Ep. 40 - Les' Groupie

March 7, 2017

Story: Paul Hunter
Teleplay: Steve Marshall
Director: Rod Daniel
Original Air Date: February 4, 1980

I was shocked to learn Richard Sanders didn't write this episode! I've discussed in the past (Ep. 10) that at his worst, Sanders comes off as "actorly" as in "Watch me! I'm Acting here!!" So in an episode concerned with Les' sex life and heartbreak, Sanders goes into overdrive.

The late '70's-early 80's sit-coms, especially those produced by MTM Productions (The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bob Newhart Show, and of course, WKRP in Cincinnati) introduced the idea of the "workplace family;" that the audience sees a group of people not just doing jobs together, but supporting each other in their ambitions and hopes and dreams. They even come to love one another in a way we don't see them do with their own families. In this episode, we see the WKRP staff being the ones who respect and care for Les, whereas the person who proposes to love him is not interested in any of that. Now I realize that Les' admirer, Darleen, is crazy - that's the joke. I mean, how many local radio news journalists have groupies anyway, especially in Cincinnati? (Note - if you actually do know of any, please let me or a health care professional know)

Darleen is able to give Les things that no one at the station is able to give him: deep looks into his eyes, an admiration for his announcing voice. And a reason to sing "Chances Are" in a meeting! However, she is only slotting Les into her preconceived ideas of what their relationship should look like, not taking the man himself into account.

I want to talk about the character of Darleen for a minute before I get into Richard Sanders' performance. I don't think the writers had any clear idea of what they thought someone attracted to Les would be like. She is presumptuous, knows what she wants and goes after it; first by saying she's going to stay over to the morning at Les' apartment and later by claiming they are engaged. Yet, she is also doing yoga in his living room, making friends with his neighbour and dog and cooking Les meals. Are these things supposed to be turn offs? He could probably do with all of those things in his life. She seems like the kind of strong-willed woman his mother is, which might actually be a good thing for Les, if of course she wasn't crazy.

I think this is unintentional, but the writers are equating a strong-willed woman with a crazy woman. Herb uses the the term "whipped" and it gets a big laugh. It's only after Les literally kicks and screams that he recovers his, lets call it, manhood and dignity. For a show that tried to be so liberal, this episode treads very closely to the theme of a "woman in her place." It's not a good fit and makes the script feel clunky.

So what is the crazy, bridge-too-far thing she does to show how wrong for Les she is? Darleen rips up the tape that make up Les' office walls. The same tape we and his co-workers have been mocking for a season and a half. Les is petulant in wanting walls. Somehow he has convinced all the people he works with to believe the tape really does represent walls. But when Darleen comes in from the outside and calls everyone on the silliness of tape walls, she's the character Les and the audience turn against.

Just two episodes ago, I wrote glowingly about Frank Bonner's performance and how it goes from loving to cocky to panicky in a few moments. I thought he really brought depth to the Herb character. Richard Sanders is trying to do the same thing here; showing many facets of emotion is a few strokes. But where Bonner's performance made the entire episode funnier and richer, Sanders here is jumpy, shrill and only in service to himself. To be fair, I don't think he was given much of a script to work with. The very IDEA that someone would be attracted to Les is suppose to be hysterical but we've already seen how sweet, devoted and intelligent he can be. So as an audience it's not so far out of our imaginations.

When Les is titillated and excited, he giggles and blushes like a small child. When Les is depressed, he doesn't just walk with his head down - his entire body is slumped over. When he's angry, this intelligent man can't just have an argument. He needs to kick trash cans, yell and storm out. It's suppose to show strength but I feel it shows Les is not in control of his emotions. So I wonder, is that Les over reacting or is it Sanders over acting?

Roy

Other notes: This is the only episode in which we go into Les' home. Before "Thriller" or "Rumours," the best selling album of all time was 1959's "Johnny's Greatest Hits" by Johnny Mathis, featuring his classic "Chances Are." It seems this is the only album Les ever bought.