Ep, 11 - The Contest Nobody Could Win

January 6, 2015

Writer: Casey Piotrowski
Director: Asaad Kelada
Original Air Date: January 29, 1979

I was watching this episode, noting how much of the original music is used and named, when I hit the 16:20 minute point and a show I'd never seen before rolled out before me.

If you had watched WKRP in syndication, or from the 2006 first season DVD set, you know that Vincent Schiavelli played the "impostor" Don Pesola. This famous character actor is easily recognizable from films such as "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"; "Fast Times at Ridgemount High" and "Ghost." You might remember Jennifer and Mr. Carlson discussing the "Dungarees vs Suits" argument. You certainly remember that, after causing the problem in the first place, Johnny ends up saving the day.

None of those things happened.

Which sent this intrepid blogger to the Internet!

It turns out that, in their move to preserve the original episodes as much as possible, Shout Factory came across an "original" version of the episode with a much different ending. So they included this version in the box set.

Now we have Carlson confronting Andy directly with the "Dungarees vs Suits" argument and Andy taking full responsibility for Johnny's mistake. We have the episode ending with Johnny making a plea directly to the listeners to help pay off his debt to the station. But most importantly, we have a completely different Don Pesola!

Here's the con man we know and love!

And here's the guy Shout Factory saved from the dustbin of history, John Wheeler!

Nothing in the box set explains why two endings would have been shot, but watching both (I went back and re-watched the 2006 version, just to make sure I wasn't going crazy) I can understand the reasons for the change.

The original episode (the one on our new box set) gets very slow and serious in the middle, with Carlson, Herb and Les ganging up against Andy, and Andy taking the loss of responsibilities poorly. When he leaves Carlson's office, we're not sure if he might just pack up from WKRP and go find Linda Taylor (Ep. 8 call back!). The impostor gag is telegraphed right from the start, with Mr. PES-ola literally jerking the briefcase of cash away from Mr. Carlson. Finally, the episode ends with an overly long gag of Johnny begging for donations from listeners.

But perhaps the biggest problem with the original version is that the con man gets away with his crime! Johnny is pleading for $10,000, not $5,000 which means WKRP never got the original cash back. In the syndicated version, Johnny walks Mr. Pe-SO-la downstairs then quickly returns with the money. This is speculation on my part, but I can imagine CBS telling the producers "you can't show the criminal walking away without consequence. Criminals need to face justice on TV."

The original is a darker episode and I kind of enjoy watching Andy not being the golden boy all the time. But personally, I think the syndicated version moves better and delivers bigger laughs.

Now, how about we discuss what actually happens in the show!

I've written in this blog before that the primary theme of WKRP in Cincinnati is the conflict between the younger and older generations. I've called it a battle between the Rock and Roll Generation and the older staff. Herb sees the same theme around him and breaks it all down to his theory of the Dungarees versus the Suits.

Perhaps it's not surprising that a man who spends so much time and effort in his appearance would break down the generational divide of the 1960's and '70's as a clothing issue but what I found the funniest is, he isn't using "Dungarees versus the Suits" symbolically. Herb is literally telling Les that the issues are a "smoke screen;" this is a battle of what people are wearing. Herb's life view is people are what they wear! When he says "Some of the fathers are wearing Dungarees too!" he quite honestly believes that it's the pants that are causing the problem.

Of course, Herb's biggest problem is Dungaree wearer Andy, and that young upstart Andy has been taking responsibilities and importance away from Herb simply through intelligence and competence at work. Andy hasn't put in years, sucked up to the Big Guy and worn the right clothes to get to where he is, and those are the only ways Herb knows how to do his job. We saw Herb's insecurity and jealousy of Andy right from the pilot. Herb has been waiting for Andy to mess up but unfortunately for him (and humorously for us), Herb can't take advantage of the opportunity.

For those fans whose deepest wish with this box set was the reestablishment of the original music, this episode is a Godsend. Even the contest clips, which were SUPPOSE to be too short to recognize, have been restored! The names of the songs and artists in the contest had to be redubbed in syndication. On top of those, a lot more music is played: Albert King's "Born Under a Bad Sign" and Captain Beefheart's "Suction Prints" both get played and named here. (The audience even laughs at the album title "Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller)" as if they believe it to be a made up joke album. It's not. Captain Beefheart was just crazy).

Roy

Late edit (April 2016) - this posting of "WKRP ReLived) is far and away my most popular, because of the explanation of the edit. Thank you for reading it! I'd love for you to check out the other postings here and perhaps even leave some of your own comments and thoughts about WKRP. I can assure you, this blog in not about making any money - it's about reliving our love of a quirky TV show! Please share this love and thank you again.