You Ever Wondered - A WKRP in Cincinnati Reunion" June 21, 2018<br />
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At the beginning of 2018, we lost the creator of WKRP, Hugh Wilson, at the age of 74. But he lived to see he most popular creation restored to (almost) its original condition and released in 2014 in the Shout Factory boxset. And the biggest bonus of this boxset is this featurette of the Paley Centre for Media's reunion interview featuring cast members, directors and Wilson himself. As we have come to the end of the Third Season of "WKRP in Cincinnati" let's examine this joyful reunion and hear what would be Wilson's final word on the series.<br />
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The moderator is long time radio DJ Jim Ladd, who currently hosts the "Deep Tracks Freeform Radio" show on SiriusXM (channel 27). He has been in radio since the late '60's in Los Angeles, even appearing as a DJ in movies and on albums. Frankly, he is Johnny Fever if Fever has better management. He also hosted a nationally syndicated rock interview show called "Innerview" in the 1970's and '80's, so he knows how to conduct an interview AND the world of WKRP.<br />
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Wilson is joined stage by actors Loni Anderson, Howard Hesseman, Jan Smithers and Tim Reid. Finishing up the reunion are regular WKRP director Asaad Kalada (who worked mostly in the first and last seasons of the show) and famous director Jay Sandrich, who directed the pilot (he also directed over 100 episodes of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," over 50 episodes of "Soap" and would later direct over 100 episodes of "The Cosby Show." Thanks IMDB)<br />
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For only being involved in the first episode, Sandrich has very clear memories on his time with the show and Wilson's work creating it. He recounts the how he recommended both Gordon Jump and Howard Hesseman due to the work they did on "Soap" the season before "WKRP" launched. Wilson, with a mischievous grin, explains why he hired Jan Smithers although she didn't have much experience: "I'm a boy!"<br />
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Loni Anderson credits Wilson for creating a show with two well defined female characters who displayed a camaraderie within the station, when it would have been easier, and more commonplace, to show them as rivals. She also credits Wilson for making "the glamourous woman the smartest person in the room."<br />
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Tim Reid goes into a lot more detail about how the character of Venus originated as a "flamboyant negro" and how Wilson promised him that, if the show got picked up, the writers would do more to display two sides of the character. Reid explains how New York soul DJ Frankie Crocker was an influence, having both an outsized public persona (seriously, check out the Wiki page on this guy!) and quieter personal side. Still, Reid says he had concerns: "I don't want to be sixty something years old and have someone say "Hey Venus!" Before turning the crowd and saying "Here we are!" It's maybe the biggest laugh of the night. Later in the interview, it is Hesseman who calls out the "Who Is Gordon Sims?" episode for really developing the character of Venus, and he goes out of his way to praise Wilson for writing it.<br />
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When this reunion originally happened, it was streamed to over 35,000 people, and one of those watching calls in: Gary Sandy! It is an important moment because for years the rumour had been that Sandy resented the show for typecasting him and making it difficult to get other film or television work. If that was ever the case, it certainly isn't anymore! Sandy goes out of his way to praise his time on WKRP, and of the cast and crew he says: "It is a family." He makes such an impression that the fourth Bonus Feature of the boxset is an interview with Sandy alone.<br />
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If anyone on the stage is angry, it's Howard Hesseman, but not at the WKRP family. He is angry that the rest of his career in television was not as much fun or as collaborative as his time with Hugh Wilson. Hesseman says the character of Dr. Fever was "already on the page" but that the writers would take an interest in his input and they would TOGETHER work on making Fever come to life. He bemoans how he spent "six years on a series (where) writers were buried in their scripts" and not watching what they had created. He is obviously talking about his time on "Head of the Class," and may explain why you are not reading a "Head of the Class" blog right now.<br />
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Sandrich and Wilson take this time to praise the late Grant Tinker and MTM Productions for standing up for the writers in the face of the network. Both complain there are no more really independent producers in television anymore.<br />
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Wilson takes a moment to call out the two remaining cast members not present for the reunion, thanking Richard Sanders and Frank Bonner for being "so funny." Anderson says Bonner would make her crack up during takes and calls his comedy "a force of nature." Wilson tells the oft-told story behind Les' bandages and Kalada jumps in to discuss how Sanders developed the bit about Les' taped walls.<br />
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Some time is then taken to remember the only cast member no longer alive at the time, Gordon Jump, and everyone on the stage immediately fills up with warm loving memories of the man. "Full of compassion and love," says Reid. Wilson says he was "always the adult in the room" calling him the "Master of the Take."<br />
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Most of the rest of the featurette is filled just the kind of fun stories and remembrances you want old friends to retell when they get back together; whether it was greeting CBS affiliates with the "Welcome Scum" banner or the genesis of the "In Concert" episode. There is good natured ribbing and self deprecating jokes. The group acts the way we fans would hope they would act years later.<br />
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In discussing the characters of Jennifer and especially Bailey, Hugh Wilson remarks "the show is accidentally a history capsule of stuff back then." It's that idea that has fueled this blog and so many people's fandom over the years.<br />
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Please join me has we tackle the fourth and final season of "WKRP in Cincinnati."!<br />
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Roy<br />
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Other Notes. At the same time as this reunion, Hugh Wilson gave an individual interview to the Paley Centre. Clips from this can be found on YouTube. In it he discuss both "WKRP" and "Frank's Place." There are five episodes of "Soap" with both Hesseman and Jump. They are Season 1, episode 21-25 ("Soap" didn't name it's episodes)<br />
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Roy Penneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06127773923455609042noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8027289929331115541.post-86934075000581675382018-04-20T20:16:00.001-07:002020-12-19T17:38:01.115-08:00Ep. 66 Clean Up Radio EverywhereApril 20, 2018<br />
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Writers: Max Tash and Hugh Wilson<br />
Director: Linda Day<br />
Original Air Date: April 12, 1981<br />
***VERY IMPORTANT ***<br />
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There is an underlying, secondary theme in the episode that I want to address first. (We'll get to "Imagine" in a bit) It is provided by the Sage of 'KRP, Les Nesman:<br />
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"When I get confused, I watch T.V. Television is never confusing. It's all so... simple somehow."<br />
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In an episode about radio standards, there's a lot of talk about television. Venus bemoans the fact that CURB isn't going after television, which he sees as a greater purveyor of smut. Herb says there isn't ENOUGH smut on television and doesn't understand what all the fuss is about. Obviously, as a broadcast television show, "WKRP in Cincinnati" was wrestling with all the same issues of a newly elected Conservative structure to the U.S. as the staff of our favourite little station. There aren't clear black or white sides, and Arthur Carlson is forced to choose the principles he believes are most important.<br />
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This is why we like "WKRP in Cincinnati." It's not simple. It won't fit in the little box Les mimes and, once again, it is still relevant 35 years after it first aired.<br />
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If you have friends who don't understand why you would want to read a blog about an old sit com, or even why you watch an old sit com, watch this episode with them. It explores the issues of censorship and choice in a fairly balanced way while still maintaining a specific point of view. It's also very funny, especially the funny noises Carlson's new-fangled computer baseball game can make. There is so much meat on the bones of this episode, I had to check and make sure it was still only a half hour.<br />
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Gordon Jump puts on an acting clinic here. Carlson is a man who doesn't want to make a decision, wants to take the easy, obvious route in making a problem go away, and in the end is stronger and more at ease with himself <u>because</u> he put it the hard work of analyzing his beliefs and coming to a decision he believes his best for himself and, much more importantly, that he believes his best for his community. That means the community of his own station and staff, the community of radio broadcasters and the community of Cincinnati itself.<br />
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The episode is structured like many other WKRPs: a problem arises and is passed through each of the characters until a resolution is finally made. A very personable pastor named Dr. Bob Halyers comes to Mr. Carlson's office and announces he is with the Tri-Faith Broadcasting Advisory Committee and is heading its new task force CURB - Clean Up Radio Broadcasting. His group of "3000 Christians in Cincinnati alone" have been monitoring WKRP and heard a number of songs that they feel are offensive and are asking WKRP not to play them anymore. If the station doesn't comply, CURB will begin boycotting WKRP's advertisers.<br />
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At first, Mr. Carlson. a regular church-goer himself, is appalled by the lyrics and asks his staff to stop playing those songs. Remember, this is a character who, in the first season turned down a huge advertising deal from Ferryman Funeral Homes because he found the commercial to be in poor taste. "Righteous and Weak" is how he describes himself. Not playing those songs should solve the problem nice and simply, right?<br />
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Hold on! Andy is inherently suspicious of evangelicals because of issues he had with an aunt and uncle. Johnny just doesn't like to be told what he can or can't play. Venus shares Mr. Carlson's concerns about the subject matter in some of the music the station plays. But all three of them believe this is censorship, and oppose the list of banned songs on that principle. Johnny make the strongest case by saying, if they do stop playing these songs, next month the station will receive "another list, and after that another one and after that another one."<br />
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The camera stays on Carlson's reaction while Johnny makes this point. He realizes his simple solution won't work. Not playing a few songs will not make these people go away. As Dr. Bob stating when meeting with Mr. Carlson, CURB wants to "work together" with his program director to "help" WKRP play the kind of music <u>they</u> want to hear.<br />
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Dr. Bob is a great character because he is not an evil character. He has a valid argument to make: if his group is offended by what's played on the public airwaves, do they not have the democratic right to say so, and try to change it? As portrayed by Richard Paul, he is very calm and reasonable. In fact, Andy comes off as petulant in comparison. Richard Paul had been on TV for three years before this as Mayor Teddy Burnside on the show "Carter Country," in which he was a blowhard, low-level slimy mayor of a small southern town. He made a career of playing southern politicians, southern judges and southern ministers, culminating in his performance as Rev. Jerry Falwell (who he has always resembled) in the film "The People vs. Larry Flint."<br />
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And now we get to Jerry Falwell and the Moral Majority History Lesson. Rev. Jerry Falwell was a founder and leader of the evangelical Christian organization. Created in 1979, The Moral Majority promoted what it considered a "tradition vision of family life," which included opposition to abortion, homosexuality and the Equal Rights Amendment. They were also opposed to media outlets which they claimed promoted an "anti-family agenda." (Thanks, Wikipedia). They were early financial supporters for Ronald Reagan's presidential bid in 1980 and he used them as advisors throughout his campaign. Falwell himself became a media celebrity by regularly appearing on talking head news programs to give the Moral Majorities opinions on events of the day.<br />
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I tell you all this to let you know that audiences of the day were familiar with how Falwell looked and sounded, and would be able to imagine his views of Rock and Roll. So when Richard Paul walks into the scene and says he's with the Tri-Faith Broadcasting Advisory Committee, they would read him immediately as a cipher for Jerry Falwell. They would also know that, to a small operation like WKRP, a "Moral Majority" could be a serious threat.<br />
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This episode pivots around the scene of Arthur visiting Dr. Bob at his office after the predicted second list arrives. It is a powerful scene in which Carlson arrives looking for a way out; looking for more of the congeniality he has seen from Bob, and has probably experienced from his own ministers in the past. By the time he leaves though, he realizes he is going to have to fight - there is no choice left to be made.<br />
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Carlson asks Dr. Bob to read the lyrics to John Lennon's "Imagine" and asks if this song would go on the list. Up to that point, there hasn't been a laugh in the show for about five minutes. We have been watching an informed and very civil debate about the rights of private businesses versus the rights of concerned citizens, censorship and choice, and the control of the few over the lives of so many. Dr. Bob reads the lyrics, including "imagine no religion" finally getting to the line "imagine no processions" to which he tosses the letter aside and proclaims "That sounds like Communism to me."<br />
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The crowd roars with laughter! They've been waiting for that relief for a long time (this is suppose to be a comedy, after all) and with that line, the point is made. This is just another type of McCarthyism, and the attack on rock and roll is a witch hunt meant to move political power to the small group Dr. Bob controls. It's a big important laugh, but Carlson is not laughing. He finally sees clearly what he is up against and what he and his station have to do.<br />
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Another big scene follows back in Mr. Carlson's office when he is visited by WKRP's most famous advertiser, Red Wigglers' owner Harvey Green. We get the sense Arthur and Harvey have known each other for years and I wonder if Red Wigglers would have been one of young Arthur's early clients when he was sales manager (easy to imagine Carlson the fisherman as a customer of Red Wigglers - they ARE the Cadillac of Worms!) Harvey recognizes what CURB is about and what they are trying to do but he doesn't have the resources to fight back. He wants to do the right thing and stand beside his friend, but he is afraid. "I feel like a coward and I am ashamed!"<br />
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This is a scene most other televisions series would not have included, even if they had dared to write an episode like this. It's easy to write CURB as evil, not reasonable. It's easy to think of these advertisers who are bowing to pressure and being greedy and spineless. Once again, this episode is not simple. Carlson is magnanimous in letting Harvey off the hook (get it? Red Wigglers? Off the hook?) telling him he has made a wise business decision, all the while knowing his own station is hurting.<br />
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Just before this, we saw Herb's fear. He is on the front line seeing what the CURB boycott is doing to the station and admits to Mr Carlson "I'm really scared, Big Guy! We're losing everything!"<br />
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The episode ends with Dr. Bob once again visiting Arthur to see if WKRP is prepared to relent. Andy is furious and wants Jennifer to throw the man out but Carlson won't hear of it. He scolds Andy for being rude to a "Man of God," insisting his followers "are not 'nuts'!" Andy is rude, refusing to shake Dr. Bob's hand and trying to argue with him about the free market. But Dr. Bob is ready for those sorts of arguments and coolly shuts him down.<br />
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Now it is Arthur Carlson's turn and he uses Dr. Bob's own charm offensive against him, telling him "I'm not sure giving up my freedom of decision is God's side." They continue to exchange biblical references until Dr. Bob says he'll need to learn to love his enemies. To which Arthur says "I don't think you're going to be able to trust your friends."<br />
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Boom! Mic drop!<br />
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Let's go back to 1981. "WKRP" was an acclaimed show, but the ratings were weak. It was in real danger of being cancelled at this time, so as the conclusion of the third season, Andy telling Carlson he's going to fight CURB "tooth and nail" might have been the end of the series. Creator Hugh Wilson and Associate Producer Max Tash wrote this episode knowing this could be the case. So why possibly end this way? I think there may be two reasons: 1) the promised battle with CURB might make for something of a cliff hanger that could bring demand for renewal and 2) this was an issue they REALLY wanted to touch on while they still had a chance. Wilson saw the Moral Majority and their fight not as a rise of democracy, but as a challenge to freedom and he wanted to ring that bell as early as possible.<br />
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The season ends with Andy telling Carlson, that if need be, he has one final weapon against CURB. "I might even sick Les Nesman on them." Carlson replies "Boy, that might signal the end of organized religion as we know it!"<br />
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Roy<br />
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Other Notes - Look everybody, we actually get to see Bailey doing her job, scheduling commercials. Also look, she's not using a computer. The only computer at the station is Mr. Carlson's baseball game. Why is Jennifer so eager for Mr. Carlson to meet with Dr. Bob at the beginning of the episode - she sends people away all the time. Is it his Southern charm? The episode's title is "Clean Up Radio Everywhere" which would acronym to CURE? When did the change happen? Only one commercial is heard playing within this episode - during the meeting in the bullpen, we hear the Red Wigglers jingle.<br />
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<br />Roy Penneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06127773923455609042noreply@blogger.com7